358 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
Here only in chaps. 27-29 is the name "Nebuchadrezzar" spelled with the "r"
(see Note on 21:2).
- From them will be taken up a swearword for all the exiles ofludah who are
in Babylon: 'Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of
Babylon roasted in the fire.' Malamat (1975: 136-37) connects this ferment
caused by prophets in Babylon, also the ferment back in Jerusalem, with the
call of Ezekiel in July 593 B.C., wondering if it may not have been these events
that aroused Ezekiel to his mission. Why Nebuchadnezzar should carry out
such cruel punishment on two Jewish prophets is not known. It is usually imag-
ined that they were involved directly or indirectly in revolt activities, although
the reason given in the text here is that they had committed adultery and were
speaking lies in Yahweh's name. Since this is a divine oracle, we may assume
that Yahweh is giving his own reasons for the executions, not Nebuchadnez-
zar's. Death by burning was carried out in ancient Israel (Gen 38:24; Lev
20:14; 21:9; Josh 7:15, 25; 1 Kgs 13:2) and in other countries, but it was still
rare. The Code of Hammurabi prescribed the burning of persons for thefts
made from a burning house, for noncloistered nuns drinking wine, and for in-
cest (Laws 25, 110, 157; ANET^3 167, 170, 172; CS II 338, 342, 345). The Philis-
tines threatened Samson's wife with burning if she did not disclose Samson's
riddle (Judg 14:15). And in the later story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego (Daniel 3), punishment by burning is portrayed as being a Babylonian
practice. That it was carried out in Hellenistic times we know from the martyr-
doms in 2 Maccabees 7. The verb qlh ("roast") in the present verse is odd; we
would expect rather srp ("burn"), which is otherwise used of human burnings
in the OT Morla Asensio ( 1988: 249-50) suggests that qlh is a euphemism,
which makes also for irony. Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah
both appear on Dead Sea Scroll fragment 4Q339, which lists false prophets
having arisen in Israel (see Note for 28:1).
Ahab. The spelling is 'eJ:iab. Q^0 ' has the usual 'aJ:i'ab, as in v 21 and else-
where in the OT
swearword. Or "curse." Hebrew qelala. The term occurs often in curse-word
strings (see Note for 24:9).
- because they did a scandalous thing in Israel, yes, they committed adultery
with the wives of their fellows and have spoken a lying word in my name that I did
not command them. For the pairing of adultery and lying in the prophets of
Jerusalem, see particularly 23:14.
a scandalous thing. Hebrew nebala can also be translated "stupidity, outrage,
wanton folly." The term is reserved for foolish, senseless, and unruly conduct,
the very opposite of action showing wisdom (Phillips 1975: 237). The OT ex-
pression "to do a scandalous thing in Israel" means to act in a way, often sexu-
ally, that is greatly offensive to moral sensibilities (Gen 34:7; Deut 22:21; Josh
7:15; Judg 20:6, 10; 2 Sam 13:12-13).
a lying word. The LXX omits seqer ("lying"), but CL, Aq, Theod, S, T, and Vg
all have the term. Dahood (1977a) takes dabar bismf seqer (lit., "a word in my
name lying") as a broken construct chain (the normal construct chain, debar-
