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Ezekiel 46:1

in Ezekiel 46

“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘The gate of the inner court that faces east must be kept shut during the six days of work, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

KJV

Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

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This verse in Ezekiel 46

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
The prophet beholds in vision people, priest, and prince uniting in most solemn worship before the throne of God. The character of the rites here described is symbolic.

This site's exposition

kept shut during the six days of work

on Ezekiel 46:1-3

The gate of the inner court that faces east is opened “on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon”. The prince is to “bow in worship at the threshold of the gate”. The people of the land bow “at the entrance to that gateway”.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 46—Verses 1 onwards). Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed for six days, during which work is being done; but on the Sabbath day it will be opened, and also on the day of the new moon it will be opened. And the prince shall enter through the vestibule of the outer gate, and shall stand at the threshold of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then leave.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Thus saith the Lord God,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

The gate of the Inner Court that faces toward the east, etc. Our Rabbis learned in Tractate Middoth (4:2): The gate of the Heichal had two wickets, one in the south and one in the north.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 46:1:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַר֮he says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִה֒Yahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • שַׁ֜עַר[the] gate of

    shaarH8179 →374 times

  • הֶחָצֵ֤רthe courtyard

    hechatzerH2691 →191 times

  • הַפְּנִימִית֙<the> inner

    hapenimitH6442 →32 times

  • הַפֹּנֶ֣הwhich faces

    haponehH6437 →135 times

  • קָדִ֔יםeast

    kadimH6921 →69 times

  • יִהְיֶ֣הit will be

    yihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • סָג֔וּרshut

    sagurH5462 →91 times

  • שֵׁ֖שֶׁת[the] six

    sheshetH8337 →216 times

  • יְמֵ֣י[the] days of

    yemeiH3117 →2304 times

  • הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֑ה<the> work

    hamaasehH4639 →236 times

  • וּבְי֤וֹםand on [the] day of

    uveyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַשַּׁבָּת֙the sabbath

    hashabatH7676 →110 times

  • יִפָּתֵ֔חַit will be opened

    yipateachH6605 →144 times

  • וּבְי֥וֹםand on [the] day of

    uveyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַחֹ֖דֶשׁthe new moon

    hachodeshH2320 →284 times

  • יִפָּתֵֽחַ׃it will be opened

    yipateachH6605 →144 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 66:23From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.9 worksGenesis 1:14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.5 worksEzekiel 44:1–2The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut.4 worksEzekiel 43:1Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east,4 worksEzekiel 45:17–19And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.3 worksExodus 20:9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,3 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.3 worksExodus 16:26For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”3 worksExodus 31:15For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.3 worksLuke 13:14But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.”2 worksGenesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”2 worksEzekiel 46:6On the day of the New Moon he shall offer a young, unblemished bull, six lambs, and a ram without blemish.2 worksHebrews 4:9–10There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.2 worksNumbers 28:11At the beginning of every month, you are to present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 8:16

    So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 4:19

      When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to…

    • Deuteronomy 17:3

      and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—

    • Jeremiah 32:33

      They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.

    • Ezekiel 11:1

      Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them…

    • Jeremiah 2:27

      say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…

  • Through

    Exodus 20:9

    Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

    it leads to

    • Luke 13:14

      But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on…

  • Through

    Isaiah 66:23

    From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 86:9

      All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

    • Zechariah 14:16

      Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 46 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.

Read on in Ezekiel 46 →