WHEATON COLLEGE
THE WRATH OF YAHWEH IN THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL
SUBMITTED TO DR. DANIEL I. BLOCK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF BITH 638-OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY
BY JUSTIN LANGLEY APRIL 21, 2009
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 THE ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONCEPT OF DIVINE WRATH........................... 2 EZEKIEL’S WRATHFUL VOCABULARY.................................................................... 4 Six Nouns Denoting Yahweh’s Wrath
4
Seven Verbs That Express or Affect Yahweh’s Wrath
7
FOUR CASE STUDIES....................................................................................................10 Ezekiel 5:1-17
11
Ezekiel 7:1-27
13
Ezekiel 13:1-16
16
Ezekiel 16:15-43
17
NEW TESTAMENT TRAJECTORIES............................................................................19 SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUDING THOUGHTS..........................................................20 BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................................23
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INTRODUCTION Theologians often reckon with the concept of God’s wrath as that from which a person most needs salvation. Since theologians often start with the question of salvation, they also start searching for answers in the New Testament, particularly in Paul’s writings or in the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. However, it seems clear that whatever the New Testament writers had to say about the wrath of God, they looked to the Hebrew Scriptures as their starting point for understanding this concept. With that assumption in place, therefore, this study will seek an understanding of the wrath of Yahweh from within the Hebrew Scriptures, where the prophets first described and articulated Yahweh’s revelation of his wrath. Since the authors of the Hebrew Bible spent a vast amount of ink with regard to this topic, this study will limit the investigation to but one author, namely Ezekiel, chosen primarily because the number of occurrences of Hebrew terms used for Yahweh’s wrath exceeds the number of occurrences in any other book, except Psalms. In order to understand the thought-world within which Ezekiel lived, we will first attempt a brief analysis of other ancient Near Eastern conceptions of divine wrath. Then, this study will analyze the vocabulary Ezekiel utilized to express the nature of Yahweh’s wrath. Then, we will analyze individual pericopes in which Ezekiel discusses Yahweh’s wrath. Next, we will briefly look ahead and offer some possible New Testament trajectories for Ezekiel’s teachings on Yahweh’s wrath. Finally, we will synthesize Ezekiel’s teaching about Yahweh’s wrath, and we will note distinctions between Ezekiel’s portrayals of Yahweh’s wrath with that of other ancient Near Eastern cultures. This study seeks to shed some light on 1) what makes Yahweh angry; 2)
3
what Yahweh may do in his anger; and 3) how Yahweh’s anger diminishes.
THE ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONCEPT OF DIVINE WRATH
People living in the ancient world related every event that they experienced or observed to the activity of their gods. They did not separate the secular or mundane from the spiritual or supernatural; gods involved themselves to some degree with every aspect of human life.1 Thus, people interpreted their individual circumstances as resulting from divine causality. Commonly, when a person experienced sickness or some other calamity, that person may conclude that he or she has angered a deity in some way, and therefore, the god has inflicted an illness or caused trouble for the person. So, people composed texts like this “Prayer to Every God” in order to plead with a god to relieve their suffering: May the fury of my lord’s heart be quieted toward me…. The sin which I have done, indeed I do not know. The forbidden thing which I have eaten, indeed I do not know; The prohibited (place) on which I have set foot, indeed I do not know. The lord in the anger of his heart looked at me; The god in the rage of his heart confronted me; When the goddess was angry with me, she made me become ill. The god whom I know or do not know has oppressed me; The goddess whom I know or do not know has placed suffering upon me.2
These people had no certainty as to why they suffered, but they assumed that they experienced misfortunes as a result of a god exacting justice for an offense they had unknowingly committed.
1
See John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Though and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 87. 2
“Prayer to Every God,” translated by Ferris J. Stephens (ANET, 391).
4
Even within the mythological texts of the ancient world, authors portrayed the gods as having capricious explosions of fury. For example, in the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh Epic, the other gods do not wish to invite Enlil to the offering after the great flood because Enlil “unreasoning, brought on the deluge,” and when Enlil saw that someone had survived the great flood on a boat, he “became angry, He was filled with fury at the gods.”3 This typical portrayal of gods quickly and easily provoked to anger shows that the people understood that “the wrath of the pagan gods approaches a malicious and uncontrolled type of ‘passion’ which is often characteristic of an implacable personality.”4 On occasion, however, some texts describe a deity’s anger as a legitimate response to people’s disregard or abuse of the rituals designed to please the deity or to people’s failure to fulfill oaths to which they had called the deity as a witness. Still, “even when the ancients believed that their gods had legitimate reason to vent anger, they nevertheless harbored deep anxieties about whether those gods had any internal motivation to control or limit that anger.”5 These ideas about the gods formed a significant part of the “cognitive environment” of the ancient Israelites.6 The importance of understanding the ancient Near Eastern concept of divine anger will become clearer as we investigate Ezekiel’s own presentation of the wrath of Yahweh, and we will draw comparisons and contrasts as we progress.
EZEKIEL’S WRATHFUL VOCABULARY
3
“Gilgamesh,” translated by Benjamin R. Foster (COS 1.132:460).
4
Gary A. Herion, “Wrath of God, Old Testament,” AYBD 6:991.
5
Ibid., 992-3, italics original.
6
For the term “cognitive environment,” see Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought, 19-26.
5
Ezekiel uses a unique set of Hebrew terms to express and describe Yahweh’s wrath. As much as possible, we will stay within Ezekiel’s usage of these terms to define them, while appealing to other biblical literature in order to draw parallels or otherwise illuminate or illustrate their meanings. Six Nouns Denoting Yahweh’s Wrath Ezekiel chooses among six Hebrew nouns to identify Yahweh’s wrath: ,מה ָ ח ֵ ,רה ָ ְ עב ֶ ,חרון ָ ,עם ַ ַז אף, and נאה ְ ק ִ .7 When denoting Yahweh’s wrath in particular, these words occur in Ezekiel a total of 62 times. We will investigate each one in turn and note some unique features of each. עם ַ ַז This word only occurs three times in Ezekiel (21:36; 22:24, 31). In 21:36, it occurs in Yahweh’s announcement that he will execute judgment on the Ammonites, and in 22:31, it occurs in the same collocation as an object of the verb שפך, directed against Israel. In 22:24, Yahweh refers to a day of עם ַ ַ ז, which Israel had not yet experienced. Though often translated “indignation,” the root seems to carry the nuance of a particular expression of anger involving a curse or a strong denunciation.8
חרון ָ In Ezekiel’s extended discussion of the day of the wrath of the Lord, this noun occurs twice (7:12, 14). Jeremiah uses the term frequently modifying אף, seemingly to indicate the fierceness or intensity of Yahweh’s anger. The noun derives from the root חרה, which the lexica explain as
7
Technically, of course, נאה ְ ק ִ does not denote anger/wrath; however, the term is used frequently in Ezekiel in conjunction with terms for God’s wrath, so I felt compelled to include a study of this word as well. 8
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, “זעם,” HALOT on CD-ROM 276. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007. Cf. L. J. Wood, “עם ַ ָ ז,” TWOT 247.
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relating to an Aramaic root that means “to burn.”9 However, the authors of the Hebrew Bible always use the root metaphorically to refer to anger. Though Ezekiel’s two uses of the noun do not occur in construct relationship with another noun for anger as in Jeremiah, perhaps he chooses this particular term in this context to mean the same thing, namely, Yahweh’s fierce, burning anger. רה ָ ְ עב ֶ Used four times as part of the unique Ezekelian phrase ;31 ,22:21 ;21:36) תי ִ ֖ ָ עבְר ֶ אש ֵ ֥ ְב 38:19), its precise derivation remains debated.10 However, in most of the occurrences in the prophetic corpus, the term closely relates to specific actions of judgment or to specific results that Yahweh will bring about. This may add some support to the notion that the noun derives from the root עבר, which basically indicates movement across something.11 Ezekiel also uses this term in one other verse, as part of the phrase רת ְיה ָ֔וה ַ ֣ ְ עב ֶ ֙ם, ביו on ְ which Yahweh will finally execute judgment and give full vent to his wrath.12 מה ָ ח ֵ This word occurs 32 times, much more frequently than any other word for anger that Ezekiel uses. Another metaphorical term, מה ָ ח ֵ can refer to heat produced by poison,13 and the root shows up in Akkadian and in Ugaritic denoting venom.14 Not only does this appear as Ezekiel’s term of choice for the wrath of Yahweh most often, Ezekiel also uses the term more frequently 9
L. J. Wood, “חרה,” TWOT 322. Cf. G. Sauer, “חרה,” TLOT 472-4.
10
G. Sauer, “רה ָ ְעב ֶ ,” TLOT 835-6.
11
G. van Groningen, “בר ַ ע ָ ,” TWOT 640-4.
12
See below, under the section on Ezekiel 7:1-27.
13
See Deut 32:33, for example.
14
G. Sauer, “מה ָ ח ֵ ,” TLOT 435-6.
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than any other author in the Hebrew Bible.15 אף Across the Hebrew Bible, most authors choose אףmore frequently than any other term to express the wrath of Yahweh. Ezekiel only uses this term 11 times, and it usually occurs parallel with מה ָ ח ֵ .16 The word regularly refers to a person’s (or animal’s) nose or nostrils,17 and scholars have posited a couple of possible explanations for why it often depicts anger. Some have highlighted the heavy breathing that often accompanies a person’s anger as the probable depiction intended.18 Others have pointed out snorting as the background for the imagery.19 Or perhaps the common flaring of the nostrils in anger best fits the author’s depictions using this term.20 Whatever the specific anatomical imagery the authors intended, it seems clear that they recognized that people express anger physically through the nose. נאה ְ ק ִ Ezekiel uses this term nine times closely connected to some of the other terms listed above. Though not a term for wrath or anger in and of itself, it contributes significantly to Ezekiel’s portrayal of Yahweh’s wrath.21 Often rendered “jealousy” in English, it seems better to understand Ezekiel as intending to denote intense passion, particularly “Yahweh’s enthusiasm
15
Jeremiah comes in second with 17 occurrences.
16
Ezek 5:13, 15; 7:8; 13:13; 20:8, 21; 22:20; and 25:14.
17
E.g., Gen 2:7; Nu 11:20; Ps 115:6; Song 7:5.
18
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, “אף,” HALOT on CD-ROM 76-7. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007.
19
G. Sauer, “אף,” TLOT 168.
20
G. van Groningen, “אף,” TWOT 58.
21
Cf. Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24 (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 13.
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for his covenant relationship with Israel.”22
Seven Verbs That Express or Affect Yahweh’s Wrath Ezekiel uses seven Hebrew verbs in various collocations with the nouns discussed above: ,עלה נוח, שלח, שפך, כעס,רגז, and כלה. Some of these verbs show how Yahweh expresses or acts out his wrath, while others indicate what effects flow out of his wrath or how Yahweh’s wrath may cease. עלה A very common word in the Hebrew Bible, its normal usage denotes upward motion.23 Ezekiel uses it with this meaning, for example, in 8:11 where he describes a cloud of smoke from incense going up. However, Ezekiel also uses this term in relation to Yahweh’s wrath arising in 24:8 and 38:18. Perhaps he intends to portray Yahweh’s wrath coming to expression, rising from within himself, moving from something internal to something visible and external. רגז This term only occurs once in Ezekiel (16:43), and his intended meaning remains debated. Normally a transitive verb in the Qal stem, Ezekiel has attached an object to it: לי ִ .֖ This has led most English translations to emend the text and re-point the verb as a Hiphil.24 In any case, the verb sometimes refers to the effects of earthquakes25 and thus to people trembling due to fear or anger.26 Therefore, with Yahweh as the object of this verb, it would seem that Ezekiel intends to 22
Ibid., 211.
23
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, “עלה,” HALOT on CD-ROM 828. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007. Cf. G. Wehmeier, “עלה,” TLOT 885. 24
Cf. Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 499 n.222.
25
E.g., Joel 2:10; Amos 8:8.
26
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, “רגז,” HALOT on CD-ROM 1182-3. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007.
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portray Israel (or Jerusalem the prostitute; cf. 16:3, 35) as causing Yahweh to tremble in rage.27 כעס Ezekiel uses this verb three times (8:17; 16:26, 42) to convey the basic emotion of anger.28 In 8:17 and 16:26, he uses the Hiphil form to show that Israel had provoked Yahweh to anger by their violence and by their unfaithfulness.
שפך This verb regularly means to pour out or spill liquids such as water (Exod 4:9) or broth (Judg 6:20).29 However, Ezekiel and other authors frequently use the term to refer to the violent and intentional shedding of blood.30 Furthermore, Ezekiel also uses this term metaphorically to depict the pouring out of the wrath of Yahweh 13 times.31 Apparently, he intends his audience to recognize the imagery “of a boiling cauldron, whose contents are poured out on an unfortunate victim.”32 שלח Once, in 7:3, Ezekiel uses this verb to direct the wrath of Yahweh toward Israel. The word
27
In an effort to avoid emending the text, we might prefer to follow Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20 (AYB 22; New Haven: Yale University, 1983), 288, who thinks the verb refers to Israel’s failure to tremble in fear before Yahweh, taking the negative particle at the beginning of the verse to govern both זכרand רגז. But, in light of v. 42, I remain convinced that רגזrefers to Yahweh’s anger as a result of Israel’s unfaithfulness. 28
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, “כעס,” HALOT on CD-ROM 491. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007.
29
Ibid., “שפך,” HALOT on CD-ROM 1629. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007.
30
See Ezek 16:38; 22:3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 27; 23:45; 24:7, 8; 33:25; and 36:18.
31
Ezek 7:8; 9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21, 33, 34; 21:36; 22:22, 31; 30:15; 36:18.
32
Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 254.
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usually means to send (as in 2:3, 4; 3:5, 6), but it also serves to depict the launching of arrows by an archer (e.g., Ps 18:15; 144:6; Ezek 5:16).33 Thus, Ezekiel here “treats the divine anger as if it were an arrow to be shot (cf. 5:16), or an envoy to be commissioned.”34 נוח Four times Ezekiel uses this verb in the Hiphil stem with מה ָ ח ֵ as its direct object (5:13; 16:42; 21:22; 24:13). He also uses it when he describes how Yahweh set him down in the valley in the midst of a visionary experience (37:1). Frequently, the verb appears expressing the action of rest or settling down.35 Ezekiel seems to use it in these four passages to indicate that Yahweh’s wrath (almost personified) has a task to complete and cannot rest until that task comes to completion. כלה This term indicates the ceasing of an action or the completion of a task or even the completion of a particular period of time.36 Ezekiel uses it ten times in connection with either מה ָ ח ֵ or אףor both (5:13 twice; 6:12; 7:8; 13:15; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 43:8), with the first occurrence in the Qal stem and the other nine in the Piel stem. The repeated usage of this term may have provided Ezekiel’s readers with hope that Yahweh’s wrath would complete its mission, and that Yahweh would finish pouring out his wrath on the nation.37
FOUR CASE STUDIES 33
M. Delcor and E. Jenni, “שלח,” TLOT 1330.
34
Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 249.
35
F. Stolz, “נוח,” TLOT 722-3.
36
L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, “כלה,” HALOT on CD-ROM 476-7. Version 3.0f. 2000-2007.
37
Cf. J. N. Oswalt, “לה ָ ָ כ,” TWOT 439-40.
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In order to understand more fully what Ezekiel teaches about Yahweh’s wrath, we must take a look at several texts. Word studies can only provide skeletal data on which we may then build from the contexts in which Ezekiel uses these words. The texts under consideration all come from chapters 1-24, since chapter 24 records the vision given to Ezekiel on the very day of the beginning of Jerusalem’s siege and destruction as the ultimate execution of Yahweh’s wrath.38
Ezekiel 5:1-17 Ezekiel 5 begins with Yahweh commanding Ezekiel to perform a dramatic prophetic portrayal of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel cuts off the hair of his face and head and separates it into three parts; he then burns one part, slices another part with a sword, and scatters the other part in the wind. As he did this, he took a small number of hairs and hid them in his robe, as commanded by Yahweh (5:1-4). Yahweh then states that Jerusalem has rebelled against him by disobeying his rules and acting even more wickedly than the surrounding nations. He clearly articulates that their wicked rebellion has brought Yahweh’s decision to execute judgment upon them (5:5-8). The language recalls both Lev 26 and Deut 28, where Yahweh reveals what he will do if Israel breaks his covenant (Lev 26:15). Yahweh makes clear in vv. 5-12 the many legitimate reasons why he must judge this wicked people. He lists the following reasons for the impending doom: •
Jerusalem rebelled against Yahweh’s rules and statutes (5:6; cf. Lev 26:14-15)
•
Jerusalem is more wicked and turbulent than the nations that are all around her (5:6-7a)
•
Jerusalem has not walked in Yahweh’s statutes or obeyed his rules (5:7b; cf. Lev 26:3; Deut 28:15) 38
See Ralph H. Alexander, “Ezekiel,” in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gæbelein; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 741.
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•
Jerusalem has not even acted according to the rules of the nations around her (5:7c)
•
Jerusalem’s abominations (5:9)
•
Jerusalem has defiled Yahweh’s sanctuary with all of her detestable things and abominations (5:11)
Because of these things, Yahweh must execute judgments as he stands against them (5:8; cf. Lev 26:17). He says, then, that the following will result from his judgments, showing that “the covenant curses of Leviticus have become Ezekiel’s prophetic dooms”:39 •
Fathers will eat their sons and sons will eat their fathers (5:10a; cf. Lev 26:29; Deut 28:53-57)
•
Yahweh will scatter the people (5:10b, 12c; cf. Lev 26:33; Deut 28:64)
•
Yahweh will withdraw (5:11)
•
Death will occur due to pestilence and famine (5:12; cf. Lev 26:25; Deut 28:21)
In bringing all of these things to pass in judgment on Jerusalem, Yahweh explains in 5:13 that this is how his anger will come to its end (פי ִ ֗ לה א ָ ֣ ),ָ ְכas וhe brings it to rest on the wicked people (בם ָ ֖ תי ִ ֛ ָחמ ֲ תי ִ ֧ נחו ).ִ When ֲו ַה this happens, Yahweh will assuage himself (תי ִ מ ְ ח ָ ֑ ֶ ְ)הִנ40 וafter having to express such excited passion (תי ִ ֔ נא ְ ק ִ ). ְב Moreover, Yahweh indicates that when he finishes being angry with them, they will know that he is Yahweh. This is the first of 72 occurrences of the so-called “recognition formula” in Ezekiel.41 Therefore, Yahweh’s exercising of judgment in wrath has the underlying 39
Mark F. Rooker, “The Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Ezekiel,” FM 15 (1998): 47.
For a similar understanding of תי ִ ְח מ ָ ֑ ֶ הִנ,ְ וsee G. A. Cooke, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel (ICC 21; Edinburgh, T & T Clark, 1936), 61. Cf. H. J. Stoebe, “נחם,” TLOT 737. 40
41
Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel 1: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapters 1-24 (Hermeneia; trans. R. E. Clements; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 38.
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purpose of bringing his people to a genuine knowledge of who he is. He follows this statement with a reiteration of all that he will bring to pass in judgment against them in vv. 14-17 with an additional “panoply of stereotyped dooms … drawn from the curses for covenant malfeasance found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.”42 Indeed, even the recognition formula reflects Yahweh’s repeated self-identification in Lev 26: “I am Yahweh your God” (Lev 26:1; cf. 26:2, 13, 45).
Ezekiel 7:1-27 Yahweh directs his word of judgment in chapter 7 through Ezekiel against the land of Israel ( אל ֵ ֖ ָ שר ְ מת י ַ ֥ ד ְ )לא in ְ particular (7:1-2).43 He depicts the land as a target at which Yahweh will loose the arrow of his wrath.44 Yahweh pronounces the end of the land of Israel, probably referring metonymically to the people of Israel (7:3). The usage of קץ ֵ ֑ seems to reflect a common doom proclamation of prophets in the ancient world; it has the sense of, “Time is up!”45 He summarizes his resolved commitment to go through with his judgment saying, “And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity” (7:4, ESV).46 Yahweh uses this phraseology seven times in Ezekiel, and the language is also found five times in Deuteronomy.47 Yahweh again shows that
42
Michael Fishbane, “Sin and Judgment in the Prophecies of Ezekiel,” Int 38 (1984): 147. Cf. Rooker, “Use of the Old Testament,” 49. 43
This phrase is unique to Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. He uses it in 7:2; 11:17; 12:22; 13:9; 18:2; 20:38, 42; 21:7, 8; 25:3, 6; 33:24; 36:6; 37:12; 38:18, 19. 44
Cf. the discussion of שלחabove.
45
Cf. Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 248, and Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20, 147. Against Zimmerli, Ezekiel
46
Cf. Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20, 115.
47
Ezek 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:5, 10; and 16:5. Cf. the similar language in Deut 7:16; 13:8; 19:13, 21; and
1, 204.
25:12.
14
his purpose in all of this remains that the people would know him. In vv. 5-10, Yahweh repeats the announcement of impending doom with the exclamation of עה ָ ֛ ָ.רHere, Yahweh individualizes the coming judgment as coming on רץ ֶ שב הָ ֑א ֵ ,֣ inhabitant יו of the land (v. 7), probably representing the collective people of Israel. He speaks of the approaching day on which he would pour out his wrath on them and complete his anger against them, judging them according to their wicked ways (vv. 7-8). Yahweh must repay them for their abominations in accord with their ways, even as they continue to practice those abominations (v. 9). Yahweh repeats the recognition formula with an added participle, identifying Yahweh as the one who strikes, lest they should question who, in fact, brings this terrible judgment upon them. Furthermore, the repetition in this section between vv. 2-4 and vv. 5-9 serves to highlight the urgency of this proclamation, “like two trumpet blasts of a watchman.”48 This section reflects the language of Isa 13 and Zeph 1, where they each discuss the day of Yahweh. All three texts speak of the day as near (Ezek 7:7; Isa 13:6; Zeph 1:7, 14); all three texts speak of the day involving Yahweh’s wrath (Ezek 7:3, 8, 12, 14, 19; Isa 13:3, 9, 13; Zeph 1:15, 18); and all three involve Yahweh’s repaying the people for their wickedness (Ezek 7:3, 4, 8, 9; Isa 13:11; Zeph 1:8, 9, 12).49 Ezekiel’s verbiage very closely resembles Zephaniah’s in several places; for example, compare Ezek 7:19, “Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD,” with Zeph 1:18, “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD.”50 48
Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 243.
49
However, though the linguistic parallels are clearly there between Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Zephaniah, Isaiah’s oracle is against Babylon rather than Israel, and Zephaniah universalizes his message for the whole world. Cf. also Isa 22. 50
For other similarities that may imply the direct influence of Zephaniah on Ezekiel, see Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 245-6.
15
Yahweh continues to announce the certain coming doom on the people of Israel in vv. 10-13. The people’s violence has increased and grown into total wickedness, Yahweh will sweep them away completely (v. 11). In v. 13, he indicates that the vision of doom concerns everything Israel is and has, and he has committed to bring this to pass; nothing can stop the coming wrath.51 Finally, he notes that each person’s iniquity has brought on the coming wrath. In vv. 14-15, Yahweh again brings in the language of the covenant curses of Lev 26 with the mention of sword, pestilence, and famine overtaking the people. The imagery depicts a military invasion which would utterly defeat them; the people will find no protection and will not be able to stand against their enemy (vv. 16-17).52 This military invasion represents the day of the wrath of Yahweh. In response to their calamity, they try to buy off their enemy with silver and gold, but their money will not help them at all on that day;53 silver and gold cannot remedy sword, pestilence, and famine (v. 19ab). Indeed, Yahweh indicates that their money caused them to sin in some way (v. 19c). They even used the temple treasures to make idols to worship (v. 20).54 Finally, as a vivid depiction of what will come to pass on the day of the wrath of Yahweh, he says that foreign enemies will take all their silver and gold and all their temple treasures and profane the sanctuary (vv. 21-22). The final section of chapter 7 continues the theme of the previous paragraph: Yahweh will bring a foreign nation to conquer Israel. He begins by explaining the reason that this must come to pass: “For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence” (v. 23). The people will seek peace in the aftermath of their conquest, but they will have no peace (vv. 2451
Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20, 150.
52
Lamar Eugene Cooper, Sr., Ezekiel (NAC 17; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 114.
53
Cf. Fishbane, “Sin and Judgment,” 150.
54
Cf. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, 264.
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25). In all of this, Yahweh judges them in accord with their way and in accord with their judgments (v. 27). He closes this oracle again with the recognition formula, reminding them of the goal of the day of the wrath of Yahweh: that the people will know him.
Ezekiel 13:1-16 Yahweh directs this oracle in Ezek 13 against the false prophets of Ezekiel’s day. He compares them with jackals among the ruins of a destroyed city (v. 4). They treat the people of Israel like their prey, abusing them with lying visions that they have dreamed up in their own hearts (vv. 23, 6-7). In v. 5, Yahweh indicts them for not going up into the breaches and building up the wall of Israel, so that it could stand on the day of Yahweh. The imagery comes from siege warfare, whereby the enemy approaches a city’s wall with battering rams in order to make a breach in the wall through which their soldiers might march in order to take the city.55 Apparently, the only way to defend against the soldiers coming through the breach was having some of the defending city’s people physically climb up into the gap to ward off the intruding army.56 This imagery may continue behind Yahweh’s description of the false prophets’ smearing the wall with whitewash; rather than building up the wall with substantive defenses, they merely paint over the breach so that the people will remain unaware of the impending doom.57 Yahweh uses this imagery again in 22:30, where he says that he sought out someone among the leadership of the Israel (prophets, priests, and royalty) who would stand in the breach, but he could not find a single person who would do the job. In light of this passage, the metaphor implies that Yahweh actually is the 55
For archaeological and iconographic information about these practices, see Yigael Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands: In the Light of Archaeological Discovery (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963), 315, 422-25. 56
Christoph Schroeder, “’Standing in the Breach’: Turning Away the Wrath of God,” Int 52 (1998): 19.
57
Cf. Leslie C. Allen, Ezekiel 1-19 (WBC 28; Dallas: Word, 1994), 201.
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invading army who is about to break through the wall of the city to plunder and destroy in judgment. The false prophets’ lies may be contrasted with Ezekiel’s proclamation from Yahweh that judgment is near. But we must keep in mind that Ezekiel’s message is not actually directed to the people of Jerusalem but rather to the exiles of Babylon. If an Ezekiel would have risen up to speak truth to the people in Jerusalem, the people may have repented of their wickedness and Yahweh would have stayed his hand (22:30).58 This seems to reflect the principle of the watchman; the prophets’ responsibility from Yahweh was to give warning to the people when their deeds would bring judgment (3:17-21). Yahweh then declares the prophets’ exclusion from the privileges of Israel (vv. 8-9), and by their exclusion the people would know that Yahweh is God. He then assures them that, even though the prophets had assured the people that the wall would stand as they smeared it with whitewash, he will bring the wall down with rain, hailstones, and great wind (vv. 10-14). Through this metaphorical meteorological barrage, Yahweh’s wrath would accomplish its mission: the false prophets will cease lying to the people, and the judgment will be complete against the wicked people of Israel (vv. 13-15).59 The recognition formula follows in v. 15, indicating that the false prophets will know that he is Yahweh when all of this calamity comes to pass.
Ezekiel 16:15-43 Ezekiel 16 paints a vivid picture in which Yahweh finds Israel as an abandoned infant, adopts 58
Cf. Schroeder, “Standing,” 19, though I differ him in that he argues that the actual performance of justice to restore “social cohesion and stability of the community” is what the metaphor is trying to portray. I am arguing that the metaphor points specifically to the obligation of the prophets to speak truth to the people to give them the opportunity to repent. 59
There is a play on the word כלהin vv. 13-15: Yahweh will bring his wrath to completion (interpreting the Qal infinitive construct of v. 13 as a purpose clause), which will cause the false prophets to cease their lying (v. 14), and in this way Yahweh will finish his wrath (v. 15).
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her, and then marries her. To these gracious gestures Israel responds with wicked unfaithfulness. Vv. 1-14 depict Yahweh basically stumbling upon this abandoned baby girl, still lying in the blood of her birth. He caused her to live and rescued her and empowered her to grow (vv. 4-7). Yahweh passed by her again when she was a teenager, and he spread his cloak over her and entered into a marriage covenant with her (v. 8). He then exalted and pampered her and made her famous among the nations (vv. 9-14). All that Yahweh had done for her to make her beautiful and famous she then twisted, attracting illicit lovers of the nations around her. The lewd imagery utilized in these verses to depict Israel’s idolatrous rebellion against her husband Yahweh is remarkable. Verses 16-21 portray how Israel took the very gifts Yahweh had given her of gold, silver, clothing, and bread, and used them to make idols. Even more abominable than this, she took her very children, Yahweh’s children, and sacrificed them to these idols! Yahweh summarizes the fundamental reason why she did these things: “you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood,” the days when Yahweh gave her life, rescued her from her pitiable state, and adorned her with the most profound beauty (v. 22). Continuing the description of Israel’s wickedness, Yahweh describes how she then began to flaunt her beauty before the nations, inviting them to come and spend the night with her (vv. 23-26a). Yahweh has elaborately described all of this to detail the reason his anger is coming. Her whoredom has provoked Yahweh to anger (v. 26b).Verse 27 seems to imply an “interim punishment” intended to curb Israel’s wickedness, but then he notes that she continued to “play the whore” with Assyria and Chaldea (vv. 28-29).60 Yahweh then breaks in with an interjection of his own anger towards his wife for her behavior,61 and he again grounds his anger specifically 60
Allen, Ezekiel 1-19, 240.
61
For discussion of the enigmatic Hebrew phrase ְ מלָ ֙ה לִבָ ֔תֵך ֻ ֲ א,מה see ָ ֤ Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20, 283. Cf.
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in the adulterous actions he has just metaphorically narrated (vv. 31-34). In vv. 35-37, Yahweh addresses the prostitute directly, telling her that he will turn her lovers against her. Whereas he had earlier covered her nakedness in gracious pity (v. 8), now he will expose her nakedness for the nations to abuse and punish (v. 37). Thus, he executes the death penalty due to both murderers and adulterers, since she had murdered her own children and had committed adultery with other nations (v. 38).62 Thus, Yahweh will deliver Israel over to her neighbors, and they will plunder her in a complete reversal of fortunes for Israel (vv. 39-41). As Yahweh brings the nations against Israel he will bring his wrath to rest upon them, and his excited passion will turn away from them. When this occurs, Yahweh says that he will relax and his anger will subside (v. 42). After this, we might expect the recognition formula, but instead Yahweh reiterates his reason for judging them in this way: the people had caused him to tremble in rage because they did not remember his grace to them in former days and instead turned to commit lewdness and abominable idolatry (v. 43).63
NEW TESTAMENT TRAJECTORIES Having studied much of how the book of Ezekiel portrays the wrath of Yahweh, we can now look to the New Testament to see how the authors of the New Testament might have reflected on or developed Ezekiel’s teachings.64 The first possible affinity comes in the preaching of John the Baptist. He calls out the Pharisees in the crowd, wondering who warned them of the coming Block, The Book of Ezekiel 1-24, 496-7. 62
The death penalty for murderers is found in Exod 21:12 (not to mention Gen 9:6); the death penalty for adulterers is found in Lev 20:10. See Zimmerli, Ezekiel 1, 347, and Allen, Ezekiel 1-19, 242. 63
See the discussion of רגזabove.
64
After all, one author at least has recognized Ezekiel as the “bridge between the testaments.” See C. Hassell Bullock, “Ezekiel, Bridge Between the Testaments,” JETS 25 (1982): 23-31.
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wrath (Matt 3:7; cf. Luke 3:7). This sounds very similar to Ezekiel’s language in Ezek 7, where Yahweh announces that the day for pouring out his wrath is near (7:7, 8; cf. 30:3). Also from Ezek 7, the book of James, in his words against the rich, may reflect Ezekiel’s words about silver and gold not having any ability to deliver the people from the coming wrath of Yahweh (Jas 5:16). Finally, the book of Revelation contains some significant affinities with the imagery of Ezekiel. Ten times, Ezekiel refers to the finishing of Yahweh’s wrath, using the term כלה. The Septuagint translates this term with συντελέω, eight out of ten times when it is used concerning Yahweh’s wrath. Revelation 15 opens with John seeing seven angels with seven plagues, and he comments at the end of v. 1,“With [these plagues] the wrath of God is finished,” using the verb τελέω. Thus, the last act of Yahweh’s wrath will take place in the pouring out of the seven bowls. We have already reflected on the imagery of pouring out the wrath of Yahweh in Ezekiel; here, John sees the final outpouring of his wrath out of bowls that affect every area of creation permeated by the wickedness of humanity. In this, the refrain of the judgment cycles of Revelation is repeated: “They did not repent of their deeds” (Rev 16:11; cf. Rev 9:20, 21; 16:9).
SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUDING THOUGHTS The oracles of Ezekiel contain many descriptions and explanations of the wrath of Yahweh. We may draw several conclusions from Ezekiel’s portrayal. First, Yahweh expresses his wrath always in conjunction with judgment of people for profound wickedness. We noted several times the connections in Ezekiel with the covenant curses in Lev 26 and Deut 28. Thus, “the persistent theme of divine judgment of Jerusalem (and Judea) for her sins makes it clear that the punishment to come is the personal justice of Israel’s covenantal God, not simply the working out of some impersonal principle of natural balance or retribution.”65 Thus, he seems to fulfill the 65
Fishbane, “Sin and Judgment,” 148.
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covenant curses against the people when they have broken the covenant. Yahweh lists emphatically and repeatedly the reasons for his wrath. This sets him off significantly from the gods of other nations in the ancient world. He acts rationally and in the interests of his people. We cannot get the impression from reading Ezekiel that Yahweh “is at once involved in the world, and yet is not affected and does not get angry when disobedience occurs, or when injustice is done. … [Rather], God is affected by all that God creates, even as God affects all of creation.”66 In Ezekiel 16, for example, we read that Israel has provoked him to wrath with her harlotries. “That God’s anger is ‘provoked’ … reveals that God is moved by what people do and shows that anger is a divine response and not a divine attribute. God’s anger is contingent; if there were no sin, there would be no divine anger.”67 As Yahweh interacts with his people, he responds to their wickedness and disobedience with wrath and judgment. In Ezekiel, it is particularly clear that Yahweh’s exercise of wrath and judgment is for the benefit of the people, as the recognition formula occurs so frequently. He wants his people to know him as he is, and as they are disobedient and rebellious, he must bring them back to himself through judgment.68 Even in Ezek 16, however, Yahweh proclaims a word of hope. Though they have utterly broken the covenant, and he will execute judgment and fulfill the covenant curses with full force, Yahweh will still remember his covenant and establish it with his people, and they will, in truth, know Yahweh (16:59-63). Yahweh hints at this hope by using the terms כלהand שפך. Both of these terms imply that his anger with the people will only last for a time and that it will subside 66
Rufus Burrows, Jr., “The Love, Justice, and Wrath of God,” Enc 59 (1998): 385.
67
Terence E. Fretheim, “’I was only a little angry’: Divine Violence in the Prophets,” Int 58 (2004): 373.
68
Bruce Edward Baloian, Anger in the Old Testament (American University Studies, Series VII: Theology and Religion 99; New York: Peter Lang, 1992), 76.
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once it has been completely poured out (cf. Ps 30:6).69 When Yahweh is angry, he may express his anger in a variety of ways, but, in Ezekiel’s oracles, every judgment that will come about in his wrath reflects the curses laid out in the covenant (i.e., Lev 26; Deut 28). These effects can include military conquest, death, sickness, famine, plague, earthquake, and most notably exile.70 Breaking the covenant stipulations is the primary reason the wrath of Yahweh is ever kindled, though the people of Israel had broken the covenant in a variety of ways.71 Repentance and returning to faithfulness to Yahweh and his covenant can turn away his wrath and his threats of punishment. Ezekiel 22:30 shows that Yahweh looked hard for someone who would proclaim the people’s need to repent and return to covenant faithfulness, but he found no one. Thus, this text implies that if he had found someone to do this, the people might have repented and Yahweh would not have had to pour out his wrath on them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexander, Ralph H. “Ezekiel.” Pages 737-996 in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary 6. Edited by Frank E. Gæbelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. Allen, Leslie C. Ezekiel 1-19. Word Biblical Commentary 28. Dallas: Word, 1994. Baloian, Bruce Edward. Anger in the Old Testament. American University Studies, Series VII: Theology and Religion 99. New York: Peter Lang, 1992. 69
Terence E. Fretheim, “Theological Reflections on the Wrath of God in the Old Testament,” HBT 24 (2002): 19. Cf. Burrows, “The Love, Justice, and Wrath,” 390. 70
For a comprehensive list, cf. Baloian, Anger, 99.
71
See Seth Erlandsson, “The Wrath of YHWH,” TynBul 23 (1972): 113.
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Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997. Bullock, C. Hassell. “Ezekiel, Bridge Between the Testaments.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25 (1982): 23-31. Burrow, Rufus, Jr. “The Love, Justice, and Wrath of God.” Encounter 59.3 (1998): 379-407. Cooke, G. A. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel. International Critical Commentary 21. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1936. Cooper, Lamar Eugene Sr., Ezekiel. New American Commentary 17. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994. Erlandsson, Seth. “The Wrath of YHWH.” Tyndale Bulletin 23 (1972): 111-6. Fishbane, Michael A. “Sin and Judgment in the Prophecies of Ezekiel.” Interpretation 38:2 (1984): 131-50. Fretheim, Terence E. “‘I was only a little angry’: Divine Violence in the Prophets.” Interpretation 58:4 (2004): 365-75. ________. “Theological Reflections on the Wrath of God in the Old Testament.” Horizons in Biblical Theology 24:2 (2002): 1-26. Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 1-20. The Anchor Yale Bible 22. New Haven: Yale University, 1983. Hallo, William W., ed. Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World. Vol. 1 of The Context of Scripture. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997. Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody, 1980. Herion, Gary A. “Wrath of God, Old Testament.” Pages 989-96 in vol. 6 of The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. 6 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Jenni, Ernst, and Claus Westermann. Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament. Translated by Mark E. Biddle. 3 vols. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1997. Koehler, Ludwig and Walter Baumgartner, eds. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament on CD-ROM. Logos Library System Version 3.0f. 2000-2007. Print ed.: Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Rev. by Walter Baumgartner and Johann Jakob Stamm. Translated by M. E. J. Richardson. 5 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1994-2000. Lopez, René A. “Do Believers Experience the Wrath of God?” Journal of the Grace Evangelical
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Society 15:2 (2002): 45-66. Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3d ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Rooker, Mark F. “The Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Ezekiel.” Faith and Mission 15:2 (1998): 45-50. Schroeder, Christoph. “‘Standing in the Breach’: Turning Away the Wrath of God.” Interpretation 52:1 (1998): 16-23. Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. Yadin, Yigael. The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands: In the Light of Archaeological Discovery. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963. Zimmerli, Walther. Ezekiel 1: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapters 1-24. Translated by Ronald E. Clements. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
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