In 587 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon's Temple, and sent the Judahite upper classes into the Babylonian captivity.

[6][8] However, the Targum Jonathan on Ezekiel 1:1 and the 2nd-century rabbinic work Seder Olam Rabba (chapter 26) interpret it to mean "in the thirtieth year after Josiah was presented with a Book of the Law discovered in the Temple" in 622 BCE, the time of Josiah's reforms and Jeremiah's prophecies.

Some statements found in rabbinic literature posit that Ezekiel was the son of Jeremiah, who was (also) called "Buzi" because he was despised by the Jews.

[13] According to Josephus, Ezekiel was already active as a prophet while in the Land of Israel, and he retained this gift when he was exiled with King Jehoiachin and the nobles of the country to Babylon.

[14] Josephus relates that Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies exiled three thousand people from Judah,[15] after deposing Jehoiachin in 598 BCE.

According to the midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah, it was Ezekiel whom the three pious men, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (also called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) asked for advice as to whether they should resist Nebuchadnezzar's command and choose death by fire rather than worship his idol.

[19] Ezekiel is commemorated on August 28 on the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and on April 10 in the Roman Martyrology.

This is one of the readings at Vespers on Great Feasts of the Theotokos in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches.

[citation needed] This imagery is also found in the traditional Catholic Christmas hymn "Gaudete" and in a saying by Bonaventure, quoted by Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori: "No one can enter Heaven unless by Mary, as though through a door.

"[21] The imagery provides the basis for the concept that God gave Mary to humanity as the "Gate of Heaven" (thence the dedication of churches and convents to the Porta Coeli), an idea also laid out in the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) prayer.

Although not mentioned by name in the Quran, Muslim scholars, both classical[c] and modern[d] have included Ezekiel in lists of the prophets of Islam.

In the absence of a worldly foundation, it became necessary to build a spiritual one and Ezekiel performed this mission by observing the signs of the time and deducing his doctrines from them.

It is located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city centre on a hill, where it is revered and visited by local Muslims, called Makam Dağı.