Ezekiel 8:6-16

6 And he said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, to cause [me] to go far off from my sanctuary? And yet again thou shalt see great abominations.
7 And he brought me to the entry of the court, and I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall.
8 And he said unto me, Son of man, dig now through the wall; and I digged through the wall, and behold, a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10 And I went in and looked, and behold, every form of creeping thing and abominable beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 And he said unto me, Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.
13 And he said unto me, Yet again thou shalt see great abominations which they do.
14 And he brought me to the entry of the gate of Jehovah's house that was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 And he said unto me, Seest thou, son of man? Thou shalt yet again see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house, and behold, at the entry of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

Ezekiel 8:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 8

This chapter contains a vision the prophet had of the idolatry of the Jews, which was the cause of their destruction. The time when, place, where, and persons with whom he was, when the hand of the Lord came upon him, are mentioned, Eze 8:1; then follows a description of the divine Person that appeared to him, Eze 8:2; and an account is given how he was in a visionary way brought to Jerusalem, and to the temple, where he saw the glory of the God of Israel, and the idolatry of the people, Eze 8:3,4; which latter was gradually represented to him; first the image of jealousy in the entry at the gate of the altar northward, Eze 8:5; then greater abominations through a hole in the wall, by which he saw their idols, in the form of reptiles and four footed beasts, portrayed on the wall, Eze 8:6-10; next seventy of the ancients of Israel, among whom were one mentioned by name, offering incense to these idols, Eze 8:11,12; after this, greater abominations still are showed him, at the north of the temple, women weeping for Tammuz, Eze 8:13,14; and then again far greater ones, twenty five men, between the porch and the altar, with their backs to the temple, and their face to the east, worshipping the sun, and putting the branch to the nose, Eze 8:15-17; wherefore it is reasoned to deal with them in fury, without any mercy, pity, and compassion, Eze 8:18.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or 'pattern,' as Deut. 4.17.
  • [b]. Or 'earth.'
  • [c]. A Syrian and Phoenician idol identified with Adonis.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.