New King James Version
Ezekiel 8:3
3He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
Ezekiel 8:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
- New International Version (NIV)He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
- New Living Translation (NLT)He reached out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from God. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made the Lord very jealous.
Context of Ezekiel 8:3
1And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. 4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. 5Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
Read all of Ezekiel 8Ezekiel 8:3 word by word
וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ תַּבְנִ֣ית יָ֔ד וַיִּקָּחֵ֖נִי בְּצִיצִ֣ת רֹאשִׁ֑י וַתִּשָּׂ֣א אֹתִ֣י ר֣וּחַ׀ בֵּֽין־הָאָ֣רֶץ וּבֵ֣ין הַשָּׁמַ֡יִם וַתָּבֵא֩ אֹתִ֨י יְרוּשָׁלְַ֜מָה בְּמַרְא֣וֹת אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֶל־פֶּ֜תַח שַׁ֤עַר הַפְּנִימִית֙ הַפּוֹנֶ֣ה צָפ֔וֹנָה אֲשֶׁר־שָׁ֣ם מוֹשַׁ֔ב סֵ֖מֶל הַקִּנְאָ֥ה הַמַּקְנֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he put forthשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: let goH7971
- the formתַּבְנִיתtabnîyth · patternH8403
- of an handיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
- and tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- me by a lockצִיצִתtsîytsith · tasselH6734
- of mine headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
- and the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
- lifted me upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: raiseH5375
- between the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- and the heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
- and broughtבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
- me in the visionsמַרְאָהmar'âh · visionH4759
- of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- to Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
- to the doorפֶּ֫תַחpethach · entranceH6607
- of the innerפְּנִימִיpenîymîy · innerH6442
- gateשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
- that lookethפָּנָהpânâh · to turnH6437
- toward the northצָפוֹןtsâphôn tsâphôn · northH6828
- the seatמוֹשָׁבmôshâb môshâb · seatH4186
- of the imageסֶ֫מֶלsemel sêmel · idolH5566
- of jealousyקִנְאָהqin'âh · jealousyH7068
- which provoketh to jealousyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
Cross-references for Ezekiel 8:3
- Ezekiel 2:9Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.
- Daniel 5:5In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
- Daniel 10:10Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands.
- Ezekiel 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
- Ezekiel 11:1Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
- Ezekiel 40:2In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city.
- 1 Kings 18:12And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.
- 2 Kings 2:16Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”
- Acts 8:39Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
- 2 Corinthians 12:2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
- Revelation 1:10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
- Revelation 4:2Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
- Ezekiel 8:5Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
- 2 Kings 16:14He also brought the bronze altar which was before the Lord, from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.
- Ezekiel 5:11‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity.
- Ezekiel 7:20‘As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; But they made from it The images of their abominations— Their detestable things; Therefore I have made it Like refuse to them.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 8:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3The image of jealousy - הקנאה סמל semel hakkinah . We do not know certainly of what form this image was, nor what god it represented. Some say it was the image of Baal, which was placed in the temple by Manasses; others, that it was the image of Mars; and others, that it was the image of Tammuz or Adonis. Calmet supports this opinion by the following reasons: - The name agrees perfectly with him. He was represented as a beautiful youth, beloved by Venus…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3In the visions of God - Ezekiel was not transported “in the body,” but rapt “in spirit,” while he still sat amidst the elders of Judah. The inner gate - Or, the gate of the inner court. This gate, leading from the outer to the inner court (the court of the priests), is called Ezekiel 8:5 “the gate of the altar,” because it was from this side that the priests approached the brass altar. The prophet is on the “outside” of this gate, so that the “image of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3While the leaders gathered, Ezekiel saw a vision of what seemed to be a man. The description is similar to the one in Ezekiel 1:26–27. This time, Ezekiel was lifted into the sky and transported to Jerusalem. like that of … His appearance was like … looked like: What Ezekiel saw went beyond normal human experience (see study note on Ezekiel 1:4–28).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Instead of prompting him to address directly the elders before him, the Spirit carried him away in vision (not in person bodily) to the temple at Jerusalem; he proceeds to report to them what he witnessed: his message thus falls into two parts: (1) The abominations reported in Eze 8:1-18. (2) The dealings of judgment and mercy to be adopted towards the impenitent and penitent Israelites respectively (Eze 9:1-11:25). The exiles looked hopefully towards…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 8:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries