Ezekiel 8:13-15 · Bible study

Ezekiel 8:13-15 Commentary: Seeing Idolatry's Deeper Depths

Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say

Meaning in one sentence

Why does God show Ezekiel progressively greater abominations? Explore the meaning of weeping for Tammuz and the depth of Israel's idolatry in this study.

Research Summary

Meaning: God progressively exposes Israel’s escalating idolatry, from secret rites to public worship of Tammuz at the temple gate.
Key words: “greater abominations” (intensification of sin), “weeping for Tammuz” (fertility cult lament).
Main debate: Whether Tammuz is Dumuzi (Babylonian) or Adonis (Greek); both views agree on the cult’s nature-worship and sexual license.
Theological theme: The depth of human sin and God’s patience in revealing it before judgment.
Best use: A warning against syncretism and a call to examine hidden areas of compromise.

Translation Comparison

BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020

¹³Again, He told me, “You will see them committing even greater abominations.”

¹⁴Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Yet you will see even greater abominations than these.”

WEB World English Bible 2000

¹³He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.”

¹⁴Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”

KJV King James Version 1769

¹³He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

¹⁴Then 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.

¹⁵Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

ASV American Standard Version 1901

¹³He said also unto me, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do.

¹⁴Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah’s house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.

YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898

¹³And He saith unto me, `Again thou dost turn, thou dost see great abominations that they are doing.'

¹⁴And He bringeth me in unto the opening of the gate of the house of Jehovah that is at the north, and lo, there the women are sitting weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵And He saith unto me, `Hast thou seen, son of man? again thou dost turn, thou dost see greater abominations than these.'

Darby Darby Bible 1890

¹³And he said unto me, Yet again thou shalt see great abominations which they do.

¹⁴And he brought me to the entry of the gate of Jehovah's house that was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵And he said unto me, Seest thou, son of man? Thou shalt yet again see greater abominations than these.

Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899

¹³And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.

¹⁴And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.

¹⁵And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

Verse in Context

11 Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood before them. In the middle of them Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood, every man with his censer in his hand; and the smell of the cloud of incense went up.

12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’”

13 He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.”

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”

16 He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs toward Yahweh’s temple and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.

17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, 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. Behold, they put the branch to their nose.

Scholars' Consensus

Commentators across traditions agree that these verses form the third in a series of progressively worse idolatries shown to Ezekiel. What began with a secret “image of jealousy” at the north gate moved to hidden chambers where elders burned incense to animal idols, and now becomes public. At the temple’s north gate, women sit weeping for Tammuz, a Babylonian fertility god whose annual death-and-resurrection cycle was mourned with wild emotion and celebrated with sexual license. The repeated phrase “greater abominations” (vv.13,15) signals that the corruption is not only spreading but intensifying. As Matthew Henry put it, the more we see of the world’s wickedness, the worse it appears. Calvin notes that this was a female-specific rite, though the men had their own secret idolatries. The prophet’s progressive tour of the temple mirrors a nation’s descent into spiritual adultery, each layer stripped back to reveal more brazen defiance of Yahweh.

How settled is the interpretation?

Interpretive difficulty: Low

What is clear: The passage depicts a progressively more public and brazen idolatry among God's people, culminating in women openly weeping for a pagan deity at the temple itself, which provokes divine judgment.

What Scholars Agree and Debate

Topic	Agreed	Debated
Identity of Tammuz	All commentators identify Tammuz as a dying-and-rising fertility deity associated with seasonal vegetation cycles.	Some sources (Jerome, Greek Fathers) see him as Adonis; others (Keil, modern scholars) connect him to Babylonian Dumuzi. Both agree the cult involved mourning and sexual rites.
Location of the worship	The worship occurred at the north gate of the temple (the “gate of the Lord’s house”).	Some situate it within the outer court (where women could enter), others at the gate itself; the exact spot is debated but all affirm its proximity to the sanctuary.
Relation to the calendar	The vision is dated to the sixth month (September), which is not the usual June date for Tammuz festivals.	Some argue the women were performing rites out of season, showing persistent idolatry; others suggest the vision compressed time to represent ongoing sin.
Comparison with previous abominations	This is the third of four visions, each more public and brazen than the last.	Whether “greater” means morally worse or simply more open and shameless. Calvin and JFB lean toward public location making it worse; Gill thought the earlier idols were equally abominable.

Historical & Cultural Context

The north gate of the temple was not a minor location. In Ezekiel’s day, the northern side of the temple complex was where sacrificial animals were brought in and where the altar for burnt offerings stood (Ezekiel 44:4). For women to sit mourning for a foreign god at this very spot was a direct desecration of sacred space. The verb “sat” signals the posture of mourners (Job 2:13).

Tammuz is identified by Jerome and virtually all ancient Christian commentators with Adonis, a beautiful youth beloved of Aphrodite, killed by a boar, and restored to life. The cult involved two phases: first, days of weeping (the disappearance of Adonis), then ecstatic rejoicing (his finding). The festival typically fell in June (the month later called Tammuz in the Jewish calendar), but Ezekiel’s vision dates to September (sixth month). Some scholars note this discrepancy and suggest the women may have been performing rites outside the normal season, an even more persistent idolatry. Calvin argued that this practice likely came from Egypt (Osiris worship) rather than Greece, but most modern commentators connect it to Babylonian Dumuzi, the shepherd-god mourned by Ishtar. The reference to “weeping” is particularly pointed: instead of weeping for their own sins or for the impending judgment, the women weep for a dying god, turning grief into worship of false hope.

Jeremiah 9:3 indicates that the people had grown “from evil to evil,” and this passage shows that even the temple itself was no longer safe from pagan infiltration. The women at the gate represent a public, shameless defiance that contrasts with the earlier secret chambers of the elders.

Textual Notes

No significant textual variants are noted in the consulted sources for these verses. The repeated expression “greater abominations” appears consistently across manuscript traditions.

Reception History

Early Christian interpreters, following Jerome, identified Tammuz with Adonis and treated this passage as evidence of pagan infiltration into Israel’s worship. John Milton’s Paradise Lost (I.446-452) famously versified the scene, linking it to the Syrian Adonis cult. During the Reformation, Calvin used this passage to warn against mingling true worship with human inventions. The passage has also been read in penitential contexts as a reminder that misplaced grief, weeping for what is not God, is a form of idolatry. Modern commentators like Keil and Delitzsch highlight the myth’s nature-based symbolism, connecting it to the seasonal cycle and the danger of emotional piety without truth.

Preaching This Verse

Three-point outline

Sin Escalates When Left Unchecked. The repeated phrase “you will see greater abominations” shows that unrepented sin does not stay the same; it grows bolder and more public.
Idolatry Becomes Open and Shameless. Women sit weeping at the temple gate itself, not in secret chambers, but where all could see. Sin that begins in the dark eventually takes over the light.
Weeping for the Wrong Things. Instead of mourning their covenant unfaithfulness, the women mourn a pagan god. Misplaced grief is a form of idolatry.

Five-point outline

God Uncovers Sin Progressively. He does not reveal everything at once, the journey through the temple teaches us to let God search our hearts layer by layer.
Idolatry Corrupts the Most Intimate Spaces. The temple gate, meant for worship of Yahweh, becomes a stage for Tammuz worship.
Emotional Piety Without Truth Is Dangerous. The women wept passionately, but for the wrong god. Strong feelings do not guarantee true worship.
Leadership Fails to Stop the Descent. The elders already involved in secret idolatry made room for the women’s public rites.
Judgment Is the Only Response. The escalating abominations set the stage for God’s wrath in chapter 9.

Illustration hooks

A community scandal that gradually reveals deeper layers of deception, first a secret affair, then a cover-up, then systemic corruption.
A believer who starts with small compromises, watching questionable content, then embracing worldly values, and ends in full-blown rejection of faith.
The contrast between grieving over temporary losses (career, health, reputation) and grieving over sin that separates us from God.

Questions your congregation is asking

Why did God show Ezekiel so many layers of evil instead of just one judgment?
How could people who worshipped the true God also participate in Tammuz worship? Didn’t they see the contradiction?
What modern equivalents of “weeping for Tammuz” are we drawn to, causes, celebrities, or comforts that replace God?

Leading a Discussion

This passage confronts us with the uncomfortable truth that sin can grow slowly and then suddenly become public and shameless. The prophet’s guided tour of the temple is an invitation to let God show us our own hearts, and the hearts of our communities, as they really are. We begin with questions that draw us into the text and end with ones that call for personal response.

Discussion questions

What stands out to you about the progression from secret chambers (v.12) to the public gate (v.14)?
Why might the women have chosen the north gate of the temple for their mourning rites? What does location add to the meaning?
Tammuz worship mixed grief for a dying god with celebration of his return. What modern beliefs or practices do something similar, offering emotional devotion to something that is not God?
The repeated phrase “greater abominations” appears three times in this short passage. How does that repetition affect your understanding of idolatry’s nature?
In what ways might we be “weeping for Tammuz”, investing time, money, or emotion in things that cannot save?
This passage ends with the promise of even greater abominations to come. What does that say about God’s patience? About his judgment?
How can we cultivate a grief that leads to repentance rather than despair, and how do we help others do the same?

What the Commentators Say

7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.

Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826

Clarke identifies the women weeping for Tammuz as participants in the pagan cult of Adonis, a beautiful youth mourned as dead and then rejoiced over as revived. He highlights the obscene images and ritual prostitution that accompanied this worship, showing it was a deeply corrupt idolatry that infected even Israel.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832

Barnes identifies Tammuz worship as a nature cult centered on seasonal death and revival, symbolized by alternating fits of weeping and wild celebration. He observes that this emotionally charged, sensual idolatry appealed especially to women and inevitably led to moral excess, having spread from Babylon through Phoenician influence.

Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871

JFB highlights the weeping for Tammuz as a seasonal fertility rite tied to the Adonis myth, where women mourned an idol instead of national sins. He then contrasts sun-worship as a Persian import, with priests turning their backs on the temple to face east, showing idolatry entrenched even among the clergy.

Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876

Keil-Delitzsch confirms Jerome's identification of Tammuz with Adonis and the wider worship of dying-and-rising nature deities. They argue that this cult celebrated the sun's power over vegetation cycles, and that objections to this view fail to overturn the ancient evidence. The name itself likely means "decay" of nature's force.

Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710

Henry observes that as the prophet is shown more of the world's hidden wickedness, each new revelation is worse than the last. For him this illustrates a sobering truth: those who live in retirement have little idea how corrupt the world truly is, and the more we see of it, the more our wonder at evil grows.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754

Wesley gives two reasons for calling these sins greater: they pile on top of earlier ones, or the circumstances make them worse. He identifies the weeping as rites for the idol Adonis, and stresses that these later abominations are worse because they happened in a more sacred part of the temple.

Cross-References

Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)

Jeremiah 9:3	“They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood. They have grown strong in the land, but not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh.
Ezekiel 8:6	He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet other great abominations.”
II Timothy 3:13	But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Ezekiel 44:4	Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, Yahweh’s glory filled Yahweh’s house; so I fell on my face.
Ezekiel 46:9	“‘“But when the people of the land come before Yahweh in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate. He shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him.
Ezekiel 8:9	He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.”
Ezekiel 8:12	Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’”

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.

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