Ezekiel 8 Study Notes

8:1 The words in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month show that Ezekiel had reflected on his first vision for fourteen months. The actions of the elders of Judah provide a shocking contrast to the seventy elders of Israel in the Pentateuch. Israel’s leaders in the desert period, who had the privilege of seeing God (Ex 24:1-11), were endowed with the same spirit as Moses (Nm 11:16-30).

8:2-5 The nearest analogies to Ezekiel’s experience occurred with Elijah, who was carried about by the Spirit (1Kg 18:12; 2Kg 2:1-12,16-18); and with Elisha, who was given astonishing extrasensory powers (2Kg 5:26; 6:17,32-33). The term translated offensive statue (Hb semel) occurs elsewhere only in Dt 4:16 and 2Ch 33:7,15. Scholars believe the term may be a foreign word and thus appropriate to associate with the worship of a foreign god. This image may have been one of the Asherahs set up in the temple by Manasseh (2Kg 21:7; 2Ch 33:7,15). This conclusion is suggested by the use of the same word (Hb semel) in reference to Manasseh’s idol in 2Ch 33:7,15. Yahweh is a jealous God who accepts no rival; he will not share his glory with idols (Is 42:8).

8:6 Such detestable practices made it necessary for the Lord to leave his sanctuary.

8:7-9 Ezekiel had to dig through the wall and open a door into a secret chamber.

8:10 The phrase every kind of abhorrent thing is reminiscent of Rm 1:23.

8:11 The seventy elders were probably the leaders of the nation whose position was established by Moses’s appointment of officials to assist him in governing God’s people (Ex 24:1,9; Nm 11:16-25). The prophet echoed the critical moment in the Day of Atonement ceremonies when the cloud of incense screened the ark from the vision of the high priest (Lv 16:2,13).

8:12-13 They were in darkness to hide from God, who they claimed had abandoned Israel.

8:14-15 Weeping for Tammuz was a Babylonian ritual marking the death and descent into the underworld of the Sumerian god Dumuzi. The mythological course of death and return for Dumuzi (Tammuz) was thought to be parallel to the annual rhythm of nature.

8:16 The final and supreme act of idolatry took place within the inner court of the temple itself, where twenty-five men bowed toward the east, worshiping the sun. According to 2Kg 21:5, worship of the sun god appears to have gained sponsorship during the reign of Manasseh, who built altars for foreign gods in the courts of the temple. The area between the portico and the altar was probably for use by priests alone and was where they prayed to God on a fast day (Jl 2:17).

8:17-18 The phrase putting the branch to their nose may have referred to an idolatrous practice, or possibly it is an idiomatic expression indicating contempt for God.