Ezekiel Prophesying

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

C. Laplante, who signed at the lower right, engraved this design. Doré sets the speaker high on a rock against a low evening sky, so that he towers over everyone around him and his raised hand stands out against the clouds.

Ezekiel, with a long white beard, leans on a tall staff and points upward. Listeners sit at his feet: one looks up at him, another hides his face in his hand. Farther off a group stands against the pale band of light on the horizon, one man lifting his arm.

From the text

“I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation” (Ezekiel 2:3)

He must speak “whether they listen or refuse to listen” (Ezekiel 2:5)

“do not be afraid of them or their words” (Ezekiel 2:6)

The artist’s own

Ezekiel as a white-bearded old man; the text does not give his age

An open hilltop at dusk, with the people gathered around him

A mixed audience: some close and listening, others standing apart

Details

The raised hand

Ezekiel points up to the sky as he speaks.

The prophet

A long white beard falls over his robe.

A listener

One man sits with his face buried in his hand.

The far group

Dark figures stand against the light on the horizon.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 2, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1874 (acc. 75.267 A) · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.

The verses

Ezek 2:3–7“Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me. They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house. But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.