Ezekiel 8:17
in Ezekiel 8“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
KJV
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
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This verse in Ezekiel 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
“Violence” represents sin against man, “abominations” sins against God. These went hand in hand in Jerusalem. And have returned - After the reformation effected for a time by Josiah’s zeal, they have gone back to their old state. They put the branch to their nose - An allusion to a then familiar practice, of which we find no clear traces elsewhere. Ezekiel is describing the attitude usual in such devotions, the branch held before the mouth, but wishing to represent it in contemptuous and derogatory terms, he substitutes the word “nose” for “mouth.”
This site's exposition
So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD
on Ezekiel 8:16-18
About twenty-five men stand “with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east,” bowing to the sun. God answers with the sentence of chapter 7: “I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them.”
This site's exposition
they are even putting the branch to their nose
The Lord joins two charges, abominations in His house and violence that fills the land, which Albert Barnes calls sin against God and against man. The branch to the nose was a known act of worship. Its meaning is now uncertain.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
91 (Ver. 17.) And he said to me: Surely you have seen, O son of man: Is it a light thing to the house of Judah, that they commit the abominations which they have committed here, because they have filled the land with wickedness and turned to provoke me? And behold, they put the branch to their nose.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Violence - All injustice is here meant towards all sorts of men, whom they first despise and next destroy. Returned - From injustice against man they return to impiety against God. The branch - As the worshippers of Bacchus waved their Thyrsus, the stalk wreathed with ivy, and bowed their bodies and often kissed the branches, so did these idolatrous Jews.
And their wickedness in their conversations made even the worship they paid to their own God an abomination ( Isa. i. 11 , &c.): " They fill the land with violence, and then they return to the temple to provoke me to anger there; for even their sacrifices, instead of making an atonement, do but add to their guilt.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Then he said unto me, hast thou seen this, O son of man?....
It is probable that it was on the sabbath day, and that it was usual for them to attend on the prophet every sabbath day, both to hear the word from him and to join with him and prayer and praise: and how could they spend the sabbath better, now that they had neither temple nor synagogue, neither priest nor altar?
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Rather, they held up a branch or bundle of tamarisk (called barsom) to their nose at daybreak, while singing hymns to the rising sun [STRABO, 1.15, p. Sacred trees were frequent symbols in idol-worship. CALVIN translates, "to their own ruin," literally, "to their nose," that is, with the effect of rousing My anger (of which the Hebrew is "nose") to their ruin.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-brackets
They put the branch to their nose - This is supposed to mean some branch or branches, which they carried in succession in honor of the idol, and with which they covered their faces, or from which they inhaled a pleasant smell, the branches being odoriferous. That the heathens carried branches of trees in their sacred ceremonies is well known to all persons acquainted with classic antiquity; and it is probable that the heathen borrowed those from the use of such branches in the Jewish feast of tabernacles. There are many strange, and some filthy, interpretations given of this clause; but the former are not worth repeating, and I abominate the latter too much to submit to defile my paper with them. Probably the Brahminic Linga is here intended. It really seems that at this time the Jews had incorporated every species of idolatry in their impure worship, - Phoenician, Egyptian, and Persian. I might add that some imagine the image of jealousy to be a personification of idolatry itself.
The words behind it
27 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַי֮ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הֲרָאִ֣יתָ | haraita | ¿ have you seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בֶן־ | ven- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָם֒ | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| הֲנָקֵל֙ | hanakel | ¿ is it [too] trifling | H7043 → | 82 times |
| לְבֵ֣ית | leveit | for [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| מֵעֲשׂ֕וֹת | measot | for doing | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַתּוֹעֵב֖וֹת | hatoevot | the abominations | H8441 → | 117 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָֽשׂוּ־ | ʾasu- | they have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פֹ֑ה | foh | here | H6311 → | 82 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מָלְא֨וּ | malu | they have filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָ֜רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| חָמָ֗ס | chamas | violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
| וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ | vaiyashuvu | and they have returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לְהַכְעִיסֵ֔נִי | lehakhiseni | to provoke to anger me | H3707 → | 54 times |
| וְהִנָּ֛ם | vehinam | and there they | H2005 → | 316 times |
| שֹׁלְחִ֥ים | sholechim | [are] sending | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַזְּמוֹרָ֖ה | hazemorah | the branch | H2156 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַפָּֽם׃ | ʾapam | nose their | H639 → | 276 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַי֮to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
הֲרָאִ֣יתָ¿ have you seen
haraitaH7200 →1300 times
בֶן־O son of
ven-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָם֒humankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
הֲנָקֵל֙¿ is it [too] trifling
hanakelH7043 →82 times
לְבֵ֣יתfor [the] house of
leveitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
מֵעֲשׂ֕וֹתfor doing
measotH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַתּוֹעֵב֖וֹתthe abominations
hatoevotH8441 →117 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָֽשׂוּ־they have done
ʾasu-H6213 →2628 times
פֹ֑הhere
fohH6311 →82 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מָלְא֨וּthey have filled
maluH4390 →249 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאָ֜רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
חָמָ֗סviolence
chamasH2555 →60 times
וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙and they have returned
vaiyashuvuH7725 →1056 times
לְהַכְעִיסֵ֔נִיto provoke to anger me
lehakhiseniH3707 →54 times
וְהִנָּ֛םand there they
vehinamH2005 →316 times
שֹׁלְחִ֥ים[are] sending
sholechimH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַזְּמוֹרָ֖הthe branch
hazemorahH2156 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַפָּֽם׃nose their
ʾapamH639 →276 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 6:7As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:23
Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 20:8
For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.
- Ezekiel 7:23
Through
Micah 2:2They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:8
Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
- Jeremiah 22:17
“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
- Isaiah 5:8
Through
Ezekiel 9:9He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:16
Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 8:12
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are…
- Job 22:13
Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
- 2 Kings 21:16
Through
Zephaniah 1:9On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 5:5
That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold.
- 1 Samuel 5:5
Where this verse is studied
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About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.