16. Five and twenty. The reads “twenty.” The significance of the number is not clear. Some have conjectured that it referred to the high priest and the heads of the 24 courses (see on 1 Chron. 24:1), thus representing the whole body of the priests. They were standing between the altar and the Temple, in a most sacred part of the court. There, turning their backs upon the Temple of the Lord, they worshiped the sun. The adoration of the sun, Shamash, was early practiced by the Canaanites and had found its way into the worship of the kings and people of Judah (2 Kings 23:5, 11; Deut. 4:19; 17:3; Job 31:26). The fact that they stood in the inner court has led to the belief that they were probably priests, but others besides priests sometimes entered there (2 Kings 11:4-15). If they were the special guardians of true religion, their sin was a most flagrant insult to God. Thus it was marked as the greatest of the abominations (see 2 Chron. 36:14).