And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD: The connector And is better rendered “Next” or “Then” (New Century Version). The verb brought is better translated “carried” or “took” (Good News Translation), as in verse 7 (see the comments there). Next God took Ezekiel into the inner court of the house of the LORD, that is, the courtyard in which the Temple stood (see Ezek 8.3). Ezekiel was now standing in the inner courtyard outside the door of the north gateway. For the house of the LORD, see verse 14.

And behold: See Ezek 8.4.

At the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men …: Ezekiel saw about twenty-five men in front of the Temple. The door of the temple of the LORD refers to the Temple entrance. The temple of the LORD may be rendered “the holy place where Yahweh dwelt.” The men were standing between the porch and the altar, that is, in front of the Temple in the holy area set aside for worship. They were not inside the Temple, so they could easily see the sun in the east. The porch was a small entrance room to the Temple itself. Porch may be rendered “foyer,” “vestibule” (New American Bible), or “portico” (New International Version). The altar was the main sacrificial altar that stood to the east of the front door of the Temple. It is not the same altar as the one Ezekiel saw with the statue of the false goddess in verse 5.

With their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east: The men were standing in front of the Temple, but instead of facing the Temple to worship God, they had their backs to the sanctuary. They were facing the opposite direction, worshiping the sun toward the east. Their worship probably involved bowing low toward the sun, and as a result their backsides were exposed toward God’s sanctuary.

Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this verse. Another possible one is:

• Then God brought [or, took] me to the inner courtyard of the Temple. There, near the entrance to the holy place where Yahweh dwelt, between the entrance room to that holy place and the altar, there were about twenty-five men standing with their backs to the holy place of Yahweh. They were facing east and bowing down to worship the rising sun.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .