Ezekiel 8:5-6

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!”

Ezekiel 8:11

8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel ³  (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant ⁴  vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

Ezekiel 8:16

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ⁵  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ⁶  were about twenty-five ⁷  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ⁸  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ⁹  toward the east!

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

[8:6]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[8:11]  ³ sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).

[8:11]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[8:16]  ⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ⁹ tn Or “the sun god.”