Ezekiel in Context

One of the most perplexing and misunderstood books of the Bible, Ezekiel has left many scholars and exegetes scratching their heads regarding its message, coherency, and interpretation. Brian Peterson’s look at the book of Ezekiel as a unified whole set within an exilic context helps explain some of the more difficult symbolic aspects in the book and makes Ezekiel as a whole more intelligible. Drawing on ancient Near Eastern concepts and motifs such as covenant and treaty curses, the various gods that made up the Babylonian pantheon, and the position that Israel held as the people of Yahweh, Peterson enlightens readers by showing that Ezekiel can only be understood in its original context. By placing the book first in its historical context, Peterson demonstrates how the original hearers of its message would have understood it, and how this message can be appreciated and applied by people today as well.

Brian Neil Peterson is also the author of The Authors of the Deuteronomistic History: Locating a Tradition in Ancient Israel (2014) and John’s Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth Gospel (2015, forthcoming). Along with writing and research, Peterson also does summer archaeological work at Khirbet el-Maqatir in Israel with the Associates for Biblical Research. He teaches Old Testament and Hebrew classes at the BA and MA level at Lee University in Cleveland, TN.