Ezekiel 8:5
in Ezekiel 8“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
KJV
Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
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This verse in Ezekiel 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 5) And he said to me: Son of man, lift up your eyes toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate was the idol of jealousy in the entrance. Because we have set up the idol of jealousy north of the altar gate, the seventy translators have translated it as: From the north to the east gate, which is not found in Hebrew; leaving out the rest of what is written there.
This site's exposition
now lift up your eyes to the north
on Ezekiel 8:5-6
The guide names the first abomination, “this idol of jealousy” set “in the entrance north of the Altar Gate,” the place nearest the true worship. He names the cost: “to drive Me far from My sanctuary.” The glory’s departure is named before the tour reaches the worst.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Northward - Ahaz had removed it from the middle of the court and set it near this north gate, to which it gave name. Entry - In the very passage to the temple, to affront the worship of God.
Then said he unto me, son of man,....
With good reason therefore is this called the image of jealousy. (2.) We may well imagine what a surprise and what a grief it was to Ezekiel to see this image in the house of God, when he was in hopes that the judgments they were under had, by this time, wrought some reformation among them; but there is more wickedness in the world, in the church, than good men think there is.
(1.) The very setting up of this image in the house of the Lord was enough to provoke him to jealousy; for it is in the matters of his worship that we are particularly told, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
gate of . . . altar--the principal avenue to the altar of burnt offering; as to the northern position, see 2Ki 16:14. Ahaz had removed the brazen altar from the front of the Lord's house to the north of the altar which he had himself erected. The locality of the idol before God's own altar enhances the heinousness of the sin.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֕ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| שָׂא־ | sa'- | lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| נָ֥א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| עֵינֶ֖יךָ | ʾeineikha | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| דֶּ֣רֶךְ | derekh | [the] direction | H1870 → | 707 times |
| צָפ֑וֹנָה | tzafonah | north -ward | H6828 → | 153 times |
| וָאֶשָּׂ֤א | vaesa' | and I lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עֵינַי֙ | ʾeinai | eyes my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| דֶּ֣רֶךְ | derekh | [the] direction | H1870 → | 707 times |
| צָפ֔וֹנָה | tzafonah | north -ward | H6828 → | 153 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֤ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| מִצָּפוֹן֙ | mitzafon | from [the] north | H6828 → | 153 times |
| לְשַׁ֣עַר | leshaar | of [the] gate of | H8179 → | 374 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| סֵ֛מֶל | semel | [the] idol of | H5566 → | |
| הַקִּנְאָ֥ה | hakinah | <the> jealousy | H7068 → | 43 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| בַּבִּאָֽה׃ | babiah | [was] in the entrance | H872 → |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֕םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
שָׂא־lift up
sa'-H5375 →656 times
נָ֥אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
עֵינֶ֖יךָeyes your
ʾeineikhaH5869 →887 times
דֶּ֣רֶךְ[the] direction
derekhH1870 →707 times
צָפ֑וֹנָהnorth -ward
tzafonahH6828 →153 times
וָאֶשָּׂ֤אand I lifted up
vaesa'H5375 →656 times
עֵינַי֙eyes my
ʾeinaiH5869 →887 times
דֶּ֣רֶךְ[the] direction
derekhH1870 →707 times
צָפ֔וֹנָהnorth -ward
tzafonahH6828 →153 times
וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
מִצָּפוֹן֙from [the] north
mitzafonH6828 →153 times
לְשַׁ֣עַרof [the] gate of
leshaarH8179 →374 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
סֵ֛מֶל[the] idol of
semelH5566 →
הַקִּנְאָ֥ה<the> jealousy
hakinahH7068 →43 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
בַּבִּאָֽה׃[was] in the entrance
babiahH872 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 78:58They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will…
- Leviticus 26:30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- 1 Kings 12:31
Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
- Deuteronomy 32:21
Through
Ezekiel 8:3He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- 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…
- Ezekiel 5:11
Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon…
- Deuteronomy 5:9
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth…
- Deuteronomy 32:16
Through
Jeremiah 32:34They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:30
For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
- Jeremiah 7:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
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About Ezekiel
This page draws on 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.