Discovery BoxEzekiel 8:16 
Context8:16 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!
Ezekiel 11:1
Context11:1 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
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.
