וָאֲבִיאֵם֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָשָׂ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־יָדִ֔י לָתֵ֥ת אוֹתָ֖הּ לָהֶ֑ם וַיִּרְאוּ֩ כָל־גִּבְעָ֨ה רָמָ֜ה וְכָל־עֵ֣ץ עָבֹ֗ת וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־שָׁ֤ם אֶת־זִבְחֵיהֶם֙ וַיִּתְּנוּ־שָׁם֙ כַּ֣עַס קָרְבָּנָ֔ם וַיָּשִׂ֣ימוּ שָׁ֗ם רֵ֚יחַ נִיח֣וֹחֵיהֶ֔ם וַיַּסִּ֥יכוּ שָׁ֖ם אֶת־נִסְכֵּיהֶֽם׃
Je les avais amenés au pays que j’avais juré de leur donner; et eux, dès qu’ils aperçurent toute colline élevée et tout arbre touffu, ils y ont immolé leurs sacrifices, déposé leurs odieuses offrandes, apporté leurs parfums voluptueux et répandu leurs libations.
Rashi
branchy עֲבֻתָּה, an expression of (below 20: 28): “a branchy (עָבוֹת) tree,” i.e., whose branches are many.
Rashi
and behold they send disgrace into their nose Behold they send to their nose the foul odor of this “song,” which they “sing” with the wind emerging from their anus; i.e., this disgrace of theirs will come back to their faces. Menachem (p. 79) explained: “and behold they send the disgrace into their nose” is a matter of disgrace and shame; and according to his explanation, He compares the aroma of their censers and (Ezek. 20:28) “the anger of their sacrifices” and (ibid.) “their pleasant aroma” to the work of the disgrace of the orifices. “Their backs to the Temple of the Lord” implies this idea.
David Zvi Hoffmann
The prophet Ezekiel also reveals in one verse that the complete law of the festival of Sukkot before us was before his eyes. In chapter 20 he describes how the children of Israel angered God with the worship at their high places, and adds (in verse 28): "And they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they sacrificed there their sacrifices." Clearly, the prophet alludes here to Deuteronomy 12, where (verse 13) it is forbidden to offer sacrifices "in every place that you see," and of the idol worshipers it is told (ibid. verse 2) that they worship "their gods on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree." And if the prophet Ezekiel takes all the expressions from the book of Deuteronomy ("and they saw," "high hill," "tree"), and yet he uses instead of "green tree" the expression "leafy tree" (compare in contrast Ezekiel 6:13), then only the memory of the verse in Leviticus 23:40 brought him to this (that Ezekiel knew all the festivals in our chapter, as well as the law of Passover in Exodus 12, and the law of Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16, we have already proved above in the commentary on verse 8, and on the subject of the time when the law of Yom Kippur was given). That despite all this, recent critics view the verse before us as if it were composed after the destruction of the First Temple, only arouses astonishment.