"can These Bones Live Again?": a Rhetoric of the Gospel in Ezekiel

The book of Ezekiel can probably lay claim to being the least among the Major Prophets as far as recent scholarly interest and output go.1 This study is intended to ready this situation to some degree by providing a detailed textrhetorical perspective on a crucial segment that begins the third major portion of Ezekiel's prophecy: chapters 33-37.' This section is especially appealing because of its "gospel" emphasis and consequent relevance to the entire message of the NT.' In these five chapters most of the 'good news" of Ezekiel's message to Israel (actually Judah) is concentrated, giving the unit a theological significance far beyond its actual size in relation to the rest of the book. My aim is to reveal some of the main compositional techniques used by the prophet to persuade his compatriots to adopt a new attitude along with a "new heart" and a "new spirit" (36:26). I will begin by describing the major literary and topical markers that serve to delineate chapters 33-37 as a cohesive and coherent text segment within this artfully constructed dramatic prophecy in defense of the justice of God (Part I). This compositional feature has not always been r e c o g d or