Prophecy Without Speech/2
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Prophecy Without Speech
Exegetical Approaches
Analogy
According to this approach, it was never intended that Yechezkel to be silent. The verses which describe his silence simply mean that it was as if he was silent.
Sources:Rid,
"וְנֶאֱלַמְתָּ" – According to the Rid, these words are not a commandment to Yechezkel, but an analogy regarding the nation's reaction to the prophesies. Despite the fact that Yechezkel will talk, he won't accomplish his task of being an "אִישׁ מוֹכִיחַ". Since the nation won't listen to his words, he will be as if mute.
Prophecy of the scout – This prophecy does not contradict the previous one, as Yechezkel is not being told not to prophesy. In fact, it strengthens the prophecy of the scout. Hashem is telling Yechezkel that even if he does not make an impression on the people and they don't change their ways, he will still fulfill his mission as long as he warns them in advance of the outcomes of their practices.1
Yechezkel talking before chapter 33 – This approach assumes that all the prophecies in chapters 3-33 were actually delivered to the people, as their simple reading implies. Yechezkel did not sit silently for seven and a half years.
"בּוֹא הַפָּלִיט" – The Rid says that the פליט marks the destruction, when all of Yechezkel's prophecies were fulfilled. At this point, the people start to believe all of his prophesies, and it is no longer as if he were mute and had not delivered them. Though, Yechezkel didn't do anything differently once the פליט came, the people responded differently to the prophecies, "hearing" them for the first time.
