I don’t know the translation because I saw it typed up without those notes.
The use of prophesy in the first paragraph is okay, but the second one confuses me. It doesn’t seem to be any definition of prophesy I can find, even the archaic ones. Suddenly he prophesies and the next thing you know he has an army of zombies and more resurrections than that pansy Jesus ever did. Unless “making a prophesy” roughly corresponds with “invoking effects only typically doable by being an insanely powerful necromancer” I can’t exactly see where it comes in.
The only definition I can think of off hand is prophesy acting as “being a mediator between God and humans” but even then that strikes me more like Moses mediating by bringing down the ten commandments (or for that matter, someone leading a prayer). Unless it’s implying he’s mediating between God and “the breath.”
I expect the answer somewhat involves looking at English usage and it’s relation to the original language as it usually does in these matters so I leave it to those of you with access to all of that.
Thanks in advance, and if you need clarification on anything I said just ring it’s sort of 4AM and I’m thinking very strangely right now.
According to Strong’s the same word is translated as “prophesy” throughout the passage, and gives as the definition: “speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse)”
J.R. Dummelow’s One Volume Bible Commentary tells us “The prophesy does not refer to a literal resurrection of the Israelites actually dead, but to a revival of the dead nation, of which the exiles seemed to be the scattered remains”
What I get is that Ezekiel is envisioning the revival of Israel, but not fully enough for God’s taste and he is therefore urging him to expand his concept to not only expect Israel to be built up, but to be active and thrive (breathe or be inspired).
What version are you reading? The KJV says in verse 9 “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 the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
To me, “Prophesy to the wind/breath” means to tell about it…you’ve said the bones will stand up but it’s not enough, tell about the breath!
Part of the confusion is that in common English the word “prophecy” has become mostly indistinguishable from “fortunetelling”: information about the future. However, in Hebrew, the verb is more like “speak the word that comes from God.” In this context, “the future” is not just something neutral that’s “out there” to see and tell about; the future is what God creates, and the speaking of God’s word is one way that it gets created. Even in cases where there’s no emphasis on the power which God exercises in the prophet’s word, it’s still a case of “this is going to happen because God will do it.”
So in narratives about the Hebrew prophets it’s not easy to tell the difference between “he knew what was coming, because he knew what God planned” and “he spoke with God’s power, so it happened as he said.” In some passages, like this one from Ezekiel, the implication seems to be that God’s command to “prophesy” is also a mandate to “speak with power.”
See, there’s your problem right there - you have a lousy translation.
As the others said, “prophesy” does not necessary mean telling the future - it means to speak the word of God, or, as you and I would say, “preach”.
Now, the other word you have a problem with is Ruach, which can mean “breath”, and can mean “spirit”, but mostly means “wind” (the former two being euphemisms). So in other words, what your pansy-ass translation had as “prophesy to the breath” should, in fact, be “preach to the wind,” which is, you have to admit, a nifty turn of phrase.
Now…
*
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
I hear the word of the Lord. *
I love that reading. It’s one of the twelve set down for the Easter Vigil service. The vision of all of those bones lying on the plain is quite spooky.