Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract The book of Ezekiel seeks to convince displaced Judeans that if they maintain their identity as Yahwists outside of their ancestral land, they can look forward to a future characterized by vitality, purity, and proximity to Yhwh. The text indicates how the exiles are to achieve this by promoting bodily practices that identify them as Yahwists and presenting those who do not uphold those practices as disgusting. The bodily practices expected of Ezekiel’s constructed in-group vary according to gender and lay/priestly identity. The emotion of disgust the text evokes concerning those who deviate from its constructed norms—whether foreigners or in-group members—creates a shared embodied experience among the book of Ezekiel’s audience that serves as confirmation of the notion that their bodies are fundamentally different from those of others.