Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Ezekiel to establish regulations for the temple gateway immediately after declaring it permanently closed. The instruction designates exclusive, limited access for the prince to the interior of the gateway.
The words — The text specifies הַנָּשִׂיא (ha.nāśîʾ) for "the prince" and יֵשֶׁב (yēšeḇ) for "he will sit" to restrict his location. לֶפְנֵי (ləp̄nê) translates literally as "before" or "in the presence of," modifying the space where the prince eats bread.
The thread — The prince’s regulated movement through the gateway portico reappears in Ezekiel 46:2, where he enters from the outside and stands by the gatepost. The strict limitation on eating within the gateway contrasts with the open communal meals described in Genesis 31:54.
Why it lands — The text demands strict adherence to spatial boundaries, granting the prince a unique but confined privilege to eat inside the gateway. Readers must observe these precise limits of access without assuming broader ceremonial rights.
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
It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 46:2 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.
- 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 prince forever.
- 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.
- 1 Corinthians 10:18 Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?
- Ezekiel 40:9 it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple.
- Ezekiel 46:8 When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way.
- Exodus 24:9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
- 2 Chronicles 34:31 So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
- Zechariah 6:12 And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD.