The Role of Repentance in the Book of Ezekiel: A Second Chance for the Second Generation

It has become common to describe the book of Ezekiel as radically theocentric. Whilst this is a helpful concept, in the case of human repentance some scholars have taken it to the extreme, lapsing into total theocentricity and excluding the role that the book of Ezekiel gives to human agents. An integrated reading of Ezekiel 14, 18, 33, and 20 along with the ‘new heart and new soul’ texts (Ezek. 11:14–21; 18:30–2; 36:23b–38) that is attentive to allusions to the Exodus tradition and the centrality of the land demonstrates that human repentance plays an integral role in marking out YHWH’s future community. This future community is explicitly correlated with the second generation of the Exodus, another community that passed through divine judgement in the wilderness so that they could inhabit the land promised by YHWH. Ezekiel’s second exodus is entirely motivated by YHWH’s reputation and instigated solely by divine choice; but Ezekiel envisages the accomplishment of this purpose through the process of human repentance. Human agency, exercised to demonstrate faith in YHWH despite various trials, is the means through which the purpose of glorifying YHWH is achieved.