Ezekiel 1-24: Introduction and Commentary

Explore the historical and theological significance of the book of Ezekiel.

Authored by Dale F. Launderville, an expert in Semitics and the Hebrew Bible, this cutting-edge commentary provides scholars, teachers, and preachers with essential resources for understanding Ezekiel 1-24. In addition to discussing key issues of language, methodology, structure, and theology, Launderville explores the book’s history of reception. Throughout, he weaves together scholarly and pastoral concerns. The volume is part of the Eerdmans Illuminations series, in which authors employ the full range of biblical scholarship to illumine the text from a wide variety of perspectives, including the engagement and impact of the text through the centuries.

For each chapter of Ezekiel 1-24, Launderville offers translation, interpretation, and commentary. The translation of the Hebrew text is complemented by translations of the Old Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, and Latin texts. Within the interpretive section that follows, Launderville includes a subsection entitled ＂history of consequences,＂ which aims to give an account of how the text of Ezekiel has sparked the imagination of subsequent thinkers, writers, and artists. Each chapter concludes with a section of commentary dedicated to a historical-critical examination of the canonical text. This section is attentive to the history of composition of the Ezekiel text from the sixth to the first century BCE. Cross-cultural influences of the ancient Near Eastern and eastern Mediterranean environments are explored in this section as well.

By studying this remarkable volume, readers will become better equipped to make informed contributions to discussions of the book of Ezekiel. They will also become more confident in their understanding of Old Testament prophecy and its relevance to contemporary issues in church and society. This is a vital reference book for ministers, seminary students, and teachers of biblical studies courses.

Dale F. Launderville is a Benedictine monk of St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota. He holds a PhD in Semitics from the Catholic University of America and teaches theology at St. John’s University. He is the author of several books, including Piety and Politics, Spirit and Reason, and Celibacy in the Ancient World.