8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there 1 at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, 2 were about twenty-five 3 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, 4 facing east – they were worshiping the sun 5 toward the east!
11:1 A wind 6 lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. 7
40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city 8 was struck down, on this very day, 9 the hand 10 of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there. 11
1 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
2 sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).
3 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.
tn Or “exactly twenty-five.”
4 sn The temple faced east.
5 tn Or “the sun god.”
sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).
6 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
7 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
8 sn That is, Jerusalem.
9 tn April 19, 573
10 tn Or “power.”
sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
11 sn That is, to the land of Israel (see v. 2).