hebar
(Ezekiel i, 1-3), in a house of his own (viii, i). Here also he married,
and here, too, his wife, "the desire of his eyes," was taken from him
"with a stroke" (Ezekiel xxiv, 15-18). His prophetic career extended over
twenty-two years, from about 592 B.C. to about 570 B.C.

The book bearing his name is written in a mystical and symbolical style,
and abounds with visions and difficult allegories which indicate on the
part of the author the possession of a vivid and sublime imagination.
Ezekiel's authorship of it has been questioned. The Talmud attributes it
to the Great Synagogue, of which Ezekiel was not a member. It is
divisible into two portions. The first (chapters i-xxiv) was written
before, and the second (chapters xxv-xlviii) after, the destruction of
Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C, the eleventh year of the
prophet's captivity (Ezekiel xxvi, 1-2; XI, i). The present text is very
imperfect, being corrupted by the interpolation of glosses and other
additions by later hands.

Dore's picture represents the prophet uttering his oracles to his
fellow-exiles ("them of the captivity"), or to the "elders of Judah," or
"elders of Israel," on one of the occasions to which he himself alludes
(viii, I; xi, 25; xiv, I; xx, I).

THE VISION OF EZEKIEL.

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the
Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very
many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

And he said unto me; Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O
Lord God, thou knowest.

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these
bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live and ye
shall know that I am the Lord.

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and behold a shaking, and the, bones came together, bone to his
bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,
and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from t