The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from without: See 44.3. On the days that the east gateway of the inner courtyard is open, the king will be allowed to enter it from the outer courtyard through the porch of the gateway. This clause may be rendered “When the gateway is open, the king will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of the gateway” (similarly Good News Translation).

And shall take his stand by the post of the gate: Take his stand suggests that the king had to “remain standing” (New American Bible, Moffatt), without sitting down. By the post of the gate probably refers to the doorframe at the inner end of the gateway, the doorframe that led into the inner courtyard. If this interpretation is correct, it means that the king never actually goes into the inner courtyard, but stays in the building of the gatehouse. It is not surprising that he will not go into the inner courtyard because only the priests and Levites were allowed to go there. Instead of the singular Hebrew word rendered post, some translations read it as a plural (see the comments on 41.21), saying “posts” (Good News Translation) or “doorposts” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible), but here it is better to retain the singular, for example, “door-post” (New English Bible, Moffatt) or “doorway” (Contemporary English Version). Translators may render this clause as “and he will stand in the doorway” or .”.. by the doorframe of the gatehouse.”

The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings: The priests will offer sacrifices on behalf of the king. He will not take an active part in this religious activity. For burnt offering, see 40.38; for peace offerings, see 43.27.

And he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: The king will worship God at the doorframe of the gateway while the priests make sacrifices on his behalf. The Hebrew word for worship means more than participating passively in the religious ceremonies. It carries the sense of “bow down [in worship]” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible; similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “prostrate” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible, Complete Jewish Bible). It may have involved lying flat on the ground, bowing low, or kneeling to show respect. In some languages the verb worship will require an object. If so, he shall worship may be rendered “he will worship me [God]” or “he will bow down to worship me.” Contemporary English Version says “The ruler will bow down with his face to the ground to show that he has worshiped me.” The threshold of the gate refers to the same doorway as the post of the gate. The Hebrew word for threshold differs from the one used in 40.6 (see the comments there). It is closely related to the word for an opening or “entrance” (New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version) that is used elsewhere in Ezekiel (see, for example, 40.11; 41.2; 46.3), so it may have that meaning here. However, the word may refer here to the slab of stone that is the bottom of a doorway (see the comments on 9.3, where the same Hebrew word is used). Either meaning is acceptable in this context.

Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening: At the end of the religious ceremony, the king will go out, that is, he will leave by the same way he came (see 44.3). He will not be allowed to stay there just to watch what is happening. However, even after he has left, the gate shall not be shut until evening, that is, the priests will not shut the door of the gateway until the sun sets. Contemporary English Version says “the gate will remain open until evening.”

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 .