Verse 14
The Lord then brought Ezekiel to the north entrance to the inner temple courtyard, in his vision (cf. Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 8:5). There the prophet saw women weeping for Tammuz (cf. Isaiah 17:10-11). Tammuz was an ancient Sumerian and then Akkadian fertility deity, the husband and brother of Ishtar. The Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations preceded the Babylonian civilization in Mesopotamia. Tammuz had ties to the Canaanite Baal and the Greek Adonis and Aphrodite gods. [Note: See Edwin Yamauchi, "Tammuz and the Bible," Journal of Biblical Literature 84 (1965):283-90.] Since Ezekiel saw this vision in September (Ezekiel 8:1), these women may have been weeping for Tammuz because he was thought to die at the end of the summer but to rise again each spring. [Note: See T. Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness, pp. 25-73.] Another view is that "Tammuz" denotes a special genre of lament. [Note: Block, The Book . . ., pp. 294-96.]
"After the exile the Hebrew calendar included a month called Tammuz, the fourth month (June-July). This was the time for grapes to be harvested. The preservation of the name Tammuz in the calendar suggests the impact this form of pagan worship had on Jewish life and worship, both during and after the exile." [Note: Cooper, p. 123.]
Be the first to react on this!
