Ezekiel 46:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 46:9
But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct
land
הָאָ֜רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
come
וּבְב֨וֹאu.ve.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָה֮Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
feasts
בַּמּֽוֹעֲדִים֒ba.mo.'a.Dim
H4150
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened brea…
Exodus 23:14-17 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exodus 34:23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
Psalms 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto…
Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
2 Peter 2:20-21 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entang…
Ezekiel 1:17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 46:1-15
Whether the rules for public worship here laid down were designed to be observed, even in those things wherein they differed from the law of Moses, and were so observed under the second temple, is not certain; we find not in the history of that latter part of the Jewish church that they governed themselves in their worship by these ordinances, as one would think they should have done, but only by law of Moses, looking upon this then in the next age after as mystical, and not literal. We may observe, in these verses,
I. That the place of worship was fixed, and rules were given concerning that, both to prince and people.
1. The east gate, which was kept shut at other times, was to be opened on…
The worshippers were on the great feasts to pass from one side to the other, through the temple courts, in order that, in such a throng as should attend the festivals, the ingress and egress should be the more unimpeded, those going out not being in the way of those coming in.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 46:9
He that entereth in by the way of the north, etc. - As the north and the south gates were opposite to each other, he that came in at the north must go out at the south; he that came in at the south must go out at the north. No person was to come in at the east gate, because there was no gate at the west; and the people were not permitted to turn round and go out at the same place by which they came in; for this was like turning their backs on God, and the decorum and reverence with which public worship was to be conducted would not admit of this. Besides, returning by the same way must have occasioned a great deal of confusion, where so many people must have jostled each other, in their meet…
But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts,.... To worship the Lord, to pray and praise; to honour the Lord, and keep the solemn feast of love, the Lord's supper:
he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth in by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; that so such as were coming in, and going out, might not meet, and stop and hinder one another in going out and coming in: no mention is made of entering in by the east gate, which was only for the prince, Ezekiel 44:1, and there was no entering in, or going out, on the west:
he shall not return…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 9) And when the people of the land enter in the presence of the Lord on the appointed festivals, the one who enters through the north gate to worship shall exit through the south gate, and the one who enters through the south gate shall exit through the north gate. They shall not return through the gate they entered, but rather shall exit opposite it. But the people only enter and exit the markets and solemnities: and not through the same path, but through one and then another. For it is written: And when the people of the land enter before the Lord in solemnities: let the one who entered through the North gate to worship, exit through the way of the South gate, and let the one who entered through the South gate, exit through the way of the North gate: he shall not return through the gate by which he entered, but he shall exit opposite to it. This is not only commanded to those who depart from Sodom, and it is said to them: Do not look back (Gen. XIX, 17); nor to those who put their hand to the plow, so that they do not look at the things that are behind them: but even to those who are established in the house of the Lord, they are commanded not to look back and turn to the needy and weak elements, and being initiated in the spirit, to be consumed (or consumed) by the flesh ((Al. consumed)): but to proceed also from spiritual things to greater things, and to say with the Apostle: Forgetting the past, and extending myself towards the things that are before (Phil. III, 13): so that they may not know in part and prophesy in part, but may come to perfection according to the perfection that human nature can achieve, so that we understand that Gospel saying: So you also, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty' (Luke XVII, 10). And the Apostle in the same Epistle speaks of two perfections: for he writes as if he were imperfect: Not as though I have already attained, or were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13). And immediately he speaks as if he were perfect: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Feasts · . — .
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
entereth
הַבָּ֡אha.Ba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
way
דֶּרֶךְde.rekh-
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
north
צָפ֜וֹןtza.Fon
H6828
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֨עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
worship
לְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֗תle.hish.ta.cha.Vot
H7812
to depress · preposition + verb, infinitive construct
out
יֵצֵא֙ye.Tze'
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
way
דֶּרֶךְde.rekh-
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
south
נֶ֔גֶבNe.gev
H5045
the south (from its drought) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֣עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
entereth
וְהַבָּא֙ve.ha.Ba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
way
דֶּרֶךְde.rekh-
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
south
נֶ֔גֶבNe.gev
H5045
the south (from its drought) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gate
שַׁ֣עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular construct
forth
יֵצֵ֖אye.Tze'
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
way
דֶּרֶךְde.rekh-
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
north
צָפ֑וֹנָהtza.Fo.nah
H6828
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute + directional suffix
gate
שַׁ֣עַרSha.'ar
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine singular absolute
return
יָשׁ֗וּבya.Shuv
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
way
דֶּ֤רֶךְDe.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
gate
הַשַּׁ֙עַר֙ha.Sha.'ar
H8179
an opening · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
in
בָּ֣אba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
forth
יֵצֵֽאye.tze.'u'
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
During religious festivals, the people were to present themselves before the Lord by proceeding through the Temple from north to south or vice versa, with the prince in their midst. Their motion was to follow the profane north–south axis rather than the sacred east–west axis along which the priests’ activities took place.
Rashi on Ezekiel 46:9
But when the people of the land come, etc., by way of the north gate, etc., but he shall go out by that which is opposite it It is incumbent upon them to be seen in full view in the Court.
