Bible Strands
Ezekiel 11:23
And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The vision records the departure of the divine presence from Jerusalem to the eastern mountain as Ezekiel is transported back to the exiles in Chaldea. This event follows the lifting of the cherubim and wheels, marking the conclusion of the temple tour.
The words — The text emphasizes כְּב֣וֹד (ke.Vod), meaning "glory," and וַ/יַּ֙עַל (va/i.Ya.'al), meaning "and it went up," to describe Yahweh’s ascent from the city’s midst. It concludes with וַֽ/יַּעֲמֹד֙ (va/i.ya.'a.Mod), "and it stood," fixing the presence over the eastern mountain.
The thread — The eastward relocation of the glory connects to the future standing of God’s feet on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) and mirrors the earlier appearance of the glory over the temple threshold (Ezekiel 10:4) and in the plain (Ezekiel 8:4). This creates a consistent scriptural sequence of divine presence moving eastward from Jerusalem.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to note the concrete termination of God’s visible presence in the city and its physical relocation to a specific geographic marker. It demands recognition that the vision records a historical movement of the glory, not a symbolic abstraction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 14:4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.
- Ezekiel 8:4 And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.
- Ezekiel 10:4 Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.
- Ezekiel 43:2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.
- Ezekiel 9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side.
- Ezekiel 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim.
- Ezekiel 43:4 and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east.
- Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!