Ezekiel 8:6

He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) That I should go far off from my sanctuary.—In the original this is simply an infinitive, without any subject expressed, “for the removing far off,” and may therefore be understood either of the removing of the people or of the Divine abandonment of the sanctuary. The latter sense, however, which is that given in the Authorised Version, is more probable and more in accordance with the whole teaching of the vision. There was a strong feeling among the people that they were safe at Jerusalem; God, Whom they still regarded, notwithstanding their idolatries, as a powerful national God, would certainly protect His temple. It is the office of the prophet to show that, the transgressions of the people led, as their natural consequence, to his giving over the city to desolation. The “great abominations” spoken of are the constant refrain of this chapter (Ezekiel 8:9; Ezekiel 8:13; Ezekiel 8:15; Ezekiel 8:17). The people’s own acts make necessary the judgments impending over them. Still worse is in store.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:1-6 The glorious personage Ezekiel beheld in vision, seemed to take hold upon him, and he was conveyed in spirit to Jerusalem. There, in the inner court of the temple, was prepared a place for some base idol. The whole was presented in vision to the prophet. If it should please God to give any man a clear view of his glory and majesty, and of all the abominations committing in any one city, he would then admit the justice of the severest punishments God should inflict thereon.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The glory of the Lord having departed from His seat between the cherubims in the holy of holies (see Ezekiel 9:3) rests in the threshold of the temple, to execute vengeance before it quits the house altogether Ezekiel 10:18. The "there" in the inner court, which was "full of the brightness of the Lord'S glory" Ezekiel 10:4, and at the gate of which Ezekiel stands.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. that I should go far off from my sanctuary—"that I should (be compelled by their sin to) go far off from my sanctuary"—(Eze 10:18); the sure precursor of its destruction.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Seest thou? dost thou observe?

What they do; the inhabitants, the generality of the Jews.

The great abominations; the notorious idolatries.

Here; in this court, in view of my temple, and where all that come, as most did, this way to worship me see it, so shameless is it!

That I should go; not that they designed this, but eventually it was so, and in all reason could be no otherwise expected.

From my sanctuary; that I chose, but am not confined to. That I shall leave not by local distance, but by rejecting and casting it off, and laying it desolate.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He said furthermore unto me, son of man,.... He continued his speech to the prophet, saying

seest thou what they do? the idolatrous Jews, who had set up a graven image at the northern gate of the court, where the altar was, and were sacrificing to it:

even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here; for to set up an idol where he was, and an altar by his altar, and to sacrifice to Baal, and not to him, or to Baal along with him, or besides him, or to any other idol, were very abominable to the Lord: even to such a degree,

that I should go far from my sanctuary? be obliged to leave it, not being able to bear such abominable idolatries: or, "that they should go far from my sanctuary" (u); depart from the true worship and service of it, and fall into idolatry:

but turn thee yet again; from the north to the south it may be; however, to some other part of the temple:

and thou shalt see greater abominations; or, "great abominations" (w); for there is no necessity of rendering it "greater": but the meaning is, that he should see other great abominations besides what he had seen, than which there could not be anything well greater.

(u) "ut longius recedant, vel abeant, sub. Israelitae a sauctuario meo", Vatablus; and to this sense are the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; "ad longe recedendum", Cocceius. (w) "abominationes magnas", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Piscator, Cocceius. Starckius.

Geneva Study Bible

He said furthermore to me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should withdraw from {i} my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

(i) For God will not be where the idols are.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. I should go far off] i.e. withdraw. These abominations defiled Jehovah’s sanctuary, the place of his abode, causing him to abandon it. His withdrawal is symbolized ch. Ezekiel 11:1; Ezekiel 11:22-23.

turn thee … again … see] Rather: thou shalt again see greater abominations; so Ezekiel 8:13; Ezekiel 8:15.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - That I should go far off, etc. The lesson taught was that already implied in the fact that the glorious vision and come to him from the north (Ezekiel 1:4). The temple was already as a God-deserted shrine. His return to it now was but the coming of the Judge and the Destroyer. We are reminded of the Μεταβαίνωμεν ἔντευθεν, ("Let us depart hence"), which was heard in the darkness of the night before the later destruction of Jerusalem (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.' 6:05.3) Bad begins, but worse remains behind. The prophet is led onward as through the successive stages of an inferno of idolatries. Ezekiel 8:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

First Abomination-Picture

Ezekiel 8:5. And He said to me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now towards the north. And I lifted up my eyes towards the north, and, behold, to the north of the gate of the altar was this image of jealousy at the entrance. Ezekiel 8:6. And He said to me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? great abominations, which the house of Israel doeth here, that I may go far away from my sanctuary; and thou shalt yet again see greater abominations still. - As Ezekiel had taken his stand in the inner court at the entrance of the north gate, and when looking thence towards the north saw the image of jealousy to the north of the altar gate, the image must have stood on the outer side of the entrance, so that the prophet saw it as he looked through the open doorway. The altar gate is the same as the northern gate of the inner court mentioned in Ezekiel 3. But it is impossible to state with certainty how it came to be called the altar gate. Possibly from the circumstance that the sacrificial animals were taken through this gate to the altar, to be slaughtered on the northern side of the altar, according to Leviticus 1:4; Leviticus 5:11, etc. מהם, contracted from מה־הם, like מזּה from מה זה in Exodus 4:2. The words "what they are doing here" do not force us to assume that at that very time they were worshipping the idol. They simply describe what was generally practised there. The setting up of the image involved the worship of it. The subject to לרחקה is not the house of Israel, but Jehovah. They perform great abominations, so that Jehovah is compelled to go to a distance from His sanctuary, i.e., to forsake it (cf. Ezekiel 11:23), because they make it an idol-temple.