Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, The

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dec 1999 by Thompson, David L

The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24. NICOT. By Daniel I. Block. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997, xxii 887 pp., $48.00; The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48. NICOT. By Daniel 1. Block. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, xxiv 826 pp., $50.00.

Block has produced a superb and monumental commentary on Ezekiel. On this very difficult and sometimes outlandish prophet, Block's two volumes meet admirably the NICOT series' goals. He offers the Church and synagogue Biblical scholarship of the highest quality, draws from a wide range of critical methodologies, approaches divergent opinion with an irenic tone, writes with evangelical conviction and lets his own passion for Scripture and the people of God shine through. It works! And these new Eerdman NICOT books themselves are a delight to read, with clear format, verse or topic references on every page for quick location and easy-to-read bibliographies. Omitting the several fine excurses from the otherwise detailed table of contents was unfortunate, in my opinion.

The introduction for the entire project launches the first volume. Here Block takes up in succession, background in terms of the world of the prophet himself, the author (Ezekiel), his purpose and methods, the nature of prophecy and Ezekiel's literary style, the Hebrew text of the book, the book of Ezekiel in Jewish and Christian tradition, and the enduring theology of Ezekiel. Bibliography for the work in both volumes concludes this introduction. After the text and commentary on the allotted chapters in the separate volumes, each concludes with its own set of indexes covering selected subjects authors, Scripture references, extracanonical literature and selected Hebrew words and phrases.

The text and commentary sections of each volume are organized as follows, with some variation apparently prompted by the length, literary complexity and place in Block's vision of the whole. (1) Discussion of the "nature and design" of the larger literary units (e.g. 1:1-3:27, "The Call of Ezekiel to the Prophetic Ministry") opens the consideration of each. Form, genre, structural and rhetorical matters find treatment here. (2) Then follow the author's own excellent translation of each succeeding subunit (e.g. 1:1-3), with most text-critical notes housed here as footnotes. (3) Often, as warranted, a treatment of the nature and design of the smaller unit appears as well. This discussion of "nature and design" moves (sometimes without separate title) into (4) the exegesis of the unit, usually proceeding one or two verses at a time, but sometimes more synthetically. (5) In many but not all cases work on the subunit concludes with reflections under the heading "Theological Implications."

Block's skepticism regarding the possibility of reconstructing accurately the prehistory of the MT together with his skill in historical-grammatical exegesis and synchronic literary-rhetorical readings have decisively shaped his approach. This commentary will focus its major energy on understanding the text as a whole and the text as we now have it in its own historical context. (At this particular historical dimension Block is a master, repeatedly bringing his familiarity with ancient Near Eastern literature and culture meaningfully to bear on the interpretation of Ezekiel.) Leslie Allen placed his own work on Ezekiel midway between W. Zimmerli and M. Greenberg (WBC 28, xxiii). On that sort of scale, Block's work stands well on the Greenberg side of Allen's. Block cites Greenberg as the most substantial influence shaping his approach to the book of Ezekiel and sees himself as following Greenberg's "holistic" approach (Chapters 1-24, 20 n. 14; 24 n. 33).

For Block the prophet Ezekiel is himself the most likely candidate for recorder of the specific oracles in the book at or near the prophetic events themselves. He suggests the prophet's ability to demonstrate the truth of his own utterances may have been one motivation in this self-documentation (as also in the dating formulas). This issue was particularly germane to Ezekiel's setting among exiles strongly inclined to dismiss his oracles as eloquent nonsense. While the prophet's further involvement in the book's production is "more difficult to demonstrate," Block sees good reason to support speculation that Ezekiel was also the primary editor of the work as we have it (p. 22). He admits the possibility editorial clarification by later hands (e.g. 1:2-3), but appeals to such later hands figure rarely in the 1,468 pages of his interpretive work. Pursuing the possibility of this later editorial work more seriously would only have strengthened this commentary.

Block regards "halving" and "resumptive exposition" as the two most prominent features of Ezekiel's editorial strategy and the two most promising insights for perceiving the integration intended between discrete oracles. In the former, as Greenberg already saw, a first oracle propounds a theme, a second follows with another linked to the first by various devices. Often, though not invariably, a concluding "Coda" links the two in a meaningful whole. Chapters 6:1-14; 23:22-35 and 38:2-39:29 are examples. Block does some of his finest work, tracing the various lexical, syntactic, grammatical and rhetorical links between these "panels," often mounting convincing argument for the editorial linking of units others might disjoin. At the same time Block's instinct to resist fragmenting the text can lead him to minimize evidence that could and perhaps should point to redactional activity and the insights to be gained from dealing with it.