ABSTRACT
Theatre critics Maimonides, William Blake, Henry Wheeler Robinson, Adolphe Lods, Georg Fohrer, Peter Craigie – mediaeval and modern commentators on the Bible
Metacritic Bernhard Lang – who disagrees with the theatre critics
Prophetic acts and their commentators
Ezekiel is one of the many biblical prophets who report on their theatrical acts:
The prophet claims that he was divinely commissioned to ‘eat bread with quaking and drink water with trembling and with anxiety’. As modern readers of the biblical text we must try to visualize and understand the theatrical scene, which was quite characteristic of Old Testament prophecy. Prophets were not only spokesmen of God, but also the players of God’s games. ‘One can visualize the scene’, explains commentator Peter Craigie; ‘the prophet’s hand would be shaking
so that water spilled before reaching his lips and the bread was fumbled at the mouth. By his actions, he was demonstrating to his audience the fearful condition of Jerusalem, who would dine in the twilight of their city’s doom.’ Commentators have rarely failed to add their personal reaction to the prophetic game.1 Craigie, for instance, does not like it. ‘Had Ezekiel been a seminary student of homiletics’, he observes, ‘he would doubtless have failed the course on this performance. The prophet-preacher must surely be dynamic and strong, inspiring his audience. He must surely draw them by a positive personality, not appeal to them by trembling theatrics.’2
