Hearts of Flesh

Abstract

Abstract The book of Ezekiel justifies the exilic community’s claim to represent the sole continuation of Yhwh’s people by portraying the Judeans remaining in Judah as having a distinct ethnic identity and therefore bodily makeup. It does so via its presentation of their group history as beginning and ending in Judah, while emphasizing the exiles’ collective memory of entering into their covenant with Yhwh outside of their ancestral land (Ezek 11; 16; 20; 23; 33). This exile-centred collective memory is reinforced by the cultic calendar Ezekiel constructs, which marks sacred time according to specific events in the exilic group’s religious history (e.g., with Sabbaths and Passover). Finally, Ezekiel predicts different futures for the Judeans remaining in Judah and those in exile, revealing how their bodies will diverge yet further according to their distinct fates: monstrification and death for those who remain; purification and life in Yhwh’s image for the exiles.