Ezekiel 8 · Verse 3

Ezekiel 8:3

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.
Ezekiel 8:3, King James Version

Ezekiel 8:3 in other translations

BSBHe stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.
WEBHe stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north, where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
ASVAnd he put forth 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 the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
YLTAnd He putteth forth a form of a hand, and taketh me by a lock of my head, and lift me up doth a spirit between the earth and the heavens, and it bringeth me in to Jerusalem in visions of God, unto the opening of the inner gate that is facing the north, where is the seat of the figure of jealousy that is making jealous,
DARBYAnd he stretched forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entry of the inner gate that looketh toward the north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
BBEAnd he put out the form of a hand and took me by the hair of my head; and the wind, lifting me up between the earth and the heaven, took me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the way into the inner door facing to the north; where was the seat of the image of envy.
WebsterAnd he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my 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 towards the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

What does Ezekiel 8:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. 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 Jerusalem and, so far from believing things there to be on the verge of ruin, expected a return in peace; while those left in Jerusalem eyed the exiles with contempt, as if cast away from the Lord, whereas they themselves were near God and ensured in the possessions of the land (Eze 11:15). Hence the vision here of what affected those in Jerusalem immediately was a seasonable communication to the exiles away from it. door of the inner gate--facing the north, the direction in which he came from Chebar, called the "altar-gate" (Eze 8:5); it opened into the inner court, wherein stood the altar of burnt offering; the inner court (1Ki 6:36) was that of the priests; the outer court (Eze 10:5), that of the people, where they assembled. seat--the pedestal of the image. image of jealousy--Astarte, or Asheera (as the Hebrew for "grove" ought to be translated, 2Ki 21:3, 7; 23:4, 7), set up by Manasseh as a rival to Jehovah in His temple, and arresting the attention of all worshippers as they entered; it was the Syrian Venus, worshipped with licentious rites; the "queen of heaven," wife of Phoenician Baal. Havernick thinks all the scenes of idolatry in the chapter are successive portions of the festival held in honor of Tammuz or Adonis (Eze 8:14). Probably, however, the scenes are separate proofs of Jewish idolatry, rather than restricted to one idol. provoketh to jealousy--calleth for a visitation in wrath of the "jealous God," who will not give His honor to another (compare the second commandment, Ex 20:5). Jerome refers this verse to a statue of Baal, which Josiah had overthrown and his successors had replaced.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 The image of jealousy - סמל הקנאה 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: - 1. The name agrees perfectly with him. He was represented as a beautiful youth, beloved by Venus; at which Mars, her paramour, being incensed and filled with jealousy, sent a large boar against Adonis, which killed him with his tusks. Hence it was the image of him who fell a victim to jealousy. 2. The prophet being returned towards the northern gate, where he had seen the image of jealousy, Eze 8:14, there saw the women lamenting for Tammuz. Now Tammuz, all agree, signifies Adonis; it was that therefore which was called the image of jealousy. 3. The Scripture often gives to the heathen idols names of degradation; as Baal-zebub, god of flies; Baal-zebul; god of dung. It is likely that it was Adonis who is called The dead, Lev 19:27, Lev 19:28; Deu 14:9, because he was worshipped as one dead. And the women represented as worshipping him were probably adulteresses, and had suffered through the jealousy of their husbands. And this worship of the image of jealousy provoked God to jealousy, to destroy this bad people.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 8:1-6

The idolatries committed by the Jewish rulers. (Ezek 8:1-6) The superstitions to which the Jews were then devoted, the Egyptian. (Ezek 8:7-12) The Phoenician. (Ezek 8:13,14) The Persian. (Ezek 8:15,16) The heinousness of their sin. (Ezek 8:17,18) Verses 1-6 The glorious personage Ezekiel beheld in vision, seemed to take hold upon him, and he was conveyed in spirit to Jerusalem. There, in the inner court of the…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 8:1-6 →

Ezekiel 8:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּשְׁלַח֙vai.yish.Lachand he stretched outH7971
תַּבְנִ֣יתtav.Nit[the] form ofH8403
יָ֔דYada handH3027
וַיִּקָּחֵ֖נִיvai.yi.ka.Che.niand he took meH3947
בְּצִיצִ֣תbe.tzi.Tzitby [the] hair ofH6734
רֹאשִׁ֑יro.Shihead myH7218
וַתִּשָּׂ֣אva.ti.Sa'and it carriedH5375
אֹתִ֣י'o.Ti<obj.> meH853
ר֣וּחַ\׀Ru.acha spiritH7307
בֵּֽין\־bein-betweenH996
הָאָ֣רֶץha.'A.retzthe earthH776
וּבֵ֣יןu.Veinand betweenH996
הַשָּׁמַ֡יִםha.sha.Ma.yimthe heavensH8064
וַתָּבֵא֩va.ta.Ve'and it broughtH935
אֹתִ֨י'o.Ti<obj.> meH853
יְרוּשָׁלְַ֜מָהye.ru.sha.Le.mahJerusalem towardsH3389
בְּמַרְא֣וֹתbe.mar.'otin visions ofH4759
אֱלֹהִ֗ים'E.lo.HimGodH430
אֶל\־'el-toH413
פֶּ֜תַחPe.tach[the] opening ofH6607
שַׁ֤עַרSha.'ar[the] gateH8179
הַפְּנִימִית֙ha.pe.ni.Mitthe inner [court]H6442
הַפּוֹנֶ֣הha.po.Nehwhich facesH6437
צָפ֔וֹנָהtza.Fo.nahnorth -wardH6828
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whereH834
שָׁ֣םsham[was] thereH8033
מוֹשַׁ֔בmo.Shav[the] location ofH4186
סֵ֖מֶלSe.mel[the] idol ofH5566
הַקִּנְאָ֥הha.kin.'Ah<the> jealousyH7068
הַמַּקְנֶֽה\׃ha.mak.Nehwhich provokes to jealousyH7065

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 8:3

  • Deuteronomy 32:16

    They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

  • Ezekiel 11:1

    Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

  • Ezekiel 5:11

    Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.

  • Deuteronomy 5:9

    Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

  • Ezekiel 40:2

    In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.

  • Ezekiel 2:9

    And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

  • Deuteronomy 6:15

    (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

  • Deuteronomy 4:24

    For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

  • Exodus 20:5

    Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

  • Daniel 5:5

    In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

  • Ezekiel 11:24

    Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

  • Deuteronomy 32:21

    They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
he put.
2:9; Da 5:5; 10:10,18
the spirit.
3:14; 11:1,24; 40:2; 1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:16; Ac 8:39; 2Co 12:2-4
Re 1:10-20; 4:2-11
to the door.
5; 2Ki 16:14
the image.
5:11; 7:20; 2Ki 21:7; Jer 7:30; 32:34
provoketh.
Ex 20:5; 34:14; De 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 32:16,21; Jos 24:19; Ps 78:58
1Co 10:21,22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezekiel 8:2

    Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

  • Ezekiel 8:3

    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.

  • Ezekiel 8:4

    And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

Read all of Ezekiel 8

Ezekiel 8:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y aquella semejanza extendió la mano, y tomóme por las guedejas de mi cabeza; y el espíritu me alzó entre el cielo y la tierra, y llevóme en visiones de Dios á Jerusalem, á la entrada de la puerta de adentro que mira hacia el aquilón, donde estaba la habitación de la imagen del celo, la que hacía celar.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il étendit la forme d’une main, et me prit par les boucles de ma tête; et l’Esprit m’éleva entre la terre et les cieux, et m’emmena à Jérusalem, dans les visions de Dieu, à l’entrée de la porte intérieure qui regarde vers le nord, où était le siège de l’idole de jalousie qui provoque à la jalousie.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und er streckte das Gebilde einer Hand aus und nahm mich beim Haarschopf meines Hauptes; und der Geist hob mich zwischen Erde und Himmel empor und brachte mich in Gesichten Gottes nach Jerusalem, an den Eingang des Tores des inneren Vorhofs, welches gegen Norden sieht, wo der Standort des Bildes der Eifersucht war, welches zum Eifer reizt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et emissa similitudo manus apprehendit me in cincinno capitis mei, et elevavit me spiritus inter terram et cælum: et adduxit me in Jerusalem, in visione Dei, juxta ostium interius quod respiciebat ad aquilonem, ubi erat statutum idolum zeli ad provocandam æmulationem.