Ezekiel 8 Study Notes

8:11 The seventy elders were probably the leaders of the nation whose position was established by Moses’s appointment of officials to assist him in governing God’s people (Ex 24:1,9; Nm 11:16-25). The prophet echoed the critical moment in the Day of Atonement ceremonies when the cloud of incense screened the ark from the vision of the high priest (Lv 16:2,13).

8:12-13 They were in darkness to hide from God, who they claimed had abandoned Israel.

8:14-15 Weeping for Tammuz was a Babylonian ritual marking the death and descent into the underworld of the Sumerian god Dumuzi. The mythological course of death and return for Dumuzi (Tammuz) was thought to be parallel to the annual rhythm of nature.

8:16 The final and supreme act of idolatry took place within the inner court of the temple itself, where twenty-five men bowed toward the east, worshiping the sun. According to 2Kg 21:5, worship of the sun god appears to have gained sponsorship during the reign of Manasseh, who built altars for foreign gods in the courts of the temple. The area between the portico and the altar was probably for use by priests alone and was where they prayed to God on a fast day (Jl 2:17).

8:17-18 The phrase putting the branch to their nose may have referred to an idolatrous practice, or possibly it is an idiomatic expression indicating contempt for God.