Ezekiel 8:17

8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! 1 

Ezekiel 17:12

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: 2  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ 3  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem 4  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

Ezekiel 40:4

40:4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and pay attention 5  to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. 6  Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”

1 tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”

2 tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

3 sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

5 tn Heb “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your mind on.”

6 tn Heb “in order to show (it) to you.”