Mapping Judah's fate in Ezekiel's oracles against the nations

Abstract

Ezekiel 25–32 possesses a rich tapestry of imagery of foreign nations. These eight chapters of prophecies paint a lush landscape, in which all sorts of ancient nations come to life. Here, Ammon and Moab scorn and taunt; Edom and Philistia execute vengeance; the beautiful Tyre, decorated with merchandise from many countries, proudly possesses all her splendor and glory, but is ultimately destroyed by the east wind and overthrown into oblivion; and the monstrous Egypt, comparable to a tall cosmic tree or a ferocious lion, finally enters a shameful fate in the netherworld with the uncircumcised and the pierced. This collection of prophecies within the book of Ezekiel belongs to the literary terrain of the so-called Oracles against the Nations (OAN). Concerned with the mystical past, disputed present, and oft-disastrous future of the specifically named nations other than Israel and Judah, the OAN sprawl over the Latter Prophets. These texts, as in Isa 13–23, Jer 46–51, Ezek 25–32, Amos 1–2, Zeph 2–3, and Zech 9, appear as a collection within the prophetic books. Sometimes, they occupy the entire prophetic book, as is the case with Nahum and Obadiah, which indict Nineveh and Edom respectively...