Commentary: On Ezekiel

Throughout his commentary, Eliezer is interested in a historical reading of Ezekiel, considering the ways in which it was assembled and a contextual analysis of difficult passages. His introduction sets forth some of the challenges faced by any interpreter of Ezekiel, and his comments on Ezekiel 1:4 downplay what many others took as highly mystical visions of the prophet. In the excerpt here, Eliezer tackles the troubling verses 20:24 and 20:25: “Because they had not executed my judgments but had despised my statutes and polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good and judgments whereby they should not live.” These verses presented a problem that Jewish interpreters needed to confront, particularly in light of Christian criticisms of the law.