What Does Ezekiel 46:9 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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
“to worship” 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 righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.THE THREAD
And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, 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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