Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:lamentations Chapter 5 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of lamentations, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Lamentations 5
New Revised Standard Version
1Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! The complaint
2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens.
3We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows.
4We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought.
5With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest.
6We have made a pact with Egypt and Assyria, to get enough bread.
7Our ancestors sinned; they are no more, and we bear their iniquities.
8Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hand.
9We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.
10Our skin is black as an oven from the scorching heat of famine.
11Women are raped in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah.
12Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders.
13Young men are compelled to grind, and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14The old men have left the city gate, the young men their music.
15The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning.
16The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!
17Because of this our hearts are sick, because of these things our eyes have grown dim:
18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it. Conclusion
19But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.
20Why have you forgotten us completely? Why have you forsaken us these many days?
21Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old —
22unless you have utterly rejected us, and are angry with us beyond measure. EZEKIEL
1646EZEKIEL Introduction The prophecies in the book of Ezekiel are among the most fascinating and puzzling writings in the Bible. The prophet expresses his thought through a variety of literary forms — signs, visions, allegories, denunciations, and legal arguments, among others. He sometimes uses bizarre or extreme imagery and elaborates it to an almost excessive point. He has inspired fear, awe, and wonder in readers because he attempts not merely to name, but also to embody, God's sovereignty, holiness, and mystery in words that come close to the limits of expression. At first this variety, intricacy, and elaboration can seem confusing. It is easy to get lost in Ezekiel's images and forget his larger concerns; it is easy as well to pick out striking passages and ignore the context of the book as a whole. But Ezekiel makes a coherent effort to deal with profound and difficult issues: Has God abandoned Jerusalem and the Temple? Does the suffering of the people of Judah have a purpose? How should the people understand their tragic history? And, perhaps most important, how can God now move on with God's people, in a transformed and renewed state? To understand how Ezekiel addresses these questions, we must consider not only the situation in which he found himself, but also the traditions and beliefs to which he looked for answers. The complexity of the book becomes clearer when we understand that it is the carefully written composition of one with a profound respect for the texts of his tradition, and that it has been carefully put together and preserved for the instruction of later readers. Ezekiel wrote his prophecies, and his followers edited, expanded, and preserved them, in the sixth century BCE in Babylon, during the exile of the Judeans from their homeland. The exile thus forms the historical EZEKIEL
1647context of the book, and at several points, particularly in the allegory in 17.1-24, Ezekiel refers to the Babylonian subjugation of Judah. The Babylonians under Nebuchadrezzar II (who ruled 605-562 BCE) defeated the Egyptians in
605BCE. The Egyptians had allied with the great Assyrian Empire, which the Babylonians destroyed between
614and
609BCE. Although these victories made Babylon the leading political power in Syria-Palestine, including the territory of Judah, the Judeans, often acting in concert with other neighboring states, eventually rebelled. The Babylonians, in an escalating response to the continued efforts of the Judeans to throw them off, exiled the Judeans in two phases, separated about a decade apart. They first besieged Jerusalem under Jehoiakim, who died before Jerusalem fell in 597. When the Babylonians took over the city, his son, Jehoiachin, along with most of the Judean ruling class, was exiled to Babylon. The Babylonians installed a puppet king, Zedekiah; when he, too, attempted to rebel, they destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, deposed the rest of the rulers, and exiled much of the population except the poorest to Babylon in
586BCE. Ezekiel was among the first group of exiles, taken to Babylonia in
597BCE. Even so, he remained well informed about events in Judah, and his prophecies concern both expatriates and those who remained behind. He could address both communities as a single entity, since they were in ready contact with each other, and both were passionately concerned about the fate of Jerusalem. Neither group accepted Ezekiel's indictment of their guilt or believe his prophecies about Jerusalem's coming destruction. After the destruction in fact took place, the prophet's words turned to themes of renewed hope and restoration. Ezekiel and his school, the followers who edited and preserved his prophecies, were members of a specific lineage of priests in Israel known as Zadokites (see 1.1-3; 44.15-31). At the time of Ezekiel's exile the Zadokites, who were steeped in the traditions of Jerusalemite royal theology, controlled the Israelite high priesthood and held power at the Jerusalem Temple. These Jerusalem priests were proponents of "Zion theology," the traditions that emphasized God's choice of EZEKIEL
1648Jerusalem as Zion, the holy (restored and redeemed city of God) city, and the protection for Jerusalem that resulted from this choice (see
2Sam 7.4-17; Ps 46; 132). These traditions also stressed God's unconditional choice of Davidic monarchy and of Abraham's descendants. The exile of the Judean rulers and the destruction of Jerusalem directly challenged this theology, since they called into question God's eternal promises to Zion. Ezekiel answered these challenges with cosmic, eschatological, and apocalyptic visions of a rebuilt Zion that fulfilled the promises of God's eternal protection despite the fall of the earthly Jerusalem (see 1.22-25, 26-28; 37.28; 38.12; 43.7; 48.35). In these visions particularly, Ezekiel anticipated much that was yet to come in the biblical writings, including later developments of apocalypticism (Dan 7-12, and the New Testament book of Revelation). The specific language and laws of the priests and the traditions of the Temple heavily influenced Ezekiel as a Zadokite. A significant body of these laws, the so-called "Holiness Collection" (HC), can be found in the Pentateuch. HC is in the form of a vassal-covenant, a type of agreement in which guarantees on one side are specifically linked to responsibilities on the other. For Ezekiel this covenant form proved invaluable in interpreting the exile, since it allowed for the possibility that defilement, injustice, and covenant infidelity on Israel's part could lead to judgment and even exile without annulling God's eternal promises to Israel (Lev 26.42). The HC material stresses the unique sacredness of the people and land of Israel, in the midst of which the Lord dwells. This sacredness includes not only ritual and worship, but also morality and social justice. The Holiness Collection extends beyond the confines of Lev 17-26 (known as the "Holiness Code"), and includes other parts of the Pentateuch often identified as belongs to the Priestly source (P). Authoritative, written traditions such as HC profoundly influenced Ezekiel, an influence that extended to the character of the book of Ezekiel itself. EZEKIEL
1649The prophet and his followers, composed the book in writing and preserved it for the specific purpose of instructing readers at a later time. The written composition and the careful preservation of Ezekiel contrast with much of the other prophetic literature in the Hebrew Bible, which was spoken directly to a contemporaneous audience. Many of the words of prophets such as Isaiah were only written down some considerable time after they had been spoken; therefore they could be, and often were, modified to adapt them to situations that arose in later times. In Ezekiel, however, there are clear indications of an originally written composition and of an early intention to preserve the text. For instance, the thoroughgoing chronological notations show that Ezekiel and his followers took great care to demonstrate the timeliness and veracity of Ezekiel's oracles, and thereby their authority as prophecy. This care for the written text and its accurate transmission, as well as for the preservation of authoritative traditions such as the HC material, mark a breakthrough in the development of written scripture in Israel, and therefore help us to understand the historical processes that created the biblical canon over the centuries. Ezekiel's character as a literary text makes it a complex book to read and interpret. Much of the other prophetic literature, as oral literature, generally uses less elaborate forms; Ezekiel, however, is made up of intricate, deliberately composed literary creations. Although some scholarship has viewed such literary ornamentation and intricacy as indicating confused layers of literary growth, newer readings have discovered literary integrity in the texts, even when the final form has resulted from a process of transmission and editing. One of the characteristic features of the book is the frequent repetition of key words or phrases (e.g., "mortal" , "for the sake of my holy name," "So that you/they will know that I am the Lord"). Important aspects of the theology of Ezekiel are reinforced by the repetition of these and other formulas. The style of Ezekiel is often "non-mimetic": It does not always render reality by immediate representation. Instead, it probes behind of beyond observable things and events, using metaphors and mythic poetry to portray the underlying structure of existence or the transcendent realities beneath both plain sensory observation and EZEKIEL
1650historical records. The visions of Ezekiel show both inner and outer realities, abolishing or going beyond normal sensory and temporal bounds. Because of these literary qualities, reading Ezekiel requires a sophisticated approach, in order to avoid mistaking some of the descriptions for historical events, observable behaviors, or factual reports. For example, some interpretations of Ezekiel's behavior take it as evidence of a disoriented or abnormal personality. But the descriptions of these acts — muteness, for example, or holding prolonged, agonizing postures — are not evidence of psychopathology but are instead literary images that have rich theological import (see 3.22-27; 4.4-8). The book of Ezekiel is complex, but fortunately its organization and outline are agreeably simple. Chapters 1-24 are set before the fall of Jerusalem, and are largely prophecies of doom against the city and against Judah. An extended body of material on Ezekiel's call to prophesy begins this section in chs 1-3. Chapters 25-32 are prophecies against foreign nations, forming a bridge between Ezekiel's initial message of doom and his ultimate message of hope. The hope comes in the prophecies of restoration, chs 33-48, dating from the time after Jerusalem's fall. Clearly the capture and destruction of Jerusalem in
586BCE was the critical moment in Ezekiel's prophetic career. The prophecies of restoration include an apocalyptic passage (chs 38-39) and an extended blueprint for the restored Temple and land (chs 4048).