Ezekiel 8:5

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.

Ezekiel 8:10

8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ²  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ³  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 8:14

8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed ⁵  women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 8:16

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ⁷  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ⁸  were about twenty-five ⁹  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ¹⁰  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ¹¹  toward the east!

[8:5]  ¹ tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”

[8:10]  ² tn Or “pattern.”

[8:10]  ³ tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.

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

[8:14]  ³ tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”

[8:14]  ⁴ 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.

[8:16]  ⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ⁵ 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).

[8:16]  ⁶ tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.

[8:16]  ⁷ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ⁸ tn Or “the sun god.”