Ezekiel

Ezekiel, whose name, Yehézq'el signifies "strong is God", or "whom God makes

strong" (Ezek. i, 3; iii, 8), was the 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). With the other exiles

he settled in Tell-Abib near the Chobar (Ezek. i,1; iii, 15) in Babylonia, and

seems to have spent the rest of his life there.In the fifth year after the captivity of

Joachim, and according to some, the thirtieth year of his life, Ezekiel received his

call as a prophet (Ezek. i, 2, 4 etc) in the vision which he describes in the

beginning of his prophecy (Ezek. i,4; iii, 15). From Ezek. xxix, 17 it appears that

he prophesied during at least twenty-two years.

Ezekiel was called to foretell God's faithfulness in the midst of trials, as well as

in the fulfilment of His promises. During the first period of his career, he foretold

the complete destruction of the kingdom of Juda, and the annihilation of the city

and temple. After the fulfilment of these predictions, he was commanded to

announce the future return from exile, the re-establishment of the people in their

own country and, especially, the triumph of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the

second David, so that the people would not abandon themselves to despair and

perish as a nation, through contact with the Gentiles, whose gods had apparently

triumphed over the God of Israel. This is the principal burden of Ezekiel's

prophecy, which is divided into three parts. After the introduction, the vision of the

calling of the prophet (Ezek. i-iii,21), the first part contains the prophecies

against Juda before the fall of Jerusalem (Ezek. iii, 22-xxiv). In this part the

prophet declares the hope of saving the city, the kingdom, and the temple to be

vain, and announces the approaching judgment of God upon Juda. This part may

be subdivided into five groups of prophecies.

After a second revelation, in which God discloses to the prophet His

course of action (iii,22-27), the prophet foretells by symbolic acts (iv,v) and

in words ( vi-vii ), the siege and capture of Jerusalem, and the banishment

of Juda.

In a prophetic vision, in the presence of the elders of Israel, God reveals to

him the cause of these punishments. In spirit he witnesses the idolatry

practiced in and near the temple (viii); God commands that the guilty be

punished and the faithful be spared (ix); God's majesty departs from the

temple (x), and also, after the announcement of guilt and punishment,

from the city. With this the judgment which the prophet communicates to

the exiles ends (xi).

In the third group (xii-xix) many different prophecies are brought together,

whose sole connection is the relation they bear to the guilt and

punishment of Jerusalem and Juda. Ezekiel prophesies by symbolic

actions the exile of the people, the flight of Sedecias, and the devastation

of the land (xii, 1-20). Then follow Divine revelations regarding belief in

false prophecies, and disbelief in the very presence of true prophecy. This

was one of the causes of the horrors (xiii, 21-xiv, 11), to be visited upon

the remnant of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (xiv, 12-23). The prophet

likens Jerusalem to the dead wood of the vine, which is destined for the

fire (xv); in an elaborate denunciation he represents Juda as a shameless

harlot, who surpasses Samaria and Sodom in malice (xvi), and in a new

simile, he condemns King Sedecias (xvii). After a discourse on the justice

of God (xviii), there follows a further lamentation over the princes and the

people of Juda (xix).

In the presence of the elders the prophet denounces the whole people of

Israel for the abominations they practiced in Egypt, in the Wilderness, and

in Canaan (xx). For these Juda shall be consumed by fire, and Jerusalem

shall be exterminated by the sword (xxi). Abominable is the immorality of

Jerusalem (xxii), but Juda is more guilty than Israel has ever been (xxiii).

On the day on which the siege of Jerusalem began, the prophet

represents, under the figure of the rusty pot, what was to befall the

inhabitants of the city. On the occasion of the death of his wife, God

forbids him to mourn openly, in order to teach the exiles that they should

be willing to lose that which is dearest to them without grieving over it

(xxiv).

In the second part (xxv-xxxii), are gathered together the prophecies concerning

the Gentiles. He takes, first of all, the neighbouring peoples who had been

exalted through the downfall of Juda, and who had humiliated Israel. The fate of

four of these, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Philistines, is

condensed in chapter xxv. He treats more at length of Tyre and its king

(xxxvi-xxviii,19), after which he casts a glance at Sidon (xxviii,20-26). Six

prophecies against Egypt follow, dating from different years (xxix-xxxii. The third

part (xxxiii-xlviii), is occupied with the Divine utterances on the subject of Israel's

restoration. As introduction, we have a dissertation from the prophet, in his

capacity of authorized champion of the mercy and justice of God, after which he

addresses himself to those remaining in Juda, and to the perverse exiles (xxxiii).

The manner in which God will restore His people is only indicated in a general

way. The Lord will cause the evil shepherds to perish; He will gather in, guide,

and feed the sheep by means of the second David, the Messiah (xxxiv).

Though Mount Seir shall remain a waste, Israel shall return unto its own. There

God will purify His people, animate the nation with a new spirit, and re-establish

it in its former splendour for the glory of His name (xxxv-xxxvii). Israel, though

dead, shall rise again, and the dry bones shall be covered with flesh and

endowed with life before the eyes of the prophet. Ephraim and Juda shall, under

the second David, be united into one kingdom, and the Lord shall dwell in their

midst (xxxvii). The invincibleness and indestructibility of the restored kingdom are

then symbolically presented in the war upon Gog, his inglorious defeat, and the

annihilation of his armies (xxxviii-xxxix). In the last prophetic vision, God shows

the new temple (xl-xliii), the new worship (xliii-xlvi), the return to their own land,

and the new division thereof among the twelve tribes (xlvii-xlviii), as a figure of His

foundation of a kingdom where He shall dwell among His people, and where He

shall be served in His tabernacle according to strict rules, by priests of His

choice, and by the prince of the house of David.

From this review of the contents of the prophecy, it is evident that the prophetic

vision, the symbolic actions and examples, comprise a considerable portion of

the book. The completeness of the description of the vision, action and similes,

is one of the many causes of the obscurity of the book of Ezekiel. It is often

difficult to distinguish between what is essential to the matter represented, and

what serves merely to make the image more vivid. On this account it happens

that, in the circumstantial descriptions, words are used, the meaning of which,

inasmuch as they occur in Ezekiel only, is not determined. Because of this

obscurity, a number of copyist mistakes have crept into the text, and that at an

early date, since the Septuagint has some of them in common with the earliest

Hebrew text we have. The Greek version, however, includes several readings

which help to fix the meaning. The genuineness of the book of Ezekiel is

generally conceded. Some few consider chapters xl-xlviii to be apocryphal,

because the plan there described in the building of the temple was not followed,

but they overlook the fact that Ezekiel here gives a symbolic representation of

the temple, that was to find spiritual realization in God's new kingdom. The Divine

character of the prophecies was recognizes as early as the time of Jesus the

son of Sirach (Eccles. xlix, 10, 11). In the New Testament, there are no verbatim

references, but allusions to the prophecy and figures taken from it are prominent.

Compare St. John x etc. with Ezek. xxxiv, 11 etc.; St. Matthew xxii, 32, with

Ezek. xvii, 23. In particular St. John, in the Apocalypse, has often followed

Ezekiel. Compare Apoc. xviii-xxi with Ezek. xxvii, xxxviii etc., xlvii etc.

JOS. SCHETS

Transcribed by Sean Hyland

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V

Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor

Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

The Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org