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Ezekiel 46:2

in Ezekiel 46

The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be shut until evening.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

KJV

And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

This verse in Ezekiel 46

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
In the time of Solomon, priest, king, and people each took his due part in the temple-service. Of the later kings some forsook Yahweh for false gods, some encroached upon the prerogative of the priest. Now all should be set right. The prince occupies a position analogous to that of Solomon 2Ch 6:12-13, standing in front of the porch of the eastern gate of the inner court, and at the head of his people to lead their worship, while the priests are sacrificing before him.

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”.

This site's exposition

bow in worship at the threshold of the gate

Albert Barnes compares the prince to Solomon standing before the altar in 2 Chronicles 6:12 to 13, leading the people while the priests offer. Some later kings had taken the priest's work on themselves, as Uzziah did in 2 Chronicles 26:16 to 19. Here each office keeps its place.

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 Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But it should rather seem that he did not go through the gate (as the glory of the Lord had done), though it was open, but he went by the way of the porch of the gate, stood at the post of the gate, and worshipped at the threshold of the gate (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

23:3, "by a pillar": the customary place), the court within belonging exclusively to the priests. There, as representative of the people, in a peculiarly near relation to God, he is to present his offerings to Jehovah, while at a greater distance, the people are to stand worshipping at the outer gate of the same entrance.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

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

26 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.

  • וּבָ֣אand he will go

    uva'H935 →2568 times

  • הַנָּשִׂ֡יאthe prince

    hanasi'H5387 →134 times

  • דֶּרֶךְ֩[the] way of

    derekhH1870 →707 times

  • אוּלָ֨ם[the] porch of

    ʾulamH197 →34 times

  • הַשַּׁ֜עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • מִח֗וּץfrom outside

    michutzH2351 →164 times

  • וְעָמַד֙and he will stand

    veamadH5975 →521 times

  • עַל־at

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • מְזוּזַ֣ת[the] doorpost of

    mezuzatH4201 →19 times

  • הַשַּׁ֔עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • וְעָשׂ֣וּand they will offer

    veasuH6213 →2628 times

  • הַכֹּהֲנִ֗יםthe priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עֽוֹלָתוֹ֙burnt offering his

    olatoH5930 →287 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • שְׁלָמָ֔יוpeace offerings his

    shelamavH8002 →87 times

  • וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוָ֛הand he will bow down

    vehishtachavahH7812 →172 times

  • עַל־at

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • מִפְתַּ֥ן[the] threshold of

    miftanH4670 →8 times

  • הַשַּׁ֖עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • וְיָצָ֑אand he will go out

    veyatza'H3318 →1067 times

  • וְהַשַּׁ֥עַרand the gate

    vehashaarH8179 →374 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִסָּגֵ֖רit will be shut

    yisagerH5462 →91 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • הָעָֽרֶב׃the evening

    haarevH6153 →134 times

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

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 45:19

    And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 43:20

      You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse…

    • Leviticus 16:18–20

      Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and…

  • Through

    Ezekiel 44:3

    Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 37:25

      They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their…

    • 1 Corinthians 10:18–33

      Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?

    • Genesis 31:54

      Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.

    • Ezekiel 34:24

      I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

    • Ezekiel 46:8–10

      When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 29:29

    When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 20:18

      Then Jehoshaphat bowed facedown, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down before the LORD to worship Him.

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.

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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.