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 44:5

44:5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, ²  watch closely and listen carefully to ³  everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances ⁴  to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary.

[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.”

[44:5]  ² tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).

[44:5]  ³ tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”

[44:5]  ⁴ tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.