Ezekiel

Life and work

Ezekiel was a priest, son of Buzi, who was taken into Babylonian exile along with King Jehoiachin and other leading Judeans in 597 BC, roughly a decade before Jerusalem's final destruction (Ezekiel 1:1-3; 2 Kings 24:14-16). He lived among the exile community by the Kebar River in Babylonia and received his prophetic call there in a dramatic vision of God's glory riding on a chariot-throne borne by four living creatures and wheels 'within wheels' (Ezekiel 1).

His prophetic style was unusually physical and theatrical: he was struck mute for long stretches, lay on his side for over a year to symbolize the years of Israel's and Judah's sin, shaved his head and beard and divided the hair to enact the fate of Jerusalem's population, and was forbidden to mourn publicly when his wife died suddenly, as a sign to the exiles (Ezekiel 3:26-27; 4:4-8; 5:1-4; 24:15-27).

Before Jerusalem fell, Ezekiel's oracles focused heavily on judgment — condemning the idolatry he saw in a vision taking place inside the Jerusalem temple itself, and describing the departure of God's glory from the temple as a sign that judgment was inevitable (Ezekiel 8-11). After news reached the exiles that Jerusalem had fallen in 586 BC, his message shifted toward comfort and restoration.

His most famous vision came in this later period: standing in a valley full of dry bones, he prophesied at God's command, and the bones came together, gained flesh, and rose as a vast living army — a vision of restored national and spiritual life for Israel (Ezekiel 37:1-14). He also described in extensive detail a future rebuilt temple and land allotment for the tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 40-48).

The book gives no explicit account of Ezekiel's death, and unlike Isaiah and Jeremiah, later Jewish tradition about his death is comparatively thin and inconsistent. His striking, often surreal imagery — the throne-chariot, the four living creatures, the measured temple — became deeply influential on later Jewish mysticism and on the imagery of the New Testament book of Revelation, though Revelation draws on and echoes his visions without naming him directly.

Dating

Dated oracles run from the 5th to the 27th year of Jehoiachin's exile (593-571 BC, Ezekiel 1:2; 29:17). Many read 'the thirtieth year' of Ezekiel 1:1 as his own age at his prophetic call, placing his birth c. 623 BC; his death is not recorded.

Extra-biblical evidence

No specific archaeological find or ancient source names Ezekiel directly. The broader historical setting — the 597 BC deportation of Jehoiachin and the Judean elite to Babylonia — is independently confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicles and by cuneiform ration tablets from Babylon listing 'Yaukin, king of the land of Yahud' (Jehoiachin), which corroborate the deportation context in which Ezekiel lived, without referencing Ezekiel by name.

Scripture references

• Ezekiel 1-48 — The prophetic book bearing his name
• 2 Kings 24:14-16 — Historical backdrop of the 597 BC deportation that brought Ezekiel to Babylon

Further reading

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Ezekiel

Reflect

Ezekiel was asked, 'Can these dry bones live?' and answered, 'You know' — what in your life looks too far gone for renewal?