Ezekiel 8:16

16 And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, [at] the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, [there were] about twenty-five men [with] their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they [were] bowing down toward the east before the sun.

Ezekiel 8:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 8:16

And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house,
&c.] 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 ^F7 [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; wherefore these men, that they might imitate the Gentiles in their idolatry, turned their backs to the most holy place; which is an aggravation of their impiety; casting the utmost contempt on God, his worship, and the place of it: and their faces towards the east:
when the sun rises: and they worshipped the sun towards the east;
as many nations did, though forbidden the Jews by an express law of God, ( Deuteronomy 4:19 ) ( Deuteronomy 17:2 Deuteronomy 17:3 ) ; yet this they fell into, and had horses and chariots devoted to this idolatry; see ( 2 Kings 21:3 2 Kings 21:5 ) ( 2 Kings 23:5 2 Kings 23:11 ) . The word rendered "worshipped" is compounded of two words; one signifying to "corrupt", the other to "worship": showing that, by worshipping the sun, they corrupted themselves, and the house of God; and so the Targum renders it,

``and, lo, they corrupted themselves, worshipping in the east the sun;''

and so it is explained in the Jerusalem Talmud,

``they corrupted the temple, and worshipped the sun;''

but Kimchi thinks the word ^F8 consists of the verb in the past tense, and of the participle; and that the sense is, when the prophet saw the men worshipping the sun to the east, as amazed at it, put this question to those that went in, "do ye worship also?" ^F9 so Ben Melech.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 7. fol. 184. 4.
F8 (Mtywxtvm) .
F9 Vid. Hottinger. Smegma Orientale, l. 3. par. 1. c. 24. p. 154. who rather is of opinion that the word is compounded of the participle and the particle (ta) , or the pronoun (Mta) .

Ezekiel 8:16 In-Context

14 And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that [is] toward the north, and look! There [were] the women sitting weeping for Tammuz.

15 And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man? Still {you will see again} greater detestable things than these."

16 And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, [at] the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, [there were] about twenty-five men [with] their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they [were] bowing down toward the east before the sun.

17 And he said to me, "Have you seen, son of man? {Was it too small a thing} for the house of Judah {to do} the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land [with] violence, and {they provoked me to anger again}, and look! They [are] putting the branch to their nose.

18 And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear [with] a loud voice, and I will not hear them."