And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.

And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and the odour of the cloud of incense went up.

and seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst, are standing before them, and each his censer in his hand, and the abundance of the cloud of perfume is going up.

And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the middle of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

And before them seventy of the responsible men of the children of Israel had taken their places, every man with a vessel for burning perfumes in his hand, and in the middle of them was Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan; and a cloud of smoke went up from the burning perfume.

And there were seventy men out of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing in their midst, and they stood before the pictures. And each one had a censer in his hand. And a cloud of smoke rose up from the incense.

Et viri septuaginta ex seni-oribus domus Israel, et Iazanias, filius Saphan stabat in medio ipso-rum qui stabant coram ipsis, [179] et viro [180] thuribulum in manu sua: et densiter nubis suffitus ascendebat.

Seventy men - Compare Exodus 24:9-10. The vision may have pointed to the contrast between the times. The number "seven" is symbolic of the covenant between Yahweh and His people, and so the "seventy" men exhibit forcibly the breach of the covenant. It is a figure of the covert idolatry of the whole people.

Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan - Shaphan was a scribe, or what some call comptroller of the temple, in the days of Josiah; and Jaazaniah his son probably succeeded him in this office. He was at the head of this band of idolaters.

And there stood before them seventy (l) men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and (m) a thick cloud of incense went up.
(l) Thus they who would have kept all the rest in the fear and true service of God were the ringleaders of all abomination, and by their example pulled others from God.
(m) It was in such abundance.

And there stood before them,.... Before the pictures, as the Vulgate Latin version expresses it, praying, sacrificing, and offering incense unto them:
seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel; the whole sanhedrim, or great court of judicature among the Jews, as Kimchi; or at least there is an allusion to that number, which were appointed in Moses' time to be officers over the people, and govern and direct them, Numbers 11:16; which shows how sadly depraved and corrupted the state was, that not the common people only, but the civil magistrates, the chief rulers and governors, were given to idolatry; and those that should have taught the people the right way led them wrong; and it is still a further aggravation of their crime that they should do this in the chambers of the priests and Levites, where they ought not to have been:
and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan; who was either the prince of the sanhedrim, or at least a person of great note and esteem; and shows the corruption to be general, from the least to the greatest: Shaphan was a scribe in Josiah's time, who had a son named Ahikam, perhaps the father of this, 2-Kings 22:3; in Ezekiel 11:2; he is said to be the son of Azur, and one of the princes of the people:
with every man his censer in his hand; to offer incense to the idols portrayed on the wall; and which they did, for it follows:
and a thick cloud of incense went up; there were many that offered; and perhaps they offered a large quantity, being very liberal and profuse in this kind of devotion to their idols.

seventy men--the seventy members composing the Sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, the origination of which we find in the seventy elders, representatives of the congregation, who went up with Moses to the mount to behold the glory of Jehovah, and to witness the secret transactions relating to the establishment of the covenant; also, in the seventy elders appointed to share the burden of the people with Moses. How awfully it aggravates the national sin, that the seventy, once admitted to the Lord's secret council (Psalm 25:14), should now, "in the dark," enter "the secret" of the wicked (Genesis 49:6), those judicially bound to suppress idolatry being the ringleaders of it!
Jaazaniah--perhaps chief of the seventy: son of Shaphan, the scribe who read to Josiah the book of the law; the spiritual privileges of the son (2-Kings 22:10-14) increased his guilt. The very name means, "Jehovah hears," giving the lie to the unbelief which virtually said (Ezekiel 9:9), "The Lord seeth us not," &c. (compare Psalm 10:11, Psalm 10:14; Psalm 50:21; Psalm 94:7, Psalm 94:9). The offering of incense belonged not to the elders, but to the priests; this usurpation added to the guilt of the former.
cloud of incense--They spared no expense for their idols. Oh, that there were the same liberality toward the cause of God!

Seventy - Heads of the tribes or families, who should have been examples of true religion, not ringleaders in idolatry. Shaphan - Mentioned 2-Kings 22:9. Shaphan was forward in reforming under Josiah and his son is as forward in corrupting the worship of God.