h. The next eight chapters (25-82) consist of prophcoiet against the foreign nations (seven In number) lying inunedialely round the land of Canaan ; viz. Ammon, Moab, ICdom, and th« Philistines (25), Tyro (26-28»»), Sidon (28»«). and Egypt (2'J 3?'
ms
EZEKIEL
EZEKIEL
The Insertion oJ these oracles in this place is an instance of the constructive skill which planned the order of the book. They fill up the interval of silence which separates the two periods of E.'s public ministry; and although most of them no doubt belong chronologically to the two years of retirement, there are some which bear a later date (see 29" 32'- 1'), showing that the principle of arrangement is literary and not historical. The section, moreover, embodies a distinct idea in the prophet's eschatological scheme. The motive of the judgments announced is to prepare the way for the restoration of Israel, bv removing the evil influences which had sprung from the people's contact with its heathen neighbours in the past (282'-28 aQ'O), Historic- ally, these judgments are conceived as taking place within the 40 years of the Chaldiean dominion (2913), and of Israel's banish- ment. In the case of Tyre and Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar is ex- pressly named as the instrument of J"'8 purpose ; the extinction of the smaller nationalities is ascribed to other agencies, which, however, are probably indirect consequences of a Bab. invasion. The supplementary oracle on Tyre (29"-21) was written after the 13 years' siege of that city by Nebuchadnezzar, and was evi- dently intended to counteract the impression produced by the non-fulfilment of the original prediction.
iii. Chs. 33-30 contain the discourses delivered In the period immediately succeeding the arrival of the 'fugitive' with the intelligence of Jerusalem's fall, when the prophet's mouth was again opened to declare the word of J" (332if.). The collection is prefaced (3ol-0) by a re-statement of the function of the prophet under the figure of a watchman, as in 3*' f^- ; then comes the ocoount of his meeting with the bearer of the evil tidings, and the oracles uttered (apparently) on that occasion (3321-3J). These are followed by three distinct and complete pictures of the redemption and restitution of Israel ; (a) the ideal monarchy as contrasted with the corrupt administration of the pre-exilic kings (34) ; ((>) the land, reclaimed from the Edomites, endowed with supernatural fertihty, purified from its ceremonial defile- ment, shall be given as an eternal possession to Israel (35 f.) ; (c) the people, now scattered and dead like drr hones, shall arise to a new life, Ephraim and Judah being united under one sceptre for ever (37). Ch. 38 f. describe the final assault on the kingdom of God by the distant nations of the world under Gog from the land of Jla^og, and their annihilation on the mountains of Israel, resulting in a demonstration of the might of J" to all the ends of the earth. This remarkable prophecy, representing the utmost limit of E.'s prophetic horizon, has the appearance of being intended as a conclusion to the book. This fact, taken in connexion with the long period of silence which follows, and a certain change of view manifested in 40 ff., strongly suggests that the first edition of the prophecies really ended here, the remaining section having been added afterwards as an ippendix.
IV. Chs. 40-48, a vision of the Ideal theocracy, with the insti- tutions by which the holiness of the redeemed people is to be expressed and maintained. There is, first, a description of the sanctuary where J" is to dwell in visible splendour (40-43) ; then, regulations as to the ministers of the temple, the duties and revenues of the priests and the ' prince,' and the system of ritual to be observed (44-46) ; lastly, a delimitation of the holy land, — which is transformed by a miraculous river issuing from the sanctuary, — and a new disposition of the tribes within it '47 f.). Although these chapters may have been a later addition to the volume, they rest throughout on the teaching of the earlier part of the book, and are the dev lopment of principles there enunciated. The chief point of difference relates to the position of the prince, whose office is hedged about with con- stitutional safeguards and restrictions, hardly applicable to the perfect Ruler spoken of in ch. 34.
LiTKKARY Style.— The style of the book ex- hibits a falling off from the idiomatic purity of earlier writers, like Amos or Isaiah. The influ- ence of Aramaic is more perceptible than in any previous prophet ; the construction is loose, ami, as a rule, prosaic ; the constant recurrence of mannerisms and set phrases is at times monotonous, although the lack of variety is often compensated by a larfje rhythmic movement of the thought, running like a ground-swell through some of tlie longer orations. It is, on the whole, tlie careful and elaborate style of a literary man rather than that of a public speaker in livmg touch with his audience. With obscurity it cannot fairly be charged, for the serious difficulties which the book presents are mostly due to the imperfect con- dition of the text.
Of the higher qualities of E.'s genius the most Btriking is a powerful and grandiose imagination, which reveals itself in a variety of directions, now revelling in weird mytliological conceptions (28. 32), and at other times clothing itself in the peculiar artificial realism which has been already remarked as a feature of the book. That there was a vein of true poetry in his nature is proved by hie ettective use of the' /:inah or dirge (especially