Ezekiel 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 

Ezekiel 28:25

28:25 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power ²  over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob.

Ezekiel 33:31

33:31 They come to you in crowds, ³  and they sit in front of you as ⁴  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ⁵  them. For they talk lustfully, ⁶  and their heart is set on ⁷  their own advantage. ⁸ 

Ezekiel 38:8

38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, ⁹  with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people ¹⁰  were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely.

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.”

² tn Or “reveal my holiness.” See verse 22.

³ tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

⁴ tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

⁵ tn Heb “do.”

⁶ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

⁷ tn Heb “goes after.”

⁸ tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

⁴ tn Heb “from the sword.”

⁵ tn Heb “it.”