And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
The spirit lifted me up ... and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem. Instead of prompting him to address directly the elders before him, the spirit carried him away in vision (not in person bodily) to the temple at Jerusalem. He proceeds to resort to them what he witnessed. His message thus falls into two parts:
(1) The abominations reported in Ezekiel 8:1-18;
(2) The dealings of judgment and mercy to be adopted toward the impenitent and penitent Israelites respectively, (Ezekiel 9:1-11; Ezekiel 10:1-22; Ezekiel 11:1-25.)
The exiles looked hopefully toward Jerusalem, and, so far from believing things there to be on the verge of ruin, expected a return in peace; while those left in Jerusalem eyed the exiles with contempt, as if cast away from the Lord, whereas they themselves were near God, and ensured in the "possession" of the land (Ezekiel 11:15). Hence, the vision here of what affected those in Jerusalem immediately was a seasonable communication to the exiles away from it.
To the door of the inner gate - facing the north, the direction in which he came from Chebar, called the 'altar-gate' (Ezekiel 8:5); it opened into the inner court, wherein stood the altar of burnt offering; the inner court (1 Kings 6:36) was that of the priests; the outer court (Ezekiel 10:5), that of the people, where they assembled.
Where was the seat - the pedestal of the image.
Of the image of jealously - Astarte, or Asheera (as the Hebrew for "grove" ought to be translated, 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 23:4; 2 Kings 23:7), set up by Manasseh as a rival to Yahweh in His temple, and arresting the attention of all worshippers as they entered. It was the Syrian Venus, worshipped with licentious rites; the "queen of heaven," wife of Phoenician Baal. Havernick thinks all the scenes of idolatry in the chapter are successive portions of the festival held in honour of Tammuz or Adonis (Ezekiel 8:14). More probably the scenes are separate proofs of Jewish idolatry, rather than restricted to one idol.
Which provoketh to jealousy - calleth for a visitation in wrath of the "jealous God," who will not give His honour to another (cf. the second commandment, Exodus 20:5). Jerome refers this verse to a statue of Baal, which Josiah had overthrown and his successors had replaced.