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Ezekiel condemns men in the temple who worship the sun. The obscure language about putting the branch to the nose confused later translators as the Greek Septuagint likely did not understand the Hebrew and translated it with generic language.
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Ezekiel 8:17
Hebrew Bible
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! 18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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LXX Ezekiel 8:17
Septuagint
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! 18 And I will treat them with wrath. My eye will have no pity, and I will show no mercy.”
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Worship of the sun was practiced in Judah in the seventh century. Josiah is said to have suppressed it, destroying horses and chariots dedicated to the sun and deposing priests who made offerings to it (2 Kings 23). Whether “putting the branch to their nose” (Ezekiel 8:17) is a reference to a ritual is much disputed. No such ritual is known. It may be that the text should be emended to read, “putting the branch to my nose” - an idiomatic way of saying, “provoking me.” There is also a reference to “filling the land with violence” in 8:17. Since all the other offenses are cultic, some scholars have thought that this is an insertion. In any case, it is clear that Ezekiel is primarily disturbed by cultic offenses ..."
* 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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