Ezekiel 8:14

"Then he brought me to the door of Jehovah's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these."

THE WORSHIP OF TAMMUZ

TAMMUZ

"Behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz ..." (Ezekiel 8:14). The worship of this ancient god reaches back into antiquity as far as 3,000 B.C.; and it featured numerous combinations, contradictions and uncertainties. The cult apparently had its variations in several nations. Among the Greeks it was the worship of Adonis and Aphrodite; among the Egyptians it was known as the religion of Osiris and Isis; and in Babylon, it went under the names of Ishtar and Tammuz.

Tammuz, a very attractive and beautiful shepherd was killed by a wild boar; and he was featured as the spouse of Ishtar, the sister of Ishtar, the son of Ishtar, or the lover of Ishtar. Upon his death, Ishtar (or Aphrodite, or whoever) went to the underworld to reclaim him from death. The period of mourning, usually forty days, ended with Tammuz' triumphant return to life. The mythological basis of this tale was the death of vegetation in winter and its return in spring. The time of celebrating his return was usually observed at the time of the summer solstice (June 21). Because of this the fourth Babvlonian month was named Tammuz, the name that was adopted into the Jewish calendar for their fourth month (June-July).

Plumptre has commented upon the prominent part women had, especially in the corrupted worship of the Jews. They wove hangings for the worship of Ashera (2 Kings 23:7), and they also burned incense to the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 44:9; 15-19). "This goddess was probably Ashteroth."[13]

The mourning period, whether long or short, was always followed by the most uninhibited, wildest celebration, amounting to as vulgar an orgy as could be imagined. "Human sacrifice, castration, sexual indulgence, etc. formed part of the rites."[14] The weeping women, gazing upon the naked statue of Tammuz (or Adonis), in time worked themselves into a frenzy of passionate desire. John Milton penned these lines regarding it.

The love-tale infected Zion's daughters with like heat,

Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch

Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,

His eyes surveyed the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah. - Paradise Lost, 1:446.

Canon Cook stated that "The great popularity of this ancient cult rested in the fact that it inevitably led to unbridled license and excess."[15] Feinberg added that, "The worship of this god was connected with the basest immoralities. With the greatest abandon, women gave themselves up to the most shameful practices. Immorality and idolatry are inseparable twins throughout the history of the world."[16]

One might have wondered if Ezekiel could have seen anything else more shameful than this group of women weeping for Tammuz; but Ezekiel 8:15 at once warned Ezekiel that "greater abominations than these" he would yet behold.

(Note: we have not cited our source for every statement in this glimpse at the worship Tammuz; but we have given a composite of the opinions of F. C. Cook, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, C. L. Feinberg, Anton T. Pearson, G. A. Cooke, E. H. Plumptre, and others).