Ezekiel - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article is about the main speaker in the biblical Book of Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....

. For a summary and analysis of the book itself, see Book of Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....

.

Ezekiel (icon; , Y'ḥez'qel, jəħezˈqel), "God will strengthen" (from , ḥazaq, [ħaˈzaq], literally "to fasten upon", figuratively "strong", and , el, [ʔel], literally "strength", figuratively "Almighty"), is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

. In Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

and Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet. In Judeo-Christian

Judeo-Christian

Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...

ity, he is also viewed as the author of the Book of Ezekiel

Book of Ezekiel

The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....

that reveals prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the Millennia Temple visions.

Ezekiel's life

The author of the Book of Ezekiel shows himself as Ezekiel, the son of Buzi,[Ezekiel 1:3] born into a priesthood (Kohen

Kohen

A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....

) lineage of the patrilineal line of Ithamar

Ithamar

In the Torah, Ithamar is mentioned as the youngest son of Aaron the High Priest. After the death of his two eldest brothers Nadab and Abihu when they had been punished by the Lord for performing an unauthorized sacrificial offering, Ithamar served as a priest along with his elder brother, Eleazar...

, and resident of Anathoth

Anathoth

Anathoth - the name of one of the cities given to "the children of Aaron" , in the tribe of Benjamin . Since the Israelites often did not change the names of the towns they found in Canaan, the name of this town may be derived from a Canaanite goddess, ‘Anat...

. The author dates ages, prophecies and visions by making references to the lengths of time King Jehoiachin of Judah was in exile. Under the direction of Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylonia

Babylonia

Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...

n armies exiled three thousand Jews from Judah, deposing King Jehoiachin in 597 BCE. In reference to Ezekiel being in his "thirtieth year... during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile", it could be determined that he was born c. 622 BCE. According to Matthew Henry, Ezekiel is also believed to have been known as Nazaratus Assyrius, a teacher to Pythagorus. However, James Ussher

James Ussher

James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...

, in his writings of the Ussher chronology, republished as "The Annals of the World" claims that this is a mistake, basing his opinion on the writings of Clemens Alexandrinus. However, Sir William Smith, in his "Bible Dictionary

Bible dictionary

A Bible dictionary is a reference work containing encyclopedic entries related to the Bible, typically concerning people, places, customs, doctrine and Biblical criticism...

," points out that John Selden

John Selden

John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...

, among others, consider it a possibility. In the book "Pythagoras

Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...

: Greek philosopher" it states; "Nazaratus, the Assyrian, one of Pythagoras' masters, was supposed to be the prophet Ezekiel, and Thomas Stanley

Thomas Stanley (author)

Sir Thomas Stanley was an English author and translator.-Life:He was born in Cumberlow, Hertfordshire, the son of Sir Thomas Stanley of Cumberlow, Hertfordshire and his wife, Mary Hammond. Mary was the cousin of Richard Lovelace, and Stanley was educated in company with the son of Edward Fairfax,...

's Life of Pythagoras says that Ezekiel and Pythagoras flourished together.

Living in Babylon

Ezekiel, at the age of 25, was amongst 3,000 upper class Jews who were exiled to Babylon. On the bank of the Chebar River

Khabur River

The Khabur River , , , ) is the largest perennial tributary to the Euphrates in Syrian territory. Although the Khabur originates in Turkey, the karstic springs around Ra's al-'Ayn are the river's main source of water. Several important wadis join the Khabur north of Al-Hasakah, together creating...

, in Tel Abib

Tel Abib

Tel Abib is an unidentified place on the river Khabur in what is now Syria. Tel Abib is mentioned in :The biblical place name was adopted by Nahum Sokolow as the title for his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's Altneuland...

(Mound of the Deluge), Ezekiel and his wife dwelled in their own home where exiled Judaic visitors came to seek his prophetic insights. There is no mention of him having any offspring, only that his wife died rather young, in the ninth year of exile, when Ezekiel was 34 years of age.

Prophetic career

In July 592 BCE, at the age of 30, Ezekiel describes his calling to be a prophet

Prophet

In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

, by going into great detail about his encounter with God

Yahweh

Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...

who rode upon a chariot of four wheels guided by Cherub

Cherub

A cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and cited later on in the Christian biblical canons, usually associated with the presence of God...

s. For the next five years he incessantly prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, which was met with some opposition and drama. However, Ezekiel and his contemporaries like Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...

, another prophet who was living in Jerusalem at that time, witnessed the fulfillment of their prophecies when Jerusalem was finally sacked by the Babylonians in 587 BCE, an event that is confirmed by most historians. The date of the sacking did not coincide with Ezekiel's prohecy, however. Ezekiel was 50 years old when he began to have visions of a new Temple. He served as a prophet for at least 22 years until, according to scriptures, it is believed Ezekiel's last encounter with God occurred in April 570 BCE. His time of death has not been recorded.

Jewish tradition

Ezekiel, like Jeremiah

Jeremiah

, is said by Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

and Midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

to have been a descendant of Joshua

Joshua

Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...

by his marriage with the proselyte

Proselyte

The biblical term "Proselyte", derives from the Koine Greek προσήλυτος/proselytos, as used in the Septuagint for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism from Paganism...

Rahab. Some statements found in rabbinic literature (Radak – R. David Kimkhi – in his commentary on Ezekiel 1:3, based on Targum Yerushalmi) posits that Ezekiel was the son of Jeremiah, who was (also) called "Buzi" because he was despised by the Jews.

Ezekiel was said to be already active as a prophet while in the Land of Israel, and he retained this gift when he was exiled with Jehoiachin and the nobles of the country to Babylon.

Rava states in the Babylonian Talmud that although Ezekiel describes the appearance of the throne of God (Merkabah

Merkabah

Merkabah is the throne-chariot of God, the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four "chayot" , each of which has four wings and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle...

), this is not because he had seen more than the prophet Isaiah

Isaiah

Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...

, but rather 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. 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 ).

According to the midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

Canticles Rabbah
Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah
Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah is a Haggadic midrash on Canticles, quoted by Rashi under the title "Midrash Shir ha-Shirim" . It is called also "Agadat Ḥazita", from its initial word "Ḥazita" , or "Midrash Ḥazita" Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah (Hebrew: שיר השירים רבה) is a Haggadic midrash on Canticles, quoted by...

, it was Ezekiel whom the three pious men, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (also called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are characters in the biblical Hebrew book of Daniel Chapters 1 – 3, known for their exclusive devotion to God. In particular, they are known for being saved by divine intervention from the Babylonian execution of being burned alive in a fiery furnace...

in the Bible) asked for advice as to whether they should resist Nebuchadnezzar's command and choose death by fire rather than worship his idol

Idolatry

Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...

. 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".

Ezekiel's greatest "miracle" consisted in his resuscitation of the dead, which is recounted in chapter 37 of the Book of Ezekiel. Although the Hebrew Bible describes this event as an ecstatic vision rather than a historical occurrence, later interpreters speculated as to the fate of these men, both before and after their revitalization. Some say that they were godless people, who in their lifetime had denied the resurrection, and committed other sins; others think they were those Ephraimites

Tribe of Ephraim

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim was one of the Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim also formed the House of Joseph....

who tried to escape from Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

before Moses and perished in the attempt. There are still others who maintain that after Nebuchadnezzar had carried the beautiful youths of Judah

Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....

to Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

, 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.

This miracle is said to have been 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 Israel, where they married and reared children.

As early as the 2nd century, however, some authorities declared this resurrection of the dead was a prophetic vision: an opinion regarded by Maimonides

Maimonides

Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

(Guide for the Perplexed, II:46) and his followers as the only rational explanation of the Biblical passage.

Christianity

Ezekiel is commemorated as a saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

in the liturgical calendar

Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar

The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Associated with each date are passages of Holy Scripture, Saints and events for commemoration, and many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of...

of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

—and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite

Byzantine Rite

The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...

—on July 21 (for those churches which use the traditional Julian Calendar

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...

, July 21 falls on August 3 of the modern Gregorian Calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

). This date was chosen because it is the day after the feast day of the Prophet Elias. Ezekiel is commemorated on August 28 on the Calendar of Saints

Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)

-January:* 1 Third Day of the Fast of the Nativity* 2 Fourth Day of the Fast of the Nativity* 3 Fifth Day of the Fast of the Nativity* 4 Sixth Day of the Fast of the Nativity* 5 Eve of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ...

of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...

.

Certain Lutheran churches

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

also celebrate his commemoration on July 21.

The Church Fathers

Church Fathers

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...

interpret Ezekiel's vision of the human likeness upon the sapphire throne as a prophecy of the Incarnation

Incarnation (Christianity)

The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...

of the Logos

Logos

' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...

from the Theotokos

Theotokos

Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...

(Virgin Mary), who in many ancient church hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s is called the "living Throne of God".

Ezekiel's statement about the "closed gate" is understood as another prophesy of the Incarnation: the "gate" signifying the Virgin Mary and the "prince" referring to Jesus. This is one of the readings

Lection

A lection is a reading, in this context, from Scripture.The custom of reading the books of Moses in the synagogues on the Sabbath day was a very ancient one. The addition of lections from the prophetic books had been made afterwards and was in existence at the time of Jesus, as may be gathered...

at Vespers

Vespers

Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...

on Great Feasts of the Theotokos

Theotokos

in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. This imagery is also found in the traditional Catholic Christmas hymn "Gaudete

Gaudete

Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582...

."

Since 1830 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has identified the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...

as the "record of the stick of Ephraim

Ephraim

Ephraim ; was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph and Asenath. Asenath was an Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of On. Ephraim was born in Egypt before the arrival of the children of Israel from Canaan...

" while the stick of Judah is identified with the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

Islamic tradition

Ezekiel is recognized as a prophet

Prophet

in Islamic tradition

Tradition

A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...

. Although not mentioned in the Qur'an

Qur'an

The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, all Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

scholars, both classical and modern have included Ezekiel in the prophetic pantheon.

The Qur'an mentions a prophet called Zul-Kifl

Dhul-Kifl

Dhul-Kifl, or Zul-Kifl, , is an Islamic prophet who has been identified with various Hebrew Bible prophets, most commonly Ezekiel. It is believed that he lived for roughly 75 years and that he preached in what is modern day Iraq...

. This prophet is sometimes identified with Ezekiel although Zul-Kifl's identity is disputed. Carsten Niebuhr

Carsten Niebuhr

Carsten Niebuhr or Karsten Niebuhr , a German mathematician, cartographer, and explorer in the service of Denmark, is renowned for his travels on the Arabian peninsula.-Biography:...

, in his Reisebeschreibung nach Arabian, says he visited Al Kifl

Al Kifl

Al Kifl is a town in southeastern Iraq on the Euphrates River, between Najaf and Al Hillah. The population in and near the town is about 15,000. Kifl is the location of a tomb claimed to be that of holy man Dhul-Kifl who is believed be the biblical prophet Ezekiel...

in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, midway between Najaf

Najaf

Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...

and Hilla and said Kifl was the Arabic form of Ezekiel. He further explained in his book that Ezekiel's Tomb

Ezekiel's Tomb

Ezekiel's Tomb, located in Al Kifl, Iraq, is believed by Jews to be the tomb of the biblical prophet Ezekiel.On the walls inside appears Hebrew script under a dome with medieval Islamic floral designs....

was present in Al Kifl

Al Kifl

and that the Jews came to it on pilgrimage. The name Zul-Kifl would mean "One of double", as Kifl in Arabic means "double". Some Islamic scholars have likened Ezekiel's mission to the description of Dhul-Kifl. When the exile, monarchy, and state were annihilated, a political and national life was no longer possible. In the absence of a worldly foundation it became necessary to build a spiritual one and Ezekiel performed this mission by observing the signs of the time and deducing his doctrines from them. In conformity with the two parts of his book, his personality and his preaching are alike twofold, and the title Zul-Kifl means "the one of double" Aside from the possible identification of Zul-Kifl with Ezekiel, Muslim

Muslim

s have viewed Ezekiel as a prophet, regardless of his identification with Zul-Kifl. Therefore, two main views on Ezekiel are popular in Muslim

Muslim

theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

One views Ezekiel and Zul-Kifl as two different prophets.
One views Ezekiel and Zul-Kifl as the same prophet.

Ezekiel appears in all Muslim

Muslim

collections of Stories of the Prophets
Stories of The Prophets
Stories of The Prophets or Qasas al-anbiya is a famous work of Islamic literature, written by the Muslim scholar Ibn Kathir. In the book, Kathir has compiled all accounts of information regarding various prophets and messengers through Islamic history...

. Muslim

Muslim

exegesis

Exegesis

Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...

further lists Ezekiel's father as Buzi

Buzi

For other uses, see Buzi Buzi was the mother or the father of Ezekiel the priest. . Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, is said to have been a descendant of Joshua by his marriage with the proselyte Rahab For other uses, see Buzi (disambiguation)Buzi (my contempt) was the mother or the father of Ezekiel the...

(Budhi) and Ezekiel is given the title ibn al-adjus, denoting "son of the old", as his parents are supposed to have been very old when he was born. A tradition, which resembles that of Hannah

Hannah (Bible)

Hannah is the wife of Elkanah mentioned in the Books of Samuel. According to the Hebrew Bible she was the mother of Samuel...

and Samuel

Samuel

Samuel is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet and is mentioned in the Qur'an....

in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

, states that Ezekiel's mother prayed to God in old age for the birth of an offspring and was given Ezekiel as a gift from God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

Secular views

Altschuler has suggested that the person described by the Book of Ezekiel may have suffered from epilepsy

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...

. Specifically, it is claimed that Ezekiel himself may have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy a.k.a. Psychomotor epilepsy, is a form of focal epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent seizures. Over 40 types of epilepsies are known. They fall into two main categories: partial-onset epilepsies and generalized-onset epilepsies...

, which has several characteristic symptoms that are apparent from his writing. These symptoms include hypergraphia

Hypergraphia

Hypergraphia is an overwhelming urge to write. It is not itself a disorder, but can be associated with temporal lobe changes in epilepsy and mania in the context of bipolar disorder.-Causes:...

, hyperreligiosity, fainting spells, mutism and often collectively ascribed to a condition known as Geschwind syndrome

Geschwind syndrome

Geschwind syndrome, also known as "Gastaut-Geschwind" is a characteristic personality syndrome consisting of symptoms such as circumstantiality, hypergraphia, altered sexuality , and intensified mental life , hyper-religiosity and/or hyper-morality or moral ideas that is present in some...

Tomb of Ezekiel

The tomb of Ezekiel

Ezekiel's Tomb

is a structure located in modern day south Iraq

Iraq

near Kefil

Al Kifl

, believed to be the final resting place of Ezekiel. It has been a place of pilgrimage to both Muslims and Jews alike. After the Jewish exodus from Iraq, Jewish activity in the tomb ceased although a disused Synagogue remains in place.

External links

Catholic Encyclopedia article
Prophet Ezekiel Orthodox icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

and synaxarion
Ezek.org: The Seraphic Order Auxiliary

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Ezekiel's life

Living in Babylon

Prophetic career

Jewish tradition

Christianity

Islamic tradition

Secular views

Tomb of Ezekiel

See also

External links