Ezekiel

Ezekiel
/i zee"kee euhl/, n.
1. a Major Prophet of the 6th century B.C.
2. a book of the Bible bearing his name. Abbr.: Ezek.
3. Moses Jacob, 1844-1917, U.S. sculptor, in Rome.
4. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning "God strengthens."
Also, Douay Bible, Ezechiel /i zee"kee euhl/ (for defs. 1, 2).

* * *

flourished 6th century BC

Priest and prophet of ancient Israel.

He was the subject and partial author of the biblical book of Ezekiel. He began to prophesy to the Jews in Palestine с 592 BC, pronouncing God's judgment on a sinful nation. He witnessed the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon and saw his fellow Israelites taken away into captivity. He offered a promise of Israel's restoration in his famous vision of a valley of dry bones that revive and assemble themselves. He envisaged a theocratic community revolving around a restored Temple in Jerusalem.

* * *

▪ Hebrew prophet
also spelled  Ezechiel,  Hebrew  Yeḥezqel 
flourished 6th century BC

      prophet-priest of ancient Israel and the subject and in part the author of an Old Testament book that bears his name. Ezekiel's early oracles (from c. 592) in Jerusalem were pronouncements of violence and destruction; his later statements addressed the hopes of the Israelites exiled in Babylon. The faith of Ezekiel in the ultimate establishment of a new covenant between God and the people of Israel has had profound influence on the postexilic reconstruction and reorganization of Judaism.

      Ezekiel's ministry was conducted in Jerusalem and Babylon in the first three decades of the 6th century BC. For Ezekiel and his people, these years were bitter ones because the remnant of the Israelite domain, the little state of Judah, was eliminated by the rising Babylonian empire under Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadrezzar II) (reigned 605–562 BC). Jerusalem surrendered in 597 BC. Israelite resistance was nevertheless renewed, and in 587–586 the city was destroyed after a lengthy siege. In both debacles, and indeed again in 582, large numbers from the best elements of the surviving population were forcibly deported to Babylonia.

      Before the first surrender of Jerusalem, Ezekiel was a functioning priest probably attached to the Jerusalem Temple staff. He was among those deported in 597 to Babylonia, where he was located at Tel-abib on the Kebar canal (near Nippur). It is evident that he was, among his fellow exiles, a person of uncommon stature. Ezekiel's religious call came in July 592 when he had a vision of the “throne-chariot” of God. He subsequently prophesied until 585 and then is not heard of again until 572. His latest datable utterance can be dated about 570 BC, 22 years after his first.

      These two periods of prophesying, separated by 13 years, represent various emphases in Ezekiel's message. His earlier oracles to the Jews in Palestine were pronouncements of God's judgment on a sinful nation for its apostasy. Ezekiel said that Judah was guiltier than Israel had been and that Jerusalem would fall to Nebuchadrezzar and its inhabitants would be killed or exiled. According to him, Judah trusted in foreign gods and foreign alliances, and Jerusalem was a city full of injustice. Pagan rites abounded in the courts of the Temple.

      After the fall of Jerusalem and his period of silence, Ezekiel now addressed himself more pointedly to the exiles and sought to direct their hopes for the restoration of their nation. His theme changed from the harsh judgment of God to the promise of the future. Ezekiel prophesied that the exiles from both Judah and Israel would return to Palestine, leaving none in the Diaspora. In the imminent new age a new covenant would be made with the restored house of Israel, to whom God would give a new spirit and a new heart. The restoration would be an act of divine grace, for the sake of God's name. Ezekiel's prophecies conclude with a vision of a restored Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple's form of worship would be reestablished in Israel, and each of the ancient tribes would receive appropriate allotments of land. In contrast to those hoping for national restoration under a Davidic king, Ezekiel envisaged a theocratic community revolving around the Temple and its cult as the nexus of the restored Jewish state.

      More than any of the classical biblical prophets, Ezekiel was given to symbolic actions, strange visions, and even trances (although it is quite gratuitous to deduce from these, and from his words “I fell upon my face” [1:28], that he was a cataleptic). He eats a scroll on which words of prophecy are written, in order to symbolize his appropriation of the message (3:1–3). He lies down for an extended time to symbolize Israel's punishment (4:4ff). He is apparently struck dumb on one occasion for an unspecified length of time (3:26). As other prophets have done before him, he sees the God-to-People relationship as analogous to that of husband to unfaithful wife and therefore understands the collapse of the life of Judah as a judgment for essential infidelity.

Additional Reading
Studies and commentaries include John W. Wevers, Ezekiel (1969, reprinted 1982); Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel, 2 vol. (1979–83); Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel 1–20 (1983); Ralph W. Klein, Ezekiel: The Prophet and His Message (1988); Ellen F. Davis, Swallowing the Scroll: Textuality and the Dynamics of Discourse in Ezekiel's Prophecy (1989); and Joseph Blenkinsopp, Ezekiel (1990).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • EZEKIEL — EZEKIEL, a major prophet who is said to have begun prophesying in the fifth year of Jehoiachin s exile in Babylonia, seven years before the final fall of Jerusalem; his prophecies are recorded in the book that bears his name. The name Ezekiel… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Ezekiel — 1 Ezekiel 2 Ezekiel 3 Ezekiel 4 Ezekiel 5 Ezekiel 6 Ezekiel 7 Ezekiel 8 Ezekiel 9 Ezekiel 10 Ezekiel 11 Ezekiel 12 …   The King James version of the Bible

  • Ezekiel — • Son of Buzi, and was one of the priests who, in the year 598 B.C., had been deported together with Joachim as prisoners from Jerusalem (IV Kings, xxiv, 12 16; cf. Ezek. xxxiii, 21, xl, 1) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Ezekiel      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Ezekiel — m Biblical: name (meaning ‘God strengthens’ in Hebrew) borne by one of the major prophets. The book of the Bible that bears his name is probably best known for its vision of a field of dry bones, which Ezekiel prophesies will live again (chapter… …   First names dictionary

  • Ezekiel — (spr. isīkjĕl), Moses Jakob, nordamerikan. Bildhauer, geb. 28. Okt. 1844 in Richmond (Virginia), machte den Krieg in den Reihen der Südstaaten mit, nach dessen Beendigung er beschloß, Bildhauer zu werden, ging 1869 nach Europa, wurde Schüler der… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Ezekiel —   [ɪ ziːkjəl], Nissim, indischer Schriftsteller, Literatur und Kunstkritiker englischer Sprache, * Bombay 16. 12. 1924; Ezekiels Werk umkreist, ironisch analysierend und skeptisch, Gefühle des Verlustes und der Isolation eines orientalischen… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Ezekiel — masc. proper name; in O.T., name of a book and of one of the great prophets of Israel, from L.L. Ezechiel, from Gk. Iezekiel, from Heb. Yehezqel, lit. God strengthens, from hazaq he was strong, he strengthened + El God …   Etymology dictionary

  • Ezekiel — Ezekiel1 [i zē′kē əl] n. [LL(Ec) Ezechiel < Gr Iezekiēl < Heb yechezkel, lit., God strengthens] 1. a masculine name: dim. Zeke 2. Bible a) a Hebrew prophet of the 6th cent. B.C. b) the book of his prophecies: abbrev. Ezek, Ezk, Ez, or Eze… …   English World dictionary

  • Ezekiel — According to religious texts, Ezekiel (() is understood by Eastern Christianity as another prophesy of the Incarnation: the gate signifying the Virgin Mary and the prince referring to Jesus. This is one of the readings at Vespers on Great Feasts… …   Wikipedia

  • Ezekiel Ox — Infobox musical artist 2 Name = Ezekiel Ox Background = Img capt = Img size = Birth name = Alias = Born = Colac, Victoria [ [http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/08/28/17666 echo features.html Geelong Advertiser] Mammal: live and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”