Ezekiel

Ezekiel יְחֶזְקֵאל‎
Depiction by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Prophet and Priest
Born	Possibly c. 623 BCE Jerusalem, Kingdom of Judah
Died	After c. 571 BCE Babylon, Neo-Babylonian Empire
Venerated in	Judaism Christianity Islam Baháʼí Faith
Major shrine	Ezekiel's Tomb, Iraq
Feast	August 28 – Armenian Apostolic Church July 23 – Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism July 21 – Lutheranism
Controversy	Babylonian captivity

Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (/ɪˈziːkiəl/; Hebrew: יְחֶזְקֵאל Yəḥezqēʾl [jə.ħɛzˈqeːl]; Greek: Ἰεζεκιήλ Iezekiḗl [i.ɛ.zɛ.kiˈel]), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him.

The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Judah's capital city Jerusalem. Then in 587 BCE, the Babylonian empire conquered Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon's Temple, and sent the Jewish upper classes into the Babylonian captivity.

However, Ezekiel also prophesied the eventual restoration of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. It is believed he died around 570 BCE; Ezekiel's Tomb is the most important Jewish religious site in Mesopotamia. Three decades later in 539 BCE, the Persian empire conquered Babylon and the Edict of Cyrus repatriated the Jews in the return to Zion.

The name "Ezekiel" means "God is strong" or "God strengthens" in Hebrew.^[1]