Yehezkiel 8:17

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! ¹ 

Yehezkiel 13:18

13:18 and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands ²  on all their wrists ³  and make headbands ⁴  for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! ⁵  Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives?

Yehezkiel 17:12

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ⁶  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ⁷  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ⁸  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

Yehezkiel 18:24

18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. ⁹ 

Yehezkiel 20:3

20:3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you coming to seek me? As surely as I live, I will not allow you to seek me, ¹⁰  declares the sovereign Lord.’

Yehezkiel 34:18

34:18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet?

[8:17]  ¹ 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.”

[13:18]  ² sn The wristbands mentioned here probably represented magic bands or charms. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:413.

[13:18]  ³ tn Heb “joints of the hands.” This may include the elbow and shoulder joints.

[13:18]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term occurs in the Bible only here and in v. 21. It has also been understood as a veil or type of head covering. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:414) suggests that given the context of magical devices, the expected parallel to the magical arm bands, and the meaning of this Hebrew root (סָפַח [safakh, “to attach” or “join”]), it may refer to headbands or necklaces on which magical amulets were worn.

[13:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “human lives” or “souls” (three times in v. 18 and twice in v. 19).

[17:12]  ⁶ tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

[17:12]  sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

[17:12]  ⁷ sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

[17:12]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “because of them he will die.”

[20:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”