The book of Ezekiel presents the words of Ezekiel son of Buzi, a prophet and a priest,
and one of the Jerusalemites exiled to Babylonia with King Jehoiachin in 597 BCE by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Like his older contemporary Jere­ miah, Ezekiel lived through the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 and the early years of the Babylonian exile. He presents some of the most theologically challenging and dynamic material among the prophets of the Bible, and some of the most difficult and bizarre passages. His literary style is intricate, with striking imagery and ex­ tended metaphors. Many of his oracles are in prose, unlike the other classical prophets. Some of his visions border on the apocalyptic, and may be early examples of this type of literature.