CHAPTER FOUR

PROPHETS

A. INTRODUCTION

The conflict between "true" and "false" 1 became of increasing importance in the years leading up to the exile. The battle lines were drawn between on the one hand those who believed that the first exile of 597 BC was sufficient punishment and that Yahweh would soon reverse that captiv• ity, bringing back the exiles, and on the other hand those who saw that 's future held further doom and punishment. Both camps could appeal to the old covenant traditions for support; the question, however, was which side had received the call and commission of Yahweh and was thus able correctly to discern the word of Yahweh to this particular situation. 2 encountered the problem of prophetic opposition, just as his fellow Jeremiah had, and struggled in the face of it to validate his message. 3 In some ways the struggle was of greater importance than ever, for in the exilic situation, with the institutions of the monarchy and the Temple broken down, only prophecy remained to act as mediator between God and man. 4 In what ways then does Ezekiel criticize the activities of his fellow prophets? What future does he foresee for prophets and prophecy? What

1 The difficulties involved in the differentiation of 'true' and 'false' prophets have been extensively discussed in recent literature. Cf. e.g. J.L. Crenshaw, Prophetic Conflict, BZAW 124 (Berlin 1971); F.L. Hossfeld & I. Meyer, Prophet gegen Prophet (Fribourg 1973); J .A. Sanders, "Hermeneutics in True and False Prophecy", Canon and Authority, G.W. Coats and B.O. Long, eds. (Philadelphia 1977); 8.0. Long, "Social Dimensions of Prophetic Conflict", Semeia 21 (1982) between the two, and it is likely that charges and counter-charges of falsity were common (cf. 1 Ki. 22:23f.). In this section, however, it should be remembered that we are interested more in Ezekiel's own assessment than in attempting to uncover "objective reality". Ezekiel seems to have had no difficulty-at least in his own mind-in distinguishing between true and false prophecy. 2 T. Overholt, The Threat of Falsehood 43ff. 3 Hossfeld & Meyer deny that Ezekiel himself came into real opposition with other prophets in his position in exile (Prophet, 115). However, in order to hold their position, they are forced to attribute large portions of Ezekiel12:21-14:11 to Ezekiel's disciples. The evidence of points clearly to the activity of prophets among the exiles, and there seems little reason to deny that Ezekiel himself would have come into conflict with these men, just as Jeremiah did with those who remained in Judah. If Hossfeld & Meyer are willing to concede, as they do, that the core of Ezekiel 13 can be traced back to a concern on the part of the prophet himself with the phenomenon of false prophecy (143), then it is hard to see why this concern should have been purely theoretical. In favour of a real encounter see Fishbane ("Sin and Judgement", 136) and Hals, who comments with reference to Ezekiel 13:17-23: "The colorful vividness of the language suggests that we do have here the record of a direct confrontation" (Ezekiel, 90). • Hossfeld, Untersuchungen, 514f. 92 CHAPTER FOUR role does he himself play as a prophet in bringing the future into being?

B. THE CRITIQUE OF PROPHETIC LEADERSHIP IN THE

Along with the royal rulers and the priesthood, the prophets were a major force in pre-exilic Israelite culture. Unlike the other two groups, however, very little work has been done thus far to determine Ezekiel's attitude towards the prophets. s This is not because the book of Ezekiel lacks interest in their activities: as we shall see, there is a considerable discussion of their past actions and their future prospects. It is to the sections of the book relevant to this discussion to which we now turn.

1 Ezekiel 13 The major critique of prophets in the book of Ezekiel is contained in this chapter. It divides readily into two halves, vv. 1-16 and 17-23, which concern themselves respectively with "the prophets of Israel" 6 and "the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their heart". These two sections betray a high degree of parallelism in their structure. 7 The first part is as follows: Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, prophesy• and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: 'Hear the word of the Lord!' ~us says the Lord God, "Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!' 4Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins, 0 Israel. SVou have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. 'They have spoken falsehood and divined a lie; they say, 'Says the Lord,' when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfil their word. 7Have you not seen a delusive vision, and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, 'Says the Lord,' although I have not spoken?" s.rtierefore thus

5 Many of the general studies of false prophecy have virtually ignored the contribution of Ezekiel, focussing rather on the extensive material in Jeremiah. Note, however, the discussion of Hossfeld & Meyer (Prophet, 113-43). 6 The very form of address raises a paradox. In spite of the existence of a body of men who could be addressed thus, their ineffectiveness to accomplish Yahweh's purpose is such that he must still raise up someone like Ezekiel so that "the people may know that there has been a prophet among them" (Ezek. 2:5). Cf. Vawter & Hoppe, Ezekiel, 82. 7 Hossfeld-Meyer, Prophet, 127ff.; Greenberg, Ezekiel1-20, 242; Hals, Ezekiel, 81. 1 MT has hannibba'tm, "who are prophesying", which is unlikely in the absolute form. RSV is following LXX (/caj prophtteuseis) in its translation, giving the construction "prophesy [and say ... ]" (hinn4br) which is not without parallels elsewhere in the book of Ezekiel. Brownlee suggests that MT originated as a marginal gloss honn'bf'im, intended to qualify millibbam (-19, 185). It is also possible that such a marginal gloss, describing the contents of this chapter, could have found its way into the text without any original textual warrant. • This is the only place in the where fbilti is construed with the perfect. GKC § 152 X suggests that fbilti rc2 'ti is a relative clause governed by r ("according to things which they have not seen").