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 9:9

9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, ²  for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ³ 

Ezekiel 12:6

12:6 While they are watching, raise your baggage onto your shoulder and carry it out in the dark. ⁴  You must cover your face so that you cannot see the ground ⁵  because I have made you an object lesson ⁶  to the house of Israel.”

Ezekiel 12:12

12:12 “The prince ⁷  who is among them will raise his belongings ⁸  onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He ⁹  will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.

Ezekiel 13:9

13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council ¹⁰  of my people, nor be written in the registry ¹¹  of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 14:22

14:22 Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem – for everything I brought on it.

Ezekiel 16:37

16:37 therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness. ¹² 

Ezekiel 17:12

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ¹³  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ¹⁴  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. ¹⁷  Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”

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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 Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”

³ sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.

⁴ tn Apart from this context the Hebrew term occurs only in Gen 15:17 in reference to the darkness after sunset. It may mean twilight.

⁵ tn Or “land” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁶ sn See also Ezek 12:11, 24:24, 27.

⁷ sn The prince is a reference to Zedekiah.

⁸ tn The words “his belongings” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.

⁹ tc The MT reads “they”; the LXX and Syriac read “he.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the Lord (Jer 23:18; Job 15:8), but here it more likely refers to a human council comprised of civic leaders (Gen 49:6; Jer 6:11; 15:17 Ps 64:3; 111:1).

¹¹ tn The reference here is probably to a civil list (as in Ezra 2:16; Neh 7:64) rather than to a “book of life” (Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Ps 69:29; Dan 12:1). This registry may have been established at the making of David’s census (2 Sam 24:2, 9).

¹² sn Harlots suffered degradation when their nakedness was exposed (Jer 13:22, 26; Hos 2:12; Nah 3:5).

¹³ 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).

¹⁴ sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

¹⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁶ tn Heb “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your mind on.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “in order to show (it) to you.”