Ezekiel 8
PATThe prophet is carried in vision to, Jerusalem, and there shewed the idolatries committed by the Jews within the precincts of the temple. us. They seem to have been of the same mind with King Ahaz, who resolved to worship the gods of the Syrians, his conquerors. (2 Chron. xxviii. 23.) So these men worshipped the idols of their neighbours, whom they saw more prosperous than themselves. This part of the vision represents the destruction of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, beginning with those that were nearest the temple.
Ezekiel 8:1
JjlND it came to pass, in the sixth year. Of Jehoiachin’s captivity. (Sco i. 2.) And the elders ofJudah.] Men of note for their ago or authority: perhaps such as had been members of the greater or lesser consistories before their captivity. These elders camo to me to inquire of the Lord concerning their’ present state of affairs. (Compare xiv. 1. 4. xxxiii. 31.) It is probable that they, together with the priests of the captivity, often met together to consult about the public affairs, or to make orders and rules for the better government of the people. So when Sharezer and Regemmclech came to Jerusalem to ask counsel of the prophets and priests about observing the fasts relating to their former calamities, (Zech. vii. 2, 3.) it is highly probable that they were sent by the ciders and priests that met in Babylon for this purpose. (See Dr. Prideaux, Connex.-of Script. Hist par. i. p. 272.) Sat before me.] This was the posture of those that came to hear the instructions of any prophet or teacher. (Compare xiv. 1. xx. 1. xxxiii. 31. 2 Kings iv. 38.) In aftertimes the teachers sat in a chair or eminent seat, and the hearers sat on lower forms at the feet of their -masters, (See Luke x. 39. Acts xxii. 3.) That the hand of the Lord fell upon me.] See note on i. 3. Vcr. 2. I beheld.] A divine of great learning. and character thinks the Hebrew words should be understood of tho time past, and translated I had beheld; and that we arc not to suppose the prophet began -to see this vision while the elders were before him, *but related to them by God’s direction what he had formerly seen in the fourth month, the season set apart for the worship of the idol Tamuz. (See the note on ver. 14.) This sense is confirmed by comparing the place -with xi. 25. Then, ox Thus I spake to them of the captivity, all the things that the Lord had shewed me. And lo a likeness astlie appearance of fire, &c] See the note on i. 27. He also cried in mine ears with a loud voice.] To denote the terribleness of God’s judgments. (See i. 24. Rev.xiv.7.9.15.) Cause them who have a charge over the city to come near.] The angels who had the charge of executing God’s judgment upon the city. (Compare 2 Kings x. 24.)
Ezekiel 8:2
Six men came from the way of the tipper gate, which lieth towards the north. See tho note on viii. 14. There is mention of the higher or upper gate of the Lord’s house which Jotham built or repaired, called the new gate, 2 Kings xv. 35. Jer. xxvi. 10. But that is generally thought to be at the cast side of the temple, and the samo Microsoft® [dlAP. X. with that which was afterward called the gate ofNicanor; whereas this is supposed to be on the north side of the temple and altar, because there the sacrifices were ordered to be slain, (See Lev. i. 11. and the note upon the following words.) Six slaughtermen came like so many Lcvites, expecting an order from the chief sacrificing priest which beast to slay, and at what time. And one man among them was clothed with linen.’] That is, an angel, (see ver. 4. and compare xl. 3. xliii. G.) who was to supply the place of the chief sacrificing priest. Angels, as ministering spirits always attending. upon God’s service, are sometimes described in the habit of priests. (See Rev. xv. 5, 6.) As God’s ministers for the same reason have the title of angels given them, Rev. i. 20. With a writer’s inkhorn by his side.] To set a mark on those that were to be saved from the common destruction. But the LXX. translate the words, With a girdle of sapphire, or embroidery, upon his loins; which agrees better with what goes before, as being part of the priest’s habit, (Exod. xxviii. 8. and the abovecited place in the Revelation.) And this interpretation of the phrase Dr. Castel follows, in his Lexicon, in the word keseth. And they went and stood by the brazen altar.] To denote that tho men ordained to destruction were.offered up as so many sacrifices, to make an atonement to God’s justice. The destruction of the wicked is elsewhere expressed by the name of a sacrifice. (See xxxix. 17. Isa. xxix. 2. xxxiv. G.) *.. Ver.,3. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon, he vias, to the threshold of the house.] Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart out of the inner sanctuary to the threshold, or door of the temple; to shew that God would shortly forsake this temple. (Com-’ pare x. 4. 18, 19. xi. 23.) The word cherub stands for cherubims, as x. 2. We are to distinguish this apparition of the Divine Glory, which had its constant residence in tho temple, from that which was shewed.particularly to Ezekiel, i. 2G. iii. 23. viii. 24. x. 1. 5… And he called to the man, &c] The Logos, or second person of the blessed Trinity, gave his commands to the angel, mentioned ver. 3.
Ezekiel 8:3
He put forth the form of a hand. Just as the form of a liand appeared writing upon the wall, Dan. v. 5. And thespirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision of God to Jerusalem.] This expression, in the vision of God, (which is likewise used again at the end of the recital of this prophecy, xi.24. and xl. 2.) may import that all this representation was performed only in vision; that is, by a lively representation to the mind, as if thc-prophet had been personally present at Jerusalem. In the same manner, Elisha was present with Gehazi when he took Naaman’s present, 2 Kings v. 2G. and heard the words that were spoken in the king of Syria’s bedchamber, 2 Kings vi.:12. And St Paul, though he was absent in body, yet was present in spirit at the church of the Colossians, beholding’their order, &c. (Colos: ii. 5.) But the words may also signify a local translation of (he prophet from Chaldea to Jerusalem. (Compare iii. 14. xl. 1.) Tli is latter interpretation is confirmed by the spirit’s lift* ing him up between heaven and earth, and bringing him to Jerusalem, and afterward carrying him back into Chaldea, (xi. 24.) To the door of the inner gate.]- The entrance that goes into the inner court, called the court of the priests, where the altar of burnt-offerings stood, (See ver. 5.) The pro-; phet stood at the outside of this door, and viewed the image here mentioned, placed in some outward verge of the temple; which yet was all accounted fcoly ground, and called in Scripture the mount of the Lord, or the holy mountain. (See vii. 24.) Where teas the image of jealousy, that provoketh to jealousy. ~\ An image set up within the precincts of the temple, to provoke God to jealousy, by setting up a rival against him ia the place dedicated to his own worship. (See the note on v. 11.)
Ezekiel 8:4
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel tuas there. To shew that that was the place of his peculiar residence. Set a mark npon their foreheads.] Compare Rev. vii. 31. The expression alludes to the custom of the eastern nations to mark their servants in the forehead. (See Grotius upon that place of the Revelation.) The Vulgar Latin renders the words, Mark with the letter thau the foreheads; and it is very probable the ancient reading in the LXX. was Tav Stj/uTov, though the present copies read to Srj/mov. (See Huetins, Demonst. Evang. prop. 9.) It was the general opinion of the fathers that the ancient Samaritan letter thau was made in the form of a cross; and St. Jerome (a very competent judge in this matter) does attest the same in his commentary on this place. This opinion Scaligcr rejects in his notes upon Eusebius’s Chronicon, p. 109. but Bishop Walton defends it at large in his third Prolegomenon, n. 3G. and the Dissertation upon the ancient Hebrew Sides, in his Apparatus to the Polyglot Bible, p. 3G. The Ethiopic letter tawi, or tau, still retains the form of a cross; and the learned Ludolphus supposes, that the Ethiopic letters were borrowed from the Samaritans. The Coptic letter of that sound is in the same form. The modern antiquaries do all agree, that the Samaritan thau was in the form of a Greek X. But whether their authority be sufficient to outweigh that of St. Jerome, must be left to the learned to judge. It is observable that the high-priest was anointed upon the forehead, in the form of an X, as Selden assures us, lib. ii. de Success, in Pontif. cap. 9. [The words of the learned Montfaucon (Palatograph. Grsec. lib. ii. cap. 3.) decide this controversy in favour of the ancients: “In nummisSamaritanis, quee in musocis oecurrunt, thau forma crucis exaratum frequentissime visitur: in quos si incidisset Scaligcr, Origenis et Hieronymi testimonio refragatus non esset.” He tells us, That in several Samaritan coins, to be found in the collections of medals, the letter thau is engraven inform of a cross, which, if Scaliger had seen, he would not have contradicted the testimony of Origen and Jerome upon this subject.] Of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof] The irreclaimable temper of sinners that hate to be reformed, is just matter of grief to good men. (See Psal. cxix. 136. Isa. lvii. 18. Jer. xiii. 17. 2 Cor. xii. 21. 2 Pet. ii. 8.) And when the number of such mourners is not sufficient to divert God’s judgments from a nation, they shall at least deliver their own souls. (See xiv. 14.)
Ezekiel 8:5
Northward at the gate of the altar. Northward of the gate or entrance that was over against the altar. Ver. G. TJiatI should go far off from my sanctuary.] That I should forsake it, and deliver it up to be polluted by the heathen, (vii.. 21, 22.) which is significantly represented by the departing of the Divine Glory from the threshold of the temple, x. 18. And thou shalt see greater abominations.] Because committed by persons of greater authority, and nearer the place of my immediate presence. (See ver. 11. 14. 1G.) Let not your eye spare, &c] See v. 11.
Ezekiel 8:6
Slay utterly, old and young, &c. This denunciation was executed by the Chaldeans. (See 2 Chron. xxx vi. 17.) And began at my sanctuary.] Judgment often begins at the house of God, (1 Pet. iv. 17.) because such persons sin against greater light and clearer convictions. (Sec Amos iii. 2. Luke xii. 47.) TJien they began with the ancient men that were before the house.] Who committed idolatry in the several courts and apartments belonging to the temple. (See viii. 11, 12. 1G.)
Ezekiel 8:7
And he brought me to the door.ofthe court J. This Dr. Lightfoot (of the Temple, chap. 28.) understands of the east gate of the inner court, called the gate ofNicanOr, over which was. the council-chamber where the Sanhcdrin -used to meet, and in some of the rooms.near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet, (ver. 11.) Beholds hole in the.wall.] Through.which I could look in, and.sec what abominations wore committed there. Defile the house, andfdllhe courts with the slain.] God declares he will own the temple no longer for his place of residence, (see ver.‘3.) as having been polluted with idolatry; (viii. 10, &c.) and therefore delivers up both the inner and outer courts belonging to it, (compare x. 3. 5.) to be polluted by blood and slaughter.,
Ezekiel 8:8
Thensaidhe unto.me, Dig now in. the. wall. This was done only by.vision,;to.give the clearer proof and conviction of the idolatries there committed, by thus introducing him into, the rooms where they were practised. And, whenlhaddiggedinthewall, behold adoor.] Which had been made up, and another more.secret entrance contrived, that they might go in \and, out unobserved. And I was left.] The prophet thought himself preserved alone out of the common destruction, the slaughter was so great; although those who had a mark set upon them were certainly preserved, as well as he. I fell npon my face.] In a posture of supplication to deprecate God’s anger, (see Numb. xii. 5. xvi. 4. 22. 45.) and to beseech him not to make an utter destruction of those small remains thatwere left of the nation: Jerusalem being almost the only place which was not in the enemies’ power. (See xi. 13.)
Ezekiel 8:9
And he said unto me, Go.in, &c. To give me the fullest conviction, I did not only peep through the. hole, mentioned ver. 8. but went into the very room where these idolatries were committed. \Ver.lO. So J went in and beheld— revert/ form of creeping •things and abominable beasts pourtrayed upon the walls roundabout.] Pictures were as much prohibited by. the law as carved images. (See Numb, xxxiii. 53.) The worshipping serpents and other brute creatures were idolatries.practised in Egypt, and upon that account par. ■ ticularly forbidden by Moses, Deut. iv. 17, 18. The land is full of blood, and the city of perverseness.] See viii. 23. The Lord hath forsaken the earth, &c] Sec viii. 12.
Ezekiel 8:11
And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel. Those probably were the members of the Sanhedrin, or great council of the Jews. (See the note on Jer. xxvi. 19.).The place of this idolatry was near the council-chamber where they used to sit. (Sec ver. 7.)
Ezekiel 8:12
Hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark?. See ver. 7, 8. For they say, Hie Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.] They cither deny the being and providence of God, (sec ix. 9.) or else they, say in their hearts, Ggd hath cast us off, and withdrawn his.wonted protection from
Ezekiel 8:14
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house, whichivati towards the north. Which was over against the temple: Dr. Lightfoot (ubi supra) distinguishes this door from that mentioned ver. 5. that this was the upper north gate, and that the lower; this being just over against the temple itself, whereas that was opposite to the altar. And, behold, thete sat women weeping for Tamuz.’] St. Jerome, by Taitetfz, understands Adonis, which learned men suppose the same with Osiris. (See Vossius, de Idololatria, lib. ii. cap. 4. 10.) By Osiris is generally understood the sun. [We may rather understand by Osiris, the god that the Egyptians supposed to preside over the fruits of the earth, which were then cut and gathered in: this being called the death of Osiris, was celebrated with mourning and lamentations. (S6e Dr. Spencer, dc Leg. Hebr. lib. ii. tap. 24. sect. 1.) TPbte gives a plain account why this solemnity was kept in the month of Tamuz, answering to part of our June and July, because the harvest was finished in those hot countries by or before that time.] This idolatry was derived from the Egyptians, and afterward the Phoenicians arid Greeks improved it by the addition of a new fable, viz. of Venus’s mourning for the death of Adonis. The fourth month of the Jews, which answered part of Our June and July, was called Tamuz, from a feast dedicated to this idol in that month. The Egyptian year consisted but of three hundred and sixty-five days, without any bissextile, which was afterward added in the Julian year. By this means they lost a day every four years; which in process of time made a great change in the beginning of their yeaT, and a variation in their festivals, which must consequently remove from one season of the year to another. It is therefore probable that under the idolatrous kings of Judah, who brought in the worship of Tamuz, this festival fell in the month that answered the fourth month of the Jews, and gave that month this name; in which month Ezckiel probably saw this vision. (See the note on ver. 2. and Selden, de Diis Syris, Syntagm. ii. cap. 11.) Ver. 1G. At the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar.] Near the entrance into, the temple, where the brazen altar stood, in the middle of the court, before the house of the Lord. (Sec 2 Chron. viii. 7. 2Kingsxvi. 14.) Were about five-and-twenty men with their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the east, &c] So they turned their backs to God Almighty, and their faces towards the sun. Perhaps Hezekiah may allude to some such idolatrous practice, in that confession of his, 2 Chron. xxix. G. Our fathers have done evil in the sight of the Lord, and 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 their face; as Jeremy expresses their contempt towards him, ii. 27.xxxii. 33. (Compare xxiii. 35. of this prophecy.) For this reason the people were commanded to come in at the north or southern gates of the outward court of the temple, when they came to worship, that they might no t,at their return; turn their backs upon God. (See xlvi. 9.) God ordered the holy of holies in his temple to be placed, towards the west, in opposition to this species of heathen idolatry, which consisted in worshipping the rising sun.. And the Jews always turned their faces towards the temple, when they worshipped. (See Dr. Spencer, deLegib; Hebr. lib. iii. cap. 2. sect. 4.) •
Ezekiel 8:17
For they have filled the lan4 with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger. Or, again they provoke me to anger. (See the note on Isa. vi. 13.) After their repeated acts of injustice and oppression (see xxii. 6, 7.) they add new aggravations totheir wickedness, by committing these heinous provocations of idolatry. And lo, they put the branch to their nose.] Those that translate the words to this sense, suppose them to relate to some custom among the idolaters, of dedicating a branch of laurel, or some other tree, to the honour of the sun, and carrying it in their hands at the time of their worship. But this text is one of those which the rabbins reckon among the Tikhin Sopherim, or such as have been corrected by their scribes and learned men; and the original reading, say they, was appi, to my nose, or face, instead of the present reading appam. According to which reading the sense will be, and they put q stink to my nose; that is, they put an open affront upon me, by turning their back parts to me in the place dedicated to my worship. To this sense the LXX. render it, avrol wg fivKTriptZovrtg, They are as those that mock me, or publicly affront me. Dr. Lightfoot upon John xv. 6. renders the place, Tliey put the branch to my wrath, or to 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. (Compare xv. G.)… [These religious rites were called among. the Greeks, oaxpfopia, 6aX\o<j)6pta, Svpao
Ezekiel 8:18
Therefore will I also deal in fury. God’s unalterable decree of executing vengeance upon them for their heinous iniquities, is described like the fury of an enraged person, which cannot be appeased but by bringing the offender to condign punishment. (See v. 13. xvi. 4?. xxiv. 13.) CHAP. IX.,