Ezekiel 46:8

And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 46:8-10. He shall go in by the porch of that gate — To go in at the eastern gate was the privilege of the prince and the priests only; the people were to enter in by the north or south gates, as is mentioned in the following verse. He that entereth in by the way of the north gate, shall go out by the way of the south, &c. — These words imply the reason why the people were not to come in at the east gate, because, there being no passage or thoroughfare out of the temple westward, if they had entered in at the east gate, they must have returned back the same way they came in, which would have occasioned a vast throng and hinderance, considering the multitude that came to the temple. And perhaps this order was also designed to take away any superstitious distinction between the several gates of the temple, by commanding that every one should go out the opposite way to that by which he came in, whether it were toward the north or south. And the prince in the midst of them — The prince shall pay the same attendance upon God’s worship with the people, since all men are equal in the sight of God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

46:1-24 The ordinances of worship for the prince and for the people, are here described, and the gifts the prince may bestow on his sons and servants. Our Lord has directed us to do many duties, but he has also left many things to our choice, that those who delight in his commandments may abound therein to his glory, without entangling their own consciences, or prescribing rules unfit for others; but we must never omit our daily worship, nor neglect to apply the sacrifice of the Lamb of God to our souls, for pardon, peace, and salvation.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That gate - The eastern gate of the inner court. See Ezekiel 46:2.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. The prince is to go through the east gate without (open on the Sabbath only, to mark its peculiar sanctity) to the entrance of the gate of the inner court; he is to go no further, but "stand by the post" (compare 1Ki 8:14, 22, Solomon standing before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the congregation; also 2Ki 11:14; 23:3, "by a pillar": the customary place), the court within belonging exclusively to the priests. There, as representative of the people, in a peculiarly near relation to God, he is to present his offerings to Jehovah, while at a greater distance, the people are to stand worshipping at the outer gate of the same entrance. The offerings on Sabbaths are larger than those of the Mosaic law, to imply that the worship of God is to be conducted by the prince and people in a more munificent spirit of self-sacrificing liberality than formerly.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Shall enter into the gate of the court next the temple to offer his sacrifice.

Go in by the way of the porch; go to the threshold, the inward threshold of the east gate, that opens into the court of the temple.

Go forth by the way thereof; none of the people might do so, only the prince and the priests might go out the same way they came in.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate,.... See Gill on Ezekiel 46:2;

and he shall go forth by the way thereof; the same way he came in, he shall go out; not so the people; and, to introduce the manner of their going in and out, this is repeated concerning the prince.

Geneva Study Bible

And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8, 9. The gates by which prince and people shall come in and go out. The prince shall come in by way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out the same way, i.e. probably the porch of the inner east gate, and he shall go back as he entered, without passing into the inner court. The people shall not go out by the gate at which they came in, but by the opposite gate—those entering by the N. gate shall leave by the S. and conversely.

the solemn feasts] appointed seasons.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8 begins an ordinance relative to the mode of conducting worship at the appointed festivals (ver. 9; comp. Ezekiel 36:38; Ezekiel 45:17; Leviticus 23:2; Hosea 12:9), by indicating first how the prince should enter and depart from the temple. According to Kliefoth and Keil, the prince's entrance and departure should be by the way of the porch of the outer, according to Hengstenberg, Smend, and Currey, of the inner, east gate (see on ver. 2). Ezekiel 46:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On the Opening of the Temple for the People, and for the Voluntary Offerings of the Prince. - Ezekiel 46:8. And when the prince cometh, he shall go in by the way to the porch of the gate, and by its way shall he go out. Ezekiel 46:9. And when the people of the land come before Jehovah on the feast days, he who enters through the north gate to worship shall go out through the south gate; and he who enters through the south gate shall go out through the north gate: they shall not return through the gate through which they entered, but go out straight forward. Ezekiel 46:10. And the prince shall enter in the midst of them, when they enter; and when they go out, they shall go out (together). Ezekiel 46:11. And at the feast days and holy days the meat-offering shall be an ephah for the bullock, an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs what his hand may give, and of oil a hin for the ephah. Ezekiel 46:12. And when the prince prepares a voluntary burnt-offering or voluntary peace-offerings to Jehovah, they shall open the gate that looks to the east, and he shall prepare his burnt-offerings and his peace-offering as he does on the Sabbath day; and when he has gone out they shall shut the gate after his going out. - The coming of the people to worship before Jehovah has been already mentioned in Ezekiel 46:3, but only causally, with reference to the position which they were to take behind the prince in case any individuals should come on the Sabbaths or new moons, on which they were not bound to appear. At the high festivals, on the other hand, every one was to come (Deuteronomy 16:16); and for this there follow the necessary directions in Ezekiel 46:9 and Ezekiel 46:10, to prevent crowding and confusion. For the purpose of linking these directions to what comes before, the rule already laid down in Ezekiel 46:2 concerning the entrance and exit of the prince is repeated in Ezekiel 46:8. מועדים is supposed by the commentators to refer to the high festivals of the first and seventh months (Ezekiel 45:21 and Ezekiel 45:25); but מועדים does not apply to the same feasts as those which are called הגּים in Ezekiel 46:11, as we may see from the combination of הגּים and מועדים. הגּים is the term applied to the greater annual feasts, as distinguished from the Sabbaths, new moons, and the day of atonement. The מועדים, on the contrary, are all the times and days sanctified to the Lord, including even the Sabbath (see the comm. on Leviticus 23:2). It is in this sense that מועדים is used here in Ezekiel 46:9, and not הגּים, because what is laid down concerning the entrance and exit of the people, when visiting the temple, is not merely intended to apply to the high festivals, on which the people were bound to appear before Jehovah, but also to such feast days as the Sabbaths and new moons, whenever individuals from among the people were desirous of their own free-will to worship before the Lord. The latter cases were not to be excluded, although, as Ezekiel 46:10 clearly shows, the great feasts were principally kept in mind. For the entrance and exit of the prince in the midst of the people (Ezekiel 46:10) apply to the great yearly feasts alone. The Chetib yeetsee'uw יצאוּ in Ezekiel 46:9 is to be preferred to the easier Keri יצא, and is not merely the more difficult reading, but the more correct reading also, as two kinds of people are mentioned, - those who entered by the north gate and those who entered by the south. Both are to go out walking straight forward; and neither of them is to turn in the court for the purpose of going out by the gate through which he entered. Even in Ezekiel 46:10 יצאוּ is not to be altered, as Hitzig supposes, but to be taken as referring to the prince and the people. - In Ezekiel 46:11, the instructions given in Ezekiel 45:24; Ezekiel 46:5, Ezekiel 46:7, concerning the quantities composing the meat-offering for the different feasts, are repeated here as rules applicable to all festal times. בּהגּים וּבמועדים has been correctly explained as follows: "at the feasts, and generally at all regular (more correctly, established) seasons," cf. Ezekiel 45:17. Only the daily sacrifices are excepted from this rule, other regulations being laid down for them in Ezekiel 46:14. - Ezekiel 46:12. The freewill-offerings could be presented on any week-day. And the rules laid down in Ezekiel 46:1 and Ezekiel 46:2 for the Sabbath-offerings of the prince are extended to cases of this kind, with one modification, namely, that the east gate, which had been opened for the occasion, should be closed again as soon as the sacrificial ceremony was over, and not left open till the evening, as on the Sabbath and new moon. נדבה is a substantive: the freewill-offering, which could be either a burnt-offering or a peace-offering.