in the Bible, a Re-evaluation 419 qjr people, the verse would be translated, as Greenberg does (8), “He said to me, ‘Man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, removing themselves from my sanctuary? You will see other great abominations’”. The other possibility is to make God the subject, i.e. “that I must alienate myself from my sanctuary”(9). Cross dismisses the second alternative as contrary to the biblical and Ezekielian use of qjr + l[m. Regarding the first possibility, he considers that “physical distance cannot be meant”, for “those engaged in abominable practices could scarcely be closer to the sanctuary, and they obviously regard their actions as adjuncts to the temple cultus” (10). He concludes, therefore, that their actions should be interpreted as “to forfeit (any) claim to my sanctuary, or to forfeit the right to participate in the temple cult” (11). But, precisely the opposite is true. The idolaters have taken over the sanctuary and the cult. They are not forfeiting any right to it; on the contrary, they are usurping the right of God to his sanctuary. The interpretation already proposed by Jerome and followed by JPSV which translates 8,6 as “And He said to me, ‘Mortal, do you see what they are doing, the terrible abominations that the House of Israel is practicing here, to drive Me far from My Sanctuary?’” seems to fit better in the context. God is being kicked out of the Temple by the idolaters. The narrative continues and in vs. 12 we are told that the elders of Israel say, “The Lord does not see us; the Lord has abandoned (bz"[;) the country”. God is being forced out of the sanctuary, which is coherent with Ezekiel’s motif of God departing from the temple. As J. Kutsko states, “the theme of God’s absence and presence — which variously explores the issues of his withdrawal, his appearance, his control, and his activity of restoration — is the chord that holds the composition together” (12). Ezek 8,6 should be, therefore, understood as an expression of God’s eviction from / abandonment of his own sanctuary, a motif widely attested in ancient Near Eastern literature (13). The last two texts cited by Cross use qjr in a similar way. In Ezek 11,15- 17, Cross deals with the address by the surviving inhabitants of Jerusalem to the exiles, in his translation: “they (the exiles) are far from Yahweh (hw:hy“ l['me Wqj}r"); it (the land) is ours; the land is given (to us inhabitants of Jerusalem) as an inheritance”. It means, according to Cross, that the exiles have forfeited privilege to worship Yahweh. In this passage, however, qjr has the same meaning as in Jer 2,5: “Thus said the LORD: What wrong did your (8) M. GREENBERG, Ezekiel 1–20 (New York 1983) 164. (9) Option not completely disregarded by GREENBERG, Ezekiel 1–20, 169, and followed by JPSV and D. BLOCK, The Book of Ezekiel (Grand Rapids 1997) 286, who translates vs. 6: “Human, look at what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, driving [me] away from my sanctuary!” (10) CROSS, “Papyrus”, 319. (11) Ibidem. (12) J.F. KUTSKO, Between Heaven and Earth. Divine Presence and Absence in the Book of Ezekiel (Winona Lake 2000) 4. (13) Cf. BLOCK, Ezekiel, 287; ID., “Divine Abandonment: Ezekiel’s Adaptation of an Ancient Near Eastern Motif”, The Book of Ezekiel. Theological and Anthropological Perspectives (eds. M.S. ODELL – J.T. STRONG) (Atlanta 2000) 15-42; KUTSKO, Between Heaven and Earth, Appendix: “Removal, Repair and Return of Divine Images” and the bibliography cited there.