Ezekiel, Daniel

The books of Ezekiel and Daniel are rich in imagery taken up afresh in the New Testament. Echoes of Ezekiel--with its words of doom and promises of hope, the vision of a new temple and its scroll-eating prophet--are especially apparent in the book of Revelation. Daniel is most notable in supplying terminology and imagery for Jesus of Nazareth's favored self-description as "Son of man," a phrase also found in Ezekiel and one which John the seer employs repeatedly in describing the exalted figure of his vision on the island of Patmos. The four beasts of Daniel find their counterparts in the lion, ox, man and eagle of Ezekiel and Revelation. It is no wonder these books, despite the difficulties in interpreting them, took hold on the imagination of the early church. Over forty church fathers are cited in the commentary on Ezekiel, some of whom are here translated into English for the first time, but pride of place goes to four significant extant works: the homilies of Origen and Gregory the Great, and the commentaries of Jerome and Theodoret of Cyr, thus bridging East and West, North and South. A similar array of fathers are found within the commentary on Daniel. Extensive comments derive from the works of Theodoret of Cyr, Hippolytus, Jerome and Isho'dad of Merv and provide a wealth of insight. Valuable commentary attributed to Ephrem the Syrian and John Chrysostom is also found here, though the authorship of these commentaries is indeed questioned. Michael Glerup and Kenneth Stevenson edit this collection.