Chapter 8

1 Ezekiel, in a vision of God at Jerusalem, 5 is shewed the image of jealousy, 7 the chambers of imagery, 13 the mourners for Tammuz, 15 the worshippers towards the sun. 18 God’s wrath for their idolatry.

1. Sixth year. That is, of Jehoiachin’s captivity (see on ch. 1:2), 592/591 b.c. (see p. 572). A new series of prophecies begins here and extends to the end of ch. 19. The date shows that the series began a little over a year after Ezekiel’s call to the prophetic office (see ch. 1:2). Since his first vision Ezekiel’s time had been divided into 7 days (ch. 3:15), 390 days (ch. 4:5), and 40 days (ch. 4:6), in all, unless concurrent, at least 437 days. It has been urged that this time period cannot be fitted in between the dates of the two visions, a period, apparently, of 14 lunar months, or approximately 413 days. There is, of course, considerable difference of opinion as to the application of these periods, and furthermore, there is no necessity that a fresh revelation wait till the expiration of these periods (see on ch. 4:5). On the other hand, in order to adjust their lunar year with the solar, the Jews added an extra month every two or three years. If the 5th year under consideration was an intercalary year (as it very probably was, according to the 19-year cycle), the extra month would increase the total to about 442 days.

Sixth month. September, 592 or 591 (see p. 572).

Elders. These may have represented a degree of civil organization preserved in captivity and not suppressed by the Babylonians. It is possible that they, together with the exiled priests, frequently consulted one another about public affairs. The fact that the elders came to inquire of the Lord concerning their present state of affairs (see chs. 14:1; 33:31) makes it plain that Ezekiel was already known as a prophet and held in respect among the captives.

2. The appearance of fire. Ezekiel does not directly specify the being as human in form, but the mention of the loins and of “the form of an hand” (v. 3) implies that such was the case. The LXX reads “man” instead of “fire.” Ezekiel was given another theophany (see on ch. 1:1). The vision occurred while the elders were sitting before the prophet. They evidently saw nothing, but Ezekiel’s state of vision doubtless prepared them to listen at the close of his vision to “all the things that the Lord had shewed” the prophet (ch. 11:25).

3. The spirit lifted me up. We need not suppose that Ezekiel was literally transported in body. The movements were doubtless in vision (see on Dan. 8:2). But like Paul, Ezekiel could probably not tell whether he was out of the body or in the body (see 2 Cor. 12:3).

The door of the inner gate. This is one of the gateways that led from the court of the people to the court of the priests. The account of the building of Solomon’s Temple does not mention gateways leading from one of these courts to the other, but there is evidence of such in the later Temple of Herod. It was probably one of the most conspicuous portions of the Temple, where the people gathered in large numbers.

Image. Heb. semel, a word occurring only here and in v. 5; Deut. 4:16 (translated “figure”); 2 Chron. 33:7, 15 (translated “idol”). Various conjectures have been made as to the identity of this image, such as, that it represents Baal, Molech, or Astarte. But perhaps “image of jealousy” was not designed as a proper name designating a particular heathen deity, but rather as a descriptive name of an image that provoked the Lord to jealousy. The setting up of a rival god in the place dedicated to the worship of Yahweh would produce such an effect. There may have been heathen idols in the Temple at this time. A growing propensity toward idolatry had been evident since the days of Solomon, who had erected places of worship for the various idols of his wives “in the hill that is before Jerusalem” 1 Kings 11:7. Possibly pressure of the Assyrian king, Ahaz had placed an idolatrous altar in the Temple itself, moving the brazen altar to the north to make room for it (see on 2 Kings 16:10–16). Later Manasseh “built altars in the house of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:4). With the exception of Josiah, subsequent kings of Judah were wicked. It is altogether possible that they used the Temple area for idolatrous worship.

4. The glory. The presence of the glory of God was a token that He was aware of the idolatry of His people and would search into the secrets of their worship.

5. Toward the north. This indicates that in vision Ezekiel was inside the court of the priests; otherwise he could not have looked toward the north to see the idol in the north gate. The image had already been mentioned (v. 3), but now the attention of the prophet is directed to it more particularly. It was not enough that he should merely see it in passing.

6. That I should go. In the Hebrew the verb is in the form of an infinitive with no subject expressed. We may regard either the people as the ones to be removed, or the Lord as the one who would forsake His sanctuary. The latter seems the more probable. The people placed their confidence in the belief that God would protect His Temple and His city. The prophet was to inform them that because of their iniquities both the city and the Temple would be given over to destruction.

Greater abominations. A recurring refrain in this chapter (vs. 13, 15). The prophet is led onward as through the successive stages of an intrigue of idolatry.

7. Door of the court. Ezekiel had previously stood inside the inner court (see on v. 5). Now he is taken to the gate itself, which seems to have been surrounded by chambers (see Jer. 35:4; Eze. 40:44).

8. Dig. This was done in vision. The object of this part of the vision was doubtless to stress the extreme secrecy of the activities that the prophet was to see.

10. Pourtrayed. Perhaps carved in the form of relief work. Some commentators identify the idolatrous rites here practiced as of Egyptian origin, others, as of Babylonian. The word here translated “pourtrayed” appears again in ch. 23:14, specifically with reference to Chaldean images. The figures may not have been borrowed from any one source, but undoubtedly represented a variety of rites.

11. Seventy. Possibly a round number. The group must not be confused with the Sanhedrin, which did not come into existence till after the Captivity. The company was seen in vision, not in actuality, and any discussion as to whether the Temple courts contained a chamber big enough to hold so large a number is therefore beside the point.

Jaazaniah. Some have attempted to identify him with “Jaazaniah the son of Azur,” one of the wicked princes mentioned in ch. 11:1. The identity cannot be established, nor can we be certain that the Shaphan here mentioned was the scribe serving under King Josiah (2 Kings 22:8, 9). If he was, the reference to him here as the ancestor of Jaazaniah might be for the purpose of showing the contrast in their characters and revealing the moral decline of the leaders.

His censer. As a climax, the 70 elders were all acting as priests, and were offering to their pictured idols the incense that none but the sons of Aaron had a right to use (2 Chron. 26:16–18) and which was to be offered only to the true God.

12. The Lord seeth us not. They did not deny the being the providence of God, but seemed to think of Yahweh as a local deity who had abdicated. Ezekiel puts the philosophy of the group into the form of a popular saying, a characteristic feature of the prophet’s style (see chs. 9:9; 11:3, 15; 12:22, 27; 18:2, 25, 29; 33:10, 24, 30; 35:12; 37:11).

14. Tammuz. A deity worshiped by the Babylonians under the name DuХuµzu, variously designated the brother or son, husband or lover, of the goddess Ishtar. Tammuz was the god of vegetation and pasture and the patron of flocks. According to ancient tradition he died annually and descended into the nether world. His passing was marked by the drying up of the crops, pastures, and streams by the summer’s heat. His departure was celebrated by public festivities of mourning and the singing of dirges in the 4th month of the Semitic year (Duzu or Tammuz, beginning in our June or July, see Vol. II, p. 116.) Annually, too, Ishtar was believed to descend into the underworld to awaken the dead god. His awakening and return were supposed to cause vegetation to flourish again. The Greeks preserved a similar account in their myth of Demeter and Persephone.

Tammuz was worshiped in Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. In Phoenicia, the cult took the form of the worship of Adonis (SemiticХadon, “lord”), a local Phoenician deity, and the name Adonis was transmitted to the Greeks, whose myth of Venus and Adonis was passed on through the Romans. Although early tradition identified Tammuz with Adonis, actually the worship of Adonis was only one form of the widespread worship of Tammuz. When the cult was first adopted by the Jews is not known.

The fact that the Tammuz festival fell in the fourth month and not in the “sixth month,” the time of Ezekiel’s vision, presents no problem. The prophet saw it in vision and was doubtless shown representations of the wickedness practiced at various times in Jerusalem.

16. Five and twenty. The LXX reads “twenty.” The significance of the number is not clear. Some have conjectured that it referred to the high priest and the heads of the 24 courses (see on 1 Chron. 24:1), thus representing the whole body of the priests. They were standing between the altar and the Temple, in a most sacred part of the court. There, turning their backs upon the Temple of the Lord, they worshiped the sun. The adoration of the sun, Shamash, was early practiced by the Canaanites and had found its way into the worship of the kings and people of Judah (2 Kings 23:5, 11; cf. Deut. 4:19; 17:3; Job 31:26). The fact that they stood in the inner court has led to the belief that they were probably priests, but others besides priests sometimes entered there (2 Kings 11:4–15). If they were the special guardians of true religion, their sin was a most flagrant insult to God. Thus it was marked as the greatest of the abominations (see 2 Chron. 36:14).

17. Violence. Heb. chamas. The same word is used to describe the antediluvian wickedness (Gen. 6:11). The LXX reads “lawlessness.”

Have returned. Or, “turned again,” that is, the people went back again and again to their evil doings.

Put the branch. In the so-called “Adonis gardens” rootless flowers were put in a bowl filled with earth, and held up before the face. The custom is pictured on a mural from Pompei. Ancient Jewish tradition claims that the reading should be “my nose,” that is, the Lord’s nose. It paraphrases the passage, “they put an affront upon me, by turning their back parts to me in the place dedicated to my worship.” The LXX supports, in part, this meaning, rendering the passage, “they are as those that mock.”

18. Not hear. It is too late now to avert national catastrophe. Yet, individual salvation is not precluded. The few “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations” done in the land will be delivered. The rest have chosen destruction by their stubborn course.

By their stubborn refusal to listen to the voice of the Lord calling them to amend their ways, men eventually render themselves deaf to the voice of God. When that time comes God will no longer hear them.

Ellen G. White comments

1, 10–13PK 448

14–18PK 449