Yehezkiel 8:16

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ¹  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ²  were about twenty-five ³  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ⁴  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ⁵  toward the east!

Yehezkiel 36:23

36:23 I will magnify ⁶  my great name that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I magnify myself among you in their sight.

Yehezkiel 37:23

37:23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness ⁷  by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become their God.

Yehezkiel 39:14

39:14 They will designate men to scout continually ⁸  through the land, burying those who remain on the surface of the ground, ⁹  in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months.

[8:16]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ⁵ 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).

[36:23]  ⁶ tn Or “sanctify,” Heb “make holy.”

[37:23]  ⁷ tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.

[39:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “men of perpetuity.”

[39:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “and bury the travelers and those who remain on the surface of the ground.” The reference to “travelers” seems odd and is omitted in the LXX. It is probably an accidental duplication (see v. 11).