76Finny Philip, The Origins of Pauline Pneumatology, WUNT 194 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 43; Eichrodt, Ezekiel, 508-509.
77Ibid.
78The clear allusions to Gen 2:7 and its surrounding co-text supports the claim in the section above that later OT authors use חור when describing the life-breath that Yahweh breathed into Adam (and breathes into every individual) even though המשנ is used in Gen 2:7. See Robson, Word and Spirit in Ezekiel, 225-26.
79Philip, The Origins of Pauline Pneumatology, 44.
80Marvin A. Sweeney, “Ezekiel: Zadokite Priest and Visionary Prophet of the Exile,” in Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature, FAT 45 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 139.
Ezekiel 39:29 (MT) Ezekiel 39:29 (LXX)
ם ִּ֑ ֶה ֵמ יָּ֖ ַנ ָפ דוֹ ֛ע רי ַּ֥ ִת ְׂס ַא־א ָֹֽל ְׂו ְׂכ ִּ֤ ַפ ָש ר ֶָ֙ש ֲא ל ֵָ֔א ָר ְׂש ִי תיָ֣ ֵב־ל ַע ָ֙י ִחוּר־ת ֶא י ִת
׃ה ִָֽוה ְׂי יַּ֥ ָנֹד ֲא ם ָּ֖ ֻא ְׂנ
καὶ οὐκ ἀποστρέψω οὐκέτι τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀνθ᾽ οὗ ἐξέχεα τὸν θυμόν μου ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ισραηλ λέγει κύριος κύριος
Although chapters 38-39 are focused on the future judgment against Gog, 39:25 returns to the present situation of Israel’s exile (
התע
; νῦν) and Yahweh’s promise to restore his people (39:25b-29).81 Some interpret the shift in verbs (fromןתנ
in 36:27and 37:14 to
ךפש
in 39:29) as a shift in meaning. For example, Zimmerli suggests that the concept of “pouring out” “must envisage the concept of the fructifying, beneficent rain from heaven giving growth and nourishment”; a concept which contrasts with the inner transformation of man in 36:27 and 37:14.82 Daniel Block also sees a shift in meaning in 39:29.83 Rather than indicating the rebirth of the nation (as in 36:26 and 37:14), the reference to the outpouring of the Spirit in 39:29 indicates “a sign and seal of the covenant.” In light of the other OT texts that describe Yahweh as “pouring out” his Spirit (e.g. Isa 32:15; 44:3; Joel 3:1; Zech 12:10), Block concludes,It would appear from all these references that the pouring out of the Spirit of Yahweh upon his people signified the ratification and sealing of the covenant relationship. It represented the guarantee of new life, peace and prosperity. But it
81There is a significant textual variant between the MT and LXX. The latter contains ἐξέχεα τὸν θυμόν μου (“I will pour out my wrath”). Some claim this variant points to a different Vorlage from the MT (see Johan Lust, “The Final Text and Textual Criticism: Ezek 39,28,” in Ezekiel and His Book: Textual and Literary Criticism and Their Interrelation, ed. Johan Lust, BETL 74 [Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1986], 48-54). For a strong defense of the MT reading in Ezek 39:29 see Robson, Word and Spirit in Ezekiel, 254-56. The primary usage of ךפש in Ezekiel is in relation to Yahweh’s wrath. Ezek 7:8; 9:8;
20:8, 13, 21, 33, 34; 30:15; 36:18; 21:31 and 22:31 use the phrase המחךפש to describe Yahweh’s judgment upon his people for their covenant disobedience. Philip, The Origins of Pauline Pneumatology, 47, observes that in the “present passage, Ezekiel changes what was for him a stereotypical threat of judgment—‘I will pour out (ךפש) my wrath (המח)’—into YHWH’s restorative activity—‘I will pour out (ךפש) my spirit’ (יחור).”
82Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, 567.
83Daniel Block, “Gog and the Pouring Out of the Spirit: Reflections on Ezekiel xxxix 21-29,”
VT 37 (1987): 267. Block also highlights the shift in the prepositions in the verses; from םכברקב/םכב in 36:27/37:14 to לארשי תיב־לע in 39:29.
signified more than this. It served as the definitive act whereby he claimed and sealed the newly gathered nation of Israel as his own.84
For Block, the pouring out of Yahweh’s Spirit is the seal of Yahweh’s possession of his people, not the act of transformation in order to re-create his people. However, despite the change in vocabulary and the arguments put forth by Zimmerli and Block, Robson provides three cogent reasons for why it is preferable not to see a shift in meaning between Yahweh “pouring out his Spirit” and Yahweh “giving his Spirit.” First, there is an “essential similarity” between “giving”
חור
and “pouring”חור
throughout the OT.This similarity is demonstrated by the similar sphere of operation as indicated by the interchangeability of the prepositions. Yahweh can “pour”
חור
in the midst” (ברקב
), though “pour upon” (לע
) is more common; likewise, Yahweh can “give”(ןתנ
)חור
“upon” (
לע
).85 This similarity in meaning is also demonstrated in the way Joel 3:1-2 uses “pouring” to develop Numbers 11, although Numbers 11 uses “giving.” Thisdevelopment suggests that “giving” and “pouring” are not fundamentally different acts.86 Second, the linking of
חור
withםינפ
connects 39:29 to the restorative promises of 36:27 and 37:14.87 Third, while there is debate about the relationship between 39:21-29 and the Gog oracle of 38:1-39:20, “it is clear that the ‘now’ (התע
) of verse 25 shifts the focus from the future back to the present.”88 Therefore, verses 25-29 appear to reflect the same
84Ibid., 269.
85Robson, Word and Spirit in Ezekiel, 260.
86Ibid.
87Ibid., 261. The phrase “I will not again hide my face from them” (39:29a; דוֹע רי ִת ְׂס ַא־אֹל ְׂו ם ֶה ֵמ יַנ ָפ; καὶ οὐκ ἀποστρέψω οὐκέτι τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν) also links with the vision of the dry bones in 37:1-14. In the vision, the “whole house of Israel” is pictured as “dead” (indicated by the symbol of the “dry bones” and the question, “Can these bones live?”). The reference to Yahweh hiding his face (39:29a) likely signifies death (cf. Ps 104:29; 103:29 LXX) and thus the pouring out of the Spirit is the opposite of death—it is the endowment of new life, as in 37:10-14.
88Ibid. Ganzel, “Descriptions of Restoration,” 208: “These concluding verses [39:21-29]
actually appear to signify deliberate changes made by Ezekiel in order to conclude his post-Fall restoration prophecies on a conciliatory note, in contrast to the harsh, condemning tone that characterizes the pre-Fall prophecies.” This reversal is demonstrated lexically through the inversion of familiar terms. For example,
setting and perspective as the earlier salvation oracles like 36:26-27 and 37:11-14 because they also anticipate a time when Yahweh’s people will be restored and return to their land. 89 In light of the conceptual and verbal similarities between Ezekiel 39:29 and 36:26-27; 37:11-14, the act of “pouring out” Yahweh’s Spirit should be interpreted (at least here in Ezekiel) as an act of new creation whereby the creator God creates for himself a new humanity. Ezekiel employs the metaphor of new creation to describe the action of Israel’s covenant God to re-gather from exile (37:15-23) and restore “the whole house of Israel” (i.e., the twelve tribes) into a new covenant relationship with himself.90
Summary the Spirit-Giver in Ezekiel. Ezekiel envisions a time when Yahweh will create a new people for himself—a purified people with a new heart and a new spirit who will walk in obedience with their God. The new life-breath Yahweh will give to his people is none other than his own Spirit. Ezekiel presents this act of giving the Spirit as an act of new creation. First, the act of giving Yahweh’s Spirit is analogous to the act of giving a
השדח חור
. Yahweh’s Spirit is the new life-breath of Yahweh’s new humanity. Second, God’s re-created people are described as dwelling in a new Eden (36:33-35).91 Third, the vision of the re-creation of the dry bones which illustrates the s/Spirit-giving promises of 11:19-20 and 36:26-27 is structured after the two-stagecreation of Adam in Genesis 2:7 and provides many other verbal parallels with Genesis 2.
the verbs סנכ and ךפש occur in “pre-fall” texts to describe Yahweh’s judgment upon his people; while in 39:28-29 the same verbs are used to describe Yahweh’s “post-fall” restoration of his people.
89Philip, The Origins of Pauline Pneumatology, 46.
90Cf. Ezek 37:11: ל ֵא ָר ְׂש ִי תי ֵב־ל ָכ; πᾶς οἶκος Ισραηλ.
91Levison, Filled with the Spirit, 100-01, asserts, “Israel’s story-telling begins in Eden.
Ezekiel’s vision for re-creation returns to Eden.” He supports this claim by noting various ways images of Eden are evoked in Ezek 36:33-35: “The land will be tilled, as in Gen 2:15. Those who pass by will take note of how the former wasteland is now like a garden of Eden. Even the ensuing vision of dry bones may contain a reminiscence of creation in Gen 2:23. Ezek 37:7 describes the initial connection of the bones with the words ‘bone to its bone.’”
Fourth, in 39:29 “pouring out” the Spirit is contrasted with Yahweh “hiding” his face from his people, a likely image of death.
Ezekiel provides a key insight to the eschatological giving of the Spirit, which is significant for the thesis of this chapter. The act of pouring out/giving his Spirit is an act of new creation and is presented as a recapitulation and heightening of Yahweh breathing the life-breath into Adam in Genesis 2:7. The act of new creation (i.e., Yahweh restoring his people) will correspond to original creation in that Yahweh, the creator, will give breath to humanity; and yet new creation will also surpass original creation in that Yahweh’s new humanity will not merely be animated with “breath,” but with Yahweh’s own Spirit.
Furthermore, the new-creation images are metaphors describing Yahweh’s promise to re-gather his exiled people and restore their covenant relationship. The allusions to the covenant formula of Exodus 6:7 (“You will be my people, and I will be your God”), in connection with the return from exile in Ezekiel 11:19-20 and the explicit reference to the restoration of the twelve tribes into a covenant relationship with Yahweh in Ezekiel 37:15-23, associates the act of giving the Spirit with Yahweh’s identity as Israel’s deliverer. While Ezekiel emphasizes new creation, he also associates the act of giving the Spirit with Israel’s new exodus—a theme that is significant for Isaiah’s description of the eschatological outpouring of Yahweh’s Spirit.
Isaiah: The Outpouring of the Spirit as New Creation and New Exodus
The eschatological outpouring of Yahweh’s Spirit is a prominent motif throughout Isaiah. There are two separate, though related, references to the future outpouring of the Spirit: the outpouring of the Spirit upon a future prophet-servant-king who will rule over Israel (Isa 11:1-5; 42:1; 61:1-5) and the outpouring of Yahweh’s Spirit on his restored people as a whole (Isa 4:4 32:15; 44:3). The focus of this section
concerns the latter references since these are conceptually parallel with the motif in Luke- Acts of Jesus pouring out the Spirit on his people.92
Although not as direct as Ezekiel in his connections of the eschatological gift of the Spirit and the creation narrative in Genesis, Isaiah still employs new-creation imagery to depict Yahweh’s act of giving the Spirit. Furthermore, the references in 32:15 and 44:3 are also associated with Isaiah’s new-exodus theme: the God who redeemed Israel from Egypt will once again act to deliver, re-gather, and restore his covenant people. This section will highlight the allusions to the creation narrative in Genesis and Yahweh’s identity as the creator in Isaiah 4:4, 32:15, and 44:3 in order to demonstrate that the act of giving the Spirit is presented as an act of the creator God. In addition, this section also focus on the connection between the outpouring of the Spirit and Isaiah’s exodus typology.
Isaiah 4:4. In the first chapter of Isaiah, Yahweh argues his case against his