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Ezekiel 8 describes 25 men in the temple turning east to worship the sun, an act of idolatry. The Greek Septuagint changes this to twenty, a detail that may connect to the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash, whose was associated with the number twenty.
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Ezekiel 8:16
Hebrew Bible
15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!” 16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, facing east—they were worshiping the sun toward the east! 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!
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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LXX Ezekiel 8:16
Septuagint
15 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen? And yet you will see practices worse than these!” 16 And he led me into the interior court of the house of the Lord and toward the front-door space of the temple of the Lord, between the Elam and between the altar, were about twenty men; their backsides were toward the temple of the Lord and their faces opposite, and they were bowing to the sun. 17 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man? Is it a small thing for the house of Judah to be doing the transgressions that they have done here? Because they have filled the land with lawlessness! And look; it is as if they are mocking!
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Septuagint reads “twenty” instead of “twenty-five,” perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash. ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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