Ezekiel 8:16

Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. TURN THEE YET AGAIN, AND THOU SHALT SEE GREATER ABOMINATIONS. The next are "greater abominations," not in respect to the idolatry, but in respect to the place and persons committing it. In "the inner court," immediately before the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, where the priests advanced only on extraordinary occasions; as, for instance, national fasts, on which the "ministers of the Lord wept between the porch and the altar" (Joel 2:17), twenty-five men (the leaders of the twenty-four courses or orders of the priests, 1 Chronicles 24:18-13, with the high priest at their head, "the pr...

13-18 The yearly lamenting for Tammuz was attended with infamous practices; and the worshippers of the sun here described, are supposed to have been priests. The Lord appeals to the prophet concerning the heinousness of the crime; "and lo, they put the branch to their nose," denoting some custom used by idolaters in honour of the idols they served. The more we examine human nature and our own hearts, the more abominations we shall discover; and the longer the believer searches himself, the more he will humble himself before God, and the more will he value the fountain open for sin, and seek to wash therein....

Verse Ezekiel 8:16. _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_....

THE INNER COURT - The court of the priests. ABOUT FIVE AND TWENTY MEN - Rather, as it were five etc. This was the number of the heads of the 24 courses (shifts) with the high priest presiding over them. These then were the representatives of the priests, as the seventy were of the people. In the temple the seat of the Divine Majesty was at the west, perhaps appointed for this very purpose, to guard against the idolatrous adoration of the rising sun. Therefore the idolatrous priests must in worshipping the false sun-god turn their backs upon the True. The worship of the heavenly bodies was one of the earliest forms of idolatry Job 31:26 and was expressly forbidden in the Law Deuteronomy 17:3. In its earliest form, it was conducted w

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 8:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS, etc. We begin with a fresh date. One year and one month had passed since the vision of Chebar, and had been occupied partly by the acted, partly by the spoken, prophecies of the preceding chapters. In the mean time, things had gone from bad to worse in Jerusalem. In the absence of the higher priests, idolatry was more rampant, and had found its way even into the temple. It is probable that tidings of this had reached Ezekiel, as we know that frequent communications passed between the exiles and those they had left behind (Jeremiah 29:1, Jeremiah 29:9,...

AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE INNER COURT OF THE LORD'S HOUSE,.... The court of the priests, where they offered sacrifice, and into which none might come but themselves: AND, BEHOLD, AT THE DOOR OF THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, BETWEEN THE PORCH AND THE ALTAR; the porch that led into the temple, and the brasen altar, the altar of burnt offerings, which was a very sacred place, and reckoned more holy than the court of the priests g [WERE] ABOUT FIVE AND TWENTY MEN; the number, more or less, not being exactly known; who they were, whether the priests or princes of the people, is not certain; probably some of both: WITH THEIR BACKS TOWARDS THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD; that is, the most holy place, which they were obliged to, in order to do what is afterwards affirmed of them; for the sanctuary was built to the west, that in their worship the Jews might not look to the east, as the Gentiles did; wheref...

CHAPTER S 8-11 Visions in Relation to Jerusalem _ 1. The vision of abomination in the temple (Ezekiel 8:1) _ 2. The vision of the linen-clothed man with the inkhorn (Ezekiel 9:1) 3. The vision of the coals of fire (Ezekiel 10:1) 4. The vision concerning the leaders: The glory departs (Ezekiel 11:1) Ezekiel 8:1. This vision shows the abomination which prevailed in the temple of Jehovah. In the visions of God, Ezekiel is brought to the door of the inner gate that looks to the north. Here was the image o

EZEKIEL 8:16 F. SUN WORSHIP. The next scene is a group of sun-worshippers with their backs significantly turned towards the Temple. This also points to Babylonian influence. Sun worship, abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:11) had apparently been reintroduced. What the more abominable thing, alluded to in Ezekiel 8:17, may have been, we do not know, as the phrase they put the branch to their nose is obscure: some imagine it conceals a reference to a definitely immoral worship. [But see J. H. Moulton's _Early Zoroastrianism,_ pp. x, 189- 191. He says, referring _to the Magi. The earliest_ evidence of their activity as a sacred tribe is in Ezekiel ...

BETWEEN THE PORCH AND THE ALTAR. The place appointed for the priests. FIVE AND TWENTY. The number of the heads of the twenty-four courses of the priests. THEIR BACKS TOWARD THE TEMPLE. Because their faces were toward the sun-rising. WORSHIPPED THE SUN. This form of idolatry seen as early as Job 31:26; Job 31:27. and foreseen in Deuteronomy 4:19. adopted as early as Asa (2 Chronicles 14:5); abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:5; 2 Kings

The sun-worshippers in the inner court 16. _about five and twenty_ LXX., about twenty. These men were seen adoring the sun with their faces to the east, and their backs to the temple house. Their position between the temple and the altar seems to imply that they were priests (Joel 2:17), and it is not decisive against this view that they are called "elders" in ch. Ezekiel 9:6, for Jeremiah 19:1 refers to "the elders of the priests." They may be supposed representatives of the priesthood. _worshipped the sun_ The worship of the sun, the queen of heaven, and the host of heaven, was adopted by Israel from their eastern conquerors: cf....