These verses describe how the religious ceremonies in the new Temple will be conducted in an orderly way. In verses 2-3 God said that the people will worship in front of the east gateway and the king will stand inside it to worship. Verses 8-10 add further information.

When the prince enters, that is, when the king enters the outer courtyard with the rest of the Israelites to offer sacrifices and worship God (see verse 10), he shall go in by the vestibule of the gate, that is, he will go into the east gateway in the inner wall while the people stay in the outer courtyard (see the comments on Ezek 46.2 and 44.3).

And he shall go out by the same way: See 44.3. When the worship ceremony is over, the king will not go into the inner courtyard, but will go back out into the outer courtyard.

When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts: For the people of the land, that is, the Israelites, see Ezek 46.3. Come before the LORD means “come to worship the LORD.” The appointed feasts may refer to all the religious ceremonies in the Temple (see 45.17), but here it more likely refers only to the Sabbath and the new moon ceremonies, described earlier in this chapter.

He who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: The people who enter the Temple compound from the north side will leave by the south side, and those who come in from the south side will leave by the north side. The north gate and the south gate refer to the north gateway and the south gateway of the Temple’s outer wall (see 40.20-27). For the Hebrew word rendered worship, see Ezek 46.2. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “bow low.”

No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead: At the end of the ceremony the worshipers will continue walking in the same direction in which they came in. They will go straight ahead, without turning around. No one will go back the way they came in.

When they go in, the prince shall go in with them; and when they go out, he shall go out: The pronouns they and them refer to the common people of Israel. They will enter and leave the Temple compound with their king, which means they will worship together and at the same time. They will attend the religious ceremonies together, even though the king will stand in a different area (see Ezek 46.2).

The meaning of verses 8-10 becomes clearer by combining and rearranging them. A model that does is:

• “When the people of Israel go into the Temple for the religious ceremonies to worship me [Yahweh], their king will go in with them. When they enter [the outer courtyard], they will all go in from either the north side of the Temple or the south side. [They will worship at the entrance of the east gateway.] The people will stay in the outer courtyard to worship, but the king will go into the [east] gateway in the inner wall through its porch and worship there. After the ceremony, he will come out again into the outer courtyard. Then the king and all the people will go out of the Temple together. Those who entered through the north gate will go out the south gate, and those who entered through the south gate will go out the north gate. They will all continue walking in the direction they had come. No one will turn around and go out through the gate through which they came in.

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 .