- Does the reader (today) know what is meant by the sixth year or the sixth month as, evidently, did the auditors in his own time?
- Why would the elders of Judah be sitting before Ezekiel?
- Is the phrase “the hand of God fell upon me” to be understood literally or poetically?
- In Ezekiel 8:2, reference is made to “a figure.” What might this figure represent?
- In Ezekiel 8:3 appears the term “tzitzit.” In this context, what does it mean?
- Where is the prophet transported (Ezekiel 8:3)?
- What might be meant by the phrase that “I was brought to Jerusalem in visions of God”? Does this mean that it was through God that there was a vision of Jerusalem or does it have some other meaning?
- What might be meant by the phrase (Ezekiel 8:3) “the infuriating (or angering) image”?
- And, in Ezekiel 8:4, what does the prophet see and to what does he compare it?
- In Ezekiel 8:5, would the text mean that the “angering/infuriating image” was approaching?
- Who is it that is speaking to the prophet in Ezekiel 8:6 and what does it say of the practices of the Jerusalem residents?
- In Ezekiel 8:7, to what “courtyard” does this passage refer?
- According to Ezekiel 8:10, what does the prophet see in the Temple and how does what he sees violate one of the Ten Commandments?
- Does the number “70” in Ezekiel 8:11 have a particular reference to Jewish leadership?
- What is the purpose of the “censer” which the “worshipers” are holding (Ezekiel 8:11)?
- In Ezekiel 8:14, what is meant by the phrase that “the women are crying over Tammuz”?
- The prior passages have dealt with the worship of images. To what type of “false worship” does Ezekiel 8:16 make reference?
- In Ezekiel 8:17, would the reference to “thrusting the branch into their nostrils” relate to some form of idol worship?
- Finally, in Ezekiel 8:18, should those who have done what has been described finally call out to Adonai, what will be the response?
