Sublime Bodies

Abstract

Abstract The book of Ezekiel presents Yhwh as having a masculine, humanoid body that is so defined by its purity that it cannot remain in any unclean place. This is the reason for Yhwh abandoning the Jerusalem temple to destruction (Ezekiel 8–11), and it is the guiding principle behind Ezekiel’s description of an imagined, idealized new temple (Ezekiel 40–48). This new temple is constructed according to concentric circles of purity, whereby Yhwh occupies the purest, innermost part of the building, surrounded and protected by the Zadokite priesthood, whose bodies mirror his in their masculine gender and level of purity (achieved via special practices of dress, eating, drinking, mourning, and marriage). In the Babylonian exile, where such a temple and priesthood cannot be realized, the prophet Ezekiel is described as uniquely upholding a priestly level of purity to the extent possible, making him the appropriate mediator between Yhwh and his people.