Who is far from the sanctuary in Ezekiel 8:6?

Question

Ezekiel 8:6 is translated in the ESV:

And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations."

The bolded part I'm having a hard time with:

לְרָֽחֳקָה מֵעַל מִקְדָּשִׁ֔י
lĕrāḥŏqâ mēʿal miqdāšı̂

The first word is a verb with a prefixed preposition so an infinitive construct, apparently qal, although the spelling is odd. I would expect this to mean "in order to be far away". Missing are the causative idea "to drive away"* and the external object "me" (in context, Yahweh).

How is it that this indicates driving Yahweh from his temple? Is there any possibility of it meaning something different?

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_{*Interestingly (although probably irrelevantly), a few verses later in 9:1, the opposite verb קרב --"to draw near" -- is used in the qal with a translation "to bring near", i.e. the normal value of the hifil, at least if the ESV is to be trusted. On the other hand, the Greek translator apparently understood a normal qal in 8:6: τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μου·}

Answer 1

Ezekiel 8:6 New International Version

And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing--the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable."

to drive Me far
לְרָֽחֳקָה֙ (lə·rā·ḥo·qāh)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew 7368: To be or become far or distant

The nuance of causality, i.e., to drive, does not come from the grammar but from the meaning of the Hebrew word itself.

Brown-Driver-Briggs

1 direct causation make, or exhibit, distance, be gone far
2 indirect causation remove, put far away

In https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/8-6.htm, 6 versions use the word "drive" while 9 versions use "should", e.g., American Standard Version:

And he said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but thou shalt again see yet other great abominations.

Only some versions stress the causality aspect while others less so.

Who is far from the sanctuary in Ezekiel 8:6?

The pronoun is not explicit but implied by the noun:

My sanctuary
מִקְדָּשִׁ֔י (miq·dā·šî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew 4720: A consecrated thing, place, a palace, sanctuary, asylum

Who is the speaker here?

Ezekiel 8:3b The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court ...

6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

The speaker is the Spirit.

Due to the detestable things, the Spirit decided to move away from the sanctuary.

Answer 2

As רָחֳקָה֙ is an infinititive construct form it's not a verb, it's a noun and thus takes no direct object. It means "to create distance" or even "to be far", so a hyperliteral translation would be:

"to create distance from upon my sanctuary"

This requires some fixing to read smoothly. I think it's helpful to look for the "from" following the verb to figure out what is being distanced.

Many translations convert this back to a verb which does require a direct object and then supply the direct object as "me", primarily because of the pronomial suffix in "my sanctuary" as well as the "me-'al" - from upon - as only God is upon the sanctuary. Thus the interpreter concludes that distance is being created between the speaker (God) and his sanctuary:

"to drive me from my sanctuary".

But one does not need to follow that approach, one can also translate this as

"to create distance between me and my sanctuary".

In both cases some interpretation is required as part of the translation process, you cannot rely solely on the grammar to get a translation that works well in English.

We can look at other examples where r-ch-q is used with an infinitive tense in construct state with qal stem, again searching for a "from" to guide us. This happens only 2 other times in the MT:

• Psalm 103.12: "As far as the East is from the West" כִּרְחֹ֣ק

• Eccl 3.5: "A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing" לִרְחֹ֥ק

In the case of Psalm 103.12, this can be translated:

"as to create distance east from west, he removes from us our transgressions", so no direct object is present but the phrase A from B suggests that A is being distanced from B.

And for Eccl 3.5, we can read this as: "to create distance from embracing", and so here we latch onto "from embracing" and interpret this as "be far from embracing" or "refrain from embracing".

Answer 3

The events of chapter 8 occur in a vision, so that the events are not real, as explained by Benson's Commentary: "This, and all that follows, to the end of Ezekiel 8:16, was done in vision only, as appears from the expression here used: and brought me in the visions of God, &c." The vision could be regarded as an allegory that allowed Ezekiel to speak for God, as a divine vision or simply as a dream.

With the Deuteronomistic reforms of Josiah, king of Judah from 641 to 609 BCE, the monotheists were in the ascendency and must have believed that the other gods in the Hebrew pantheon were gone forever. Ezekiel, who would have grown up during the reign of Josiah with the expectation of becoming a priest of Yahweh, must have thought it his birthright to be at the forefront of Judahite religion. The untimely death of Josiah ended this, with the partial restoration of polytheism under Josiah’s successors:

2 Kings 23:31-32: Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem... And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
2 Kings 23:36-37: Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

These passages do not say that Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim (and their successors) were worshipping foreign gods but that they worshipped as their fathers had done. Every misfortune that befell Jerusalem, Ezekiel blames on the affront caused to Yahweh by the open worship of other gods. This helps place chapter 8 in context.

The great abominations are the images of gods, and Ezekiel says they so offend God that he feels obliged to leave the temple. No one is forcing or driving God from his sanctuary, but it is revulsion at the worship, in his presence, of other gods that will cause him to leave. At this stage, God is not yet omnipresent. Chapter 8 continues, to discuss other 'abominations', the worship of Ishtar and Tammuz (8:14) and of the sun god (8:16).

Answer 4

The word לְרָֽחֳקָה literally means to cause to distance. The literal meaning of this sentence is that the abominations the people were doing in the temple, were causing G-d to be distanced from the temple as it was being used for the service of idols.

Answer 5

1. Question Restatement:

Is there any possibility that Ezekiel 8:6 could mean something other than God being driven away from his temple?

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2. Answer:

I believe there is ample evidence to interpret it differently - mostly because Ezekiel itself clarifies the text, (v.11:15-17) - and many other factors constrain the meaning of the verb, "לְרָֽחֳקָה֙ to separate", to mean:

It was Israel who separated themselves from the Temple of God :

Literal Translation: of Ezekiel 8:6 - And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see (הֲרֹאֶ֥ה) what they are causing? Great abominations which the House of Israel causes here [in order] to separate from my sanctuary [and holiness?]. Moreover, you will return again to see (תִּרְאֶ֔ה) greater abominations."

And, It was only because Israel distanced itself - that the text states that God would gather them back. :

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3. Context - The People Were Distanced from the Temple :

The Book of Ezekiel repeatedly states that Israel drove itself away from God:

NASB, Ezekiel 11:15 - “Son of man, your brothers ... and the whole house of Israel ... the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord ...’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations ... 17 Therefore say, ‘ ... “I will gather you ...”

NASB, Ezekiel 22:29 - The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.

NASB, Ezekiel 36:15 - “I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’”

NASB, Ezekiel 45:9 - ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,” declares the Lord God.

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4. Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic Analysis:

I haven't found anything in the Syntax, or Context - not even in the Bible - that Israel ever attempted to drive God out of the Temple:

1. "To Distance" is Synonymous with: "To Depart, and "To Separate", (see Job 28:28: "To depart from Evil is understanding");
2. Hebrew, Infinitive Construct, (Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar/114f): Is to express: "The Purpose", or "Aim", specifically: "they caused great abominations [for the purpose or aim] to separate from my holiness, [temple]; B.) Injecting "God" as a direct object is atextual: "The caused great abominations to cause [me] to separate from my temple, [holiness]; this cannot be adduced from that context, or parallel texts;
3. Hebrew Qal Stem: Brown-Driver-Briggs - indicates that the Qal stem - implying an Infinite, Active Verb - which also indicates Israel acting - TO: A.) The Passive Voice Could not Apply: "I, [God], was distanced", (Passive); B.) The Reflexive Middle Voice Could not Apply: "I, [God], distanced myself"; C.) And, a Direct Object Would be Required: "They distanced [me]" - which is not in the text;
4. Ezekiel 8:6, The Greek Septuagint: A.) ποιοῦσιν ... ἀπέχεσθαι, (causing ... to separate) - is a participle construction, considered infinitive and plural - indicating that a plural subject [Israel] was the "acting in order TO separate";
5. Passive/Reflexive in Aramaic: A.) In Targum Onqelos, "to distance" is לְאִתרַחָקָא in Aramaic; B.) Because it is either Passive or Reflexive in Aramaic - it does not exclude the plausibility of Israel acting to distance itself, from God;
6. Pronominal Suffix: A.) The verb "לְרָֽחֳקָה֙" cannot be both an Infinite Absolute AND ALSO have a pronominal suffix, (Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, 113g); B.) Qal Infinitive Construct with Pronominal Suffix: The Infinitive Construct could indicate its direct object through its suffix - but if so, there should be some agreement in Gender or Number; C.) The Masculine first person suffix would likely be, "לִי" as in "קָּטְּלִי / Killing me"; D.) In this text, the suffix "קָה֙" could be indicative of a feminine direct object; E.) But, that Gender disagreement would introduce a completely different - which could only be reconciled if "Israel" was the direct object of "to separate", and understood as God's "Bride"; F.) In other words - besides this suffix, there don't seem to be any indications of that "to separate" is referring to a Direct Object - which renders it highly improbable that "To separate" was referring to "God", as the Direct Object.