Ezekiel

Ezekiel (ēzē`kēĕl), prophetic book of the Bible. The book is a collection of oracles emanating from the career of the priest Ezekiel, who preached to Jews of the Babylonian captivity from 593 B.C. to 563 B.C. (according to the chronology given in the book itself in chapters 1 and 2). The book pivots on the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.). The book begins with oracles of warning. These chapters include Ezekiel's symbolic actions, his indictment of Judah and Israel, the abomination in the Jerusalem Temple, and the vision of the chariot-throne, which is significant for later Jewish mysticism. Next are oracles against foreign nations, chiefly Tyre and Egypt, and oracles of restoration. These include the dissipation of the threat from Gog and Magog, and the vision of the restored Temple in the midst of a sanctified land. The glory of God, which deserted the Temple in chapter 10, returns in chapter 43.

Bibliography

See studies by W. Eichrodt (1970) and J. Blenkinsopp (1990).

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Ezekiel

(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 c. 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.

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Ezekiel Old Testament

1. a Hebrew prophet of the 6th century bc, exiled to Babylon in 597 bc

2. the book containing his oracles, which describe the downfall of Judah and Jerusalem and their subsequent restoration

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Ezekiel

portrayed with flowing white beard. [Art: Hall, 118]

See : Age, Old

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Ezekiel

priest and prophet to the Jews during Babylonian captivity. [O.T.: Ezekiel]

See : Prophecy