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Selected Verse: Ezekiel 8:16 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Eze 8:16	Strong Concordance	And he brought [0935] me into the inner [06442] court [02691] of the LORD'S [03068] house [01004], and, behold, at the door [06607] of the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], between the porch [0197] and the altar [04196], were about five [02568] and twenty [06242] men [0376], with their backs [0268] toward the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], and their faces [06440] toward the east [06924]; and they worshipped [07812] the sun [08121] toward the east [06924].
	King James	And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
worshipped--In the Hebrew a corrupt form is used to express Ezekiel's sense of the foul corruption of such worship.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

worshipped--In the Hebrew a corrupt form is used to express Ezekiel's sense of the foul corruption of such worship.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The inner court - The court of the priests. About five and twenty men - Rather, as it were five etc. This was the number of the heads of the 24 courses (shifts) with the high priest presiding over them. These then were the representatives of the priests, as the seventy were of the people. In the temple the seat of the Divine Majesty was at the west, perhaps appointed for this very purpose, to guard against the idolatrous adoration of the rising sun. Therefore the idolatrous priests must in worshipping the false sun-god turn their backs upon the True. The worship of the heavenly bodies was one of the earliest forms of idolatry Job 31:26-27 and was expressly forbidden in the Law Deu 17:3. In its earliest form, it was conducted without the intervention of images, the adoration being addressed to the heavenly bodies themselves: this form, continued among the Persians, seems to have been introduced afresh into Jerusalem at the time of Ezekiel. Compare, also, Kg2 23:11-12. The images (compare Eze 6:4, Eze 6:6) were probably columns set up in honor of the sun, not images in human form. This simpler mode of sunworship was soon changed. The sun, or the god supposed to preside over it, was represented as a person, whose image was set up and adored.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Fourth Abomination: Worship of the Sun by the Priests Eze 8:16. And He took me into the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and behold, at the entrance into the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, as it were five and twenty men,with their backs towards the temple of Jehovah and their faces towards the east; they were worshipping the sun towards the east. Eze 8:17. And He said to me, Seest thou this, son of Man? Is it too little for the house of Judah to perform the abominations which they are performing here, that they also fill the land with violence, and provoke me to anger again and again? For behold they stretch out the vine-branch to their nose. Eze 8:18. But I also will act in fury; my eye shall not look compassionately, and I will not spare; and if they cry with a loud voice in my ears, I will not hear them. - After Ezekiel has seen the idolatrous abominations in the outer court, or place for the people, he is taken back into the inner court, or court of the priests, to see still greater abominations there. Between the porch of the temple and the altar of burnt-offering, the most sacred spot therefore in the inner court, which the priests alone were permitted to tread (Joe 2:17), he sees as if twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple, were worshipping the sun in the east. כּ before עשׂרים is not a preposition, circa, about, but a particle of comparison (an appearance): as if twenty-five men; after the analogy of כּ before an accusative (vid., Ewald, 282d). For the number here is not an approximative one; but twenty-five is the exact number, namely, the twenty-four leaders of the classes of priests (Ch1 24:5.; Ch2 36:14; Ezr 10:5), with the high priest at the head (see Lightfoot's Chronol. of O.T., Opp. I. 124). As the whole nation was seen in the seventy elders, so is the entire priesthood represented here in the twenty-five leaders as deeply sunk in disgraceful idolatry. Their apostasy from the Lord is shown in the fact that they turn their back upon the temple, and therefore upon Jehovah, who was enthroned in the temple, and worship the sun, with their faces turned towards the east. The worship of the sun does not refer to the worship of Adonis, as Hvernick supposes, although Adonis was a sun-god; but generally to the worship of the heavenly bodies, against which Moses had warned the people (Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3), and which found its way in the time of Manasseh into the courts of the temple, whence it was afterwards expelled by Josiah (Kg2 23:5, Kg2 23:11). The form משׁתתּויתם must be a copyist's error for משׁתּחוים; as the supposition that it is an unusual form, with a play upon השׁחית, (Note: "An extraordinary form, invented for the purpose of more effectually expressing their extraordinary abomination." - Lightfoot.) is precluded by the fact that it would in that case be a 2nd per. plur. perf., and such a construction is rendered impossible by the המּה which immediately precedes it (cf. Ewald, 118a). To these idolatrous abominations Judah has added other sins, as if these abominations were not bad enough in themselves. This is the meaning of the question in Eze 8:17, 'הנּקל וגו: is it too little for the house of Judah, etc.? נקל with מן, as in Isa 49:6. To indicate the fulness of the measure of guilt, reference is again briefly made to the moral corruption of Judah. חמס embraces all the injuries inflicted upon men; תּועבות, impiety towards God, i.e., idolatry. By violent deeds they provoke God repeatedly to anger (שׁוּב, followed by an infinitive, expresses the repetition of an action). The last clause of Eze 8:17 ('והנּם שׁלחים וגו) is very obscure. The usual explanation, which has been adopted by J. D. Michaelis and Gesenius: "they hold the twig to their nose," namely, the sacred twig Barsom, which the Parsees held in their hands when praying (vid., Hyde, de relig. vet. Pars. p. 350, ed. 2; and Kleuker, Zend-Avesta, III. p. 204), suits neither the context nor the words. According to the position of the clause in the context, we do not expect an allusion to a new idolatrous rite, but an explanation of the way in which Judah had excited the wrath of God by its violent deeds. Moreover, זמורה is not a suitable word to apply to the Barsom - Zemōrâh is a shoot or tendril of the vine (cf. Eze 15:2; Isa 17:10; Num 13:23). The Barsom, on the other hand, consisted of bunches of twigs of the tree Gez or Hom, or of branches of the pomegranate, the tamarisk, or the date (cf. Kleuker l.c., and Strabo, XV. 733), and was not held to the nose, but kept in front of the mouth as a magical mode of driving demons away (vid., Hyde, l.c.). Lastly, שׁלח אל does not mean to hold anything, but to stretch out towards, to prepare to strike, to use violence. Of the other explanations given, only two deserve any consideration - namely, first, the supposition that it is a proverbial expression, "to apply the twig to anger," in the sense of adding fuel to the fire, which Doederlein (ad Grotii adnott.) applies in this way, "by these things they supply food, as it were, to my wrath, which burns against themselves," i.e., they bring fuel to the fire of my wrath. Lightfoot gives a similar explanation in his Hor. hebr. ad Joh 15:6. The second is that of Hitzig: "they apply the sickle to their nose," i.e., by seeking to injure me, they injure themselves. In this case זמורה must be taken in the sense of מזמּרה, a sickle or pruning-knife, and pointed זמורה. The saying does appear to be a proverbial one, but the origin and meaning of the proverb have not yet been satisfactorily explained. - Eze 8:18. Therefore will the Lord punish unsparingly (cf. Eze 7:4, Eze 7:9; Eze 5:11). This judgment he shows to the prophet in the two following chapters.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Fourth Abomination: Worship of the Sun by the Priests

Eze 8:16. And He took me into the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and behold, at the entrance into the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, as it were five and twenty men,with their backs towards the temple of Jehovah and their faces towards the east; they were worshipping the sun towards the east. Eze 8:17. And He said to me, Seest thou this, son of Man? Is it too little for the house of Judah to perform the abominations which they are performing here, that they also fill the land with violence, and provoke me to anger again and again? For behold they stretch out the vine-branch to their nose. Eze 8:18. But I also will act in fury; my eye shall not look compassionately, and I will not spare; and if they cry with a loud voice in my ears, I will not hear them. - After Ezekiel has seen the idolatrous abominations in the outer court, or place for the people, he is taken back into the inner court, or court of the priests, to see still greater abominations there. Between the porch of the temple and the altar of burnt-offering, the most sacred spot therefore in the inner court, which the priests alone were permitted to tread (Joe 2:17), he sees as if twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple, were worshipping the sun in the east. כּ before עשׂרים is not a preposition, circa, about, but a particle of comparison (an appearance): as if twenty-five men; after the analogy of כּ before an accusative (vid., Ewald, 282d). For the number here is not an approximative one; but twenty-five is the exact number, namely, the twenty-four leaders of the classes of priests (Ch1 24:5.; Ch2 36:14; Ezr 10:5), with the high priest at the head (see Lightfoot's Chronol. of O.T., Opp. I. 124). As the whole nation was seen in the seventy elders, so is the entire priesthood represented here in the twenty-five leaders as deeply sunk in disgraceful idolatry. Their apostasy from the Lord is shown in the fact that they turn their back upon the temple, and therefore upon Jehovah, who was enthroned in the temple, and worship the sun, with their faces turned towards the east. The worship of the sun does not refer to the worship of Adonis, as Hvernick supposes, although Adonis was a sun-god; but generally to the worship of the heavenly bodies, against which Moses had warned the people (Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3), and which found its way in the time of Manasseh into the courts of the temple, whence it was afterwards expelled by Josiah (Kg2 23:5, Kg2 23:11). The form משׁתתּויתם must be a copyist's error for משׁתּחוים; as the supposition that it is an unusual form, with a play upon השׁחית,

(Note: "An extraordinary form, invented for the purpose of more effectually expressing their extraordinary abomination." - Lightfoot.)

is precluded by the fact that it would in that case be a 2nd per. plur. perf., and such a construction is rendered impossible by the המּה which immediately precedes it (cf. Ewald, 118a).

To these idolatrous abominations Judah has added other sins, as if these abominations were not bad enough in themselves. This is the meaning of the question in Eze 8:17, 'הנּקל וגו: is it too little for the house of Judah, etc.? נקל with מן, as in Isa 49:6. To indicate the fulness of the measure of guilt, reference is again briefly made to the moral corruption of Judah. חמס embraces all the injuries inflicted upon men; תּועבות, impiety towards God, i.e., idolatry. By violent deeds they provoke God repeatedly to anger (שׁוּב, followed by an infinitive, expresses the repetition of an action). The last clause of Eze 8:17 ('והנּם שׁלחים וגו) is very obscure. The usual explanation, which has been adopted by J. D. Michaelis and Gesenius: "they hold the twig to their nose," namely, the sacred twig Barsom, which the Parsees held in their hands when praying (vid., Hyde, de relig. vet. Pars. p. 350, ed. 2; and Kleuker, Zend-Avesta, III. p. 204), suits neither the context nor the words. According to the position of the clause in the context, we do not expect an allusion to a new idolatrous rite, but an explanation of the way in which Judah had excited the wrath of God by its violent deeds. Moreover, זמורה is not a suitable word to apply to the Barsom - Zemōrâh is a shoot or tendril of the vine (cf. Eze 15:2; Isa 17:10; Num 13:23). The Barsom, on the other hand, consisted of bunches of twigs of the tree Gez or Hom, or of branches of the pomegranate, the tamarisk, or the date (cf. Kleuker l.c., and Strabo, XV. 733), and was not held to the nose, but kept in front of the mouth as a magical mode of driving demons away (vid., Hyde, l.c.). Lastly, שׁלח אל does not mean to hold anything, but to stretch out towards, to prepare to strike, to use violence. Of the other explanations given, only two deserve any consideration - namely, first, the supposition that it is a proverbial expression, "to apply the twig to anger," in the sense of adding fuel to the fire, which Doederlein (ad Grotii adnott.) applies in this way, "by these things they supply food, as it were, to my wrath, which burns against themselves," i.e., they bring fuel to the fire of my wrath. Lightfoot gives a similar explanation in his Hor. hebr. ad Joh 15:6. The second is that of Hitzig: "they apply the sickle to their nose," i.e., by seeking to injure me, they injure themselves. In this case זמורה must be taken in the sense of מזמּרה, a sickle or pruning-knife, and pointed זמורה. The saying does appear to be a proverbial one, but the origin and meaning of the proverb have not yet been satisfactorily explained. - Eze 8:18. Therefore will the Lord punish unsparingly (cf. Eze 7:4, Eze 7:9; Eze 5:11). This judgment he shows to the prophet in the two following chapters.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Inner court - The innermost, that which was next the temple, called here the Lord's house. At the door - Before he saw abominations in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself. The porch - That stately porch, beautified with the curious and mighty brass pillars, Jachin and Boaz. Altar - The brazen altar for burnt - offerings, which was placed in the court before the front of the temple, and is here represented in its proper place. Their backs - In contempt of God, and his worship. The sun - In imitation of the Persians, Egyptians, and other eastern idolaters; these Jews turn their back on God who created the sun, and worship the creature in contempt of the Creator.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Five and twenty men - These most probably represented the twenty-four courses of the priests, with the high priest for the twenty-fifth. This was the Persian worship, as their turning their faces to the east plainly shows they were worshipping the rising sun.

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⁶ In all your dwellingplaces [04186] the cities [05892] shall be laid waste [02717], and the high places [01116] shall be desolate [03456]; that your altars [04196] may be laid waste [02717] and made desolate [0816], and your idols [01544] may be broken [07665] and cease [07673], and your images [02553] may be cut down [01438], and your works [04639] may be abolished [04229].

⁴ And your altars [04196] shall be desolate [08074], and your images [02553] shall be broken [07665]: and I will cast down [05307] your slain [02491] men before [06440] your idols [01544].

¹¹ And he took away [07673] the horses [05483] that the kings [04428] of Judah [03063] had given [05414] to the sun [08121], at the entering in [0935] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], by the chamber [03957] of Nathanmelech [05419] the chamberlain [05631], which was in the suburbs [06503], and burned [08313] the chariots [04818] of the sun [08121] with fire [0784].
¹² And the altars [04196] that were on the top [01406] of the upper chamber [05944] of Ahaz [0271], which the kings [04428] of Judah [03063] had made [06213], and the altars [04196] which Manasseh [04519] had made [06213] in the two [08147] courts [02691] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], did the king [04428] beat down [05422], and brake them down [07323] from thence, and cast [07993] the dust [06083] of them into the brook [05158] Kidron [06939].

³ And hath gone [03212] and served [05647] other [0312] gods [0430], and worshipped [07812] them, either the sun [08121], or moon [03394], or any of the host [06635] of heaven [08064], which I have not commanded [06680];

²⁶ If I beheld [07200] the sun [0216] when it shined [01984], or the moon [03394] walking [01980] in brightness [03368];
²⁷ And my heart [03820] hath been secretly [05643] enticed [06601], or my mouth [06310] hath kissed [05401] my hand [03027]:

¹¹ Wherefore, as I live [02416], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Surely, because thou hast defiled [02930] my sanctuary [04720] with all thy detestable things [08251], and with all thine abominations [08441], therefore will I also diminish [01639] thee; neither shall mine eye [05869] spare [02347], neither will I have any pity [02550].

⁹ And mine eye [05869] shall not spare [02347], neither will I have pity [02550]: I will recompense [05414] thee according to thy ways [01870] and thine abominations [08441] that are in the midst [08432] of thee; and ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068] that smiteth [05221].

⁴ And mine eye [05869] shall not spare [02347] thee, neither will I have pity [02550]: but I will recompense [05414] thy ways [01870] upon thee, and thine abominations [08441] shall be in the midst [08432] of thee: and ye shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068].

¹⁸ Therefore will I also deal [06213] in fury [02534]: mine eye [05869] shall not spare [02347], neither will I have pity [02550]: and though they cry [07121] in mine ears [0241] with a loud [01419] voice [06963], yet will I not hear [08085] them.

⁶ If [3362] a man [5100] abide [3306] not [3362] in [1722] me [1698], he is cast [906] forth [1854] as [5613] a branch [2814], and [2532] is withered [3583]; and [2532] men gather [4863] them [846], and [2532] cast [906] them into [1519] the fire [4442], and [2532] they are burned [2545].

²³ And they came [0935] unto the brook [05158] of Eshcol [0812], and cut down [03772] from thence a branch [02156] with one [0259] cluster [0811] of grapes [06025], and they bare [05375] it between two [08147] upon a staff [04132]; and they brought of the pomegranates [07416], and of the figs [08384].

¹⁰ Because thou hast forgotten [07911] the God [0430] of thy salvation [03468], and hast not been mindful [02142] of the rock [06697] of thy strength [04581], therefore shalt thou plant [05193] pleasant [05282] plants [05194], and shalt set [02232] it with strange [02114] slips [02156]:

² Son [01121] of man [0120], What is the vine [01612] tree [06086] more than any tree [06086], or than a branch [02156] which is among the trees [06086] of the forest [03293]?

¹⁷ Then he said [0559] unto me, Hast thou seen [07200] this, O son [01121] of man [0120]? Is it a light thing [07043] to the house [01004] of Judah [03063] that they commit [06213] the abominations [08441] which they commit [06213] here? for they have filled [04390] the land [0776] with violence [02555], and have returned [07725] to provoke me to anger [03707]: and, lo, they put [07971] the branch [02156] to their nose [0639].

⁶ And he said [0559], It is a light thing [07043] that thou shouldest be my servant [05650] to raise up [06965] the tribes [07626] of Jacob [03290], and to restore [07725] the preserved [05341] [05336] of Israel [03478]: I will also give [05414] thee for a light [0216] to the Gentiles [01471], that thou mayest be my salvation [03444] unto the end [07097] of the earth [0776].

⁵ And he put down [07673] the idolatrous priests [03649], whom the kings [04428] of Judah [03063] had ordained [05414] to burn incense [06999] in the high places [01116] in the cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and in the places round about [04524] Jerusalem [03389]; them also that burned incense [06999] unto Baal [01168], to the sun [08121], and to the moon [03394], and to the planets [04208], and to all the host [06635] of heaven [08064].

¹⁹ And lest thou lift up [05375] thine eyes [05869] unto heaven [08064], and when thou seest [07200] the sun [08121], and the moon [03394], and the stars [03556], even all the host [06635] of heaven [08064], shouldest be driven [05080] to worship [07812] them, and serve [05647] them, which the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] hath divided [02505] unto all nations [05971] under the whole heaven [08064].

⁵ Then arose [06965] Ezra [05830], and made the chief [08269] priests [03548], the Levites [03881], and all Israel [03478], to swear [07650] that they should do [06213] according to this word [01697]. And they sware [07650].

¹⁴ Moreover all the chief [08269] of the priests [03548], and the people [05971], transgressed [04603] very [04604] much [07235] after all the abominations [08441] of the heathen [01471]; and polluted [02930] the house [01004] of the LORD [03068] which he had hallowed [06942] in Jerusalem [03389].

⁵ Thus were they divided [02505] by lot [01486], one sort [0428] with another [0428]; for the governors [08269] of the sanctuary [06944], and governors [08269] of the house of God [0430], were of the sons [01121] of Eleazar [0499], and of the sons [01121] of Ithamar [0385].

¹⁷ Let the priests [03548], the ministers [08334] of the LORD [03068], weep [01058] between the porch [0197] and the altar [04196], and let them say [0559], Spare [02347] thy people [05971], O LORD [03068], and give [05414] not thine heritage [05159] to reproach [02781], that the heathen [01471] should rule over [04910] them: wherefore should they say [0559] among the people [05971], Where is their God [0430]?

¹⁶ And he brought [0935] me into the inner [06442] court [02691] of the LORD'S [03068] house [01004], and, behold, at the door [06607] of the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], between the porch [0197] and the altar [04196], were about five [02568] and twenty [06242] men [0376], with their backs [0268] toward the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], and their faces [06440] toward the east [06924]; and they worshipped [07812] the sun [08121] toward the east [06924].