Character of Ezekiels Prophecies

Ezekiel 8
It is a remarkable peculiarity of Ezekiel, that he, more than any
other prophet, makes us acquainted with the usages of different
and remote nations in regard to the subject of his utterances. The
different modes in which the several prophets produce their
declarations on the very same subjects, and the different style in
which they illustrate them, as well as the color they receive from
the character and the condition of the writer, and from the external
influences to which they were subjected, are fully as great and as
distinctive as among any equal number of uninspired writersand
clearly show, that the sacred writers were allowed to invest their
utterances, with the qualities of their own tone of mind, habits of
thought, and means of observation. The fact exists in their
writings, and cannot be otherwise accounted for. But this is
rendered quite compatible with that fulness of inspiration which
their introductory formula of, Thus saith the Lord, necessarily
supposes, by assuming that the Divine Spirit was graciously
pleased to secure the intellectual sympathy of the prophet in the
work to which he was called, by imparting its communications in
the form, and with the circumstances, most congenial to his own
mind and tastes, and in the form which enabled him the more
readily to grasp its purport, and to identify himself with it in the act
of its transmission through him to those for whom it was intended.
Some people do not like to speak of the distinctive peculiarities of
the matter and manner of each prophets utterances, lest they
should thereby bring into question the completeness of their
inspiration: but the thing does undeniably exist; and under the
view of this important matter which we take, it becomes quite
allowable and proper to mark out the distinguishing qualities
which the Lords messengers evince in their writings. This we
have freely done as occasion required. And as attention has been
called to the subject by the peculiarity we have indicated, it may
be well to consider some other points in which the writings of
Ezekiel are distinguished from those of the other prophets.
We may then say, that the prophecies of Ezekiel are full of
images, of comparisons, of allegories, of parables, of
personifications, and of descriptions, in which the prophet depicts
his objects with such abundance of details and richness of colors,
as leave little or nothing for the imagination of the reader to
supply. When he launches the thunders entrusted to his hand
against the crimes and prevarications of an apostate people, it is
always with a vehemence and a warmth of feeling which no other
prophet equals. In the ardor with which he burns, the crimes
which arrest his attention are represented in all their blackness
and deformity, and his diction seems then to take the hideous
hues of the vices which he censures.
The standard description of Ezekiels characteristics is still that of
Lowth; and, although open to question in some points, it is, as a
whole, correctly discriminating. He says: Note: We cite Gregorys
translation, which had Lowths own sanction. But those who can,
had better look to the original Latin, which, in this part at least, is
rich in felicitously discriminating epithets; imperfectly represented
in the translation. Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in
elegance; in sublimity he is not even excelled by Isaiah: but his
sublimity is of a totally different kind. He is deep, vehement,
tragical; the only sensation he affects to excite is the terrible; his
sentiments are elevated, full of fire, fervid; his imagery is crowded,
magnificent, terrific, sometimes almost to disgust; his language is
pompous, solemn, austere, rough, and at times unpolished; he
employs frequent repetitions, not for the sake of elegance, but
from the vehemence of passion and indignation. Whatever
subject he treats of, that he sedulously pursues; from that he
rarely departs, but cleaves as it were to it, whence the connection
is in general evident and well preserved. In many respects he is
perhaps excelled by the other prophets; but in that species of
composition to which he seems by nature adaptedthe forcible,
the impetuous, the great and solemnnot one of the sacred
writers is superior to him. His diction is sufficiently perspicuous: all
his obscurity consists in the nature of his subjects. Visions (as, for
instance, among others, those of Hosea, Amos, and Jeremiah)
are necessarily dark and confused. The greater part of Ezekiel,
towards the middle of the book especially, is poetical, whether we
regard the matter or the diction.
The general sentiment of Biblical scholars scarcely supports
Lowth in comparing the sublimity of Ezekiel with that of Isaiah. It
seems to be agreed that neither sublimity nor elegance are the
distinguishing characteristics of the diction of this prophet. The
style is generally prosaic, without that parallelism which we have
formerly indicated as of the essence of Hebrew poesy. The
amplification of his images, and the luxuriancy of his details,
rarely convey to the soul that sentiment of sublimity by which it is
ravished and transported. His real character is that of abundance,
fecundity, impetuosity, vehemence, and exaggeration. He turns
the same idea over and over in all its different aspects, that it may
enter more sharply and deeply into the soul. He rather neglects
regularity and elegance, as well as the simply natural in style and
expression, in order that he may astonish, alarm, and strike the
imagination by his terrible tableaux. He passes abruptly from the
figurative to the literal, and from the literal to the figurative, without
any manner of notice to the reader. If to our severe taste some of
these images appear extravagant and unnatural, it is only
necessary to reflect, that the contemporaries of the prophet were
doubtless accustomed to strong and exaggerated imagery; and
that allegories more regular and nicely studied, would, however
pleasing to us, have failed to excite and nourish eastern
imaginations. The most esteemed Sanscrit, Arabic, and Persian
poems are full of images and figures more strange and gigantic
than any to be found even in Ezekiel; and this proves, that in
order to judge rightly of the Hebrew poets, it is needful to place
ourselves in the East, among a people whose imaginations are
infinitely more ardent and more exalted than our own. But
although Ezekiel does oftenmore often than any other
prophetemploy figures which may appear to us exaggerated
and unnatural, his book contains many pieces of figurative
description, from which the severest taste formed on modern
occidental rules and habits, cannot withhold its admiration.
However, all such discussions regarding the style and manner of
the sacred writers, must be written and read under the caution
given by one of Ezekiels translators: Note: Archbishop Newcome.
The holy prophet is not to be considered merely as a poet, or as
a framer of those august and astonishing visions, and of those
admirable poetical representations, which he committed to writing;
but as an instrument in the hands of God, who vouchsafed to
reveal himself through a long succession of ages, not only in
divers parts, constituting a magnificent and uniform whole, but
also in divers mannersas by voice, by dreams, by inspiration,
and by plain or enigmatical vision.
The point to which, as characteristic of Ezekiel, we began by
directing attention, seems never to have been noticed. We owe to
him the clearest account of the forms of idolatry among different
nations, to be found in any one portion of the Bible; the fullest and
most interesting account of early commerce, and the productions
of different countries, that exists in all ancient literature, and which
to this day forms the basis of all historical speculation on the
subject; and he has furnished us with a remarkable description of
the usages of sepulture in nations far apart. All this admits of
interesting corroborations from modern researches; and they
cannot fail to suggest that Ezekiel was a man of cultivated mind
and enlarged observation, who had noted, with a degree of
interest unusual for a Jew in that age, the circumstances tending
to illustrate the condition and sentiments of different nations,
which he could ascertain by inquiry, which had been given to him
by report, or which enforced and voluntary travel had brought
under his personal notice.