Greek Ezekiel in Light of Second Maccabees and Jerusalem in the 2nd Century BCE

Several textual variants between the Greek and Hebrew editions of Ezekiel are probably late editorial features. This paper interrogates these features for their inter-textuality with the Hellenization of Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE. The Greek description of the temple in Ezek 40-43 adopts Greek linguistic features that bring the temple closer to the Antiochene temple in Jerusalem. Second Maccabees serves as an especially relevant inter-text. II Macc’s recitation of military events surrounding Antiochus Epiphanes and Nicanor deploy language and theology found in variants in Ezekiel’s oracles against Tyre and Gog/Magog. Moreover, Ezekiel’s nasi’ and his critiques of temple personnel resemble the characterization of Judas and the dynamics of reversing the desecration of the Jerusalem temple. The results of this inter-textual study demonstrate how significant the Hellenistic 2nd century was to the editorial history of Ezekiel.