Texts in Conversation
Ezekiel 20 intentionally echos the familiar words of Exodus 20:2, a statement that once marked the beginning of the covenant. Unlike Exodus, though, Ezekiel uses this same phrase to expose Israel’s long pattern of disloyalty. What was once a promise of triumphant encouragement becomes, in Ezekiel, a fearful indictment.
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Exodus 20:2
Hebrew Bible
1 God spoke all these words: 2 “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Ezekiel 20:5
Hebrew Bible
4 Are you willing to pronounce judgment on them? Are you willing to pronounce judgment, son of man? Then confront them with the abominable practices of their fathers, 5 and say to them: “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, “I am the Lord your God.” 6 On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had picked out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Ezekiel demonstrates a pattern among the people: from the exodus all the way up to the exile, these people have shown a bias for idolatry. Notice Ezekiel 20:5: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of the house of Jacob and reveled myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.’” As Evans says laconically, “To serve idols was to profane Yahweh’s holy name (Ezekiel 20:39); contrariwise, to worship God on his holy mountain was to know him by name as Yahweh (vv. 40-44).” Ezekiel’s use of the recognition formula would have been shocking to its audience. Previously in Israel’s history, the formula sounded a note of triumphant encouragement. Now in Ezekiel, however, the recognition formula often occurs in the context of judgment. Israel will be given in judgment to her neighbors. As Evans notes, “Nowhere else in all the Bible does the recognition formula appear in an oracle of judgment against Israel.” ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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