“Noah, Daniel, and Job”: Noah is best known from the account of the great flood, where he is described as “righteous” (cf. Gen 7:1; 6:8); Daniel is probably the name of an ancient Canaanite king of the fourteenth century BC, famous for his uprightness and known to us from Ungarit writings. The book of Daniel, written after Ezekiel’s time, borrowed the name on account of the man’s proverbial probity. Job was also a legendary character, remembered in the book that bears his name as being “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1). All three had this reputation for uprightness, and all three were non-Israelites. By mentioning them here, it seems very likely that Ezekiel wants to give his teaching on personal responsibility a universal character; and he is acknowledging that people outside Israel are able to lead upright lives: “The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. (cf. Gen 9:16; Lk 21:24; Dei Verburn 3). The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchisedek—a figure of Christ—and the upright ‘Noah, Daniel, and Job’ (Ezek 14:14). Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to ‘gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad’ (Jn 11:52)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 58).
