Aspects of the Literary Structure of the Book of Ezekiel

TitleAspects of the Literary Structure of the Book of Ezekiel
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1972
AuthorsTalmon, Shemaryahu, and Michael A. Fishbane
JournalTarbiz
Volume42
Issue1
Pagination27-41
Abstract

The present paper is intended to illustrate some structural techniques and devices which were employed by the ancient Israelite literatae in the fashioning of biblical books by way of an analysis of Ezekiel's Temple vision (Ez. xl : 1 — xliii : 12) : summary line, inclusio, inversio, resumptive repetition, and Leitwort. It is suggested that the recognition of these and similar techniques is conducive to the achievement of two complementary aims in the literary analysis which can be legitimately applied to biblical writings: the isolation of component parts in a given structural unit; and the discernment and definition of the ways and means by which the individual constitutive components were progressively welded into the present comprehensive unit — the book or the tradition complex. In the issue on hand, scholars unanimously agree on the distinctiveness of Ez. xl—xlviii with respect to the preceding parts of the book, so much so that in some discussions, this complex is not touched upon. However, it is being more and more recognized that the Book of Ezekiel displays an overall structural conception in which the vision of a future restitution in Chaps. xl—xlviii, combined with the prophecies of comfort of Chaps. xxxiii—xxxix including the Gog and Magog oracles, balance the collection of hortatory speeches of doom and destruction which constitute the core of the first part of the book (Chaps. i—xxxii). It is further generally accepted that notwithstanding its inherent common thrust, also the unit Chaps. xl—xlviii is of a composite nature. Some basic constitutive pericopes can be clearly delineated. One of these is the vision of the future temple building which is the immediate concern of this paper. The vision appears to be based on an architectural blueprint that deviates to some degree from the plans of Solomon's Temple and the Temple of the period of the Return from the Exile. The integrated complex (xl : 1 — xliii— 12) is concluded by the summary line זאת תורת הבית על ראש ההר כל גבלו סביב סביב קדש,קדשים הנה זאת תורת הבית introduced and closed by the cultic-legal formula זאת התורה which repeatedly marks the termination of a pericope in priestly legislation (cp., e.g., Lev. vi—vii, esp. vii : 31; xiii : 59; xiv : 32, 54—57 etc.), and which in our case should be considered the original closing formula of the basic building plan. It is maintained that the repetition of the formula in Ez. xliii : 12, as in similar instances, points to internal accrusions in the summary line which mirror parallel developments in the preceding text-unit (xl : 1—xliii :12), namely the integration of the 'blueprint' into the wider literary context of Ezekiel's 'temple vision'. Now, since we find no reference to the 'Kabod' pericope (xliii : 1—9) in the summary line (xliii : 12), it follows that initially this unit was wholly independent from the 'blueprint', and became attached to it only when both were used by the prophet in the fashioning of his 'temple vision'. When the vision complex is viewed without this insert, the closing passage xliii : 10—11 and the summary line (xliii : 12) become rejoined with Chap. xlii. An examination of the remaining elements in xliii :12— [הנה] זאת תורת הבית having been explained and set aside as the original closing formula of the 'blueprint', i.e., על ראש ההר כל גבלו סביב סביב קדש קדשים — shows that they in no way reflect the subject matter or the vocabulary of the building plan. These elements, to which after the exclusion of the 'Kabod' pericope now can be added typical expressions in the preceding verses xliii : 10—11 and in xlii : 20, form the reconstituted complete closing passage of the 'vision', and display striking affinities with its introduction (xl : 1—5). Together, they are an 'inclusio' frame for the building plan. The main features of the opening turn up Leitwort-fashion in the ending in an inverted order, thus exemplifying the 'inversio' technique, which will be fully discussed elsewhere. In the ensuing examination of the introductory passage (xl : 1—5), two parallel strands are distinguished by utilizing the analytical tool of the 'resumptive repetition' (H. Wiener, The Composition of Judges, etc., London 1929), or 'Wiederaufnahme' (C. Kuhl, ZAW, LXV, 1952, pp. 1—11). One strand is shown to form the proper introit for the 'building plan', whereas the other introduces the comprehensive 'temple vision'. This latter bears the clear stamp of Ezekelian terminology and imagery, as found preponderantly in the 'destruction vision' of Chaps. (viii) x—xi, the negative pole of the positive 'temple vision'. In order to highlight the intended congruence between these two prophecies, the prophet — arranger — inserted into the 'temple vision' the crowning element of the 'return of the Kabod' (xliii : 1—9) which in the destruction vision had been depicted as departing from the building (xi : 22—23). Summing up, it can be said that Ezekiel structured his 'temple vision' on an archival document, the 'building plan', by encasing it in an inclusio-type literary frame which bears the imprint of the prophet's style, complementing it by the 'Kabod' pericope, and thus integrating the whole complex into the overall structural conception of the book.

URLhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/23593485
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