Learning from the land: Ecological violence in Ezekiel 6

Abstract

Ezekiel 6 depicts widespread ecological violence brought against the land of Israel, especially the mountains. The land is depicted as participating in idolatry, which functions as the justification for the ecological destruction. The author of Ezekiel modifies the language of Leviticus 26, which describes the land’s participation in the covenant with God, in order to portray the possibility of the land’s unfaithfulness. This article shows how the land’s ecological trauma teaches the people of Israel about their own trauma. To do this, it brings together agrarian hermeneutics as proposed by Ellen Davis with literary trauma theory, modifying Shoshana Felman’s work on “indirection” for an ancient agrarian audience. As an example of “indirection,” the message to the mountains helps the people better understand their experience and the reasons that led to their exile.