For-Profit Prophets? Ezekiel 13:17–23 and the Threat of Female Intermediaries

Q2 Arts and Humanities
R. Liebermann
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Abstract

Abstract:The passage concerning female intermediaries in Ezek 13:17–23 is beset with interpretational obstacles. For example, the Hebrew is unclear as to whether the women receive payment in barley and bread, even though many translations assert it. Commentators often assume the payment hints at corruption. Yet the passage suggests that Ezekiel believed the women wielded significant power in their community, amounting to far greater gains than grains.The exact nature of their ritual activities remains uncertain, but reading Ezek 13:17–23 in the context of other passages concerning women and religious authority sheds light on Ezekiel's ideology and rhetoric. For example, the misogynistic language in Ezekiel 16 and 23 reflects his androcentric response to the emasculating experience of the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel's desire to preserve the Judean community in Babylonia provoked him to condemn women whom he thought perverted their social roles. The same desire is reflected in his efforts to assert his religious authority as a Zadokite priest and Yhwh's prophet. Those who contradicted him represented a threat to his credibility and his attempts to preserve the group identity of his community.Ezekiel 13:17–23 thus sits at the intersection of two of Ezekiel's societal concerns: women and religious authority. It is important to recognize this context as well as his use of gendered rhetoric to undermine the female intermediaries. Such an understanding contradicts the traditional interpretation that the female intermediaries really were conducting dangerous sorcery: an interpretation which has historically harmed those (primarily women) accused of being witches.
营利性先知?以西结书13:17-23和女性中间人的威胁
摘要:《以西结书》13:17-23中关于女性中介的段落存在着解释上的障碍。例如,希伯来文不清楚妇女是否得到大麦和面包的报酬,尽管许多翻译都断言是这样。评论人士通常认为这笔钱暗示着腐败。然而,这段话表明,以西结认为妇女在他们的社区中拥有重要的权力,比粮食的收益要大得多。他们的仪式活动的确切性质仍然不确定,但在其他关于妇女和宗教权威的段落的背景下阅读以西结书13:17-23,可以揭示以西结的思想和修辞。例如,以西结书第16章和第23章中厌恶女性的语言反映了他对巴比伦流放的阉割经历的男性中心主义反应。以西结想要保护巴比伦的犹太社区,这激发了他谴责那些他认为扭曲了她们社会角色的妇女。同样的愿望反映在他努力维护他的宗教权威作为一个撒督派牧师和耶和华的先知。那些反驳他的人对他的信誉和他维护其社区群体特性的努力构成了威胁。因此以西结书13:17-23是以西结所关注的两个社会问题的交叉点:妇女和宗教权威。重要的是要认识到这一背景,以及他使用性别修辞来破坏女性中介。这种理解与传统的解释相矛盾,传统的解释认为女性中间人确实在进行危险的巫术:这种解释在历史上伤害了那些被指控为女巫的人(主要是女性)。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Hebrew Studies
Hebrew Studies Arts and Humanities-Literature and Literary Theory
CiteScore
0.20
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