Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 61:2 (NA 2010)
Article: Prophetic Ministry In Jeremiah And Ezekiel
Author: Kathleen M. Rochester

TynBull 61:2 (2010) p. 317

Prophetic Ministry In Jeremiah
And Ezekiel1

Kathleen M. Rochester

This study seeks to make a contribution to the understanding of Old Testament prophetic ministry by offering a close comparison of selected texts from two quite different, yet related, prophetic books: Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Both prophets focus on the fall of Jerusalem, and use many similar motifs in their messages. They portray overlapping historical contexts, yet their geographical settings are different. This mix of features in common with aspects that are quite dissimilar provides fertile ground for fruitful comparative study.

Even a cursory reading of these books reveals some striking differences: the book of Jeremiah has little obvious structure, is strongly word-orientated, and portrays a sensitive, emotional prophet who shows little interest in priestly matters but engages in lively dialogue with Yahweh. On the other hand, the book of Ezekiel is carefully structured, has a large amount of visionary material, and portrays a detached, self-disciplined prophet who is very influenced by priestly concerns and seems barely able to speak with Yahweh. In fact, the introductions to each book point to distinctive elements in each prophetic ministry and can well be taken as codes to how each book should be read: whereas the book of Jeremiah is introduced as ‘the words of Jeremiah’, the book of Ezekiel begins with ‘and it happened’ (ויהי), followed by visions of God.

Much of the scholarly work that specifically compares these two prophetic books focuses on compositional concerns, taking an approach which is not particularly useful for a comparative study of prophetic ministry. Some scholars take a psychological approach and postulate significant personality differences between the two prophets.

TynBull 61:2 (2010) p. 318

This may be so, but our texts do not present us with personality profiles, so my study leaves questions of personality aside. Others go further with psychoanalytical approaches, particularly with the unusual figure of Ezekiel. However, the lack of agreement among such scholars only demonstrates the limitations of attempting psychoanalysis on someone who is of an ancient culture and whose textual material does not use a psychological framework. Furthermore, a diagnosis of pathology risks skewing the profundity of Ezekiel’s message. Instead of psychological information, what we do have in these texts is a portrayal of events and aspects of context that the text considers important in relation to the ways in which these prophetic vocations unfold.

The striking difference in the primary mode of communication between t...