8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward 1 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 2 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there 3 at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, 4 were about twenty-five 5 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, 6 facing east – they were worshiping the sun 7 toward the east!
23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, 8 I am about to deliver you over to 9 those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted.
33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman 17 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf.
1 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
2 tn Heb “house.”
3 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
4 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).
5 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.
6 sn The temple faced east.
7 tn Or “the sun god.”
4 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
5 tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”
5 tn Heb “to desecrate.”
6 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”
6 tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).
7 tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.
7 tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”
8 sn This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17.
8 tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”
9 sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.
10 tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.
11 tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
11 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
12 tn Or “‘We are safe!’ – safe, you think, to go on doing all those hateful things.” Verses 9-10 are all one long sentence in the Hebrew text. It has been broken up for English stylistic reasons. Somewhat literally it reads “Will you steal…then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe’ so as to/in order to do…” The Hebrew of v. 9 has a series of infinitives which emphasize the bare action of the verb without the idea of time or agent. The effect is to place a kind of staccato like emphasis on the multitude of their sins all of which are violations of one of the Ten Commandments. The final clause in v. 8 expresses purpose or result (probably result) through another infinitive. This long sentence is introduced by a marker (ה interrogative in Hebrew) introducing a rhetorical question in which God expresses his incredulity that they could do these sins, come into the temple and claim the safety of his protection, and then go right back out and commit the same sins. J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 52) catches the force nicely: “What? You think you can steal, murder…and then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe…’ just so that you can go right on…”
12 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
13 tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”
14 tn Heb “Behold!”
13 tn Heb “the house which is called by my name.” Cf. 7:10, 11, 14 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 for the explanation for this rendering.