There is, however, another feature of E.'s work which cannot be wholly explained by the novelty of his position, and has sometimes been regarded as the result of abnormal physical states to which the prophet was subject. Amongst the most per- plexing references in the book are those ti a spell of ' dumbness,' which lay upon him from jear the commencement of his ministry tiU the announce ment of the fall of Jems. (cf. 3*"- 24" 33*'). Closely akin to this is the representation of his being bound with ropes {3'"), and lying immovable for months together on one side or the other for a sign to the house of Israel, although at the same time performing actions which formed a necessary part of the sign (4*''-) There seems no strong reason why all these descriptions should not be treated as of a piece with the general symbolism which runs through the book. But to some recent inter- preters they have suggested the theory that
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EZEKIEL
EZEKIEL
817
throughout the earlier part of his ministry E. laboured under nervoua diseases of the most dis- tressing kind, and utilized his symptoms as a means of impressing certain truths on the minds of hia fellow . exiles. This view was first ex- pounded, with great learning and ingenuity, by Klostermann, who found in E.'s condition all the marks of catalepsy, hemiplegia, alalia, hallucina- tion, and so fortn. It is diilicult to believe that he has advanced the cause of sober and scientific interpretation of Scripture. The truth would »eem to lie rather with those writers who regard these representations as imaginative symbols, interesting as illustrations of the prophet*8 mode of thought, but not answering to anything external in his life. The ' dumbness * is but a strong figure for the sense of restraint and defeat caused by the incredulity of the people, lasting till the prophet's authority was estaolished by the fulfilment of his main prediction (cf. 29^). So the actions of ch. 4
rbolize partly the siege of Jems., and partly captivity of the two branches of the house of Israel ; and their meaning as signs is inconsistent with the supposition that they were exhibitions of a bodily malady, unless we are to assume a miracle, to which the history of OT prophecy furnishes no parallel. It is, of course, equally inconceivable that the signs should have been enacted in panto- mime, either in presence of the people or in Bolitude ; and the same remark applies to many others of the symbolic actions which are describeu. Except in so far as the suggestions may have originated in an ecstatic state of mind, they do not appear to difler from the ordinary operations of the fancy in bodying forth mental processes by means of sensible imagery.
The Book of Ezekiel (save for a somewhat cor- rupt text) exists in tlie form in which it left the hands of its autlior, ditt'ering in this respect from the two other great prophetical collections, which took shape through tne labours of successive editors. Neither the unity nor the authenticity of Ezekiel has been questioned by more tlian a very small minority of scholars.* Not only does it bear the stamp of a single mind in its phraseology, its imagery, and its mode of thought, but it is arranged on a plan so perspicuous and so compre- hensive that the evidence of literary design in the composition becomes altogether irresistible. Critics are divided as to tlie best nrincii>le of classification, some preferring a twofold, others a threefold or even a fourfold division ; but all are agreed that the work falls into certain large sections intended to represent successive piiases of Ezekiel's ministry. Witliin the general scheme the order is on the whole chronological, although it may be doubted how far the chronology is to bo taken literally, or how far it is meant to separate difTerent groups of oracle' -
00KTRNT8.— i. The flret division (chs. 1-24) embraces about a half of the hook, and corresponds to the first period of E.'b work, consisliriff almost exclusively of pro]>hccic8 of judg^ntint, tuch &8 he littered before the destniction of Jerusalem. Theso have no doubt been couHlderably altered and amplified tn the oourse of writing, and it is pos-sitilu tliat here and there traces of a later point of view may be app:irt-nt. Minor uections are partly siiif(fe»ted by the dat«8 preuxwi to ccrlain chapters (see 8* 2<)i); in other cases they can be recot,'iiized by intt'rnal Indications. 1. Chs. 1-3 deHcrilnj the ecstatic experiences by which the prophet was prepare'! for his work, inciudintr, /r«(, an elaborate description of the <livine chariot which occupies so
froniinent a place in the book (cf. 3^3 84 433)^ and the glory of lim who sat on it(ch. 1); gecond, his commission to declare
• The chief exceptions are Zunz, who first (Oottesdi^nMliche Vortrage der Judtn, 1832) assigned the book to the early I'ers. period, and afterwards {ZDMQ xxvii. G70ff.) brouj^ht it down to the years 440-400 (the earlier view, however, is allowed to stand In the posthumous od. of the Vortriigr, 18^2) ; fJeiger ( (jW$eh Hft, p. 23); who held a shnllar view ; and Heinecke (Gfgch. d V. Israel, \. p. 138, 1876), who placed the author as lato as I 3. 164-163.
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