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At the time of Ezekiel’s birth (ca. 622 B.C.), the situation in Israel was quite favorable to Yahwehistic worship and veneration. King Josiah was leading a grand religious reformation, having destroyed the alters high places in the land of Judah and reinstated the Torah as the center of Israelite religion, but this restoration would not last. Soon Josiah would be killed in a pitched battle with Nebo, the king of Egypt, and a litany of wicked kings would ascend the throne of Judah, each leading the people further and further from true Israelite religion. At the age of twenty-five, Ezekiel witnessed Yahweh’s judgment firsthand both in Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion and exile of Judah (597 B.C.). Turning thirty while in the foreign land of Babylon, his ministry began not with the assumption of priestly duties in the temple but with a prophetic vision of the glory of Yahweh by the Chebar canal (Ezekiel 1).

His prophetic ministry, unlike that of his contemporary Jeremiah, was entirely to a people in exile. For six years while the exiles hoped for a speedy return to the land, Ezekiel proclaimed the upcoming destruction of the exile’s homeland. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Ezekiel’s message shifted to one of hope and future restoration of the exiled Israelites to the land and a new temple in which God would reside.

Commentaries

Allen, Leslie. Ezekiel 1-19. WBC

Allen, Leslie. Ezekiel 20-48. WBC

Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Ezekiel. Interpretation

*Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24. NICOT

*Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48. NICOT

Eichrodt, Walther. Ezekiel: A Commentary. OTL

Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 1-20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB

Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 21-48: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB

*Highly Recommended

DH Posts

Thursday’s blog post is taken from the Book of Ezekiel. The past posts are categorized below. Click the reference for the blog post, select “Print” for a printer friendly version of the post, and choose “Download” for the .pdf version of the post. Download the all the posts by right-clicking the heading of each chapter (i.e. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, etc.).

*Get Adobe Reader Free*

Hebrew Text

View the entire Hebrew text of Ezekiel here.

At the time of Ezekiel’s birth (ca. 622 B.C.), the situation in Israel was quite favorable to Yahwehistic worship and veneration. King Josiah was leading a grand religious reformation, having destroyed the alters high places in the land of Judah and reinstated the Torah as the center of Israelite religion, but this restoration would not last. Soon Josiah would be killed in a pitched battle with Nebo, the king of Egypt, and a litany of wicked kings would ascend the throne of Judah, each leading the people further and further from true Israelite religion. At the age of twenty-five, Ezekiel witnessed Yahweh’s judgment firsthand both in Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion and exile of Judah (597 B.C.). Turning thirty while in the foreign land of Babylon, his ministry began not with the assumption of priestly duties in the temple but with a prophetic vision of the glory of Yahweh by the Chebar canal (Ezekiel 1).

His prophetic ministry, unlike that of his contemporary Jeremiah, was entirely to a people in exile. For six years while the exiles hoped for a speedy return to the land, Ezekiel proclaimed the upcoming destruction of the exile’s homeland. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Ezekiel’s message shifted to one of hope and future restoration of the exiled Israelites to the land and a new temple in which God would reside.

Commentaries

Allen, Leslie. Ezekiel 1-19. WBC

Allen, Leslie. Ezekiel 20-48. WBC

Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Ezekiel. Interpretation

*Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24. NICOT

*Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48. NICOT

Eichrodt, Walther. Ezekiel: A Commentary. OTL

Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 1-20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB

Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 21-48: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB

*Highly Recommended

DH Posts

Thursday’s blog post is taken from the Book of Ezekiel. The past posts are categorized below. Click the reference for the blog post, select “Print” for a printer friendly version of the post, and choose “Download” for the .pdf version of the post. Download the all the posts by right-clicking the heading of each chapter (i.e. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, etc.).

*Get Adobe Reader Free*

Hebrew Text

View the entire Hebrew text of Ezekiel here.