Bible Strands
Ezekiel 46:9
When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by the north gate to worship must go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate must go out by the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which he entered, but each must go out by the opposite gate.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel delivers this vision to the exiled community, outlining the operational regulations for the future temple courtyard. The instruction takes effect whenever the people of the land gather before Yahweh at the appointed feasts.
The words — The phrase בַּ/מּֽוֹעֲדִים (ba./mo.'a.Dim) translates literally as "at the appointed times," establishing the fixed calendar for these gatherings. הַ/בָּ֡א (ha./Ba') means "the one who comes," identifying the individual worshiper who must follow the routing rule.
The thread — The text anchors this movement protocol in the recurring biblical mandate to appear before Yahweh at the three annual feasts listed in Deuteronomy 16:16, Exodus 23:14, and Exodus 34:23. Ezekiel 46:8 and 46:10 extend the circulation pattern to the prince, who enters and exits alongside the people.
Why it lands — The verse mandates a strict one-way circulation system to prevent congestion and enforce order during mass worship. It requires the reader to accept that access to sacred space demands disciplined compliance with divinely prescribed boundaries.
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
But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
- Exodus 23:14 Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
- Exodus 34:23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 84:7 They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion.
- Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Hebrews 10:38 But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”
- 2 Peter 2:20 If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
- Ezekiel 1:17 As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved.
- Malachi 4:4 “Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb.
- Ezekiel 1:12 Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.