Ezekiel 46:9

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) In the solemn feasts.—Different arrangements were required for the great or “solemn” feasts, because at these all the males of Israel were commanded to be present, and therefore the numbers were very large. This affects both the people and (Ezekiel 46:10) the prince. The first provision is one for securing order in the vast concourse of people: by whichever (outer) gate any one enters (the north or the south), he shall pass out by the opposite one.

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

The whole body of the people gathered together in the outer court, and from thence bodies went in turn into the inner court to worship, and then again out into the outer court.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. The worshippers were on the great feasts to pass from one side to the other, through the temple courts, in order that, in such a throng as should attend the festivals, the ingress and egress should be the more unimpeded, those going out not being in the way of those coming in.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

All except the prince, when they come to worship, must observe to go out at that door that is over against the door at which they came in.

Come before the Lord, present themselves and their sacrifices, in the solemn feasts, the three great annual feasts, the new moons, and the weekly sabbaths.

He that entereth in, & c.: the east gate they might not enter at, as already is observed, and whatever reason might be given besides, this passage in this verse gives one, they could not go right forward to go out, at a west gate; for the temple and the entrance into it stood in a straight line from every one of the east gates from the outmost court, so that if any should go straight forward, they would go into the temple and oracle, which was not to be. There were but two gates the people might enter at, the south or north.

He shall not return, & c.: none might turn their back on the temple, nor do that which looked like a going away from God, which may give us somewhat the meaning of Jeremiah 2:27 32:33, their turning the back on God.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts,.... To worship the Lord, to pray and praise; to honour the Lord, and keep the solemn feast of love, the Lord's supper:

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 in by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; that so such as were coming in, and going out, might not meet, and stop and hinder one another in going out and coming in: no mention is made of entering in by the east gate, which was only for the prince, Ezekiel 44:1, and there was no entering in, or going out, on the west:

he shall not return by the way of the gate he came in, but shall go forth over against it; signifying, that those that come to the house of God to worship, and join in communion with the saints, should not return to their former ways and practices; to their former rites, customs, and ceremonies in religion, used by them; and to their former principles and errors in doctrines; and to their former sinful courses of life; but go straight on and thorough stitch with it in their profession of Christ and his Gospel, and in the practice of spiritual and evangelic worship; see Luke 9:62.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord. As the preceding verse referred to the prince's entrance into and departure from the inner gate, this was intended to regulate the movements of the prince's subjects when they should enter the outer court at any of the festal seasons - not the high festivals alone, such as the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, which are usually denominated חַגּים, but the ordinary appointed feasts (מוְעֲדִים), including, besides the high festivals, the sabbaths and the new moons and such other religions celebrations as were or should be prescribed in the new Torah. In order to prevent confusion, and that all might be conducted with propriety (comp. 1 Corinthians 14:40), no one should depart by the gate through which he had entered, but by the opposite, i.e. he who had entered by the north gate should retire through the south gate, and vice versa. Hengstenberg thinks the reason for this regulation "cannot be sought in the endeavor to avoid a throng," since "in that case it must have been ordained that all should go in by the same gate and go out by the opposite one;" it must, he holds, have been "a theological one," viz. "to signify that each should go out of the sanctuary another man than he came in." Ezekiel 46:9

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.