by
Damien F. Mackey
Fairbairn, commenting on
Ezek. 21: 26, “Remove the mitre”, says that
Zechariah in his
attitude to the high priest Joshua “took up the matter,
as it were, where
Ezekiel had left it”. …”.
That Zechariah may have been the same priest-prophet
as Ezekiel was what I vaguely hinted at in the very beginning of my article:
Elihu a
contemporary of the prophet Ezekiel
(4) Elihu a contemporary of the prophet
Ezekiel
“The prophet
Zechariah has certain likenesses to the mysterious prophet Ezekiel”.
In that article
I had, however, confidently identified Ezekiel “the son of Buzi” (Ezekiel 1:3) with
young Elihu “son of Barakel the Buzite”, of the Book of Job (32:2).
Then, in my next article:
Some rabbinic
literature has Ezekiel as a son of Jeremiah
(4) Some rabbinic literature has Ezekiel as a son of
Jeremiah
in which I further (but only tentatively) identified Ezekiel/Elihu
with the Rechabite, “Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 35:3), I was
somewhat more forceful about a possible connection of this holy man (Ezekiel) with
Zechariah:
In that
article I also note that: “The prophet Zechariah has certain likenesses to the
mysterious prophet Ezekiel”. The textual likenesses are so numerous, in fact,
that one feels much inclined to factor in the priest-prophet Zechariah as
being, too, the priest-prophet Ezekiel.
And, if
Ezekiel is also Elihu, then we may have a patronymic connection between Elihu’s
ancestor, Barachel, and Zechariah’s Berechiah (Zechariah 1:1).
and:
If Zechariah
were also Ezekiel/Elihu (Jaazaniah), as I suspect, then he, as the final martyr
in Jerusalem before Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:35), really did fulfil Jeremiah
35:19: ‘… shall never lack a man to stand before
me’.
More recently, I have expanded somewhat on this intriguing
subject:
Jeremiah said to
have been silent about Ezekiel and vice versa - why?
(2) Jeremiah said to have been silent about Ezekiel
and vice versa - why?
What I want to focus on entirely in this present article are
the textual similarities between Ezekiel and Zechariah, as many have already
noted.
Along similar lines, the incredible likenesses between
virtually the entire Book of Nahum with parts of Isaiah were enough to convince
me, in my university thesis (2007) that Nahum (Jonah) was also the great
prophet Isaiah. See e.g. my article:
Prophet Nahum as
Isaiah Comforted
(5) Comparing Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah Styles
The usual view of things, as evidenced in Cameron Mackay’s
quote above, would be to consider Zechariah, a minor prophet, as simply an
“admirer” of the prophet Ezekiel from a good half century later.
But I have the prophetic life of Ezekiel covering the
Chaldean and Medo-Persian eras - when Zechariah taught - and potentially beyond
that, into the early Maccabean times:
Prophet Zechariah
marvellously anticipates the Maccabean era
(2) Prophet Zechariah marvellously anticipates the
Maccabean era
Let us read some of Cameron Mackay’s excellent comparisons
(1968), as taken from:
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/1968-4_197.pdf
ZECHARIAH IN RELATION TO EZEKIEL 40-48
by CAMERON MACKAY
MR. MACKAY'S studies in the book of Ezekiel are always fresh
and fascinating. Here the earliest "commentary" on
the book
(especially on chapters 40.-48) is found in the prophecies of
Zechariah.
EZEKIEL and Zechariah share century, priestly stock, and Babylonian
background, but the 50 years which separate their activities make personal
contact unlikely. On the orthodox view that the differences between Zech. 1-8
and 9-14 are accounted for by supposing those sections the work respectively of
the young and old Zechariah, his birth would have been around 550 B.C.. when
Ezekiel had been silent 20 years-a not very probable dormancy if he were still
alive. What the circumstances suggest is that the minor prophet grew up in the
shadow of the major's repute, and that between the Return of 538 B.C. and his
mission in 520 B.C. the repatriated scion of priests studied his fellow-exile's
prospectus with built-in interest in the temple, the desire of his eyes (Ezek.
24: 21) in the land of desire (Zech. 7: 14).
In fact echoes of Ezekiel found by
Zechariah's commentators run into three figures. In the 18 verses from 7: 9 to
8: 12 Driver in Century Bible notes "execute judgment of
truth" (Ezek. 18: 8), "hearts as an adamant stone" (3: 9; 11:
19). "they shall cry, and I will not hear" (8: 18), "no man
passed through nor returned" (35: 7). "I will dwell in the
midst" (43: 9), "they shall be my people,' and I will be their
God" (11: 20 al.)’, "the earth shall yield her increase" (34:
27). Study of the mysterious "seven eyes" (Zech. 3: 9; 4: 10) must
begin with Ezekiel's eye-spangled Chariot and seven angels (9: 2; cf. Rev. 5:
6), study of the flying roll (5 : 1) with 'Ezekiel's roll of a book (2: 9). Interpreter's
Bible speaks of Ezekiel's "young admirer, Zechariah". Fairbairn,
commenting on Ezek. 21: 26, "Remove the mitre", says that Zechariah
in his attitude to the high priest Joshua "took up the matter, as it were.
where Ezekiel had left it".
Mitchell in I.C.C. regards Zech. 2: 8, "After
glory he sent me", as a condensed claim of mandate corresponding to
Ezekiel's, who after his inaugural vision of the Glory received the commission,
"I send thee", and adds that in v. 10 "the prophet is looking
forward to the fulfilment of . . . 43: 111,", while v. 13 requires that
"men should greet with awful attention ... the return of Yahweh to his
sanctuary, as Ezekiel describes it".
The critical disinclination to allow
chaps. 9-14 to the contemporary of Haggai leaves unaffected their Ezekielian
background, now indeed even more marked - not surprisingly as the concern
shifts from the day of small things (4: 10) to that of the King of all the
earth (14: 9). The oracles against Phoenicia (9: 2-4), Egypt (10: 11), goodly
cedars (11: If.), shepherds (11: 15-17), and professional prophets (B: 2-4),
the symbolism of the two sticks (11: 7-14), the going forth of Jehovah with
earthquake to fight against the nations (12: 9; 14: 3ff.) are immediately
reminiscent of the earlier seer.
The seemingly superfluous note that the Mount of Olives
"is before Jerusalem on the east" (14: 4) is a reminder that there
the departing Glory lingered (Ezek. 11: 23) and from the east it would return
(43: 2). The emphasis on David's house (12: 7-13: 1) recalls the focusing of
Ezekiel's hopes on "David", and the associated introduction of Levites their position in the
oblation of 40-48. The fountain for sin (13: 1) and the living waters summer
and winter (14: 8) are generally regarded as dependent on the "clean
water" of 'Ezek. 36: 25 plus the sanctuary river of 47, while 13: 2,
according to I.C.C., is, once again, "simply summarising
Ezekiel". For chaps. 9-14, on which the New Testament imprimatur is so
marked, the date question may here be left aside, particularly in face of a
recent finding that no definite dating can be achieved and that it is more
useful to concentrate on the contents. ….
Our present interest is in the
relation of Ezek 40-48 to the book of Zechariah as it stands, wherein the first
part encourages the immediately practicable work as prelude to the vista
enlarged on in the second part. The repatriates had rebuilt the altar on Moriah
without, it is clear from Ezra 3, idea of acting on Ezekiel's directions: they
followed the laws of 'Moses, including sons of Ithamar, i.e. non-Zadokites, in
the priesthood (8: 2), retaining evening sacrifice (et. 46: 13-15) and all the
set feasts. But adversaries, foreigners deported to Samaria, halted the work on
the temple. Then Darius in his second year authorized its restart, but the Jews
were now murmuring.
"The time is not come for the Lord's house to be
built" (Hag. 1: 2). Among the causes of their discouragement commentators
point to the contrast of their plight with the glowing promises of Second
Isaiah.
Mackey’s comment: On the so-called Second Isaiah, though, see e.g. my
article:
Dr. Chuck Missler
refuted idea of a Deutero-Isaiah from John 12:39
(3) Dr. Chuck Missler refuted idea of a Deutero-Isaiah
from John 12:39
Cameron Mackay continues:
But Zechariah's contemporaries would have thought more
generally of "the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit
through the former prophets" (7: 12). and the evidence detailed above
suggests that Ezekiel as much as, or more than, Isaiah provided the
disheartening contrast.
Zechariah's task was to encourage
his community to go ahead as they had 'begun, both with construction plans and
sacerdotal, as step 'towards, not consummation of, prophetic hopes. …. Right
away, connection with the temple-vision is made in the reappearance of a
distinctive feature characteristic of Zechariah's visions, the intermediary
angel who acts as instructor and guide …. In 1: 16 the angel conveys assurance
that God's house shall be built in Jerusalem and a measuring line stretched
over that city.
….
Reminiscence of the earlier seer is
apparent both in the angel's words and in the attached oracle (vv. 6-13) which
we have seen interpreted by Mitchell as continuing Ezekiel's mandate and
looking to the fulfilment of 43: Iff. Driver here notes as echoes "villages
without walls" (38: 11). "I will be the glory in the midst of
her" (43: 2-5), "I have spread you abroad" (17: 21). ''they
shall be a spoil to those that served them" (39: 10), and his, "I
will dwell in the midst of thee" (43: 9). ….
In consonance the final chapter repeats in "Jerusalem
shall dwell securely" (v. 11) a favourite Ezekielian phrase used of those
dwelling in unwalled villages on the mountains of Israel (3S: S. 11). ….
[End of quotes]
And there are many more such comparisons to be read as
Cameron Mackay’s article continues.
But he is by no means the only one to have observed such
likenesses between the text of Ezekiel and that of the Book of Zechariah. See
also, for example:
https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC85605
An abundance of living waters: The intertextual relationship
between Zechariah 14:8 and Ezekiel 47:1-12
M D Terblanche (UFS)
ABSTRACT
Zechariah 14:8 and Ezekiel 47:1-12 have more in common than
an allusion to a common stock of images. Consequently our understanding of
Zechariah 14:8 can be fruitfully informed by the perspectives of the study of
intertextuality. This paper considers the question whether the author of
Zechariah 14:8 wanted to replace Ezekiel 47:1-12. He seemingly assumes that the
reader is acquainted with the latter text.
Although one cannot speak of the displacement of Ezekiel
47:1-12, Zechariah 14:1-15 seems to be a commentary on the former text. The
author of Zechariah 14:1-15 deems the transformation of the known natural order
vital for the fulfilment of the expectations raised by Ezekiel 47:1-12.
And,
again:
https://www.prophecyproof.org/ezekiel-7-vs-zechariah-122-end-times/
Ezekiel 7 vs Zechariah 12:2: End Times Comparison
The following article, much to be recommended in full, is absolutely
replete with such relevant with comparisons:
(5) ZECHARIAH'S SPIES AND EZEKIEL'S CHERUBIM
ZECHARIAH'S SPIES AND EZEKIEL'S CHERUBIM
1
ZECHARIAH’S SPIES AND EZEKIEL’S CHERUBIM
Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer
1. Introduction
There are many literary links between Zechariah’s vision
report (Zech
1:7–6:8) and the book of Ezekiel. This study focuses on but
one of these
links, namely the similarity between the various descriptions
of the
cherubim in the book of Ezekiel and the description of the
horses and the
riders in Zechariah’s vision report. As this study will show,
the overall
similarity, both graphic and conceptual, between these
descriptions
suggests that Ezekiel’s portrayal of the cherubim influenced
the literary
representations of the horses in Zechariah’s vision report.
I shall begin by determining the likelihood that the author
of Zech-
ariah’s vision report was familiar with the book of Ezekiel.
Thereafter, I
shall address two general parallels between Ezekiel’s
cherubim and
Zechariah’s horses and riders: (1) the shared setting of both
groups, that
is, the heavenly court and the divine council, and (2) the
shared task of
both groups, namely, to function as God’s military servants
who execute
his commands. Turning then to the more specific aspects of
comparison,
I shall first discuss three visual and conceptual points of
contact between
the description of Ezekiel’s cherubim and that of Zechariah’s
patrols:
The concept of God’s spirit/wind,
The concept of chariots,
The word “eyes.”
Secondly, using the book of Job as a third element of
comparison, we
shall look at the shared theme of God’s rebelling scout:
The satan of Job, the patrols of Zechariah, and the cherubim
of
Ezekiel are all patrolling forces who report their findings to
the
heavenly council.
All three texts contain either the outright idea of a
“fallen”
member of the heavenly council (the cherub in Ezek 28:14) or
the seed to such a thought (the satan in Job 1–2 and Zech
3:1–2).
Lastly, we shall compare the attitude towards the high priest
found in
Ezek 28:11–19 and Zech 3. ….
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