Ezekiel · Chapter 8

V. 1. Sixth year-Of Jeconiah’s captivity. Sixth month-Elul or our August. The elders-The chief of those that were now in captivity. They were come either to spend the sabbath in religious exercises, or to enquire what would become of their brethren in Jerusalem. The hand-The spirit of prophecy.

Verse 1. In the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month] This, according to Abp. Usher, was the sixth year of Ezekiel’s captivity. The sixth day of the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year, which answers to August A.M. 3410.

This chapter and the three following contain but one vision, of which I judge it necessary, with Calmet, to give a general idea, that the attention of the reader may not be too much divided.

The prophet, in the visions of God, is carried to Jerusalem, to the northern gate of the temple, which leads by the north side to the court of the priests. There he sees the glory of the Lord in the same manner as he did by the river Chebar. At one side he sees the image of jealousy. Going thence to the court of the people, he sees through an opening in the wall seventy elders of the people, who were worshipping all sorts of beasts and reptiles, which were painted on the wall. Being brought thence to the gate of the door of the house, he saw women weeping for Tammuz or Adonis. As he returned to the court of the priests, between the porch and the altar, he saw twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary and their faces towards the east, worshipping the rising sun. This is the substance of the vision contained in the eighth chapter.

About the same time he saw six men come from the higher gate with swords in their hands; and among them, one with an ink-horn. Then the Divine Presence left the cherubim, and took post at the entrance of the temple, and gave orders to the man with the ink-horn to put a mark on the foreheads of those who sighed and prayed because of the abominations of the land; and then commanded the men with the swords to go forward, and slay every person who had not this mark. The prophet, being left alone among the dead, fell on his face, and made intercession for the people. The Lord gives him the reason of his conduct; and the man with the ink-horn returns, and reports to the Lord what was done. These are the general contents of the ninth chapter.

The Lord commands the same person to go in between the wheels of the cherubim, and take his hand full of live coals, and scatter them over the city. He went as commanded, and one of the cherubim gave him the coals; at the same time the glory of the Lord, that had removed to the threshold of the house, now returned, and stood over the cherubim. The cherubim, wheels, wings, &c., are here described as in the first chapter. This is the substance of the tenth chapter.

The prophet then finds himself transported to the east gate of the temple, where he saw twenty-five men, and among them Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people, against whom the Lord commands him to prophesy, and to threaten them with the utmost calamities, because of their crimes. Afterwards God himself speaks, and shows that the Jews who should be left in the land should be driven out because of their iniquities, and that those who had been led captive, and who acknowledged their sins and repented of them, should be restored to their own land. Then the glory of the Lord arose out of the city, and rested for a time on one of the mountains on the east of Jerusalem, and the prophet being carried in vision by the Spirit to Chaldea, lost sight of the chariot of the Divine glory, and began to show to the captivity what the Lord had shown to him. This is the substance of the eleventh chapter. We may see from all this what induced the Lord to abandon his people, his city, and his temple; the abominations of the people in public and in private. But because those carried away captives with Jeconiah acknowledged their sins, and their hearts turned to the Lord, God informs them that they shall be brought back and restored to a happy state both in temporal and spiritual matters, while the others, who had filled up the measure of their iniquities, should be speedily brought into a state of desolation and ruin. This is the sum and intent of the vision in these four chapters.

Verse 1. And it came to pass in the sixth year — Namely, of Jehoiachin’s captivity. In the sixth month — The LXX. read, in the fifth month. As I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah — Men of note for their age or authority, or the chief of those who had been made captives with Jehoiachin, sat before me — Having come, probably, to inquire of the Lord concerning their present state of affairs, what the issue would be; or what would become of their brethren who remained in Judea and Jerusalem. It must be observed, “that in Ezekiel 4:4-6, the prophet is commanded to lie on his left side three hundred and ninety days, and on his right side forty days; to which must be added the seven days mentioned Ezekiel 3:15. But the interval between this vision, and Ezekiel 1:1, is only one year and two months, or four hundred and twenty days, reckoning thirty days in a month. It would seem, therefore, that this revelation was made to the prophet during his typical siege. ‘But Vignoles, 5. 2:447, thinks, that the year was a lunar one, with an intercalation of thirty days.’ — Secker. And, according to Michaelis, the Jews, and in general the people of Asia, were used to lunar years of three hundred and fifty-four days. Add to them two months, or fifty-nine days, and you have four hundred and thirteen days. A whole month was intercalated from time to time into the lunar year, to make it agree with the harvest year. Add twenty-nine days, and you have four hundred and forty-two days.” — Newcome.

Verse 1. As I sat in my house—the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. The time of this vision of Ezekiel is reckoned from the captivity of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah. It happened probably on the sabbath day, when the heads of houses came to hear him preach. The Messiah, or man, as the LXX read, is in all respects the same as seen in the first chapter.

THIRD “VISION OF GOD” (IN JERUSALEM), 1-4.

The dates at which the “word of the Lord” came to Ezekiel are not always given; but when the vision of God’s glory appears the time is carefully mentioned (Ezekiel 1:1; 3:16, 22, etc.). This date shows that a little more than a year has passed since he for the first time looked upon the glorious manifestation of Jehovah. He has now finished his symbolical representation of the siege of Jerusalem and the years of captivity (Ezekiel 4:5). He is now sitting in his house instead of lying upon his side. The heaviest task of his life, so far, has been accomplished and once more there is granted him the vision of glory to comfort him for his past trials and prepare him for the fearful vision of his people’s guilt, which was so closely to accompany it. And now the “elders of Judah” visit him. The prophet’s picture-sermon has not been without its influence. The elders, some of them at least (Ezekiel 14:1), now look upon the silent prophet as a true seer of Jehovah, and sit before him waiting for a revelation from the prophet’s Lord.

1. The hand of the Lord God fell there upon me — This is not only Ezekiel’s ordinary name for the prophetic ecstasy, but it involves the thought of divine control and compulsion. Whenever this expression is used it is evident that some heavy task is laid upon the prophet against which the natural man revolts. (See Ezekiel 1:3; 3:22.) The expression being stronger here than elsewhere shows how impossible it would have been for Ezekiel of his own will to report the awful crimes and abominations of his countrymen, with the equally awful penalties which he is now compelled to picture to the elders.

V. 2. A likeness-Of a man; the man whom he had seen upon the throne. Fire-This fire might denote the wrath of God against Jerusalem.

Verse 2. The appearance of fire] See Clarke’s note on “Ezekiel 1:27”.

Verse 2. I beheld, and lo a likeness — Namely, of a man; the man whom he had seen upon the throne; as the appearance of fire — This seems to have been the same appearance as that mentioned before, Ezekiel 1:27, signifying that God was about to inflict heavy judgments on the Jewish nation, but so as not entirely to destroy it. It is probable, while those who are here called the elders of Judah were sitting before the prophet with silence and attention, waiting for an answer to some inquiries they had made of him, as God’s prophet, concerning what was to be the future condition of the Jewish nation, that Ezekiel was on a sudden seized with an ecstasy, and had the things he gives an account of in the following verses presented before his eyes; or such a strong impression of them made upon his mind, that it seemed to him as if he actually saw them.

Ver. 2. Lo, a likeness, as the appearance of fire. The LXX, omoiwma androv the likeness of a man. Christ, says Junius, by whom God represented himself; that is, the eternal Word or Wisdom of God, was always rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the sons of men. See Ezekiel 1:27.

2. As the appearance of fire — Literally, as the appearance of a man (Ezekiel 1:26). The Hebrew words for “man” and “fire” are very nearly alike and have been mistaken here by some copyist. Here again we notice how guardedly the prophet speaks. He does not dare to say that he saw a man possessing Jehovah’s glory (see notes Ezekiel 1:26, 27), but he sees a “likeness as the appearance of a man,” who had the “appearance of brightness” and put forth the “likeness of a hand,” etc. This is evidently the same One formerly mentioned as the appearance of “a man upon the throne.” Whether the throne chariot accompanies him now is not stated.

V. 3. And-This, and all the passages to the end of the 16th verse, was done in vision only. Inner gate-To the door of the gate of the inner court. The north-The temple courts had four gates towards the four quarters, and this was the north gate, which opened into the great court where Ahaz had set up his Damascen altar, and where the idols were set up. The image-Baal, which Manasseh had set up, Josiah had destroyed, but succeeding kings had again set it up. Jealousy-Because it was so notorious an affront to God, who had married Israel to himself.

Verse 3. The image of jealousy] hanqh lms semel hakkinah. We do not know certainly of what form this image was, nor what god it represented. Some say it was the image of Baal, which was placed in the temple by Manasses; others, that it was the image of Mars; and others, that it was the image of Tammuz or Adonis. Calmet supports this opinion by the following reasons:—1. The name agrees perfectly with him. He was represented as a beautiful youth, beloved by Venus; at which Mars, her paramour, being incensed and filled with jealousy, sent a large boar against Adonis, which killed him with his tusks. Hence it was the image of him who fell a victim to jealousy. 2. The prophet being returned towards the northern gate, where he had seen the image of jealousy, Ezekiel 8:14, there saw the women lamenting for Tammuz. Now Tammuz, all agree, signifies Adonis; it was that therefore which was called the image of jealousy. 3. The Scripture often gives to the heathen idols names of degradation; as Baal-zebub, god of flies; Baal-zebul; god of dung. It is likely that it was Adonis who is called The dead, Leviticus 19:27, 28; Deuteronomy 14:9, because he was worshipped as one dead. And the women represented as worshipping him were probably adulteresses, and had suffered through the jealousy of their husbands. And this worship of the image of jealousy provoked God to jealousy, to destroy this bad people.

Verses 3-6. And he put forth the form of a hand — He appeared so to do. This, and all that follows, to the end of verse 16, was done in vision only, as appears from the expression here used: and brought me in the visions of God, &c. — In a similar manner, it was represented to the Prophet Elisha’s mind, (2 Kings 5:26,) what Gehazi was doing when he took the presents from Naaman, which the prophet there calls being present with Gehazi. To Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate — To the entrance that goes into the inner court, called the court of the priests, where the altar of burnt-offerings stood; where was the seat of the image of jealousy — “An image set up within the precincts of the temple, to provoke God to jealousy, by setting up a rival against him in the place dedicated to his own worship.” This was most probably an image of Baal, for that, we find, was the idol they chiefly worshipped. As it was exceedingly provoking to God to set up another object of worship besides him; so it was still more so to do this in the place which had been built for, and was dedicated to, his worship only. To speak in the figurative sense in which God is spoken of, with regard to the Jewish nation, namely, as being a husband to it, it was just the same as if the adulterer were brought into the house of the husband whom he had injured, in his very sight; therefore it is very properly called here, the image of jealousy, or that exciteth jealousy. That I should go far off from my sanctuary — Which are provocations sufficient to cause me to forsake my sanctuary, and deliver it up to be profaned by the heathen, Ezekiel 7:21, 22. This is significantly represented by the departing of the divine glory from the threshold of the temple, Ezekiel 10:18.

Ver. 3. He brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem. This distinguishes the manner in which Ezekiel received the divine communications, from all inferior modes of conveying the divine pleasure. It implies that he was not transported in body, but in mind; that his knowledge was plenary, and altogether superior to the organs of sense. The image of jealousy, zeal, or emulation. Solomon’s altar was removed by Ahaz to the north side of the house, probably out of contempt. Here the wicked Manasseh set up the image of the grove, that is, the image of Baal: but the word grove, may be rendered Astarte or Venus. 2 Chronicles 23:3. It would seem also that Astarte was intended by the wicked Manasseh as a female divinity to accompany Baal. Here the women prostituted themselves in the open courts of the Lord; and thus by this image of jealousy the servants of Satan rivalled the worship of the Lord, and triumphed over the saints. The good Josiah had removed these abominations; but having again found their way into the temple after his death, no sacrifice could purge the crimes, less efficacious than the blood of the priests, and the deluded people whom the Babylonians slew around the profane altars. See on 2 Chronicles 15:16, Selden.

3. Took me by a lock of mine head — This also was an appearance. This was a part of the vision. Ezekiel does not only see God, but feels his touch upon his head and can never forget it. Ezekiel does not suppose himself to be carried by a lock of hair; he distinctly says that it was a “spirit” that lifted him up and brought him to Jerusalem “in the visions of God.” Visions of God — See notes Ezekiel 1:1; 3:12; 10. All great souls have moments of supernatural ecstasy. Handel said he did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body when composing the Hallelujah Chorus of “The Messiah.” “The heavens are nearer to us than we think, and may open to pious souls in moments of transcendent spiritual exaltation more frequently than we imagine.” — Geikie. To the door of the inner gate — Literally, to the door of the gate of the inner court. This probably means that he was set down in the outer court, just in front of the gateway leading into the inner court. “In front of the gateway in the outer court stood the image of jealousy, near the entrance. Having seen this the prophet is next brought into the gateway (verse 7) where he enters the chambers of imagery, some one of the cells in the gateway building.” — Davidson. The image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy — It is not certain what this statue was. It was, no doubt, some idol; perhaps the pillar of Asherah (2 Kings 21:7; 23:6), which certainly had previously been set up in the temple and may have been there again in this day of apostasy. “Jealousy” was not the name of the idol, but it was called “image of jealousy,” because in a peculiar manner this particular image seems to have been drawing the people from the worship of Jehovah and therefore provoking him to jealousy. (See note Ezekiel 5:13.) The Polychrome Bible freely renders, “the image which provoked the just indignation of Jhvh.”

Verse 4. The vision that I saw in the plain.] See Clarke’s note on “Ezekiel 3:23”; see also Ezekiel 1:3.

Verses 3-6. And he put forth the form of a hand — He appeared so to do. This, and all that follows, to the end of verse 16, was done in vision only, as appears from the expression here used: and brought me in the visions of God, &c. — In a similar manner, it was represented to the Prophet Elisha’s mind, (2 Kings 5:26,) what Gehazi was doing when he took the presents from Naaman, which the prophet there calls being present with Gehazi. To Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate — To the entrance that goes into the inner court, called the court of the priests, where the altar of burnt-offerings stood; where was the seat of the image of jealousy — “An image set up within the precincts of the temple, to provoke God to jealousy, by setting up a rival against him in the place dedicated to his own worship.” This was most probably an image of Baal, for that, we find, was the idol they chiefly worshipped. As it was exceedingly provoking to God to set up another object of worship besides him; so it was still more so to do this in the place which had been built for, and was dedicated to, his worship only. To speak in the figurative sense in which God is spoken of, with regard to the Jewish nation, namely, as being a husband to it, it was just the same as if the adulterer were brought into the house of the husband whom he had injured, in his very sight; therefore it is very properly called here, the image of jealousy, or that exciteth jealousy. That I should go far off from my sanctuary — Which are provocations sufficient to cause me to forsake my sanctuary, and deliver it up to be profaned by the heathen, Ezekiel 7:21, 22. This is significantly represented by the departing of the divine glory from the threshold of the temple, Ezekiel 10:18.

4. The glory of the God of Israel was there — See notes chaps. i and 10. Jehovah in his omnipotent and omniscient splendor was present and saw all these insults to his majesty. Whether this “glory of Jehovah” had accompanied the prophet from Babylon and entered the temple with him is not distinctly stated, but verses 2 and 3 (compare Ezekiel 1:15-28) would suggest this. Although heretofore on various occasions Jehovah’s glory has left his temple for short periods, he still abides there until the final farewell, in chap. 10-11:23. There is a special aptness in the name “God of Israel” (compare Ezekiel 3:23) as used here. They have forsaken their own God, glorious as he is, for strange deities of the most beastly character.

EZEKIEL SEES IN VISION THE WICKEDNESS OF THE CITY, AND HEARS THE

V. 5. Northward-Ahaz had removed it from the middle of the court and set it near this north gate, to which it gave name. Entry-In the very passage to the temple, to affront the worship of God.

Verses 3-6. And he put forth the form of a hand — He appeared so to do. This, and all that follows, to the end of verse 16, was done in vision only, as appears from the expression here used: and brought me in the visions of God, &c. — In a similar manner, it was represented to the Prophet Elisha’s mind, (2 Kings 5:26,) what Gehazi was doing when he took the presents from Naaman, which the prophet there calls being present with Gehazi. To Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate — To the entrance that goes into the inner court, called the court of the priests, where the altar of burnt-offerings stood; where was the seat of the image of jealousy — “An image set up within the precincts of the temple, to provoke God to jealousy, by setting up a rival against him in the place dedicated to his own worship.” This was most probably an image of Baal, for that, we find, was the idol they chiefly worshipped. As it was exceedingly provoking to God to set up another object of worship besides him; so it was still more so to do this in the place which had been built for, and was dedicated to, his worship only. To speak in the figurative sense in which God is spoken of, with regard to the Jewish nation, namely, as being a husband to it, it was just the same as if the adulterer were brought into the house of the husband whom he had injured, in his very sight; therefore it is very properly called here, the image of jealousy, or that exciteth jealousy. That I should go far off from my sanctuary — Which are provocations sufficient to cause me to forsake my sanctuary, and deliver it up to be profaned by the heathen, Ezekiel 7:21, 22. This is significantly represented by the departing of the divine glory from the threshold of the temple, Ezekiel 10:18.

SENTENCE OF JEHOVAH UPON IT, 5-18.

5. Lift up thine eyes… toward the north — “The northern entrance was the most frequented, partly because the royal palace and buildings lay to the south and east, and the west was inclosed by the buildings of the temple itself.” — Davidson. It was the north gate which Ezekiel had entered (verse 3) and he is now commanded to pause and look back to the gate through which he had just come and once more consider the heinousness of the abomination of placing within the sacred precincts that which Jehovah had expressly forbidden (Exodus 20:2). The gate of the altar — This probably was a technical name for the northern gate. The altar was within the next court, but from this gate the view would perhaps be unimpeded. The law provided that the sacrifices should be slain on the north side of the altar (Leviticus 1:5, 11), and probably it was through this gate that the victims were brought into the temple. (See Temple Plan, p. 209.) In the entry — It was in the most prominent place and in full view. There was an “entry” connected with each court (Jeremiah 38:14).

V. 6. They-The generality of the Jews. Great abominations-The notorious idolatries. Here-In this court, in view of my temple. Far off-Not that they designed this, but no other could be expected.

Verses 3-6. And he put forth the form of a hand — He appeared so to do. This, and all that follows, to the end of verse 16, was done in vision only, as appears from the expression here used: and brought me in the visions of God, &c. — In a similar manner, it was represented to the Prophet Elisha’s mind, (2 Kings 5:26,) what Gehazi was doing when he took the presents from Naaman, which the prophet there calls being present with Gehazi. To Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate — To the entrance that goes into the inner court, called the court of the priests, where the altar of burnt-offerings stood; where was the seat of the image of jealousy — “An image set up within the precincts of the temple, to provoke God to jealousy, by setting up a rival against him in the place dedicated to his own worship.” This was most probably an image of Baal, for that, we find, was the idol they chiefly worshipped. As it was exceedingly provoking to God to set up another object of worship besides him; so it was still more so to do this in the place which had been built for, and was dedicated to, his worship only. To speak in the figurative sense in which God is spoken of, with regard to the Jewish nation, namely, as being a husband to it, it was just the same as if the adulterer were brought into the house of the husband whom he had injured, in his very sight; therefore it is very properly called here, the image of jealousy, or that exciteth jealousy. That I should go far off from my sanctuary — Which are provocations sufficient to cause me to forsake my sanctuary, and deliver it up to be profaned by the heathen, Ezekiel 7:21, 22. This is significantly represented by the departing of the divine glory from the threshold of the temple, Ezekiel 10:18.

6. Turn thee yet again, and thou shall see greater abominations — Or, thou shalt see again greater abominations. The gradation of crime indicated here is a help in determining the location and nature of the worship now to be described. The increased desecration is seen, if our exegesis is correct, first, in the place where the worship is offered; second, in the character of the worshipers; and, third, in the nature of the worship. The image was set up “at the gate” (of the outer court, verse 5); the “chambers of imagery” were in the gate, or in an adjoining chamber at the very entrance to the inner court; the women “weeping for Tammuz” were at “the door of the gate of the Lord’s house,” which we suppose to be a special title designating the door of the holy place, just as the priests’ court seems to be called “the court of the Lord’s house” (Jeremiah 19:14; 26:2). The sun worshipers were “at the door of the temple of the Lord,” which evidently locates them on the steps of the court leading to the holy of holies; for it is distinctly stated, as if to increase the enormity of the offense, that they were “between the porch and the altar” (verse 16), and the Mishna also declares that this particular space was especially holy (Chelim, 1-9). The priests would naturally speak of the priests’ court as the court, and of the gate of the inner court as the gate (2 Chronicles 20:5; Jeremiah 19:14; 26:2, and Ezekiel passim). The character of the worshipers and the kind of worship, if our explanation is correct, show a growth in shamelessness: elders (verse 11), women prostitutes (verse 14, compare Deuteronomy 23:17); men prostitutes (verse 16); the Egyptian Mysteries (verse 10); the Tammuz Festival (verse 14); the worship of the sun with special reference to its fructifying influence (verses 16, 17). That I should go far off from my sanctuary — These abominations drive Jehovah from his temple. Jerusalem and the temple have always been called sacred to Jehovah, and the comrades of Ezekiel in exile thought it blasphemy for anyone to suggest that the temple could be captured and profaned by the heathen; but in the vision it is made plain that the temple is already profaned. The elders, the common people, and even the priests — the chief ministers of the temple — have already brought into it the worst forms of heathen worship. It is already polluted. The Chaldean army can do no worse. Let the siege begin! It is Jehovah’s temple no longer, and he will no longer protect it. This is a syncretism which even the heathen have not been guilty of (Jeremiah 2:10).

V. 7. The door-The second door, for there were two in the north side.

Verse 7. A hole in the wall.] This we find was not large enough to see what was doing within; and the prophet is directed to dig, and make it larger, Ezekiel 8:8; and when he had done so and entered, he says,—

Verses 7-11. And he brought me to the door of the court — This, Dr. Lightfoot understands of the east gate of the inner court, called the gate of Nicanor, over which was the council chamber, where the sanhedrim used to meet, and in some of the rooms near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet, verse 11. Behold a hole in the wall — Through which I could look in, and see what abominations were committing there. Then he said, Dig now in the wall — This, and what follows, was done only by vision, during the prophet’s trance or ecstasy, while the elders sat before him. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door — A private door, by which the elders entered into the chambers of their imagery, to perform idolatrous worship to the images. And he said unto me, Go in, &c. — To give me the fullest conviction, I not only looked through the hole, mentioned verse 7, but went into the very room where these idolatries were committed. Behold the abominations that they do here — Hebrew, are doing here: even under the approach of judgments, and under the walls of my temple. So I went in, and behold every form of creeping things — It is probable that they imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry; for the Egyptians used to worship several kinds of beasts and reptiles. According to Diodorus Siculus, 50. 1. p. 59, edit. Wess., (referred to by Secker,) “round the room in Thebes, where the body of King Osymanduas seemed to be buried, a multitude of chambers were built, which had elegant paintings of all the beasts sacred in Egypt.” It is not unlikely they imagined they evaded the law against setting up any image to worship, by having them only portrayed, or painted, on the wall; or, at least, that it was not so great an offence; for the Jewish people in general seem to have had little regard to any thing but the strict letter of the law, not regarding the spirit of it. However, as to objects for worship, pictures were prohibited, as well as carved images, as appears from Numbers 33:52. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients, &c. — Heads of the tribes or families, or, at least, principal men, (according to the number of the sanhedrim,) who ought to have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. By this the prophet was given to see, that it was not the vulgar, or the poor and ignorant only that were guilty of idolatry, but the leading men of the nation, and those of the greatest knowledge, power, and influence, who were superior to, and had the direction of the common people; so that it was properly a national guilt, and, as such, loudly called for national punishment. And in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah — Probably a prince of the people; the son of Shaphan — Mentioned 2 Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah, and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.

7. The door of the court — He could see this gate before (verse 5) and had probably come through it; he now returns and looks within, and discovers a secret entrance. A hole in the wall — The gates were wide. This may have been a hole in the gate or in a chamber opening from it (xliv, 4). That the entrance was effected through a hole rather than a door symbolizes the secrecy of the worship; but it also shows antagonism to the God to whom the gateway was sacred. These idolatrous worshipers would have been afraid to enter the consecrated doors of the temple. Even the doors of oriental houses can be left unlocked with impunity. The threshold is sacred, protected by the god of the house. No thief will go through the door. (See Trumbull, Blood Covenant.) These adherents to the secret mysteries do not dare to openly defy the God of Israel by boldly crossing his threshold; they come in stealthily, like thieves.

V. 8. A door-A private door, by which the priests entered into the chamber of their imagery, to perform idolatrous worship to their images.

Verses 7-11. And he brought me to the door of the court — This, Dr. Lightfoot understands of the east gate of the inner court, called the gate of Nicanor, over which was the council chamber, where the sanhedrim used to meet, and in some of the rooms near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet, verse 11. Behold a hole in the wall — Through which I could look in, and see what abominations were committing there. Then he said, Dig now in the wall — This, and what follows, was done only by vision, during the prophet’s trance or ecstasy, while the elders sat before him. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door — A private door, by which the elders entered into the chambers of their imagery, to perform idolatrous worship to the images. And he said unto me, Go in, &c. — To give me the fullest conviction, I not only looked through the hole, mentioned verse 7, but went into the very room where these idolatries were committed. Behold the abominations that they do here — Hebrew, are doing here: even under the approach of judgments, and under the walls of my temple. So I went in, and behold every form of creeping things — It is probable that they imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry; for the Egyptians used to worship several kinds of beasts and reptiles. According to Diodorus Siculus, 50. 1. p. 59, edit. Wess., (referred to by Secker,) “round the room in Thebes, where the body of King Osymanduas seemed to be buried, a multitude of chambers were built, which had elegant paintings of all the beasts sacred in Egypt.” It is not unlikely they imagined they evaded the law against setting up any image to worship, by having them only portrayed, or painted, on the wall; or, at least, that it was not so great an offence; for the Jewish people in general seem to have had little regard to any thing but the strict letter of the law, not regarding the spirit of it. However, as to objects for worship, pictures were prohibited, as well as carved images, as appears from Numbers 33:52. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients, &c. — Heads of the tribes or families, or, at least, principal men, (according to the number of the sanhedrim,) who ought to have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. By this the prophet was given to see, that it was not the vulgar, or the poor and ignorant only that were guilty of idolatry, but the leading men of the nation, and those of the greatest knowledge, power, and influence, who were superior to, and had the direction of the common people; so that it was properly a national guilt, and, as such, loudly called for national punishment. And in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah — Probably a prince of the people; the son of Shaphan — Mentioned 2 Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah, and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.

Ver. 8-10. Dig now in the wall—and behold the wicked abominations. The hieroglyphics of Egypt were seen on their temples, on their monuments, and on the mausoleums of their ancient kings. Happily, though known to Moses, they are illegible to us. Moses, knowing the abominations contained in those inscriptions, gives the Hebrews the strongest cautions against likening the divinity to birds, beasts, and creeping things. Deuteronomy 4:15. The apostate Israelites are here justly reproached for polluting the Lord’s house with the obscenities of the heathen temples. The like abominations are still found in the idolatrous temples of India.

8. Dig now in the wall — The wall had merely seemed to be damaged, but closer inspection and a little effort proved it to contain a secret entrance.

V. 9. Are doing-Under the approach of judgments, in this very place, under the walls of my temple.

Verses 7-11. And he brought me to the door of the court — This, Dr. Lightfoot understands of the east gate of the inner court, called the gate of Nicanor, over which was the council chamber, where the sanhedrim used to meet, and in some of the rooms near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet, verse 11. Behold a hole in the wall — Through which I could look in, and see what abominations were committing there. Then he said, Dig now in the wall — This, and what follows, was done only by vision, during the prophet’s trance or ecstasy, while the elders sat before him. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door — A private door, by which the elders entered into the chambers of their imagery, to perform idolatrous worship to the images. And he said unto me, Go in, &c. — To give me the fullest conviction, I not only looked through the hole, mentioned verse 7, but went into the very room where these idolatries were committed. Behold the abominations that they do here — Hebrew, are doing here: even under the approach of judgments, and under the walls of my temple. So I went in, and behold every form of creeping things — It is probable that they imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry; for the Egyptians used to worship several kinds of beasts and reptiles. According to Diodorus Siculus, 50. 1. p. 59, edit. Wess., (referred to by Secker,) “round the room in Thebes, where the body of King Osymanduas seemed to be buried, a multitude of chambers were built, which had elegant paintings of all the beasts sacred in Egypt.” It is not unlikely they imagined they evaded the law against setting up any image to worship, by having them only portrayed, or painted, on the wall; or, at least, that it was not so great an offence; for the Jewish people in general seem to have had little regard to any thing but the strict letter of the law, not regarding the spirit of it. However, as to objects for worship, pictures were prohibited, as well as carved images, as appears from Numbers 33:52. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients, &c. — Heads of the tribes or families, or, at least, principal men, (according to the number of the sanhedrim,) who ought to have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. By this the prophet was given to see, that it was not the vulgar, or the poor and ignorant only that were guilty of idolatry, but the leading men of the nation, and those of the greatest knowledge, power, and influence, who were superior to, and had the direction of the common people; so that it was properly a national guilt, and, as such, loudly called for national punishment. And in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah — Probably a prince of the people; the son of Shaphan — Mentioned 2 Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah, and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.

Ver. 8-10. Dig now in the wall—and behold the wicked abominations. The hieroglyphics of Egypt were seen on their temples, on their monuments, and on the mausoleums of their ancient kings. Happily, though known to Moses, they are illegible to us. Moses, knowing the abominations contained in those inscriptions, gives the Hebrews the strongest cautions against likening the divinity to birds, beasts, and creeping things. Deuteronomy 4:15. The apostate Israelites are here justly reproached for polluting the Lord’s house with the obscenities of the heathen temples. The like abominations are still found in the idolatrous temples of India.

SENTENCE OF JEHOVAH UPON IT, 5-18.

5. Lift up thine eyes… toward the north — “The northern entrance was the most frequented, partly because the royal palace and buildings lay to the south and east, and the west was inclosed by the buildings of the temple itself.” — Davidson. It was the north gate which Ezekiel had entered (verse 3) and he is now commanded to pause and look back to the gate through which he had just come and once more consider the heinousness of the abomination of placing within the sacred precincts that which Jehovah had expressly forbidden (Exodus 20:2). The gate of the altar — This probably was a technical name for the northern gate. The altar was within the next court, but from this gate the view would perhaps be unimpeded. The law provided that the sacrifices should be slain on the north side of the altar (Leviticus 1:5, 11), and probably it was through this gate that the victims were brought into the temple. (See Temple Plan, p. 209.) In the entry — It was in the most prominent place and in full view. There was an “entry” connected with each court (Jeremiah 38:14).

V. 10. Every form-Of such creatures as the Egyptians, or any others with whom the Jews had acquaintance, worshipped.

Verse 10. And saw—every form of creeping things] It is very likely that these images pourtrayed on the wall were the objects of Egyptian adoration: the ox, the ape, the dog, the crocodile, the ibis, the scarabæus or beetle, and various other things. It appears that these were privately worshipped by the sanhedrin or great Jewish council, consisting of seventy or seventy-two persons, six chosen out of every tribe, as representatives of the people. The images were pourtrayed upon the wall, as we find those ancient idols are on the walls of the tombs of the kings and nobles of Egypt. See the plates to Belzoni’s Travels, the Isaic Tomb in the Bodleian Library, and the Egyptian hieroglyphics in general. Virgil speaks of these, Æn. lib. viii.:—

Omnigenumque Deum monstra, et latrator Anubis.

“All kinds of gods, monsters, and barking dogs.”

Verses 7-11. And he brought me to the door of the court — This, Dr. Lightfoot understands of the east gate of the inner court, called the gate of Nicanor, over which was the council chamber, where the sanhedrim used to meet, and in some of the rooms near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet, verse 11. Behold a hole in the wall — Through which I could look in, and see what abominations were committing there. Then he said, Dig now in the wall — This, and what follows, was done only by vision, during the prophet’s trance or ecstasy, while the elders sat before him. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door — A private door, by which the elders entered into the chambers of their imagery, to perform idolatrous worship to the images. And he said unto me, Go in, &c. — To give me the fullest conviction, I not only looked through the hole, mentioned verse 7, but went into the very room where these idolatries were committed. Behold the abominations that they do here — Hebrew, are doing here: even under the approach of judgments, and under the walls of my temple. So I went in, and behold every form of creeping things — It is probable that they imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry; for the Egyptians used to worship several kinds of beasts and reptiles. According to Diodorus Siculus, 50. 1. p. 59, edit. Wess., (referred to by Secker,) “round the room in Thebes, where the body of King Osymanduas seemed to be buried, a multitude of chambers were built, which had elegant paintings of all the beasts sacred in Egypt.” It is not unlikely they imagined they evaded the law against setting up any image to worship, by having them only portrayed, or painted, on the wall; or, at least, that it was not so great an offence; for the Jewish people in general seem to have had little regard to any thing but the strict letter of the law, not regarding the spirit of it. However, as to objects for worship, pictures were prohibited, as well as carved images, as appears from Numbers 33:52. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients, &c. — Heads of the tribes or families, or, at least, principal men, (according to the number of the sanhedrim,) who ought to have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. By this the prophet was given to see, that it was not the vulgar, or the poor and ignorant only that were guilty of idolatry, but the leading men of the nation, and those of the greatest knowledge, power, and influence, who were superior to, and had the direction of the common people; so that it was properly a national guilt, and, as such, loudly called for national punishment. And in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah — Probably a prince of the people; the son of Shaphan — Mentioned 2 Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah, and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.

Ver. 8-10. Dig now in the wall—and behold the wicked abominations. The hieroglyphics of Egypt were seen on their temples, on their monuments, and on the mausoleums of their ancient kings. Happily, though known to Moses, they are illegible to us. Moses, knowing the abominations contained in those inscriptions, gives the Hebrews the strongest cautions against likening the divinity to birds, beasts, and creeping things. Deuteronomy 4:15. The apostate Israelites are here justly reproached for polluting the Lord’s house with the obscenities of the heathen temples. The like abominations are still found in the idolatrous temples of India.

10. Every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts — Literally, every likeness of creeping things and beasts, abominations (Davidson). (Compare verse 3; Deuteronomy 14:19; Leviticus 11:10, 11.) This certainly does not refer, as Professor W.R. Smith supposed (followed by Toy, etc.), to an ignorant and debased form of vermin worship which had lingered in the obscure depths of society for centuries, and now comes to the surface in days of skepticism and despair (The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, p. 366; The Religion of the Semites, pp. 272, 338). The worship of vermin was an ancient cult which had been banished for centuries from respectable heathen worship. It is inconceivable that the highest class of Israelites, distinguished by birth and education and office (Exodus 24; Numbers 11), could have fallen to these depths; and, if they had so done, it is inconceivable that Tammuz and sun worship should have been considered so much worse than this (verses 13, 15). The fact that there were pictures upon the wall indicates some culture and refinement of worship, and points to the Egyptian or Greek mysteries as the most probable explanation of this secret gathering. These mysteries were often held in caverns. Belzoni discovered one in Egypt to which there was no entrance except through a narrow hole. The inner chambers of Egyptian temples had no windows, and the walls were covered with figures which a Hebrew prophet would have described just as Ezekiel describes this secret chamber. More than this, it is now known that the Greek mysteries — which even Herodotus acknowledges came from Egypt — experienced a revival 600-500 B.C., and it was probably this revival which was making itself felt in Jerusalem; for the Greeks, as well as the Egyptians, had great influence in Palestine just at this era. (Introduction to Daniel, III, 4, and Duruy, 2:374.) The mysteries, when compared with Tammuz worship, etc., agree perfectly with the prophet’s statement (verses 13, 15). There was no kind of ancient heathenism less objectionable than the mysteries in their purest form. This was the esoteric religion of the most cultured people. It encouraged reverence and self-restraint. It taught that there was an eternal unity pervading all things; a “golden chain” connecting heaven and earth. It sought to explain the deep secrets of life and death, and plainly taught that there was a life beyond the grave. Noble sentiments and sublime truths were mixed with the follies contained in the mysteries, as even the early Christian fathers were constrained to acknowledge, and it seems that St. Paul himself may have referred to these with no sign of disrespect. (Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 50:613.)

V. 11. Seventy-Heads of the tribes or families, who should have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. Shaphan-Mentioned 2 Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.

Verse 11. Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan] Shaphan was a scribe, or what some call comptroller of the temple, in the days of Josiah; and Jaazaniah his son probably succeeded him in this office. He was at the head of this band of idolaters.

Verses 7-11. And he brought me to the door of the court — This, Dr. Lightfoot understands of the east gate of the inner court, called the gate of Nicanor, over which was the council chamber, where the sanhedrim used to meet, and in some of the rooms near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet, verse 11. Behold a hole in the wall — Through which I could look in, and see what abominations were committing there. Then he said, Dig now in the wall — This, and what follows, was done only by vision, during the prophet’s trance or ecstasy, while the elders sat before him. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door — A private door, by which the elders entered into the chambers of their imagery, to perform idolatrous worship to the images. And he said unto me, Go in, &c. — To give me the fullest conviction, I not only looked through the hole, mentioned verse 7, but went into the very room where these idolatries were committed. Behold the abominations that they do here — Hebrew, are doing here: even under the approach of judgments, and under the walls of my temple. So I went in, and behold every form of creeping things — It is probable that they imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry; for the Egyptians used to worship several kinds of beasts and reptiles. According to Diodorus Siculus, 50. 1. p. 59, edit. Wess., (referred to by Secker,) “round the room in Thebes, where the body of King Osymanduas seemed to be buried, a multitude of chambers were built, which had elegant paintings of all the beasts sacred in Egypt.” It is not unlikely they imagined they evaded the law against setting up any image to worship, by having them only portrayed, or painted, on the wall; or, at least, that it was not so great an offence; for the Jewish people in general seem to have had little regard to any thing but the strict letter of the law, not regarding the spirit of it. However, as to objects for worship, pictures were prohibited, as well as carved images, as appears from Numbers 33:52. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients, &c. — Heads of the tribes or families, or, at least, principal men, (according to the number of the sanhedrim,) who ought to have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. By this the prophet was given to see, that it was not the vulgar, or the poor and ignorant only that were guilty of idolatry, but the leading men of the nation, and those of the greatest knowledge, power, and influence, who were superior to, and had the direction of the common people; so that it was properly a national guilt, and, as such, loudly called for national punishment. And in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah — Probably a prince of the people; the son of Shaphan — Mentioned 2 Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah, and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.

Ver. 11. Seventy men. The whole sanhedrim, with Jaazaniah, their chief corrupter in this kind of worship, all engaged in idolatry. They were carried away with a sort of mania for the idols of the heathen. Hence their chambers were adorned with images of every description, and with tablets of gentile mythology. These were in chambers, and preserved as gentile mysteries from the eye and knowledge of the vulgar.

11. Seventy men of the ancients [elders]… and… Jaazaniah — Here we see those who represent the whole nation of Israel apostate from the national worship (Exodus 24:1; Numbers 11:16, 24, 25). Jaazaniah — The Lord is listening — was either the leader of this company or else he was particularly guilty because of his good parentage and training (2 Kings 22:10; Jeremiah 39:14; 36:10), or he is mentioned because of the peculiar inappropriateness of his name when thought of in connection with their words (verse 12).

V. 12. Seeth not-They deny God’s care of them and their affairs, and therefore they must chuse some other god.

Verse 12. Hast thou seen what the ancients do in the dark — Do secretly; every man in the chambers of his imagery — Chambers so very private, that the prophet is described as obliged to dig a hole through the wall before he could discover their idolatrous practices. For they say, The Lord seeth us not — They either deny the being and providence of God, (Ezekiel 9:9,) or they say in their hearts, God hath cast us off, and withdrawn his wonted protection from us. They seem to have been of the same mind with Ahaz, who resolved to worship the gods of the Syrians, his conquerors, 2 Chronicles 28:23. So these men worshipped the idols of their neighbours, whom they saw to be more prosperous than themselves. Observe here, reader, a practical disbelief of God’s omniscience and superintending providence is one chief cause of men’s treacherous departures from him. The Lord hath forsaken the earth — Looks not after the affairs of it, and therefore we had as well worship any other god as him. Or, he hath forsaken our land, and left it to be a prey to its enemies, and therefore it is time for us to look out to some other god to whom to commit the protection of it. This was a blasphemous reflection upon God, as if he had forsaken them first, otherwise they would not have forsaken him. Those are indeed ripe for ruin who are arrived to such a pitch of impudence as to lay the blame of their sins on God himself.

12. Chambers of his imagery — Has this reference to the pictures on the wall (verse 11), or does it intimate that all this is merely a symbolic picture representing the hearts of the leaders of Israel? It is hard to believe that all these forms of worship were actually being carried forward in Jehovah’s temple. Ezekiel may possibly only mean that in his heart every man in his “chambers of imagery” is an idol worshiper. The Lord hath forsaken the earth — Or, land. Jehovah is here placed in the thought of these chief men on a level with the heathen gods, who were only powerful over a limited territory, and who, if they left the land for any cause, lost sight of what was transpiring there. (Compare Ezekiel 9:9; 1 Kings 18:27.) As Jerusalem and Israel were losing pre-eminence, the faith in the power of the local God became fainter and fainter. “Though the name of the leader of the band might have warned them that the Lord was listening, they boasted in their blindness that Jehovah did not see them; he had forsaken the temple and gone elsewhere.” — Plumptre.

V. 13. Greater-Either because added to all the rest: or, because some circumstances in these make them more abominable.

SENTENCE OF JEHOVAH UPON IT, 5-18.

5. Lift up thine eyes… toward the north — “The northern entrance was the most frequented, partly because the royal palace and buildings lay to the south and east, and the west was inclosed by the buildings of the temple itself.” — Davidson. It was the north gate which Ezekiel had entered (verse 3) and he is now commanded to pause and look back to the gate through which he had just come and once more consider the heinousness of the abomination of placing within the sacred precincts that which Jehovah had expressly forbidden (Exodus 20:2). The gate of the altar — This probably was a technical name for the northern gate. The altar was within the next court, but from this gate the view would perhaps be unimpeded. The law provided that the sacrifices should be slain on the north side of the altar (Leviticus 1:5, 11), and probably it was through this gate that the victims were brought into the temple. (See Temple Plan, p. 209.) In the entry — It was in the most prominent place and in full view. There was an “entry” connected with each court (Jeremiah 38:14).

V. 14. The door-Of the outer court, or court of the women, so called, because they were allowed to come into it. Weeping-Performing all the lewd and beastly rites of that idol, called by the Greeks, Adonis.

Verse 14. There sat women weeping for Tammuz.] This was Adonis, as we have already seen; and so the Vulgate here translates. My old MS. Bible reads, There saten women, mornynge a mawmete of lecherye that is cleped Adonydes. He is fabled to have been a beautiful youth beloved by Venus, and killed by a wild boar in Mount Lebanon, whence springs the river Adonis, which was fabled to run blood at his festival in August. The women of Phœnicia, Assyria, and Judea worshipped him as dead, with deep lamentation, wearing priapi and other obscene images all the while, and they prostituted themselves in honour of this idol. Having for some time mourned him as dead, they then supposed him revivified and broke out into the most extravagant rejoicings. Of the appearance of the river at this season, Mr. Maundrell thus speaks: “We had the good fortune to see what is the foundation of the opinion which Lucian relates, viz., that this stream at certain seasons of the year, especially about the feast of Adonis, is of a bloody colour, proceeding from a kind of sympathy, as the heathens imagined, for the death of Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar in the mountain out of which this stream issues. Something like this we saw actually come to pass, for the water was stained to a surprising redness; and, as we observed in travelling, had stained the sea a great way into a reddish hue.” This was no doubt occasioned by a red ochre, over which the river ran with violence at this time of its increase. Milton works all this up in these fine lines:—

“Thammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate,

In amorous ditties all a summer’s day;

While smooth Adonis, from his native rock,

Ran purple to the sea, suffused with blood

Of Thammuz, yearly wounded. The love tale

Infected Sion’s daughters with like heat:

Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch

Ezekiel saw, when by the vision led,

His eye surveyed the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah.”

Par. Lost, b. i. 446.

Tammuz signifies hidden or obscure, and hence the worship of his image was in some secret place.

Verse 14. Then he brought me to the door which was toward the north — Dr. Lightfoot distinguishes this door from that mentioned verse 5; this, he says, was the upper north gate, and that the lower; this being just over against the temple itself; whereas that was opposite the altar. Behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz — “The prophet here refers to a Phœnician or Syrian superstition. Tammuz was an idol of Chaldee extraction, as is plain from his name; which also is used for the tenth month, reckoning from the autumnal equinox, that is, the month of June; and Tammuz, as the object of worship, expresses the solar light in its perfection, as in the summer solstice. The Vulgate renders Tammuz, by Adonis; and that Adonis, according to the physical theology of the heathen, was the same as the sun, there is no question. Macrobius expressly affirms it, Saturnal., lib. 1. cap. 21, and says, that the tradition of Adonis being killed by a boar, means the diminution of the sun’s light and heat by winter. This departure of Adonis, or the sun, was lamented in the most frantic ceremonies of grief by the Phœnician and Assyrian women, who, on these occasions, used to prostitute themselves in honour of his vivifying power; and thus the Jewish women are described by our prophet, weeping for Tammuz, on the fifth day of the sixth month, that is, of August; at which time his death, by the winter boar, was drawing on apace. Tammuz was supposed to have been killed by a wild boar in mount Lebanon, whence flows the river Adonis, concerning which Lucian relates an opinion prevailing in these parts, that its stream, at certain seasons of the year, is of a bloody colour, which the heathen considered as proceeding from a kind of sympathy in the river for his death: see Parkhurst and Uni. Hist., vol. 1. p. 342. Milton has touched upon each of these particulars in the following elegant lines:

“ — — — Tammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate,

In am’rous ditties all a summer’s day,

While smooth Adonis, from his native rock,

Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood

Of Tammuz, yearly wounded: the love-tale

Infected Sion’s daughters with like heat,

Whose wanton passions, in the sacred porch,

Ezekiel saw, when by the vision led

His eye survey’d the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah — — — .”

PARADISE LOST b. 1. 5:446.

Ver. 14. Women weeping for Tammuz; the hidden one, or Adonis, according to Theodoret. Pagan fable says he was inconsciously begotten of incestuous connection between Cinyras king of Cyprus, and Myrrha his daughter. Being extremely handsome, he was feigned to be cherished of Venus as her minion. But venturing, contrary to her warning, to hunt the boar in the Idalian grove, he was gaunched by its tusks, and died in the bloom of youth, much lamented by the goddess, and changed into the flower of that name, which is of a bloody colour. Hence the superstitious women mimicked the tears of Venus, whose image then stood in the temple, by weeping on a certain day for Tammuz. The gentiles celebrated the Adonian festival in the month of July, when he was applauded in their songs as having returned from hell. Vide Hierom in loc.

Others contend that Tammuz is the same with Osiris, who taught the Egyptians to plant and sow, to revere the gods, and to form their government under the Pharaohs. He was killed privately by his brother who envied his fame. Isis his wife, at length found his body, and interred it in the isle of Abates. During the funeral solemnities an ox appeared to the people, which they took for Osiris. Hence he was adored by the names of Apis and Serapis, that is an ox. He is thought by historians to be Mizraim, grandson of Noah. Thus the gentiles walked in the imaginations of their own hearts, and worshipped dead men.

Rabbi Maimonides gives another account of the weeping for Tammuz, whom he calls a false prophet. He states from Sabian books, “that having called his sovereign to worship the seven planets, and the twelve signs of the zodiac, he was ignominiously put to death; and adds, that on the night in which he was slain, all the images from the ends of the earth assembled in the palace, which had been erected to the great golden image, the image of the sun, suspended in the air; that the image of the sun descended in the midst of them, weeping and lamenting, the death of Tammuz, and relating the tragic circumstances of his death. This caused a general weeping of all the rest of the images during the whole night; but that on the dawn of day, all the images flew away to their respective temples.”—Dr. Townley: Morè Novochim, p. 164.

14. Women weeping for Tammuz — Women were very prominent in idolatrous worship (2 Kings 23:7; Jeremiah 44:9, 15-19). Perhaps it was for this reason that women, in later Hebrew history, were ritualistically repressed (Peritz, Women in the Ancient Hebrew Cult, and Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 312, 313). Tammuz was the youthful sun god who perished after a brief season of illicit love with the amorous and wanton goddess Ishtar, but who received life again through the tears of his paramour. It is but another form of a sun myth common among many ancient peoples, symbolizing the yearly marriage of earth and heaven. “The earth is thrilled by the breath of the spring and abandons herself without shame to the caresses of heaven; she welcomes him to her arms, is fructified by him and pours forth the abundance of her flowers and fruits. Then comes summer and kills the spring; earth is burned up and withers, she strips herself of her raiment and her fruitfulness departs, till the gloom and icy numbness of winter have passed away, and spring brings the resurrection of the buried life.” (See Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, pp. 639, 640; Struggle of Nations, p. 174, etc.) The distinguishing and most common names for Tammuz in the cuneiform texts are “shepherd” and “lord” (adoni). An old Akkadian hymn speaks of him (W.A.I., 4:271): — Shepherd, lord Tammuz, spouse of heaven’s queen!

King of Aralu, king of Dusibba!

Willow that in a garden bed hath not drunk water,

Whose buds have borne no shoot (or bloom) in a field! etc. — Society Biblical Archaeology, 16:7.

We know the very hymns sung in this most voluptuous and popular drama and the musical instruments which were in most common use. One hymn says: —

On the day of Tammuz, play for me on the flute of lapis lazuli. Together with the lyre of pearl, play for me.

Together let the professional dirge singers, male and female play for me, That the dead may arise and inhale the incense of offerings. (See Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 575; also, for the obscurity of the worship, pp. 475, 485, and for the influence of the festival, even to modern times, p. 682.)

The fourth Assyrian month (June-July) was named Tammuz (Duzu), the fifth month, which may have been the very month in which this vision came (LXX., 8:1), was sacred to Ishtar, and the sixth month was designated as the “mission of Ishtar,” and in this month the Tammuz festival was celebrated in Babylonia.

If this actually represents a scene which occurred in the temple in the month Tammuz, there had been abundance of time in the two months past (or one month — LXX., Ezekiel 8:1) for all the details of the sacrilegious festival to reach the ears of the exiles. It might well be that such news as this would bring the elders to the prophet’s house (Ezekiel 8:1). Indeed these “elders” might possibly have been visitors from Jerusalem (Dean Plumptre) to whom the seer now proves that he knows what is passing in the city from which they came.

V. 15. Greater-These later wickednesses may be accounted greater, because acted in a more sacred place.

Verses 15, 16. Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations — These latter wickednesses may be accounted greater, because they were acted in a more sacred place. And he brought me into the inner court — The court next the temple, namely, that of the priests. And, behold, at the door of the temple — At that door through which there was an entrance into the porch of the temple, from the altar of burnt-sacrifices. Before, he saw the abominations committed in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself. Were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple, &c. — In contempt of God and his worship they turned their backs toward his sanctuary, and their faces toward the sun; according to the custom of the Chaldeans, Persians, and other eastern nations who worshipped the sun. Lowth thinks Hezekiah might allude to some idolatrous practice of this kind, in that confession of his, recorded 2 Chronicles 29:6, Our fathers have forsaken him, and turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. They turned their back to God, and not the face, as Jeremiah expresses their contempt toward him, Ezekiel 2:27. To prevent even the appearance of this, the people were commanded to come into the courts of the temple at the north or southern gates when they came to worship, that they might not, at their return, turn their backs upon God: see Ezekiel 46:9. God ordered the holy of holies, in his temple, to be placed toward the west, in opposition to this species of heathen idolatry, which consisted in worshipping the rising sun. And the pious Jews always turned their faces toward the temple when they worshipped.

Ver. 15. Thou shalt see greater abominations. The priests, turning their backs on the shekinah in the holy of holies, to scandalous acts of Sabianism, worshipped the rising sun.

15. Greater abominations — It is suggestive that while the “weeping for Tammuz” in the heat of summer or beginning of winter seems to have been marked by some self-restraint; in the spring, when Tammuz with all nature was supposed to come back again to passionate life, there was scarcely any limit to the licentiousness permitted and even probably prescribed by the ritual. The lascivious worship of Tammuz (Adonis) including the wailing, etc., dates back to the Gilgamish epic — 2300 B.C. — in which the passion of Ishtar is set forth with many disgusting details. Even much earlier than this, the unchaste worship of Ishtar was popular at Erech and Niffur. In some ruins entire walls have been found built of phallic emblems. (Zeits. fur Assyriologie, 6:3339. Yet, against this, see Jastrow, p. 673.) Many prayers to Ishtar are in existence like that of Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 605-562), “Enlarge my seed, multiply my offspring in the midst of my harem.” The texts have encouraged the belief that the ancient tradition was all too true, that no woman could expect the favor of the deity without the sacrifice of her chastity. In Ezekiel’s day, as in the days of Herodotus, it is probable that every native woman had to enter, at least once in her life, the temple of the unchaste goddess, and must there sit down and unite herself to any stranger who should throw her a silver coin and lead her away. (Maspero, Dawn of History, 1896, p. 640.) And this unspeakable abomination Ezekiel now sees in vision in Jehovah’s temple! Compare Milton’s description: —

Thammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate

In amorous ditties all a summer’s day;

Whose wanton passions on the sacred porch

Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,

His eyes surveyed the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah.

— Paradise Lost, 1:446, etc.

V. 16. Inner court-The innermost, that which was next the temple, called here the Lord’s house. At the door-Before he saw abominations in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself. The porch-That stately porch, beautified with the curious and mighty brass pillars, Jachin and Boaz. Altar-The brazen altar for burnt-offerings, which was placed in the court before the front of the temple, and is here represented in its proper place. Their backs-In contempt of God, and his worship. The sun-In imitation of the Persians, Egyptians, and other eastern idolaters; these Jews turn their back on God who created the sun, and worship the creature in contempt of the Creator.

Verse 16. Five and twenty men] These most probably represented the twenty-four courses of the priests, with the high priest for the twenty-fifth. This was the Persian worship, as their turning their faces to the east plainly shows they were worshipping the rising sun.

Verses 15, 16. Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations — These latter wickednesses may be accounted greater, because they were acted in a more sacred place. And he brought me into the inner court — The court next the temple, namely, that of the priests. And, behold, at the door of the temple — At that door through which there was an entrance into the porch of the temple, from the altar of burnt-sacrifices. Before, he saw the abominations committed in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself. Were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple, &c. — In contempt of God and his worship they turned their backs toward his sanctuary, and their faces toward the sun; according to the custom of the Chaldeans, Persians, and other eastern nations who worshipped the sun. Lowth thinks Hezekiah might allude to some idolatrous practice of this kind, in that confession of his, recorded 2 Chronicles 29:6, Our fathers have forsaken him, and turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. They turned their back to God, and not the face, as Jeremiah expresses their contempt toward him, Ezekiel 2:27. To prevent even the appearance of this, the people were commanded to come into the courts of the temple at the north or southern gates when they came to worship, that they might not, at their return, turn their backs upon God: see Ezekiel 46:9. God ordered the holy of holies, in his temple, to be placed toward the west, in opposition to this species of heathen idolatry, which consisted in worshipping the rising sun. And the pious Jews always turned their faces toward the temple when they worshipped.

Ver. 16. About five and twenty men—worshipped the sun. The highpriest, and one from each of the twenty four courses of the priests, turning their backs of the temple and the uncreated glory, to worship a created light! Thus both the princes and the priests were totally polluted. Job 1:15.

16. With their backs toward the temple — “The very act was symbolical of their apostasy (2 Chronicles 29:6; Isaiah 1:4; Jeremiah 7:24). And they did this in order that they might look to the east and worship the rising sun. That, and not the temple (Daniel 6:10), was the Kiblah of their adoration.” — Plumptre. They worshiped the sun — No worship was so widespread as this in the ancient world. Almost every god of Egypt, Babylon, and Canaan can be traced back to some primitive sun deity. The five and twenty men mentioned here were engaged in the worship of the sun at its rising, which was at this time perhaps the most popular form of heathen worship with the educated classes, and which continued in Palestine far down in the Christian era. Since Manasseh the temple of Jehovah had been a place of worship for the constellations of heaven, which were adored by their political lord at Nineveh. It would seem at this time to have become part of the state worship at Jerusalem. The “queen of heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17) was the popular name for Astarte, the morning and evening star (Zeits. fur die alt. Wiss., 1890, p. 130). This worship took place in the court of the priests, and there need be no doubt that these twenty-four men, led by some foreign hierophant or the Jewish high priest, are intended to symbolize the entire priesthood, or at least a representative from each priestly course (1 Chronicles 24:4-18; 2 Chronicles 36:14; Ezra 10:15). The mention that these priests “put the branch to their nose” while they adored the sun, perhaps shows one particular in which their worship was more abominable than the last. The flower or branch in many ancient rituals is the symbol of life and fructification, and suggests all the orgies of the spring festivals. (See notes verses 14, 15.)

V. 17. Violence-All injustice is here meant towards all sorts of men, whom they first despise and next destroy. Returned-From injustice against man they return to impiety against God. The branch-As the worshippers of Bacchus waved their Thyrsus, the stalk wreathed with ivy, and bowed their bodies and often kissed the branches, so did these idolatrous Jews.

Verse 17. They put the branch to their nose.] This is supposed to mean some branch or branches, which they carried in succession in honour of the idol, and with which they covered their faces, or from which they inhaled a pleasant smell, the branches being odoriferous. That the heathens carried branches of trees in their sacred ceremonies is well known to all persons acquainted with classic antiquity; and it is probable that the heathen borrowed those from the use of such branches in the Jewish feast of tabernacles. There are many strange, and some filthy, interpretations given of this clause; but the former are not worth repeating, and I abominate the latter too much to submit to defile my paper with them. Probably the Brahminic Linga is here intended.

It really seems that at this time the Jews had incorporated every species of idolatry in their impure worship,—Phœnician, Egyptian, and Persian. I might add that some imagine the image of jealousy to be a personification of idolatry itself.

EZEKIEL

Verses 17, 18. Then he said — After the prophet had seen all, and had had time to consider all he saw, God appeals to him concerning the heinousness of their crimes. Is it a light thing to the house of Israel — Who know and profess better things, and are dignified with so many privileges above other nations? Is it excusable in them, who have God’s oracles and ordinances, that they commit the abominations which they commit here? — Do they not deserve to suffer who thus sin? Should not such abominations as these make desolate? For they have filled the land with violence — All kinds of injustice are here meant, toward all sorts of men, whom they first despised and then defrauded, oppressed, or destroyed. And it is not strange if they who wrong their Creator make no conscience of injuring their fellow-creatures, and with all that is sacred, trample also on all that is just. And this wickedness of their conduct toward each other would have made their worship an abomination, even if it had been paid to the true God: see Isaiah 1:11, &c. And have returned to provoke me, &c. — After having filled the land with violence, they return to the temple to practise their idolatries: from injustice against man they return to impiety against God, and thus, by fresh abominations, add new aggravations to their guilt. And lo, they put the branch to their nose — This obscure clause is supposed by several commentators to relate to some custom among the idolaters of dedicating a branch of laurel, or of some other tree, to the honour of the sun, and carrying it in their hands at the time of their worship. And Spencer, De leg. Hebrews, lib. 4. cap. 5, observes, “that the heathen, in the worship of their deities, held forth the branches of those trees which were dedicated to them:” a rite which was called among the Greeks, oscoforia, qallofria: that is, branch-bearing. And Lewis, in his Origines Hebrææ, vol. 3. p. 4, observes, that the most reasonable exposition is, that the worshipper, with a wand in his hand, was wont to touch the idol, and then apply the stick to his nose and mouth, in token of worship and adoration. The Jewish rabbins, however, reckon this among the texts which their wise men have corrected, and say the original reading was not µpa, their nose, but ypa, my nose, or face; according to which reading the sense will be, They put a stick to my face, namely, to mock, or exasperate me: or, taking hrmz to mean here, not a branch, but, as Buxtorf renders it, odor malus ventris, the words will mean, they put an offensive smell to my nose, that is, they put an open affront upon me, namely, by turning their back to me in the place dedicated to my worship. And to this sense the LXX. interpret it, reading autoi wv mukthrizontev, they are as those that mock me, or publicly affront me. The Vulgate, however, reads the clause as we do. Dr. Lightfoot renders the place, They put the branch to my wrath, or their wrath; that is, “they add more fuel to my wrath, which will burst out like a flame to consume them: just as if one should lay a heap of dry sticks upon a fire.” Therefore will I deal in fury, &c. — Hebrew, in anger, or wrath. Mine eye shall not spare — Their provocations are such, that my justice cannot be satisfied without bringing deserved punishment upon them; and though they cry, &c. — Their sins cry louder for vengeance than their prayers cry for mercy.

Ver. 17. They put the branch to their nose. The extreme brevity of the Hebrew language occasions difficulties. The word morah signifies noise or snuffing, as well as branch. Hence it seems to mean, that when the rulers were rebuked for idolatry, they threw up the nose with disdain. Poole however gives a folio column of criticism on this text. But bishop Newton, and Origen, after Symmachus, confirm what is said above.

17. They put the branch to their nose — This seems to be the particularly objectionable feature connected with the sun worship just described, which may indicate that it was a debased and impure form of such worship. The gesture referred to is one common to ancient rituals and was the symbol of life and fructification. Flowers and trees played a great part in the religious symbolism of all ancient religions. (See Fraser’s Golden Bough.) In the tombs of Egypt almost every deceased person and the mourning friends are represented smelling the lotus. Even to-day the lotus is the most favored religious emblem in Japan. Tell a Buddhist that his heart is corrupt and cannot be cleansed, and he will answer, “The lotus springs from the mud” (Asiatic Quarterly Review, viii, p. 441). The custom of holding a bundle of twigs to the nose by the Magi during prayer is reported by Strabo (xv, 3, 14). This is the beresma of the Avesta, and is still done by the Parsi priests. Astarte-Aphrodite or Tammuz-Adonis is represented on an ancient vase in front of the Asherah tree with flowers in both hands, one bouquet of which is held to the nose. On the Assyrian monuments earlier than Ezekiel’s day the priests are represented carrying a spray in one hand, and in one case at least the priest is seen lifting the spray to his nose just before he offers sacrifice. This same gesture is seen in another representation of a priestess or goddess who stands before the symbol of the sun; it is common everywhere in the adoration of the flower god Tammuz-Adonis. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter points out that the smelling of a flower or a flowering branch or the holy tree itself was a most solemn ceremonial in the ancient ritual in Cyprus. In various statues the priest or worshiper is represented adoring the sun, while in his left hand he holds the flowering spray to his nose (Kypros, Bible, and Homer, 1893, p. 136, etc.). Perrot and Chipiez describe thus a Phoenician temple: “The air was full of perfume, of soft and caressing sounds… the voluptuous cooing of the dove mingled with the rippling notes of the flute.… Here sat the slaves of the goddess covered with jewels and dressed in rich stuffs with bright-colored fringes… necklaces of gold, amber, and glass hung between their swelling breasts; with the pigeon, the emblem of fertility, in one hand and a flower or myrtle branch in the other, these women sat and waited” (Phoenicia and Cyprus, ii, pp. 108, 138, 332). A class of male prostitutes were connected with the Baal worship, and a class of priestess prostitutes (Kadishti) with the Ashtoreth, Ishtar, and Tammuz cults. “The recent revelations concerning the hideous meaning of this seemingly inoffensive symbol and the ritual connected with it perfectly explain the strong words contained in the Bible text. This ‘fills the cup!’ God is now determined to punish, and the following chapter brings before the eyes of the seer the judgment according to its various phases.” — Orelli.

V. 18. Will not hear-The time was, when God was ready to have heard, even before they cried: but now they cry aloud, and yet cry in vain. It is the upright heart which God regards, and not the loud voice.

Verses 17, 18. Then he said — After the prophet had seen all, and had had time to consider all he saw, God appeals to him concerning the heinousness of their crimes. Is it a light thing to the house of Israel — Who know and profess better things, and are dignified with so many privileges above other nations? Is it excusable in them, who have God’s oracles and ordinances, that they commit the abominations which they commit here? — Do they not deserve to suffer who thus sin? Should not such abominations as these make desolate? For they have filled the land with violence — All kinds of injustice are here meant, toward all sorts of men, whom they first despised and then defrauded, oppressed, or destroyed. And it is not strange if they who wrong their Creator make no conscience of injuring their fellow-creatures, and with all that is sacred, trample also on all that is just. And this wickedness of their conduct toward each other would have made their worship an abomination, even if it had been paid to the true God: see Isaiah 1:11, &c. And have returned to provoke me, &c. — After having filled the land with violence, they return to the temple to practise their idolatries: from injustice against man they return to impiety against God, and thus, by fresh abominations, add new aggravations to their guilt. And lo, they put the branch to their nose — This obscure clause is supposed by several commentators to relate to some custom among the idolaters of dedicating a branch of laurel, or of some other tree, to the honour of the sun, and carrying it in their hands at the time of their worship. And Spencer, De leg. Hebrews, lib. 4. cap. 5, observes, “that the heathen, in the worship of their deities, held forth the branches of those trees which were dedicated to them:” a rite which was called among the Greeks, oscoforia, qallofria: that is, branch-bearing. And Lewis, in his Origines Hebrææ, vol. 3. p. 4, observes, that the most reasonable exposition is, that the worshipper, with a wand in his hand, was wont to touch the idol, and then apply the stick to his nose and mouth, in token of worship and adoration. The Jewish rabbins, however, reckon this among the texts which their wise men have corrected, and say the original reading was not µpa, their nose, but ypa, my nose, or face; according to which reading the sense will be, They put a stick to my face, namely, to mock, or exasperate me: or, taking hrmz to mean here, not a branch, but, as Buxtorf renders it, odor malus ventris, the words will mean, they put an offensive smell to my nose, that is, they put an open affront upon me, namely, by turning their back to me in the place dedicated to my worship. And to this sense the LXX. interpret it, reading autoi wv mukthrizontev, they are as those that mock me, or publicly affront me. The Vulgate, however, reads the clause as we do. Dr. Lightfoot renders the place, They put the branch to my wrath, or their wrath; that is, “they add more fuel to my wrath, which will burst out like a flame to consume them: just as if one should lay a heap of dry sticks upon a fire.” Therefore will I deal in fury, &c. — Hebrew, in anger, or wrath. Mine eye shall not spare — Their provocations are such, that my justice cannot be satisfied without bringing deserved punishment upon them; and though they cry, &c. — Their sins cry louder for vengeance than their prayers cry for mercy.

18. Mine eye shall not spare — See notes Ezekiel 5:11; 7:4, 9; 9:5,10. There comes a time when a cry to God for help is too late (Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 11:11; Proverbs 1:28). The symbolic meaning of this vision of Israel’s sin is apparent. The prophet only visited Jerusalem “in the visions of God” (verse 3). That these various abominable practices were literally taking place in the temple is difficult to believe. This vision may have been given to show to Ezekiel and his countrymen in exile the hopeless condition of the hearts of the whole nation, elders, women, priests. In their hearts they were idolaters, grasping every ancient and modern form of unbelief. Their presence defiled the temple and accounts for Jehovah’s leaving it (verse 6; Leviticus 15:31; 20:3; Numbers 19:13, 20).