Ezekiel 8:11

11 Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads.

Ezekiel 8:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 8:11

And there stood before them
Before the pictures, as the Vulgate Latin version expresses it, praying, sacrificing, and offering incense unto them: seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel;
the whole sanhedrim, or great court of judicature among the Jews, as Kimchi; or at least there is an allusion to that number, which were appointed in Moses' time to be officers over the people, and govern and direct them, ( Numbers 11:16 ) ; which shows how sadly depraved and corrupted the state was, that not the common people only, but the civil magistrates, the chief rulers and governors, were given to idolatry; and those that should have taught the people the right way led them wrong; and it is still a further aggravation of their crime that they should do this in the chambers of the priests and Levites, where they ought not to have been: and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan;
who was either the prince of the sanhedrim, or at least a person of great note and esteem; and shows the corruption to be general, from the least to the greatest: Shaphan was a scribe in Josiah's time, who had a son named Ahikam, perhaps the father of this, ( 2 Kings 22:3 2 Kings 22:12 ) ; in ( Ezekiel 11:2 ) ; he is said to be the son of Azur, and one of the princes of the people: with every man his censer in his hand;
to offer incense to the idols portrayed on the wall; and which they did, for it follows: and a thick cloud of incense went up;
there were many that offered; and perhaps they offered a large quantity, being very liberal and profuse in this kind of devotion to their idols.

Ezekiel 8:11 In-Context

9 “Go in,” he said, “and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!”

10 So I went in and saw the walls covered with engravings of all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel.

11 Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads.

12 Then the LORD said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The LORD doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’”

13 Then the LORD added, “Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”