HCSB: "and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of mighty waters, and the earth shone with His glory."
Lisa Ward ("A Pentecostal Hearing of Ezekiel: Ezekiel’s Visions by the hwhy-dy and the xwr." Ph.D. Diss. Page 194):
"Ezekiel describes how YHWH’s glory caused the land to shine with radiance (43.2). The overpowering nature of the vision of YHWH’s glory affected Ezekiel’s physical and emotional
senses. Ezekiel’s eyes saw in color, his ears heard majestic sounds, and his emotions were
overwhelmed to the point of falling prostrate before the glory in worship. There is a sense that
YHWH’s previous commands to Ezekiel to see and hear prepared him to know and understand
the awesomeness of what he was now shown. The use of anthropomorphic and anthropopathic
terms with the language of analogy assisted and invited the hearers to participate through their
imaginations. Ezekiel repeatedly described the glory of YHWH as likened to sights and sounds
that his hearers would recognize in their environment. For example, the glory was likened to fire,
bright colors of gemstones, and a figure that looked like a human being. He also likened the
voice of the Almighty like the sound of rushing waters."
For more on the kebod elohe yisrael, see Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:19; 11:22. Cf. Petter, Donna Lee (2011). The Book of Ezekiel and Mesopotamian City Laments. Fribourg / Göttingen: Academic Press / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht.
Monday, November 18, 2024
Ezekiel 43:2-"I saw the glory of the God of Israel"
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3 comments:
https://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel.43.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
Foster, do you have any opinion about if there were any metaphysical underpinnings of the concept of YHWH's glory, i.e. what they thought it was, or if it was just a kind of metaphor. I.e. are there some seeds of a kind of Essence/Energies distinction that developed later in eastern Christianity? Or is this just hopeless anachronism?
Roman, I'm somewhat conservative when it comes to reading the Bible. I try to understand Scripture in a contextual manner, whether in a verse's literary setting or with regard to its historical setting. So, I do take the glory of YHWH to be a metaphysical thing in some cases (an actual glowing manifestation which signifies the divine presence), but what Ezekiel or Isaiah saw was visionary. Therefore, we must consider that point when trying to understand God's glory.
The Essence/Energies distinction might find its classical locus in the accounts of God's glory. However, I think there's more happening with that distinction. There are a number of good books/articles that discuss the glory of YHWH in terms of an actual visual phenomenon. See “The Glory of the Lord” by August Pieper, first written in German and appeared in the Theologische Quartalschrift, Vol. XXIX, Nos. 2–4, and Vol. XXX, Nos 1–2.] I (English translation by Carl Lawrenz).
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