What Does Ezekiel 8:5 Mean in the King James?

Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

Ezekiel 8:5 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The image’s place at the altar’s entrance makes the threshold itself the evidence of a rival claim.

THE MEANING

The gaze is brought to the threshold, where an image stands in the entry and is named by the jealousy it provokes. Proximity to the altar does not settle what a presence serves; the threshold can disclose a divided claim.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that whatever stands at the entrance of the sacred must belong there.

THE ROOT

קִנְאָה

qin’ah

GROWS FROM

קנא

To be zealous or jealous; to hold an ardent claim.

English can make jealousy sound like a private feeling, but ⁨קִנְאָה⁩ names an ardent, relational claim. At the altar’s entry, the image is bound to the zeal or jealousy it provokes, so the threshold becomes a place where belonging is contested.

ALSO GROWS

qānāʾ: To be zealous or jealous.

קָנָא

The verb names the active force behind the jealousy: an ardent claim, not merely a passing feeling.

qannāʾ: Jealous, zealous.

קַנָּא

This form describes the LORD as jealous in Exodus 34:14, showing that the same root can name zeal over a bond.

THE PATTERN

What occupies the threshold of devotion reveals where allegiance is being contested.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3 · KJVThe verse names divided allegiance as the presence of another god before the LORD.

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

Ezekiel 14:3 · KJVThe same rival presence appears within the heart and before the face, obstructing approach.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

1 John 5:21 · KJVThe verse keeps the question of allegiance present by naming idols as a continuing threat to guard against.

THE THREAD

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Exodus 34:14 · KJV

The word translated “jealous” comes from the same root, ⁨קנא⁩, as ⁨קִנְאָה⁩ in Ezekiel 8:5. That root names both the LORD’s zeal and the jealousy provoked by the image, placing the contested bond at the center of the scene.

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