Ezekiel as an Oral-Derived Text: Toward the Macroanalysis of Prophetic Discourse

This macroanalysis of the book of Ezekiel synthesizes the microanalytic work of Teun van Dijk, Walter Kintsch’s work on cognitive text processing, Relevance Theory, and recent discussions concerning the construction of meaning in oral-derived literature. This synthesis provides a theoretical framework for describing macrostructure in prophetic literature, which is often comprised of paratactically linked oracles. Discussion includes book structure, genre forms (prophetic call narratives, formulaic phrases, and prophetic sign-acts), as well as macro-level rhetorical features in the book of Ezekiel (inclusio, recurrence, peak-marking, and oral-traditional echoes). This work provides an account for how an ideal reader may construe the macrostructure of Ezekiel from linguistic indicators, and it also provides a theoretical account for divergent readings and interpretations. Moreover, discussion also notes key implications for Bible translation.