Yehezkiel 8:1--9:11
Konteks8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, 1 as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand 2 of the sovereign Lord seized me. 3 8:2 As I watched, I noticed 4 a form that appeared to be a man. 5 From his waist downward was something like fire, 6 and from his waist upward something like a brightness, 7 like an amber glow. 8 8:3 He stretched out the form 9 of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind 10 lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem 11 by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue 12 which provokes to jealousy was located. 8:4 Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.
8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward 13 the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.
8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people 14 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.
8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure 15 of creeping thing and beast – detestable images 16 – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. 17 8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel 18 (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant 19 vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.
8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? 20 For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”
8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed 21 women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 22 8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”
8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there 23 at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, 24 were about twenty-five 25 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, 26 facing east – they were worshiping the sun 27 toward the east!
8:17 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! 28 8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare 29 them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
9:1 Then he shouted in my ears, “Approach, 30 you who are to visit destruction on the city, each with his destructive weapon in his hand!” 9:2 Next, I noticed 31 six men 32 coming from the direction of the upper gate 33 which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit 34 at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.
9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. 35 He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem 36 and put a mark 37 on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
9:5 While I listened, he said to the others, 38 “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare 39 anyone! 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.
9:7 He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with corpses. Go!” So they went out and struck people down throughout the city. 9:8 While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, “Ah, sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?”
9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, 40 for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 41 9:10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare 42 them; I hereby repay them for what they have done.” 43
9:11 Next I noticed the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side bringing back word: “I have done just as you commanded me.”
[8:1] 1 tc The LXX reads “In the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth of the month.”
[8:1] sn In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month would be September 17, 592
[8:1] sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
[8:1] 3 tn Heb “fell upon me there,” that is, God’s influence came over him.
[8:2] 4 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
[8:2] 5 tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.
[8:2] 6 tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.
[8:2] 7 tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”
[8:3] 9 tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).
[8:3] 10 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[8:3] 11 map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:5] 13 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
[8:10] 16 tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.
[8:10] 17 sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).
[8:11] 18 sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).
[8:11] 19 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[8:12] 20 tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:12] sn This type of image is explicitly prohibited in the Mosaic law (Lev 26:1).
[8:14] 21 tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”
[8:14] 22 sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.
[8:16] 23 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
[8:16] 24 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).
[8:16] 25 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.
[8:16] tn Or “exactly twenty-five.”
[8:16] 26 sn The temple faced east.
[8:16] 27 tn Or “the sun god.”
[8:16] sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).
[8:17] 28 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.”
[8:18] 29 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.
[9:1] 30 tc Heb “they approached.” Reading the imperative assumes the same consonantal text but different vowels.
[9:2] 31 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[9:2] 32 sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.
[9:2] 33 sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).
[9:2] 34 tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.
[9:4] 36 tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”
[9:4] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[9:4] 37 tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.
[9:4] sn For a similar concept in the Bible, see Rev 7:2-4; 13:16; 14:9, 11; 20:4; 22:4.
[9:5] 38 tn Heb “to these he said in my ears.”
[9:5] 39 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.
[9:9] 40 tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”
[9:9] 41 sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.
[9:10] 42 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.
[9:10] 43 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.” The same expression occurs in 1 Kgs 8:32; Ezek 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.
