ABSTRACT
Read in its entirety, the book of Ezekiel radiates violence-violence in multiple forms. First there is the violence in the form of war, massacre, and exile that Yahweh has brought on Israel, is bringing on Judah, and will bring against the surrounding nations. Then there is the graphically depicted violence against women that pervades both the parable of Yahweh’s people as the unfaithful adopted daughter/bride, in the notorious chapter 16, and the allegory of Jerusalem and Samaria as promiscuous sisters in the equally notorious chapter 23. Finally there is the violence to which Yahweh subjects the prophet himself: exile, seizure-like vision, aphonia, and paralysis.
