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Ezekiel, Book

Ezekiel’s Temple Plan Draws on Babylonian Temples

During the Babylonian exile (6th c. B.C.E.), Ezekiel prophesies the building of a future temple in Israel that is unlike the Tabernacle or First Temple, but that incorporates elements familiar from Babylonian temples, including the Ezida temple of Borsippa.

Dr.

Tova Ganzel

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The Human Face on the Divine Chariot: Jacob the Knight

Jacob the patriarch’s face is said to be carved on the divine throne. Similarly, a 13th cent. masorah figurate of the four creatures drawing Ezekiel’s chariot portrays Jacob as the human creature in the form of a knight, playing off the phrase אביר יעקב, avir Yaakov (Genesis 49:24).‎

Prof.

Sara Offenberg

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Pharaoh Is a Monster: Ezekiel Decries Judah’s Ties with Egypt

Before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, Ezekiel condemns Judah's alliance with Egypt, depicting Egypt and its pharaoh as a monster that YHWH will destroy. The prophet accuses Judah of harlotry with Egypt and blames their foolish alliance on their resurgent worship of the Egyptian gods they adopted during their sojourn there.

Prof.

Safwat Marzouk

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Kedushah: Did the Angels Actually Say It?

The Kedushah prayer is based on two quotes from angels: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts...” (Isaiah 6:3) and “Blessed be the Glory of the Lord from its place” (Ezekiel 3:12). However, Shadal, the 19th century polymath, explains that the second verse is not a quote by angels, but the result of a scribal error.

Prof.

Carl S. Ehrlich

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Ezekiel’s Vision of God and the Chariot

How are we to understand Ezekiel’s bizarre vision of the chariot in its historical context? What makes it theologically so dangerous in the eyes of the rabbis?

Prof.

Carl S. Ehrlich

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Recasting the Temple Purification Ritual as the Yom Kippur Service

Leviticus 16 – ויקרא טז

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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Punishing Children for the Sins of their Parents

Ezekiel challenges the divine (in)justice of intergenerational punishment, even though it appears in the Decalogue.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Ezekiel’s Failure To Mention Shavuot

And the Re-imagining of the Harvest Festival in the Wake of the Babylonian Exile

Rabbi

Evan Hoffman

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Ezekiel: A Jewish Priest and a Babylonian Intellectual

Ezekiel, a priest born, raised, and educated in Judah, lived and prophesied much of his adult life in Babylonia in contact with cuneiform scholars and scribes. Ezekiel’s use of Akkadian loanwords,[1] his allusions to masterpieces of cuneiform literature (such as the Gilgamesh Epic), and his understanding of Babylonian cosmology all attest to his rather complete integration into the cultural milieu of Babylon.[2] 

Dr.

Laurie Pearce

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Does Ezekiel in 572 B.C.E. Know of Yom Kippur?

Staff Editors

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The Discrepancies Between the Sacrifices in Ezekiel and the Torah

The laws of holiday sacrifices in Ezekiel 45–46 contradict the laws in Numbers 28–29. The problems are so significant that some Talmudic sages thought it would be best to withdraw (לגנוז) the book of Ezekiel. This piece lays out the discrepancies in detail, surveys some traditional and modern answers, and ends with my own thoughts about why Ezekiel’s system is so different.

Dr.

Tova Ganzel

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