Ezekiel יחזקאל הנביא

Yechezkel son of Buzi was a priest taken to Babylon with the exile of Yehoyachin in 3327. Some years later, "by the river Kevar", he saw the vision of the Chariot—four faces, wheels within wheels, blinding brightness. The Mishnah forbids expounding this chapter publicly.

His ministry proved something far from obvious: prophecy is possible in exile, and God "was to them a small sanctuary in the lands where they came". From that phrase tradition derives the idea of the synagogue.

He spoke harshly and often through actions: lying on his side for hundreds of days, eating measured rations, shaving his head and dividing the hair in three—each gesture a sign of the city's fate. He also established personal responsibility against the proverb about fathers eating sour grapes: "The soul that sins, it shall die."

After the destruction the tone turns to consolation. His most famous vision is a valley of dry bones that grow sinews and flesh and stand up: "These bones are the whole house of Israel." His closing chapters describe a future Temple in exact measurements.