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Ezekiel 8:14-16
New English Translation
Ezekiel 8:14-16
New English Translation
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed[a] women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.[b] 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”
16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there[c] at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar,[d] were about twenty-five[e] men with their backs to the Lord’s temple,[f] facing east—they were worshiping the sun[g] toward the east!
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 8:14 tn Given the context, this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”
- Ezekiel 8:14 sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.
- Ezekiel 8:16 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
- Ezekiel 8:16 sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).
- Ezekiel 8:16 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of “twenty-five,” perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash. tn Or “exactly twenty-five.”
- Ezekiel 8:16 sn The temple faced east.
- Ezekiel 8:16 tn Or “the sun god.” sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).
New English Translation (NET)
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