The Literary Genre of Symbolic Action in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel in the Light of Ez 4–5: acts of the prophet priest

Abstract

Jeremiah and Ezekiel, although they were not the only prophets who used symbolic actions to complement their oral preaching, were certainly two of its greatest exponents. But in Ezekiel this literary genre is used differently from other prophets such as Isaiah and, more precisely, Jeremiah. Some studies have called attention to the priestly character of Ezekiel's message. The present study starts from this data and aims to highlight the elements that, in the symbolic actions of chapters 4 and 5, reveal this characteristic and support this thesis. The work of A. Compton is especially considered, without, however, sticking to all his conclusions, and without neglecting to carry forward some of the data presented in it. Other references that deal with the literary genre in question will also be worked out and brief comparisons will be made between sections of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah in the use of the identified genre. Finally, it seeks to relate the literary genre of symbolic action with the priestly character present in the texts studied.