569. Twigs Used in Heathen Worship

From: Manners and Customs of the Bible By: James M. Freeman

Ezekiel 8:17 • 1 min. read • grade level: 11

Ezekiel 8:17¹⁷Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O 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 returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. (Ezekiel 8:17). They put the branch to their nose.

According to Strabo and others, when the fire-worshipers prayed before the sacred fire, they held in the left hand a little bunch of twigs called hansom, and applied it to their mouth when uttering prayer. Hengstenberg says: “The nose is derisively mentioned in place of the mouth, according to the leaning to irony and sarcasm, which appears so often in the prophets when they oppose and chastise superstitious folly” (Commentary on Ezekiel).

Some think the reference here is to the custom of divining by rods. See note on Hosea 4:12¹²My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. (Hosea 4:12) (#597).

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