What Does Ezekiel 41:20 Mean?
From the ground to above the opening were made cherubim and upright trees, on the wall of the temple.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.THE KEY
The doorway is framed by images that rise from the ground, making the threshold part of the temple’s living design.
THE MEANING
The wall holds cherubim and palms from ground level to above the doorway, bringing heavenly figures and living tree forms across the whole threshold. Sacred space meets the reader as an opening framed by images of presence and life.
THE ROOT
פֶּתַח
petaḥ
GROWS FROM
פתח
p-t-ḥ
To open; an opening or entrance.
“opening” in this verse is petaḥ. The word for the doorway grows from the same root as the verb “to open.” A related word means “engraving” or “carved work,” joining the passage through the wall to the images made upon it.
ALSO GROWS
pataḥ: To open.
פָּתַח
The doorway is not only a feature in the wall; its word carries the action of opening.
pittuach: Engraving or carved work.
פִּתּוּחַ
The same root also names carved ornament, connecting the opening with the imagery that surrounds it.
תִּמֹרִים
timorim
GROWS FROM
תמר
t-m-r
Palm or date palm.
“upright trees” in this verse is timorim. The palm motif is named with a word for a living, fruit-bearing tree. Its image places growth alongside the cherubim across the temple wall.
ALSO GROWS
tomer: Palm trunk or palm form.
תֹּמֶר
The related word keeps the image’s upright tree form in view.
tamar: Date palm; also a personal name meaning “palm.”
תָּמָר
The same word can name a person, carrying the palm’s nature in the name.
THE PATTERN
Sacred space carries signs of heavenly presence and life-bearing abundance.
Moreover you shall make the dwelling with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; with cherubim of cunning work you shall make them.And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and opened blossoms, within and without.In the middle of its broad way, and on either bank of the river, is the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, giving back its fruit with each moon. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.THE THREAD
Open to me the gates of alignment; I enter them, and I extend my hands to the LORD.The doorway here and the Psalm’s command “Open” share the Hebrew root פתח (p-t-ḥ), meaning “to open.” Ezekiel frames the opening with cherubim and palms; the Psalm describes passing through opened gates.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us