Interpretation of the Prophet Ezekiel

“Interpretation of the Prophet Ezekiel” was written by Bl. Theodoret of Cyrus in the 30-40s. V century and is a sequential presentation of all 48 chapters of this prophetic book. Blzh. Theodoret distinguishes between Christian and Jewish approaches to the prophetic books of the Old Testament, using the image of bodily and spiritual vision. The spiritual eye is able to perceive “the difference between Divine and human” things when it is “free from unbelief.” When it “goes blind by its own will,” it is deprived of the vision inherent in it by nature. This is precisely the misfortune that happened to the Jews. The prophets predicted this, saying that the “promise of good things” would be given to the pagans, but it would be taken away from the Jews. The visions of the prophet Ezekiel are seen as signs of God's presence and omens of future salvation. The interpretation contains an analysis of such symbolism and images as chariots, dry bones, church visions. Their meaning relates to the expression of God's glory, mercy and promise of restoration to Israel. Blzh. Theodoret emphasizes the continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The suffering of the people and their hope for restoration find their completion in the atoning sacrifice of the Savior. *The title of the work in Latin is Interpretatio in Ezechielem. Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 The bodily eyes are created in order to be judges of external appearance and colors, and when they are healthy, they judge correctly and very faithfully, but in a sick state they sin against their duty, and in many ways violate justice, because they either do not see at all, or, seeing in one another, the property of the visible is not distinguished correctly. Spiritual vision, as it imparts the effectiveness we have said to the bodily eyes, has also received from the Creator another power, by which it not only distinguishes external appearance, color, smell, taste and other similar qualities, but judges words and thoughts, distinguishes the wicked from the pious, recognizes the difference between the divine and human and, in a word, according to the words of the wise Solomon, “understands the parable and the dark word” and “the sayings of the wise and fortune telling" (Proverbs 1:6). But all this distinguishes when it is well-ordered and free from unbelief, but when it is darkened by such a fog, the same thing happens to it as with the bodily eyes, and it sees one thing instead of the other or does not see at all, due to the overpowering passion. Having fallen into this illness, others attempted to accuse the divine Scripture, especially the prophetic omens, as being covered in obscurity. The wise Paul can rightly say to them: “If our gospel be veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 4:3); for “we speak wisdom among those who are perfect” (1 Cor. 2:6). In accordance with this, what our Lord and Savior said to the holy Apostles: “it is given to you to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, but to them it is not given to eat” (Matthew 13:11); and showing the reason for this, the Lord immediately adds: “for those who see do not see, and those who hear do not understand” (Matthew 13:13), because they voluntarily bring upon themselves a cloud of ignorance: “when they return” to the Lord, as the divine Apostle says, “the veil will be taken away” (2 Cor. 3:16). Therefore, the divine is not obscure to everyone, but only to those who are blind of their own free will. But they should pay attention and understand that everything precious does not come easily to people. And the pearl is hidden in the depths of the sea; as well as the color of the royal scarlet, and gold- and silver-bearing veins, not on the surface of the earth, but hidden in its depths. And in our houses we store the most valuable property inside in storerooms, attaching chains, locks, and seals to the doors. And we usually announce our more important intentions to our most sincere friends, and not just to everyone. But the divine is more worthy than everything we have said, and in the same degree more excellent, in which the invisible is higher than the visible, the mental is higher than the sensory, and is above the current. Therefore, we must honor this with great care, and, in the words of the Lord, do not cast “beads before swine” (Matthew 7:6). And indeed the acquisition of what is at hand is conveniently neglected; and what is acquired with difficulty is prized and very kind. Moreover, it must be added to what has been said that the prophecies of the divine Prophets contain an accusation of the iniquity of the Jews, and they proclaim the promise of good things to the pagans, and the prophecy must be hidden so that the Jews, usually enslaved by envy, dare to maliciously turn away from others the benefits promised to them, and do not destroy the very books in which they are depicted. And that this too was the reason for the apparent obscurity is evidenced by the very events, because in ancient times this actually remained unclear to the Jews, so that the memory of the blessing of the pagans, committed to writing, would be preserved. When the prophecy came true, and the writings were followed by the deeds themselves; then the predictions of the Prophets became clear and intelligible, because those who read prophetic books find interpretation in the events themselves. Therefore, let no one, especially those who are disciples of piety, dare to reproach the Divine Spirit for the obscurity of His words; but on the contrary, wanting to understand the sacred words, let him cry out with the God-wise David: “Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18). For, of course, he who asks for knowledge of this for his own benefit will receive what he asks. And we, bringing this prayer to the Master, Who, according to the word of the divine David, “makes the blind wise” (Ps. 145:8), and according to the word of the blessed Isaiah, those “who are in darkness, and those who are in darkness” (Is. 29:18), we dare to begin to interpret the godly Ezekiel, we will try to explore, as much as possible for us, the depth this prophecy, and the general benefit derived from this will be offered to all the pious. So, before the interpretation, let us briefly outline the content. This prophet began to prophesy in the fifth year of the captivity of Joachim, or Jehoiachin. This captivity, according to some, was not the first, but the third for Jerusalem, the fourth for the tribe of Judah, and the sixth for all Israel. For Tiglath-pileser the first carried away most of the ten tribes into captivity. The second Salamanaser, having enslaved the inhabitants of Samaria and surrounding cities, left with them. The third Sennacherib, as he besieged other cities of Judah and led many captives into exile, so, with great wickedness, intending to take up arms against Jerusalem, suffered retribution for blasphemy, and having destroyed the army, struck by God's punishment, returned with a few to the fatherland. After this, the fourth Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned in the third year of the reign of Joachim son of Josin, came to Judea with a large army; and, taking many talents of gold and silver, a considerable number of captives from the royal family and several sacred vessels, he returned from there, imposing tribute on the king. After a little time, Joachim did not want to pay the promised tribute; and Nebuchadnezzar, in the eleventh year of his reign, and in the eighth year of his dominion, again took up arms against Jerusalem, killed Joachim, commanded him to be thrown from the wall, and left him unburied for a long time, taking all the officials captive and making Joachim king over those who remained, also called Jeconiah (and he was the son of Joachim), went to Babylon. When three months and a few days had passed, having learned that Joachim was indignant, he came again, tied him up, took him away with a considerable crowd of captives, and installed his uncle, the brother of the first Joachim, son of Josin, Matthania, otherwise Zedekiah, as king, obliging him with an oath that he would remain friendly towards him and would pay tribute in due time. But since he also broke his oath, did not want to pay tribute, did not maintain his friendship, but fled to the Egyptians, Nebuchadnezzar, having gathered a large army, came again and, having captured the city and captured the inhabitants, burned the royal palace, the church of God, and all the magnificent buildings, and took all those who did not die from hunger and escaped the enemy sword as captives; not only all the vessels made of silver and gold, but also the pillars made of copper and everything else he transferred to Babylon. Therefore, the captivity of Jehoiachin, according to some, was not the first, but for Jerusalem the third. And the fourth book of Kings, the book of Chronicles and the divine Prophet Daniel let us know about this. For this is how he begins the prophecy: “In the year of the third kingdom of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and you fought. And the Lord gave in his hand Joachim the king of Judah, and from part of the vessels of the church of God" (Dan. 1:1, 2), and after a few words he continues: "And the king spoke to Asphanez the elder of his eunuchs to bring from the sons of captivity" the children of Israel "and from the king's tribe" (Dan. 1:3). Therefore, the first captivity of Jerusalem took place in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and this was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. And the same Prophet informs us about this, saying this: “in the second year of the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, he saw a dream” (Dan. 2:1). And the second captivity, as I said, took place in the eleventh year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and in the eighth of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The third - in the first year of the reign of Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim, and in the ninth of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. And the blessed Prophet Jeremiah clearly lets us know about this; and whoever wants to compare the years, it is not difficult for him to find out this clearly from this Prophet. Therefore, Ezekiel began to prophesy in the fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiakim, also called Jehoiachin, and this was also the fifth year of the reign of Zedekiah, who was installed king of Judah in place of Jehoiachin. Dan. Twelve years before Ezekiel, Daniel began his prophecy. In the same years, Daniel and Ezekiel prophesied in Babylon, and in Judea, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Uriah, the son of the Samites. The latter are older again not only to Ezekiel, but also to Daniel, because blessed Jeremiah began prophecy in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, and it is said about Zephaniah that he prophesied under King Josiah, but Uriah, the son of Samae, having prophesied and foreshadowed sorrows under the first Joachim, unjustly suffered death, killed by this king. Therefore, of those who prophesied during the captivity, the divine Ezekiel was the last Prophet. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi prophesied after their return from captivity. This Prophet sees divine revelations, filled with fear and horror, and foretells the final destruction, not only of the Jews, but also of the Tyrians and Sidonians and other foreigners, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites and, moreover, the Egyptians. He also predicts the liberation of the Jews from captivity, the building of God's church and very much else, which we will observe until detailed interpretation, so as not to expand too much in the presentation of the content. So, with the help of this Prophet, calling on God to send us the gift of knowledge, let us proceed to the interpretation itself.