EZEKIEL
had
behaved
ill
(of.
20=^-"
with
Jer
2').
Jerusalem
—
to
him
almost
synonymous
with
the
nation
—
was
pagan
in
origin
and
character
(16).
The
root
of
their
wicked-ness
was
an
inveterate
love
of
idolatry
(passim).
Even
Eaekiel's
own
contemporaries
longed
to
be
heathens:
their
God
could
hold
them
back
only
by
extreme
violence
(2032-").
The
exiles
were
somewhat
less
guilty
than
their
brethren
in
Jerusalem
(li^').
But,
on
the
whole,
princes,
priests,
and
people
were
an
abandoned
race.
They
loved
the
worship
of
the
high
places,
which,
according
to
Ezekiel,
had
always
been
Idolatrous
and
illegitimate.
They
ate
flesh
with
the
blood
in
it,
dis-regarded
the
Sabbath,
polluted
the
Temple
with
cere-monial
and
moral
defilements,
committed
adultery
and
other
sexual
abominations,
were
guilty
of
murder,
oppression,
the
exaction
of
usury,
harshness
to
debtors.
The
Ust
can
be
paralleled
from
other
Prophetic
writings,
but
the
stress
is
here
laid
on
offences
against
God.
And
this
is
in
accordance
with
the
strong
light
in
which
Ezekiel
always
sees
the
Divine
claims.
The
vision
with
which
the
whole
opens
points
to
His
transcendent
majesty.
The
title,
'
son
of
man,'
by
which
the
prophet
is
addressed
116
times,
marks
the
gulf
between
the
creature
and
his
Maker.
The
most
regrettable
result
of
Israel's
calamities
is
that
they
seem
to
suggest
im-potence
on
Jahweh's
part
to
protect
His
own.
The
motive
which
has
induced
Him
to
spare
them
hitherto,
and
will,
hereafter,
ensure
their
restoration,
is
the
desire
to
vindicate
His
own
glory.
In
the
ideal
future
the
prince's
palace
shall
be
built
at
a
proper
distance
from
Jahweh's,
and
not
even
the
prince
shall
ever
pass
through
the
gate
which
has
been
hallowed
by
the
returning
glory
of
the
Lord.
Hence
it
is
natural
that
the
reformation
and
restoration
of
Israel
are
God's
work.
He
will
sprinkle
clean
water
on
them,
give
them
a
new
heart,
produce
in
them
humility
and
self-loathing.
He
will
destroy
their
foes
and
bless
their
land
with
supernatural
fertility.
It
was
He
who
had
sought
amongst
them
in
vain
for
one
who
might
be
their
Saviour.
It
was
He
who
in
His
wrath
had
caused
them
to
immolate
their
children
in
sacrifice.
God
is
all
in
all.
Yet
the
people
have
their
part
to
play.
Ezekiel
protests
against
the
traditional
notion
that
the
present
generation
were
suffering
for
their
ancestors'
faults:
to
acquiesce
in
that
is
to
deaden
the^ense
of
responsibihty
and
destroy
the
springs
of
action!
Here
he
joins
hands
with
Jer.
(Jer
SP"),
both
alike
coming
to
close
quarters
with
the
individual
conscience.
He
pushes
almost
too
far
the
truth
that
a
change
of
conduct
brings
a
change
of
fortune
(33"-i»).
But
there
is
immense
practical
value
in
his
insistence
on
appropriate
action,
his
appeal
to
the
individual,
and
the
tenderness
of
the
appeal
(IS^^'
"
33").
Nowhere
is
Jahweh's
longing
for
the
deUverance
of
His
people
more
pathetically
expressed.
And,
notwithstanding
their
continual
wrong-doing,
the
bond
of
union
is
so
close
that
He
resents
as
a
personal
wrong
the
spitefulness
of
their
neighbours
(25-32.
36).
The
heathen,
as
such,
have
no
future,
although
individual
heathen
settlers
will
share
the
common
privileges
(47"').
The
concluding
chapters,
40-48,
'the
weightiest
in
the
book,'
are
a
carefully
elaborated
sketch
of
the
polity
of
repatriated
Israel
—
Israel,
i.e
,
not
as
a
nation,
but
as
an
ecclesiastical
organization.
In
the
fore-ground
is
the
Temple
and
its
services.
Its
position,
surroundings,
size,
arrangements,
are
minutely
detailed;
even
the
place
and
number
of
the
tables
on
which
the
victims
must
be
slain
are
settled.
The
ordinances
respecting
the
priesthood
are
precise;
none
but
the
Zadokites
may
officiate;
priests
who
had
ministered
outside
Jerusalem
are
reduced
to
the
menial
duties
of
the
sanctuary
(cf.
Dt
18').
Adequate
provision
is
made
for
the
maintenance
of
the
legitimate
priests.
Rules
are
laid
down
to
ensure
their
ceremonial
purity.
The
office
of
high
priest
is
not
recognized.
And
there
Is
no
real
king.
In
ch.
37
the
ruler,
of
David's
line.
EZEKIEL
seems
to
count
for
something;
not
so
here.
True,
he
is
warned
against
oppressing
his
subjects
(45'
46"-'*),
but
he
has
no
political
rdle.
A
domain
is
set
apart
to
provide
him
a
revenue,
and
his
chief
function
is
to
supply
the
sacrifices
for
the
festivals.
The
country
is
divided
into
equal
portions,
one
for
each
tribe,
all
of
whorn
are
brought
back
to
the
Holy
Land.
No
land
is
to
be
permanently
alienated
from
the
family
to
which
it
was
assigned.
God's
glory
returns
to
the
remodelled
and
rebuilt
sanctuary,
and
Ezekiel's
prophecy
reaches
its
cUmax
in
the
concluding
words,
'The
name
of
the
city
from
that
day
shall
be,
Jahweh
is
there.'
It
would
be
difficult
to
exaggerate
the
effect
which
this
Utopia
has
produced.
Some
details,
such
as
the
equal
division
of
the
land,
the
arrangements
respecting
the
position
and
revenue
of
the
prince,
the
relation
of
the
tribes
to
the
city,
were
impracticable.
But
the
limitation
of
the
priesthood
to
a
particular
class,
the
introduction
of
a
much
more
scrupulous
avoidance
of
ceremonial
defilement,
the
eradication
of
pagan
elements
of
worship,
the
exclusion
of
all
rival
objects
of
worship,
went
a
long
way
towards
creating
Judaism.
And
whilst
this
has
been
the
practical
result,
the
chapters
in
question,
together
with
Ezekiel's
visions
of
the
chariot
and
cherubim,
have
had
no
little
infiuence
in
the
symbolism
and
imaginative
presentment
of
Jewish
apocalyptic
literature
and
Christian
views
of
the
unseen
world.
2.
Style.
—
Notwithstanding
the
favourable
opinion
of
Schiller,
who
wished
to
learn
Heb.
in
order
to
read
Ezekiel,
it
is
impossible
to
regard
this
prophet
as
one
of
the
greatest
masters
of
style.
His
prolixity
has
been
adduced
as
a
proof
of
advanced
age.
Repeti-tions
abound.
Certain
words
and
formulas
recur
with
wearisome
frequency:
'I,
Jahweh,
have
spoken,'
'They
shall
know
that
I
am
Jahweh'
(66
times),
'Time
of
the
iniquity
of
the
end,'
'
A
desolation
and
an
astonish-ment';
Ezekiel's
favourite
word
for
"idols'
is
used
no
fewer
than
38
times.
The
book
abounds
in
imagery,
but
this
suffers
from
the
juxtaposition
of
incongruous
elements
(17'-=
32^),
a
mixture
of
the
figurative
and
the
literal
(31'"),
inaptness
(11'
15'-s):
that
in
chs.
16
and
23
is
oflfensive
to
Western
but
probably
not
to
Eastern
taste;
that
of
the
Introductory
Vision
was
partly
suggested
by
the
composite
forms
seen
in
the
temples
and
palaces
of
Babylonia,
and
is
difficult
to
conceive
of
as
a
harmonious
whole.
But
as
a
rule
Ezekiel
sees
very
distinctly
the
things
he
is
dealing
with,
and
there-fore
describes
them
clearly.
Nothing
could
be
more
forcible
than
his
language
concerning
the
sins
that
prevailed.
The
figures
of
29"-
34'-"
37'-"
are
very
telling.
There
is
genuine
lyric
force
in
27«-'2
32"-»2,
and
other
dirges;
there
is
a
charming
idyllic
picture
in
34a-".
The
abundant
use
of
symbolic
actions
claims
notice.
Ezekiel's
ministry
opens
with
a
rough
drawing
on
a
tile,
and
no
other
prophet
resorted
so
often
to
like
methods
of
instruction.
3.
Text,
integrity,
and
canonicity.
—
Ezekiel
shares
with
Samuel
the
unenviable
distinction
of
having
the
most
corrupt
text
in
the
OT.
Happily
the
LXX,
and
in
a
minor
degree
the
Targum
and
the
Pesh.,
enable
us
to
make
many
indisputable
corrections.
Parallel
texts,
internal
probability,
and
conjecture
have
also
contrib-uted
to
the
necessary
reconstruction,
but
there
remain
no
small
number
of
passages
where
it
is
impossible
to
be
certain.
The
integrity
of
the
book
admits
of
no
serious
question.
Here
and
there
an
interpolation
may
be
recognized,
as
at
24i»'-
27ii'>-»».
One
brief
section
was
inserted
by
the
prophet
out
of
its
chrono-logical
order
(29"-2»).
But
the
work
as
a
whole
is
Ezekiel's
own
arrangement
of
the
memoranda
which
had
accumulated
year
after
year.
Although
the
Rabbis
never
doubted
this,
Ezekiel
narrowly
escaped
exclusion
from
the
Canon.
Chag.,
13o,
informs
us
that
but
for
a
certam
Hananiah
it
'would
have
been
withdrawn
from
public
use,
because
the
prophet's
words
contradict
those
of
the
Law.'
Mistrust
was
also
aroused
by
the
