Ezekiel 8:3

The form of an hand] the same reverent reserve as in Ezekiel 2:9. In the visions of God] Though Ezekiel's transference is described in physical terms he was not taken to Jerusalem in body, but only in spirit. Inner gate] RV 'gate of the inner court.' Solomon's Temple had two courts: the great or outer court (2 Chronicles 4:9), and the inner court or court of the priests (1 Kings 6:36; 2 Chronicles 4:9). We know very littl e about the arrangement of the gates, but in Ezekiel's time the inner court had probably three, one on every side except the W., and the outer court at least two, one on the N. and one on the E. The gate in this v. is the inner northern gate. We must distinguish between the gate or gateway, which was a block of buildings, and the doors by which the gateway was entered at either end. The image of jealousy] An idol figure, so called from the divine jealousy which it aroused. The reference is probably to the image set up by Manasseh (2 Kings 21:7) and removed by Josiah (2 Kings 23:6). The seat means the place where it had stood.