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Ezekiel or Yechezkel
(יְחֶזְק
ֵאל "Elohim|God will
strengthen", Standard Hebrew Yəḥezqel,
Tiberian Hebrew Yəḥezqêl) was a
prophet in the Tanakh|Hebrew Bible, commonly
regarded as the author of the biblical Book of
Ezekiel. While Ezekiel is not mentioned by name in
the Qur'an, most Islamic scholars believe that the
epithet Dhul-Kifl, who is mentioned, refers to
him.

The Book of Ezekiel gives little detail about his
life. In it, he is mentioned only twice by name:
1:3 and 24:24. He is the son of Buzi the priest,
and his name means "God will strengthen". He was
one of the Israelites|Israelite exiles, who
settled at a place called Tel-Aviv, on the banks
of the Chebar, "in the land of the Chaldeans." The
place is thus not identical to the modern city Tel
Aviv, which however is named after it. He was
probably carried away captive with Jehoiachin
(1:2; Books of Kings|2 Kings 24:14-16) about 590s
BCE|597 BCE.

On the fifth day of the fourth month in the fifth
year of his exile (Tammuz (month)|Tammuz, 590s
BCE|592 BCE), he said he beheld on the banks of
the Chebar the glory of God, who consecrated him
as a prophet. The latest date in his book is the
first day of the first month in the twenty-seventh
year of his exile (Nisan, 570s BCE|570 BCE);
consequently, his prophecies extended over
twenty-two years.

== Introduction ==

Ezekiel is a prophet who liked to act his
prophesies.  He was a prophet who loved drama and
songwriting unlike the other prophets.  He would
sometimes do unbelievable things such as taking a
potter's flask and smashing it to symbolize that
Jerusalem will be destroyed and the people in
Jerusalem will be scattered to the winds. 

The elders of the exiles repeatedly visited him to
obtain a divine oracle (chapters 8, 14, 20). He
exerted no permanent influence upon his
contemporaries, however, whom he repeatedly calls
the "rebellious house" (2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26, 27;
and elsewhere), complaining that although they
flock in great numbers to hear him they regard his
discourse as a sort of esthetic amusement, and
fail to act in accordance with his words
(33:30-33). If the enigmatical date, "the
thirtieth year" (1:1), be understood to apply to
the age of the prophet, Ezekiel was born exactly
at the time of the reform in the ritual introduced
by Josiah. Concerning his death nothing is known.

He had a house in the place of his exile, where he
lost his wife, in the ninth year of his exile, by
some sudden and unforeseen stroke (Ezek. 8:1;
24:18).

His ministry extended over twenty-three years 590s
BCE|595 - 570s BCE|573 BCE (29:17), during part of
which he was contemporary with Daniel (14:14;
28:3) and Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah, and
probably also with Obadiah. The time and manner of
his death are unknown. His reputed tomb is pointed
out in the neighbourhood of Baghdad, at a place
called Keffil.

Ezekiel occupies a unique position among the
Hebrew Prophets. He stands midway between two
epochs, drawing his conclusions from the one and
pointing out the path toward the other. Through
the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in
Jerusalem|temple, the downfall of the state, and
the banishment of the people the natural
development of Israel was forcibly interrupted.

After being led away by the Babylonians somewhere
between 597 and 596, Ezekiel, along with the other
Israelites, was resettled in Babylon. Ezekiel
himself lived in his own home in exile at Tel Abib
near Chebar Canal (
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekie
l%203:15;&version=49; 3:15), which was near Nippur
in Babylonia.

Generally speaking, life was good in captivity.
Unlike their ancestors who were enslaved by Egypt
before being led to their land by Moses, the Jews
of Ezekiel's time were able to become part of the
society they found themselves in.

Unlike other enemies, the Babylonians allowed the
Jewish people to settle in small groups. This
enabled them to preserve some sense of national
identity. Other conquering nations, like Assyria,
would scatter the people in an attempt to punish
their captives, and to integrate them into their
empire to prevent any type of organized resistance
or uprising.

While keeping their religious and national
identities, many Jewish people did start to settle
into their new environment. From building homes to
opening businesses, the Jews seemed to settle into
their exile land for the long haul.

This growing comfort in Babylon helps to explain
why so many Jewish people decided not to return to
their land. Many people would have been born in
exile and would know nothing of their old land, so
when the opportunity came for them to reclaim the
land that was taken from them, many decided not to
leave the Babylonian land they knew. This large
group of people who decided to stay are known to
be the oldest of the Diaspora communities along
with the Jews of Iran|Persia.

Some have confused the Jews exiled to Babylon with
the Lost Tribes of Israel.  The Babylonian Jews
were not lost, and are simply known as the first
true Diaspora community of Jews, seconded most
likely by those of Persia who returned with the
armies of Cyrus the Great following the conquest
of Babylonia.  The Lost Tribes of Israel refer to
the Tribes who were exiled by the Assyrians
somewhere between 200 and 300 years before the
Babylonian conquest of Judah and subsequent return
to Eretz Yisrael from Babylon by the Jews.  The
Assyrian and Babylonian exiles are separate
incidents involving different Tribes of Israel.

== His mission ==

With the Exile, monarchy and state were
annihilated, and a political and national life was
no longer possible. In the absence of a worldly
foundation it became necessary to build upon a
spiritual one. This mission Ezekiel performed by
observing the signs of the time and by deducing
his doctrines from them. In conformity with the
two parts of his book his personality and his
preaching are alike twofold. The events of the
past must be explained. Although God has permitted
His city and Temple to be destroyed and His people
to be led into exile, yet God has by this inaction
betrayed no sign of impotency or weakness; Ezekiel
asserts that God was compelled to do it because of
the sins of the people. Nevertheless, there is no
reason to despair for God does not desire the
death of the sinner, but his reformation. The Lord
will remain the God of Israel, and Israel will
remain His people. As soon as Israel recognizes
the sovereignty of the Lord and acts accordingly,
God will restore the people, in order that they
may fulfil their eternal mission and that He may
truly dwell in the midst of them. This, however,
can not be accomplished until every individual
reforms and makes the will of the Lord his law.

== Ezekiel's personality ==

Herein lies the individualism|individualistic
tendency which distinguishes him from his
predecessors. He conceives it as his prophetic
mission to strive to reach his brethren and
compatriots individually, to follow them, and to
win them back to God; and he considers himself
personally responsible for every individual soul.
Those redeemed were to form the congregation of
the new Temple, and to exemplify by their lives
the truth of the word that Israel was destined to
become a "kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6). Law
and worship--these are the two focal points of
Ezekiel's hope for the future. The people become a
congregation; the nation, a religious fraternity.
Political aims and tasks no longer exist; and
monarchy and state have become absorbed in the
pure dominion of God. Thus Ezekiel has stamped
upon post-exilic Judaism its peculiar character;
and herein lies his unique religio-historical
importance.

Another feature of Ezekiel's personality is the
pathological. With no other prophet are vision and
ecstasy so prominent; and he repeatedly refers to
symptoms of severe maladies, such as paralysis of
the limbs and of the tongue (3:25 et seq.), from
which infirmities he is relieved only upon the
announcement of the downfall of Jerusalem (24:27,
33:22). These statements are to be taken not
figuratively, but literally; for God had here
purposely ordained that a man subject to physical
infirmities should become the pliant instrument of
His will.

== Ezekiel in Jewish literature ==

Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, is said to have been a
descendant of Joshua by his marriage with the
proselyte Rahab (Talmud Meg. 14b; Midrash Sifre,
Num. 78). Some even say that he was the son of
Jeremiah, who was also called "Buzi" because he
was despised by the Jews. He was already active as
a prophet while in Palestine, and he retained this
gift when he was exiled with Jehoiachin and the
nobles of the country to Babylon (Josephus, Ant.
x. 6, § 3: "while he was still a boy"; comp.
Rashi on Sanh. 92b, above).

Although in the beginning of the book he very
describes the appearance of the throne of God,
this is not due to the fact that he had seen more
than Isaiah, but because the latter was more
accustomed to such visions; for the relation of
the two prophets is that of a courtier to a
peasant, the latter of whom would always describe
a royal court more floridly than the former, to
whom such things would be familiar (Ḥag.
13b). Ezekiel, like all the other prophets, has
beheld only a blurred reflection of the divine
majesty, just as a poor mirror reflects objects
only imperfectly (Midrash Lev. Rabbah i. 14,
toward the end). God allowed Ezekiel to behold the
throne in order to demonstrate to him that Israel
had no reason to be proud of the Temple; for God,
who is praised day and night by the hosts of the
angels, does not need human offerings and worship
(Midrash Lev. Rabbah ii. 8; Tanna debe Eliyahu R.
vi.).

According to midrash Canticles Rabbah, it was
Ezekiel whom the three pious men, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, (Shadrach, Miesheck, and
Obednigo in Christian Bibles) asked for advice as
to whether they should resist Nebuchadnezzar's
command and choose death by fire rather than
worship his idol. At first God revealed to the
prophet that they could not hope for a miraculous
rescue; whereupon the prophet was greatly grieved,
since these three men constituted the "remnant of
Judah". But after they had left the house of the
prophet, fully determined to sacrifice their lives
to God, Ezekiel received this revelation: "Thou
dost believe indeed that I will abandon them. That
shall not happen; but do thou let them carry out
their intention according to their pious dictates,
and tell them nothing" (Midrash Canticles Rabbah
vii. 8)

== Resurrection of the dead ==

Ezekiel's greatest miracle consisted in his
resuscitation of the dead, which is recounted in
chapter 37 of the Book of Ezekiel. There are
different traditions as to the fate of these men,
both before and after their resurrection, and as
to the time at which it happened. Some say that
they were godless people, who in their lifetime
had denied the resurrection, and committed other
sins; others think they were those Tribe of
Ephraim|Ephraimites who tried to escape from Egypt
before Moses and perished in the attempt. There
are still others who maintain that after
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar had
carried the beautiful youths of Judah to Babylon,
he had them executed and their bodies mutilated,
because their beauty had entranced the Babylonian
women, and that it was these youths whom Ezekiel
called back to life.

The miracle was performed on the same day on which
the three men were cast into the fiery furnace;
namely, on the Sabbath and the Day of Atonement
(Cant. R. vii. 9). Nebuchadnezzar, who had made a
drinking-cup from the skull of a murdered Jew, was
greatly astonished when, at the moment that the
three men were cast into the furnace, the bodies
of the dead boys moved, and, striking him in the
face, cried 
out: "The companion of these three men revives the
dead!" (see a Karaite record of this episode in
Judah Hadasi's "Eshkol ha-Kofer," 45b, at foot;
134a, end of the section). When the boys awakened
from death, they rose up and joined in a song of
praise to God for the miracle vouchsafed to them;
later, they went to Palestine, where they married
and reared children.

As early as the second century, however, some
authorities declared this resurrection of the dead
was a prophetic vision: an opinion regarded by
Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed, II:46) and
his followers as the only rational explanation of
the Biblical passage.

== Ezekiel the Tragedian ==

There was another ancient Jewish Ezekiel, other
than the one discussed above, who according to
Eusebius wrote Greek tragedy|tragedies on biblical
matters, including one called Exagoge, recounting
the Exodus, of which fragments have survived.

== Ezekiel and Other Faiths ==
Some Islam|Muslims believe that Ezekiel may be
Dhul-Kifl, a figure who is mentioned in the
following Qur'anic verse:

"And (remember) Ismail (Ishmael) and Idris (Enoch)
and Dhul-Kifl, all were from among those who
observe patience." (Surah 21: 85-86)

Other Muslims believe Dhul-Kifl may be the same
person as Gautama Buddha, taking 'Kifl' to be the
Arabic pronunciation of Kapilvastu, a place where
he spent 30 years of his life, and use this as
evidence to describe the Buddha as a prophet.

== See also ==
*Book of Ezekiel, a book in the Tanakh|Hebrew
(Tanakh) and bible|Christian Bibles.
*List of names referring to El.