The Rhetoric of Divine Kingship in the Book of Ezekiel

© Terry Clark

I. What is a rhetorical approach to biblical interpretation?

    A. George Kennedy’s return to Aristotle and classical rhetoric

    B. Thomas Renz’s The Rhetorical Function of the Book of Ezekiel

    C. My approach: adapting Kennedy to explore a rhetorical motif that incorporated a number of so-called mythological topics

II. What is divine kingship?

    A. The Ancient Near East and the pattern of chaoskampf

        1. Enuma Elish (Babylonian Creation Myth: Marduk is king)

        2. Ba’al Cycle (Ba’al vs Yam and Mot)

    B. Ancient Israel

        1. Exodus: Yhwh vs. Pharaoh (Songs of Moses/Miriam; Exod 15)

        2. Zion tradition of David/Solomon (J. J. M. Roberts)

            a. Yahweh is the great king over all nations and gods

            b. Yahweh has chosen David’s house

            c. Yahweh has chosen Zion/Jerusalem as his dwelling

        3. Royal theology vs. royal ideology

III. The “movements” of rhetorical analysis

    A. Delineating a Text (a rhetorical unit)

    B. The rhetorical arrangement of Ezekiel: A coherent, linear argument?

        1. Multiple types of structure

            a. Visionary: divine abandonment and return (Chs.1-3; 8-11; 40-48) - an ANE (& modern?) rhetorical motif (cf. “9-11”)

            b. Date formulas: a dependable chronology?

            c. Mythological: Chaoskampf

            d. Thematic: Judgment - Salvation

                i.  Chapters 1-24: Judgment vs. Israel

                ii. Chapters 25-32: Judgment vs. Nations

                iii. Chapters 33-35 Final words vs. Israel’s leaders (33:21 - Jerusalem’s destruction)

                iv. Chapters 36-48: Salvation for Israel

    C. The rhetorical situation behind Ezekiel: What gave rise to this work?

        1. A circular/reciprocal process

        2. Babylonian Exile: historical, political, theological crisis

        3. The crisis of identity: Deity-People-Land (cf. Daniel Block’s The God’s of the Nations)

    D. Rhetorical type, strategy, and topic in Ezekiel

        1. Type: Epideictic -change of attitude; adherence to certain values

        2. Strategy – 3 universal categories according to Aristotle

            a. Ethos: Yhwh’s dependability; the prophet’s dependability

            b. Pathos: blame/shame/guilt; promise/hope

            c. Logos: divine reputation, sovereignty, justice, and promise

        3. Topic: the centrality of the motif of divine kingship

            a. Chs.1-24 (theophany; divine abandonment; Israel’s idolatry,   assertion of sovereignty in 20:33)

            b. Chs.25-32 (God’s universal sovereignty and justice)

            c. Chs.36-48 (utopian promises: same God, new heart, new people, new temple, new land)

    E. Synthesizing Ezekiel’s rhetoric: the rhetorical situation through Ezekiel

        1. Primacy of the text: why so much emphasis on Yhwh’s viability?

        2. Faith, identity (God’s & Israel’s), and community in crisis

IV. Practical Applications of a rhetorical examination of Ezekiel

    A. Focusing on the finished, canonical product as a coherent piece of rhetoric

    B. Focusing attention on the strengths and weaknesses of divine metaphors

    C. Questioning mythological assumptions and assertions in times of crisis

    D. Universal divine sovereignty and special election held in tension

    E. Divine discipline does not necessarily equal divine abandonment

    F. Divine reputation and the People’s reputation go hand in hand  (God’s name is forever bound up in the deity’s historical relationship w/creation)

^NRS Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.

 ² The LORD is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

 ³ The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.

Exod 15:17-18

¹⁷ You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession, the place, O LORD, that you made your abode, the sanctuary, O LORD, that your hands have established.

 ¹⁸ The LORD will reign forever and ever."

Ezek 20:32-38

³² What is in your mind shall never happen-- the thought, "Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone."

 ³³ As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you.

 ³⁴ I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

 ³⁵ and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

 ³⁶ As I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord GOD.

 ³⁷ I will make you pass under the staff, and will bring you within the bond of the covenant.

 ³⁸ I will purge out the rebels among you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.