Interpretation of Israel's past history in the book of Ezekiel as is exemplified in chapters 16, 20, and 23

Abstract

The present study seeks to examine how Ezekiel interprets the past history of the people of Israel as he presents it in chapters 16, 20, and 23, of the hook which bears his name. "»hat is involved in the examination is primarily the question of how Ezekiel uses the older traditions in those three chapters. To achieve this purpose, the literary-critical method, which has dominated the studies of Szekiel since the last decades of last century, and the form-critical method, arejl not enough. This is so, since the problem posed above is concerned with the history of traditions, especially of those which are used by Ezekiel in his interpretation of his people's past history. Therefore, another critical method is urgently needed} and this is the so called traditio-historical method. All of this means that the acceptance of the traditio-historical method cannot be regarded as the rejection of the literary-critical method. Instead, the traditio-historical method must be regarded as an additional tool and should be used together with the other critical methods.

ly using the traditio-historical method, it is now possible to examine Ezek. 16, 20, and 23, in a broader context. This context comprises not only the organic relation between Ezekiel and the book which bears his name, but also their organic relations with the prophetic movement, with other prophetic books, and with the Israelite traditions in general.

The examination of Ezek. 16, 20, and 23 reveals that Ezekiel'3 interpretation of Israel's past history is found chiefly in Ezek. 16:1-43} 20:1-31} and 23»1~20. And the examination of these three big sections reveals that, on the one hand, Ezekiel depends on the older traditions, and on the other, he uses those older traditions in his own way and for his own purpose. In Ezek. 16:1-45 Ezekiel stands chiefly in the David-Zion traditions, in Ezek, 20:1-31 chiefly in the exodus-wilderness-conquest traditions, and in Kzek. 23*1-20 in both the David-Zion traditions and the exodus-wilderness-conquest traditions. Apart from the fact that these two streams of traditions, i.e., the David-Zion traditions and the exodus-wilderness-conquest traditions, are very central in the life of Israel as the people of Yahweh, they have become both the basic traditionmaterials and the frame of reference fox* the course of Ezekiel's interpretation of his people's past history.

In spite of all this, the examination of the three sections specified above has shown that Ezekiel's interpretation of Israel's past history is unique. This is so./Inter alia, (a) no other prophet or Israelite traditionist has ever used /since the metaphor of husband-wife relationship in so an extensive way and for so a radical purpose as Bzekiel (chapters 16 and 23)} (b) no other prophet or Israelite traditionist has ever used those two streams of tradition in their reverse meaning and purpose (chapters 16, 20, and 23)} (c) no other prophet or Israelite tradi¬ tionist has ever employed stereotyped formulas and structures in his speech in so an extensive way as Ezekiel (chapter 20)} (d) the paratactical juxtapositions of short sentences which make up lengthy descriptions in chapters 16, 20, and 23. are very characteristic of Ezekiel.

Coupled with the fact that Ezekiel is a genuine insider in the Israelite traditions in that he is both a prophet and a priest, all of these findings lead to the conclusion that s (a) the uniqueness and the raiicality of Ezekiel's interpretation of his people's past history lie in his own constant stress on the darker side of that history and in his extravagant elaborations of the tradition-elements which serve his purpose; (b) Ezekiel's interpretation of Israel's past history has very much been influenced by his understanding of the current situation of the people, and in many cases he reads this situation back to the past history of the people; (o) historico-critically, this reading back might be inaccurate, but traditio-historically it is not without basis. This is so, since (1) Ezekiel's interpretation of Israel's past history is only one of many interpretations given by the Israelite traditionists, and (2) the two streams of tradition which Ezekiel uses in his interpretation are living streams of tradition, which, on the one hand, are still in the process of all-Israelization, and on the other, are subject to any review.

In the context of the ministry of Ezekiel, his interpretation of Israel's past history has shown that, a genuine traditionist as he really is, Ezekiel has been able to understand and to review critically both his people's past history and his people's traditions, and to use them to be the vehicle of the message he is commissioned to deliver.