Ezekiel 8:17
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“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
God, having given the prophet a clear foresight of the people's miseries that were hastening on, here gives him a clear insight into the people's wickedness, by which God was provoked to bring these miseries upon them, that he might justify God in all his judgments, might the more particularly reprove the sins of the people, and with the more satisfaction foretel their ruin. Here God, in vision, brings him to Jerusalem, to show him the sins that were committed there, though God had begun to contend with them (Eze 8:1-4), and there he sees, I. The image of jealousy set up at the gate of the altar (Eze 8:5, Eze 8:6). II. The elders of Israel worshipping all manner of images in a secret chamber (Eze 8:7-12). III. The women weeping for Tammuz (Eze 8:13, Eze 8:14). IV. The men worshipping the sun (Eze 8:15, Eze 8:16). And then appeals to him whether such a provoking people should have any pity shown them (Eze 8:17, Eze 8:18).
Open source ↗8:17-18 The abominations that the Israelites were committing in the Temple complex were tantamount to thumbing (literally putting the twig [or branch] to) their noses at the Lord. This gesture was at least defiant, and possibly vulgar.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.
On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit.
As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.
and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.
Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.
You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead.