Ezekiel 8:16-18
New English Translation
16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there[a] at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar,[b] were about twenty-five[c] men with their backs to the Lord’s temple,[d] facing east—they were worshiping the sun[e] toward the east!
17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose![f] 18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare[g] them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
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- Ezekiel 8:16 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
- Ezekiel 8:16 sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).
- Ezekiel 8:16 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of “twenty-five,” perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash. tn Or “exactly twenty-five.”
- Ezekiel 8:16 sn The temple faced east.
- Ezekiel 8:16 tn Or “the sun god.” sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).
- Ezekiel 8:17 tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”
- Ezekiel 8:18 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
Ezekiel 8:16-18
International Standard Version
Sun Worship in the Temple
16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s Temple. There, at the entrance to the Lord’s Temple, between the porch and the altar, were 25 men, with their backs toward the Lord’s Temple and facing the east, prostrating themselves to the sun.
17 “Do you see this, Son of Man?” he asked me. “Is it an insignificant thing for Judah’s house to commit the detestable things that they’re doing here? They’ve filled the land with violence and turned away from me, causing me to become angry again. Look how they’re sniffing with their noses![a] 18 I’m going to deal with them in rage and anger. I’ll show neither pity nor compassion. They’ll cry loudly directly in my ears, but I won’t listen to them.”
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- Ezekiel 8:17 So MT; i.e. using flora to create or sustain an altered state during idolatrous worship; LXX reads with contempt
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