Reuse and Innovation in Ezekiel 20 and Exodus 31: 12–17

Ezekiel 20 has long been recognized as dependent on numerous Torah texts and traditions, in spite of the apparent contradictions. This study examines how the relationship is in fact reversed in the case of Exod 31:12–17*, the development of which has been influenced by the innovative understanding of the Sabbath in Ezekiel 20. I will first briefly explore the compositional history of Exod 31:12–17, concluding, with the majority of contemporary mainstream scholars, that the received text is secondary to its context and is the product of more than one compositional layer. It is evident from the shared locutions and contextual overlap between Exod 31:12–17 and Ezekiel 20 that the later layer of Exod 31:12–17 is dependent on the description of the Sabbath in Ezek 20:12–13, 16, 20–21, 24, which leads me to argue that Exod 31:12–17* was developed in light of this text. The final part of the study is devoted to investigating how and why the author of Ezekiel 20 used the language of the Holiness Code to develop further this particular concept of the Sabbath, particularly as a sign related to sanctification of a people, which was later developed in Exodus 31.