Three levels of structure and composition in the oracles against Egypt
The Book of Ezekiel chapters 29 through 32 in light of Hebrew rhetoric
Abstract
The context of the research was that different commentators on the Book of Ezekiel propose different structures for the texts under study. Most of them worked (still work) with diachronic methods. Typically, these authors arrange the verses into groups and give titles to these groups. Therefore, the aim of the research became to discover structures based on the verses of the biblical text. It is then possible to identify the specific verses (or parts of verses, headings) that the ancient inspired author used. Therefore, the method of biblical Hebrew rhetoric was applied, which has 3 stages: bottom-up analysis, top-down analysis and theological interpretation. As a result of the research at the first two stages, it was discovered that the texts of the oracles against Egypt in the Book of Ezekiel are written in structures. Both at the level of bottom-up and top-down analysis. These texts can be read linearly (line by line), but they can also be read by members (A + A', B + B'...) and this makes sense. The third level of structure is an analysis of the 4 chapters (29‒32) of the Book of Ezekiel, which contain the oracles against Egypt. The conclusion, as can be drawn from the study, is that Ezekiel did not write oracles against Egypt. Ezekiel composed these oracles into 2 systems of 3 oracles each. In the first system, the destructor of Egypt is the king of Babylonia (parallel structures), In the second system, the destructor of Egypt is God (parallel-concentric structures). The inclusion that binds the whole oracle together is the double-seven number system, occurring in the first and last oracle.
Keywords:
Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel, oracles against Egypt, Hebrew rhetoric, synthetic parallelism, synonymous parallelism, antithetical parallelism, parallel structures, parallel-centered structures, parallel compositions, mirror compositionsReferences
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Authors
Jerzy Bosowskihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8138-6595
Jerzy Bosowski – doctor of theological sciences in biblical theology. Doctoral thesis with the title: “Oracles against Egypt Ez 29–32 in the light of Hebrew rhetoric”, defended at the Faculty of Theology of Opole University in 2019. Member of the Society of Polish Biblical Scholars (SBP 365). Areas of research: biblical Hebrew rhetoric as found in the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Ezekiel.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8138-6595
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