unity, the insight about its distinctive speech forms having arisen as a function of writing seems to have receded into the background of the discussion. It is this insight which I aim to develop, employing some of the tools provided by contemporary studies in the pragmatics of written discourse and literary language. The question to be pursued is a functional one: what factors operative in Ezekiel’s environment constitute a new kind of challenge to the prophet in communicating his message, and how
Page 25