What Does Ezekiel 46:9 Mean?
But when the people of the land come before the LORD in the appointed times, the one who enters by the way of the north gate to bow down goes out by the way of the south gate, and the one who enters by the way of the south gate goes out by the way of the north gate. He does not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but goes out opposite it.
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
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.THE KEY
The worshipper enters by one gate and leaves by the opposite one: coming before the LORD is pictured as a crossing with a deliberate route.
THE MEANING
When you come before the LORD, worship has a bodily route: you enter by one gate, bow down, and leave by the opposite gate. The movement carries you through the sacred space and out along a different path.
THE ROOT
יצא
yatsa
GROWS FROM
יצא
to go out, emerge, or come forth
“go forth” in this verse is yatsa. The Hebrew repeats this verb for the worshipper’s emergence through the gate opposite the one used to enter. The repeated root makes going out part of the procession’s deliberate shape.
ALSO GROWS
yetzi’ah: departure, going out
יְצִיאָה
This noun carries the same movement of going out that shapes the worshipper’s route.
totsa’ah: result, outcome
תּוֹצָאָה
An outcome is what comes forth; the branch echoes the verse’s focus on what emerges from the passage.
לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת
lehishtachavot
GROWS FROM
שחה
to bow low or prostrate oneself
“bow down” in this verse is lehishtachavot. The verse describes worship through the body’s lowered posture. The root joins the act of homage to a physical movement made within the passage from one gate to another.
ALSO GROWS
shachah: to bow down
שָׁחָה
This verb names the bodily posture contained in the verse’s word for worship.
hishtachavah: to prostrate oneself, bow in homage
הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה
This related form shows the posture of reverence carried by the verse’s infinitive.
בְּבוֹא
bevo
GROWS FROM
בוא
to come, arrive, or enter
“come” in this verse is bevo. Coming before the LORD begins a passage that continues through the sanctuary and ends at another gate. The north and south routes mirror one another, making approach and departure part of the same movement.
ALSO GROWS
bo: to come, enter
בּוֹא
This verb names the approach that begins the procession.
mavo: entrance, approach
מָבוֹא
This related noun connects the act of coming to the opening through which one enters.
THE PATTERN
Scripture pictures access to God through thresholds that direct people into continued movement.
Open to me the gates of alignment; I enter them, and I extend my hands to the LORD.I am the door. Through me, if anyone enters, he shall be delivered, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture.And its gates are never shut by day, for there is no night there.THE THREAD
And it came to be at the end of four hundred and thirty years, and on this very bone of the day it came to be, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.The Hebrew verb יצא (yatsa, go out) appears in both passages: in Exodus the people go out from Egypt, and here the worshipper goes out through the opposite gate. The shared root makes departure a passage out of one bounded space, while Ezekiel gives that movement a ritual route.
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