Texts in Conversation
Ezekiel presents an inversion of Exodus 24, showing seventy elders engaged in idolatry rather than covenant fellowship. The number seventy, drawn from a common ancient Near Eastern pattern such as the seventy sons of Athirat, symbolizes completeness or divine assembly.
Share:
Exodus 24:1
Hebrew Bible
1 But to Moses the Lord said, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance. 2 Moses alone may come near the Lord, but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him.” 3 Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said,” 4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones—according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Ezekiel 8:11
Hebrew Bible
8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway. 9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure of creeping thing and beast—detestable images—and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. 11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward. 12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Tags:
Search:
Notes and References
"... Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Compare with Exodus 24:1, 9) ..."
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.