Ezekiel 8:14

Ezekiel 8:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
• New International Version (NIV)Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

Context of Ezekiel 8:14

12The Lord said, ‘Son of man, look at the wicked things that Israel's leaders are doing! They are doing them secretly in the dark. Each of them has a room where they worship their images of idols. They say, “The Lord does not see us! The Lord has gone away from our land!” ’ 13The Lord said to me, ‘You will see even worse things that they are doing.’ Then he took me to entrance at the north gate of the temple. I saw some women who were sitting there. They were weeping because the god Tammuz was dead. 15He said to me, ‘Son of man, look at that! But you will see even worse things than these.’ 16Then the Lord took me to the inside yard of his temple. I could see about 25 men who were standing between the altar and the front of the temple. Their backs were turned towards the Lord's temple. Their faces looked towards the east. They were bending down low to worship the sun that was rising in the east!

Ezekiel 8:14 word by word

וַיָּבֵ֣א אֹתִ֗י אֶל־פֶּ֙תַח֙ שַׁ֣עַר בֵּית־יְהוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֶל־הַצָּפ֑וֹנָה וְהִנֵּה־שָׁם֙ הַנָּשִׁ֣ים יֹֽשְׁב֔וֹת מְבַכּ֖וֹת אֶת־הַתַּמּֽוּז׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then he broughtבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
• me to the doorפֶּ֫תַחpethach · entranceH6607
• of the gateשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• of the Lord’sיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: templeH1004
• toward the northצָפוֹןtsâphôn tsâphôn · northH6828
• and, behold, there satיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• weepingבָּכָהbâkâh · to weepH1058
• for Tammuzתַּמּוּזtammûz · TammuzH8542

Cross-references for Ezekiel 8:14

• Ezekiel 44:4Then the man took me through the north gate of the temple yard. We went to the front of the temple building. As I watched, I saw that the Lord's glory filled his temple. I bent down low with my face on the ground.
• Ezekiel 46:9The people will come to the temple to worship the Lord at the times of the festivals. If they come in through the north gate they must go out through the south gate. And if they come in through the south gate they must go out through the north gate. Nobody may go out of the gate through which he came in. He must go out by the opposite gate.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 8:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14There sat women weeping for Tammuz - This was Adonis, as we have already seen; and so the Vulgate here translates. My old MS. Bible reads, There saten women, mornynge a mawmete of lecherye that is cleped Adonrdes. He is fabled to have been a beautiful youth beloved by Venus, and killed by a wild boar in Mount Lebanon, whence springs the river Adonis, which was fabled to run blood at his festival in August. The women of Phoenicia, Assyria, and Judea…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14The seer is now brought back to the same gate as in Ezekiel 8:3. It is not certain that this verse refers to any special act of Tammuz-worship. The month in which the vision was seen, the sixth month (September), was not the month of the Tammuz-rites. But that such rites had been performed in Jerusalem there can be little doubt. Women are mentioned as employed in the service of idols in Jeremiah 7:18. There is some reason for believing that the weeping of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-18Verses 13-18 The yearly lamenting for Tammuz was attended with infamous practices; and the worshippers of the sun here described, are supposed to have been priests. The Lord appeals to the prophet concerning the heinousness of the crime; "and lo, they put the branch to their nose," denoting some custom used by idolaters in honour of the idols they served. The more we examine human nature and our own hearts, the more abominations we shall discover; and the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-15The third abomination was that women were weeping for the god Tammuz at the north gate of the Lord’s temple. Tammuz was a Babylonian god. He was also called Dumuzi. This ritual marked his death and descent into the underworld (the place of the dead). Each year, people believed that this god lost his power and later regained it. They connected this cycle to the yearly changes in nature, such as the dying and growing of crops. The women mourned for Tammuz…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. From the secret abominations of the chambers of imagery, the prophet's eye is turned to the outer court at the north door; within the outer court women were not admitted, but only to the door. sat--the attitude of mourners (Job 2:13; Is 3:26). Tammuz--from a Hebrew root, "to melt down." Instead of weeping for the national sins, they wept for the idol. Tammuz (the Syrian for Adonis), the paramour of Venus, and of the same name as the river flowing from…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 8:14

• Idolatry
• Tammuz
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Albeit
• Cloud
• Dig
• Hole
• Incense
• Living creatures
• Look
• Tammuz
• Asia Minor, Archaeology of
• Hadadrimmon

Commentaries on Ezekiel 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings