Abstract:
The book of Ezekiel may be effectively understood in terms of Jeffrey Alexander’s theory of
cultural trauma, in which catastrophic events take on a wider cultural significance because they are
perceived as having consequences for group identity. The book of Ezekiel develops a new master narrative
of Israelite history and identity, in which the catastrophes of 597 and 586 BCE are the culmination of
generations of moral and religious offences against Yhwh, the God of Israel. Ezekiel’s narrative constructs
these events as having profound consequences for Israel’s identity. Those taken to Babylonia are identified
as victims of divine violence; as victims, they are the ones whom Yhwh has chosen as true Israelites. The
book distinguishes this new Israel from the remnants of the old one still in Jerusalem, rejecting the claim
that the latter are still members of the house of Israel. According to Ezekiel, to be an Israelite means to be a
deportee. Although few texts outside Ezekiel are quite so overtly negative regarding Israel’s history, its
reckoning of the significance of Jerusalem’s fall for Israelite identity resonates throughout the canon. With
rare exceptions, the experience of deportation and life in Babylonia became the sine qua non of Israelite
identity: only those who had it could count themselves true members of post-597 Israel. As a construction of
the cultural significance of trauma, therefore, Ezekiel was remarkably successful. Thereafter, the events of
597 were construed not simply as practically and politically catastrophic, but as traumatic: the new master
narrative placed them front and centre, with indelible and profound consequences for Israel’s selfunderstanding.
