Ezekiel 8:10

8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ¹  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ²  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ³ 

Ezekiel 8:14

8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed ⁴  women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 20:7-8

20:7 I said to them, “Each of you must get rid of the detestable idols you keep before you, ⁶  and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, ⁷  nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out ⁸  my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 23:3

23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers ⁹  fondled their virgin nipples there.

Ezekiel 23:8

23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 23:19-21

23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, ¹¹  and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 23:21 This is how you assessed ¹²  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ¹³  your nipples and squeezed ¹⁴  your young breasts.

Exodus 32:4

32:4 He accepted the gold ¹⁵  from them, ¹⁶  fashioned ¹⁷  it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. ¹⁸  Then they said, “These are your gods, ¹⁹  O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 29:16-17

The Results of Disobedience

29:16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. 29:17 You have seen their detestable things ²⁰  and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) ²¹ 

Joshua 24:14

24:14 Now ²²  obey ²³  the Lord and worship ²⁴  him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors ²⁵  worshiped ²⁶  beyond the Euphrates ²⁷  and in Egypt and worship ²⁸  the Lord.

Isaiah 30:21

30:21 You ²⁹  will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,

“This is the correct ³⁰  way, walk in it,”

whether you are heading to the right or the left.

[8:10]  ¹ tn Or “pattern.”

[8:10]  ² tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.

[8:10]  ³ sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).

[8:14]  ⁴ tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”

[8:14]  ⁵ 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.

[20:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of his eyes, throw away.” The Pentateuch does not refer to the Israelites worshiping idols in Egypt, but Josh 24:14 appears to suggest that they did so.

[20:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of their eyes did not throw away.”

[20:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”

[23:3]  ⁹ tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.

[23:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”

[23:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.

[23:21]  ¹² tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.

[23:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[32:4]  ¹⁵ tn Here “the gold” has been supplied.

[32:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from their hand.”

[32:4]  ¹⁷ tn The verb looks similar to יָצַר (yatsar), “to form, fashion” by a plan or a design. That is the verb used in Gen 2:7 for Yahweh God forming the man from the dust of the ground. If it is here, it is the reverse, a human – the dust of the ground – trying to form a god or gods. The active participle of this verb in Hebrew is “the potter.” A related noun is the word יֵצֶּר (yetser), “evil inclination,” the wicked designs or intent of the human heart (Gen 6:5). But see the discussion by B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 555-56) on a different reading, one that links the root to a hollow verb meaning “to cast out of metal” (as in 1 Kgs 7:15).

[32:4]  ¹⁸ sn The word means a “young bull” and need not be translated as “calf” (although “calf” has become the traditional rendering in English). The word could describe an animal three years old. Aaron probably made an inner structure of wood and then, after melting down the gold, plated it. The verb “molten” does not need to imply that the image was solid gold; the word is used in Isa 30:22 for gold plating. So it was a young bull calf that was overlaid with gold, and the gold was fashioned with the stylus.

[32:4]  ¹⁹ tn The word could be singular here and earlier; here it would then be “this is your god, O Israel.” However, the use of “these” indicates more than one god was meant by the image. But their statement and their statue, although they do not use the holy name, violate the first two commandments.

[29:17]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew term שִׁקּוּץ (shiquts) refers to anything out of keeping with the nature and character of Yahweh and therefore to be avoided by his people Israel. It is commonly used with or as a synonym for תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “detestable, abhorrent”; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 16:18; Ezek 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; see note on the term “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:243-46.

[29:17]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “which were with them.” Verses 16-17 constitute a parenthetical comment.

[24:14]  ²² sn Joshua quotes the Lord’s words in vv. 2b-13 (note that the Lord speaks in the first person in these verses); in vv. 14-15 Joshua himself exhorts the people (note the third person references to the Lord).

[24:14]  ²³ tn Heb “fear.”

[24:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “and serve.”

[24:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “served.”

[24:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “and serve.”

[30:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:21]  ³⁰ tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.