The Prophetic Objection in Ezekiel iv 14 and its Relation to Ezekiel's Call

Author: Phinney, D. Nathan

Source: Vetus Testamentum, Volume 55, Number 1, 2005 , pp. 75-88(14)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

W. Zimmerli has argued persuasively that Ezekiel iv 12-15 is a secondary addition to the series of sign acts found in iv 1-v 4, maintaining that the text was attached in its current location because of its affinity with the sign act that immediately precedes. In Ezekiel iv 12-15, Ezekiel protests Yahweh's instruction to prepare food using human excrement, a protest to which Yahweh responds in a conciliatory way. This paper accepts Zimmerli's analysis that the passage is secondary and seeks to offer an explanation for the voiced prophetic objection, heretofore not seen in the book. In short, it argues that this voiced objection functions to fill a void left in the call narrative of Ezekiel (i 1-iii 15), a void which needed to be filled for the prophet to be seen as legitimate. Further, it concludes that this addition stems from the hand of the prophet him-self and that it was added, in great part, for the purpose of asserting his legitimacy.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568533053713613

Publication date: 2005-03-01