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  • From: "Maurice A. O'Sullivan" <mauros AT iol.ie>
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Fiery Stones
  • Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 18:40:15 +0000


At 19:41 12/01/02, Eric Hill wrote:

In Eze 28:14 Ezekiel says about the King of Tyre that he "walked among the
fiery stones". Is there some symbolic meaning in Hebrew of the "fiery
stones". What are they?

Eric:
In the second volume ( Chapters 25-48 ) of:
Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel. 2 vols. . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
you will find footnotes devoted to the varying interpretations of " stones of fire " -- but all of these seem more concerned with identifying the nature of the stones, rather than any possible symbolic meanings.
Block himself holds to the opinion that " these stones are best understood as decorative, contributing to the magnificence and brilliance of the picture ".

Block goes on:
>> If this interpretation is correct, this passage is illuminated by a remarkable analogue in a fragment of the Gilgamesh Epic that describes the arrival of the hero in the garden of the gods:
[ <snipped> you will find his quotation on p. 115, and he references this to ANET p.89 ]

For myself, I would be more interested in the form of the verb, the hithpael, "walking up and down ", with, as Block points out, echoes of/references to God in the garden ( Gn. 3:8 ) " of Abraham walking up and down the land, in effect staking this claim to it, Gn. 13:17, also the surveyors of the land of Canaan ( Josh. 18:4) and the satan in Job 1:7 ".

Incidentally, Block has a cautionary note:

>> Even if the link between Ezekiel's list of gemstones and the high priest's chestpiece is strong, the significance of this connection should not be exaggerated, nor blind the reader to the prophet's special adaptation of the imagery for his own rhetorical purposes............He has no interest in identifying the king of Tyre with the high priest of Israel. <<<





Maurice A. O'Sullivan
[Bray, Ireland]
mauros AT iol.ie

"Mere description is impossible. Language forces you to an implicit
comment." C.S. Lewis







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