Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezekiel 8:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ezekiel 8:11. Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan — Shaphan was a scribe, or what some call comptroller of the temple, in the days of Josiah; and Jaazaniah his son probably succeeded him in this office. He was at the head of this band of idolaters.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

8:1-24:27 THE SINS OF JERUSALEM

Idolatry in the temple (8:1-18)

A year and two months had now passed since God called Ezekiel to be a prophet. By this time people recognized him as a prophet, and leaders among the exiles came to discuss their affairs with him (8:1; cf. 1:1-2). While the leaders were sitting talking with him, Ezekiel was suddenly caught up by the Spirit of God and taken, as it were, to Jerusalem (2-3).
Ezekiel knew immediately that these visions were from God, because the first thing he saw was a vision of the glory of God similar to that which he had seen earlier (4; cf. 1:1-28). In this vision Ezekiel was taken to the temple where, as he was about to enter the inner court, he saw an idol that stirred God to jealousy (5-6).
From there Ezekiel went by a secret door into a hidden room (7-9). There he saw a gathering of Jerusalem’s leaders, who were secretly worshipping pictures of animals painted on the walls. Foolishly, they thought God could not see them (10-13). In another part of the temple Ezekiel saw women carrying out ritual mourning as part of their worship of the foreign god, Tammuz (14-15). Finally, Ezekiel came into the inner court of the temple, where he saw a group of priests who had turned their backs on the temple and were worshipping the sun. ‘Putting the branch to the nose’ was part of the ritual and a particularly offensive insult to God (16-18).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door. He said unto me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censor in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark? every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land. He said also unto me, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do."

THE WORSHIP OF BEASTS, REPTILES AND CREEPING THINGS

The best comment we have found on this is in Romans 1:22-23. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."

That was Paul's comment on what took place among the pre-Christian Gentiles; and here we find that ancient Israel had fallen into the same wickedness.

All of these animal figures, worshipped as idols, were derived from ancient Canaanite paganism, from Baylonian, and from Egyptian sources.Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 718.

"Elders… censors… cloud of incense" It was unlawful for the elders to offer incense in the Temple, a function belonging only to the sons of Aaron; and even they were forbidden to offer the sacred incense to a pagan idol.

"Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan" There were a number of men of this name in the Bible, and one of them had aided in the reforms of Josiah. If this was the same man, he had failed to remain loyal to the Lord.

This vision of so many elders offering incense to pagan gods is thought by some to be a "Representation of the widespread guilt of the whole nation in their clandestine worship of pagan idols."D. G. Watt in The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (Funk and Wagnalls), p. 91. Nevertheless, it appears in this vision that the worship was taking place in the Temple.

"The paganism visible in this vision does not appear to be any kind of blending of paganism with the true worship of God; but, on the other hand, "It was unalloyed idolatry practiced by the defectors from the true faith in God."John T. Bunn in the Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1871), p. 255.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Seventy men - Compare Exodus 24:9-10. The vision may have pointed to the contrast between the times. The number “seven” is symbolic of the covenant between Yahweh and His people, and so the “seventy” men exhibit forcibly the breach of the covenant. It is a figure of the covert idolatry of the whole people.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

He says also, that seventy elders of the house of Israel made incense for their idols I do not think that the seventy who were chosen for ruling the people are referred to here, though I suppose the Prophet to allude to this number. For we know that from the beginning seventy were set over the people, and were chosen from each tribe, and were united together. But with regard to this place, I think the number seventy is used of those whom, although they were not prefects, they called seniors in respect to their office, not through their age only. Meanwhile we must remember that the Prophet looks to that order, because from the beginning God had wished the seventy to bear rule and hold the government. (Numbers 11:16.) Thus the Prophet signifies that the leaders of the people, who ought to rule others by their counsel, were remarkable for corrupting the worship of God. He puts Jezaniah, the son of Saphah, who was probably a man of great repute. Since therefore he excelled in the reputation for prudence and piety, the Prophet wished to exaggerate his crime, because he also, among others, offered incense to idols. What then could remain pure among the people, when he who was esteemed a holy man, so profaned himself among the rest! Hence we see that the Prophet means, that the whole people, from the least to the greatest, was so corrupt, that those who were superior to the rest prostituted themselves to idolatry. He says, then, that he stood before them, and each had a censer in his hand Incense was the sign of the greatest veneration, and even this was retained for common use. Hence at the outset of Christianity, when the impious wished to seduce the Christians to idolatry, they only gave two or three grains of frankincense: ⁽¹⁸¹⁾ that was a sign of apostasy: they did not order them to bend the knee before idols, nor to offer sacrifices, but only to smell to a few grains of incense. In sign, therefore, of veneration, the seventy men are said to bear censers or incense dishes. The Prophet adds, and the incense ascended in a thick cloud. Here understand the particle of likeness. The incense ascended as a thick cloud. I do not doubt that they were profuse, or rather prodigal, in their madness, so as to spare no expense: since idolaters rashly squander all things, when the intemperance of their zeal seizes upon them. And this was not considered with sufficient prudence. The Prophet therefore says that it was not common incense, but was dense like a cloud, since they threw it forth in great abundance, so that the offering might be fatter and richer: just as if he had said, that they were so intemperate in their superstitions, that they threw away an abundance of incense, and had all their expense for nothing, and only to satisfy their idols. Now it follows —

(181) Plin., lib 10, ep. 2, de Christianis ad Trajanum.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 8

Now we move into a new section of the book that is really a conclusion of his first prophesy.

It came to pass now in the sixth year, and in the sixth month, and in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me ( Ezekiel 8:1 ).

Ezekiel was there sitting in his house, some of the ancient men of Israel, the older men, were gathered there with him and God's Spirit came upon him.

Then I beheld, and lo there was a likeness as of the appearance of fire ( Ezekiel 8:2 ):

And that is the appearance of fire. Greek Septuagint here translates this as the appearance of man. The word fire in Hebrew is esh, and the word man is ish. So the Greek translators felt that this was the ish, so the appearance of a man. And from the context it would seem that perhaps that is correct.

and from the appearance of his loins even downward, it was fiery; and from his loins even upward, it was as the appearance of a brightness, and as the color of amber. And he put forth the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks towards the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes the jealousy. And, behold, the glory of [God] the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I had seen in the plain ( Ezekiel 8:2-4 ).

That was the vision that he described of the cherubims there in chapter 1.

Now here is Ezekiel sitting with the elders and suddenly he sees this form of a fire or of a man, and from the loins upward it looked like fire and from downward this bright color of amber. And a hand came forth, took him by his hair, lifted him up between heaven and earth and then transported him to Jerusalem, to the inner court, the north gate of the inner court, where he saw there the horrible abominations for which God's judgment had come upon the people.

Then he said unto me, Son of man, lift up now your eyes toward the north. So I looked my eyes toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar there was this image of jealousy at the entry. And he said furthermore unto me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? even the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn yet again, and you'll see even greater abominations ( Ezekiel 8:5-6 ).

You see the things they are doing here? Right within the house, right within the sanctuary. Things that provoke Me to jealousy because of the false gods that were worshipped right there within the precincts of the temple. But He said, "Hang on, you haven't seen the worst yet."

And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, I found a door. So I went in and I saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the walls around about ( Ezekiel 8:7-8 , Ezekiel 8:10 ).

So he came into this room and he looked at all of these filthy drawings on the walls.

And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan ( Ezekiel 8:11 ),

Now, Shaphan was the scribe that when Hilkiah the priest had found the law, when Josiah had initiated these spiritual reforms you remember and they found the book of the law, and they brought it to Josiah and Shaphan read to him out of the law and he realized how far they had turned against God. And he repented even more and ordered this mass repentance of the people. Shaphan was a faithful scribe, but his son, the rat. He's an old man now. He's standing with the ancients, Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan.

with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense was going up. Then he said unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the eaRuth ( Ezekiel 8:11-12 ).

Now, here is the wild part about this. This hole in the wall that Ezekiel dug, coming into a room and looking around on the walls of the room, seeing all the pornography and all, God is saying, "Ezekiel, I've allowed you to come into the minds of these people. What you have been seeing is the things that are in their imaginations. The fantasies and those things that are in their minds, the imageries that are in their minds. These are their thoughts; these are what they are thinking. All of this filthy stuff that you've seen are the things that are going on in the minds of the ancient. These men who are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of Israel, and yet their minds are polluted."

Now, that is sort of a heavy issue in realizing that God can probe right into our minds and He sees those images, those imaginations of our own minds. That, to me, is rather sobering. To think that nothing is hid from God, even my thoughts God knows. The imaginations that I have, God sees. That is why the scripture says that we are to bring every thought into captivity, unto the obedience of Jesus Christ.

Now they were saying, "The Lord doesn't see us and the Lord has forsaken the earth." They were wrong on both counts. God did see and God has not forsaken.

But He said unto me, Turn again, and you're going to see things that are even worse. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz ( Ezekiel 8:13-14 ).

Now, Tammuz was a Babylonian god. He was the god of resurrection. He was worshipped in the springtime as the trees would come into blossom. They would morn for Tammuz in the fall as the leaves were dying on the trees and the trees were going bare and all; they would weep for Tammuz. But then in the springtime when the trees would begin to bud and blossom and all again, they would have great parties and they would decorate eggs and celebrate the resurrection of Tammuz, because now we have new life. The new life of spring is around us and the egg is a symbol of perpetuated life, because it's through the egg that the little birds or chicks or whatever are hatched. And so it's a symbol of the perpetuating of life. And so, they would take the eggs and color them, draw on them, and would have these parties with the colored eggs celebrating the resurrection of Tammuz.

Any similarity is far from coincidental. The church unfortunately adopted the pagan practice of the worship of Tammuz and the resurrection of Tammuz and incorporated it into the church, calling it Easter. And having an Easter Sunday, taking the name of the Greek goddess Astarte who was supposed to be the consort of Adonis, who is the Greek equivalent to Tammuz. And we have incorporated into the church and there are churches that have Easter egg hunts and give baskets of colored eggs to the children and all at Easter time, Astarte.

In the early church we don't read of them celebrating the resurrection of Christ on any particular day, but because the pagans were all celebrating in this pagan worship of Tammuz, and they had this day which they acclaimed the resurrection and all in the springtime, the church didn't want their people to feel left out. And so, they said, "This is the day that Jesus rose, and we'll color the eggs and do the same bit, but we're celebrating now the resurrection of Jesus."

I am not certain what the Lord thinks about that. I wonder. The Lord said to Ezekiel, "Come and I'll show you something that's really disturbing. See those women, they're weeping for Tammuz." Not weeping for the desolation that was coming, not weeping because the sin that was rampant in the land, not weeping because they had come into such a moral decay, but weeping for Tammuz, the Babylonian god of resurrection.

Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? turn again, you're going to see even greater abominations than these. And he brought me to the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east ( Ezekiel 8:15-16 ).

And so, here they were, backs towards the temple, signifying turning their backs upon God, and worshipping now the sun god, worshipping towards the east. I go over to Jerusalem and as we go up to the temple mount, and as I see there that large Dome of the Rock Mosque that occupies the center of the temple of the mount, and you hear this crazy wailing coming over the loud speakers. This musing and you see all of these people get out their little rugs and kneel and bow and face the east in prayer there on the temple mount today, it always brings to my mind that picture that Ezekiel got when he was taken there by the Lord in this vision and saw these men turning from God and worshipping towards the east.

Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they have committed here? for they have filled the land with violence, they have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch in their nose ( Ezekiel 8:17 ).

Now, this was a symbol that was, and a sign used in some of these pagan rites that are so horribly, unspeakably, vile that we could not even in a mixed congregation describe to you the rites by which they worshipped their gods. But God declared,

Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye will not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them ( Ezekiel 8:18 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The idolatry of the elders 8:7-13

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Ezekiel also saw 70 of the elders of Israel (cf. Numbers 11:16-17), including Jaazaniah (lit. "Yahweh hears") the son of Shaphan, with censers containing burning incense in their hands worshipping these images (cf. Romans 1:23). These "laymen" were acting like priests. Jaazaniah appears to have been the son of Josiah’s godly Secretary of State, Shaphan (cf. 2 Kings 22:8-14; 2 Chronicles 34:15-21; Jeremiah 26:24; Jeremiah 29:3; Jeremiah 36:10; Jeremiah 40:5; Jeremiah 40:9; Jeremiah 40:11; Jeremiah 41:2; Jeremiah 43:6). If so, this would indicate the spiritual deterioration of leadership in Judah. Another of Shaphan’s sons, Ahikam, was a defender of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24). [Note: See the diagram of Shaphan’s descendants near my comments on Jeremiah 26:24 in my notes on Jeremiah.] Some commentators believed that the gods they were worshipping were Egyptian in view of what these gods were and since the men were worshipping in secret. [Note: E.g., Craigie, p. 61; Feinberg, p. 50.] Some of Judah’s leaders advocated reliance on Egypt. If they were Egyptian gods, it was ironic that 70 elders of Israel had earlier confirmed the Mosaic Covenant after God delivered them from bondage to the gods of Egypt (Exodus 24:1; Exodus 24:9). Now Israel’s leaders appear to have been appealing to those same gods for help against the Babylonians.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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; 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.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.   8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.   9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.   10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, 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 ancients 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 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

      We have here a further discovery of the abominations that were committed at Jerusalem, and within the confines of the temple, too. Now observe,

      I. How this discovery is made. God, in vision, brought Ezekiel to the door of the court, the outer court, along the sides of which the priests' lodgings were. God could have introduced him at first into the chambers of imagery, but he brings him to them by degrees, partly to employ his own industry in searching out these mysteries of iniquity, and partly to make him sensible with what care and caution those idolaters concealed their idolatries. Before the priests' apartments they had run up a wall, to make them the more private, that they might not lie open to the observation of those who passed by--a shrewd sign that they did something which they had reason to be ashamed of. He that doth evil hates the light. They were not willing that those who saw them in God's house should see them in their own, lest they should see them contradict themselves and undo in private what they did in public. But, behold, a hole in the wall, (Ezekiel 8:7; Ezekiel 8:7), a spy-hole, by which you might see that which would give cause to suspect them. When hypocrites screen themselves behind the wall of an external profession, and with it think to conceal their wickedness from the eye of the world and carry on their designs the more successfully, it is hard for them to manage it with so much art by that there is some hole or other left in the wall, something that betrays them, to those who look diligently, not to be what they pretend to be. The ass's ears in the fable appeared from under the lion's skin. This hole in the wall Ezekiel made wider, and behold a door,Ezekiel 8:8; Ezekiel 8:8. This door he goes in by into the treasury, or some of the apartments of the priests, and sees the wicked abominations that they do there,Ezekiel 8:9; Ezekiel 8:9. Note, Those that would discover the mystery of iniquity in others, or in themselves, must accomplish a diligent search; for Satan has his wiles, and depths, and devices, which we should not be ignorant of, and the heart is deceitful above all things; in the examining of it therefore we are concerned to be very strict.

      II. What the discovery is. It is a very melancholy one. 1. He sees a chamber set round with idolatrous pictures (Ezekiel 8:10; Ezekiel 8:10): All the idols of the house of Israel, which they had borrowed from the neighbouring nations, were portrayed upon the wall round about, even the vilest of them, the forms of creeping things, which they worshipped, and beasts, even abominable ones, which are poisonous and venomous; at least they were abominable when they were worshipped. This was a sort of pantheon, a collection of all the idols together which they paid their devotions to. Though the second commandment, in the letter of it, forbids only graven images, yet painted ones are as bad and as dangerous. 2. He sees this chamber filled with idolatrous worshippers (Ezekiel 8:11; Ezekiel 8:11): There were seventy men of the elders of Israel offering incense to these painted idols. Here was a great number of idolaters strengthening one another's hands in this wickedness; though it was in a private chamber, and the meeting industriously concealed, yet here were seventy men engaged in it. I doubt these elders were many more than those in Babylon that sat before the prophet in his house, Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 8:1. They were seventy men, the number of the great Sanhedrim, or chief council of the nation, and, we have reason to fear, the same men; for they were the ancients of the house of Israel, not only in age, but in office, who were bound, by the duty of their place, to restrain and punish idolatry and to destroy and abolish all superstitious images wherever they found them; yet these were those that did themselves worship them in private, so undermining that religion which in public they professed to own and promote only because by it they held their preferments. They had every man his censer in his hand; so fond were they of the idolatrous service that they would all be their own priests, and very prodigal they were of their perfumes in honour of these images, for a thick cloud of incense went up, that filled the room. O that the zeal of these idolaters might shame the worshippers of the true God out of their indifference to his service! The prophet took particular notice of one whom he knew, who stood in the midst of these idolaters, as chief among them, being perhaps president of the great council at this time or most forward in this wickedness. No wonder the people were corrupt when the elders were so. The sins of leaders are leading sins.

      III. What the remark is that made upon it (Ezekiel 8:12; Ezekiel 8:12): "Son of man, hast thou seen this? Couldst thou have imagined that there was such wickedness committed?" It is here observed concerning it, 1. That it was done in the dark; for sinful works are works of darkness. They concealed it, lest they should lose their places, or at least their credit. There is a great deal of secret wickedness in the world, which the day will declare, the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. 2. That this one idolatrous chapel was but a specimen of many the like. Here they met together, to worship their images in concert, but, it should seem, they had every man the chamber of his imagery besides, a room in his own house for this purpose, in which every man gratified his own fancy with such pictures as he liked best. Idolaters had their household gods, and their family worship of them in private, which is a shame to those who call themselves Christians and yet have no church in their house, no worship of God in their family. Had they chambers of imagery, and shall not we have chambers of devotion? 3. That atheism was at the bottom of their idolatry. They worship images in the dark, the images of the gods of other nations, and they say, "Jehovah, the God of Israel, whom we should serve, seeth us not. Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and we may worship what God we will; he regards us not." (1.) They think themselves out of God's sight: They say, The Lord seeth us not. They imagined, because the matter was carried on so closely that men could not discover it, nor did any of their neighbours suspect them to be idolaters, that therefore it was hidden from the eye of God; as if there were any darkness, or shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. Note, A practical disbelief of God's omniscience is at the bottom of our treacherous departures from him; but the church argues justly, as to this very sin of idolatry (Psalms 44:20; Psalms 44:21), If we have forgotten the name of our God, and stretched forth our hand to a strange god, will not God search this out? No doubt he will. (2.) They think themselves out of God's care: "The Lord has forsaken the earth, and looks not after the affairs of it; and then we may as well worship any other god as him." Or, "He has forsaken our land, and left it to be a prey to its enemies; and therefore it is time for us to look out for some other god, to whom to commit the protection of it. Our one God cannot, or will not, deliver us; and therefore let us have many." This was a blasphemous reflection upon God, as if he had forsaken them first, else they would not have forsaken him. Note, Those are ripe indeed for ruin who have arrived at such a pitch of impudence as to lay the blame of their sins upon God himself.