The Text of Ezekiel

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In the New Testament, the Gospels do not quote any text from Ezekiel. Matthew 13, 32 refers to Ezekiel 17,23; Matthew 25, 35 to Ezekiel 18, 17, and there are a few more allusions. The most obvious debt is the portrayal of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (Mt 18, 12-14; Jn 10, 1-18), which comes from Ezekiel 34. First Peter 3, 9 harks back to Ezekiel 18, 23 and 33, 11. The New Testament book that makes constant reference to Ezekiel is Revelation (Apocalypse), usually in brief snatches and allusions. A few examples: Revelation 4, 1-8 develops the throne vision of Ezekiel 1; and Revelation 5,1;10,1-4,8-11 pick up the image of the eating of the scroll from Ezekiel 2, 8-9; Revelation 17, 1-6, 15-18 use the figure of the prostitute (Ez 16 and 23) to condemn Babylon; Revelation 19 and 20 derive the image of God from Ezekiel  38, 19; and Revelation 11, 21-22 are built on the vision of the new temple-city in Ezekiel 40--48. Revelation 7, 1-4 is linked to Ezekiel 7,2 and 9, 4-6;Revelation 21, 15-16 uses Ezekiel 40, 3-5. Among the Apostolic Fathers, Ezekiel is the least cited of the prophets; in one count he is cited nine times in contrast to Isaiah, who is cited fifty-four times.

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The Text of Ezekiel

In rabbinic literature, Ezekiel became a favorite of unorthodox forms of Judaism and thus was regarded with some caution by the rabbis. Four aspects of Ezkiel's prophecy were singled out. First, the divine chariot revelation in chaper 1 became the basis of Jewish mysticism and also of heretical speculation of various kinds. The mysticism is sometimes referred to as "merkabvah (chariot) mysticism." Second, the rabbis feared that Ezekiel's severe denunciations of Israel in the first part of the book could be used by Christians in an anti-Jewish way and so were unacceptable. Third, the resurrection of the dry bones in 37, 1-14 was a favorite of sectarian groups and hence was played down by the rabbis. Fourth, Ezeliel's vision of the future temple and his laws seemed to contradict the Pentateuchal instructions and nearly led to the exclusion of the book from the canon.

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The Text of Ezekiel

Oral proclamation can change greatly when written down, because the writer or disciple now has a new and quite significance, for it helps readers to interpret the prophet's proclamation for a different situation. The editing and arranging of Ezekiel was done with such care and intelligence that is is a further step in the prophetic task of interpretation and exhortation. Thus, the additions to the book of Ezekiel do not obscure his prupose but make it available to readers. Israel never regarded the prophetic books primarily as biographies or histories. Rather, the bvooks were and are still regarded as preaching the divine word to every generation.

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The Text of Ezekiel

The older position, which is still the majority position today, believes that that additions and expansions were added to the text in course of copying it. Many expansions could have been made by Ezekiel himself, who apparently realized early on that the prophetic book itself could carry on his god-given task of instructing Israel.

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The Text of Ezekiel

Scholars are divided on how to explain the longer Hebrew text and the apparent doublets, repetitions, and expansions, many of which are in the Greek text as well as the Hebrew. A few scholars defend the position that Ezekiel is the author of virtually the entire book and so attribute the repetitions and expansions to the prophet's rhetorical style.

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The Text of Ezekiel

The Hebrew text is a later form of that text, which has been supplemented by systematic additions, some of which resemble language and concepts in Deuteronomy. The additions are mostly minor: additions of parallel words or phrases, explanations, filling out of the context, harmonizing additions, and Deuteronomistic formulations. The textual situation is much like that in Jeremiah, where the Greek text is 15 percent shorter than the Hebrew, and is an earlier version of the text.

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The Theology of the Book

It is his vision of the process of judgment that Ezekiel makes his greatest contribution to the Christian Bible. In the confusing and destructive events of the early sixth century. Ezekiel recognized the judgment of the Lord. He allowed the Lord to act in justice and compassion and do a new thing---bring about a restored people living peacefully and happily with God at the center. Without panic, steadily and insistently, he instructed the people how to live in the judgment process. He showed them its immediate goal (33-37) and its ultimate goal (40-48). They thus could endure, trust in God alone, and hope in the world that God would bring in.

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