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Ezekiel 8:17

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Ezekiel 8:17

Verse 17 of 18

Scripture focus

Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

Ezekiel 8:17 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Ezekiel 8:17

Theological / Devotional

Violence. Heb. chamas. The same word is used to describe the antediluvian wickedness (Gen. 6:11). The LXX reads “lawlessness.”

Have returned. Or, “turned again,” that is, the people went back again and again to their evil doings.

Put the branch. In the so-called “Adonis gardens” rootless flowers were put in a bowl filled with earth, and held up before the face. The custom is pictured on a mural from Pompei. Ancient Jewish tradition claims that the reading should be “my nose,” that is, the Lord’s nose. It paraphrases the passage, “they put an affront upon me, by turning their back parts to me in the place dedicated to my worship.” The LXX supports, in part, this meaning, rendering the passage, “they are as those that mock.”

By SdaBc