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Ezekiel 10:18–22, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ezekiel 10:18–22
The Glory Leaves the Temple Threshold
The glory departs from the threshold to the cherubim
Then the glory of the LORD departs from off the threshold of the house, and stands over the cherubims. The cherubims lift up their wings, and mount up from the earth in Ezekiel's sight. When they go out, the wheels also are beside them, and every one stands at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house; and the glory of the God of Israel is over them above.
This is the living creature that he saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and he knows that they are the cherubims. Every one has four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man is under their wings. As for the likeness of their faces, they are the faces he saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.
Departure is not abandonment of a people forever
Glory moving from threshold to east gate is judgment on that house's profaned worship. The same book will later speak gathering, sanctuary, and return of glory. The movement is real in the vision and not the last word of the book.
Departure language does not prove God abandoned Jewish people permanently, and it does not authorize supersessionism. Christians do not inherit this scene as a proof that Israel is discarded.
How this should shape us
Mourn a glory that will not stay over a defiled house. Do not turn the east-gate pause into a doctrine that God is done with Jews, and do not baptize replacement as this departure.
Teach it back
Explain Ezekiel 10:18–22 in your own words. Name its place in Ezekiel, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: Departure language does not prove God abandoned Jewish people permanently or authorize supersessionism.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Ezekiel 10:18–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 10:18–22
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: signs, temple judgment, and departing glory; applied to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 1-2 study guides: temple vision, judgment, responsibility, and presence; applied to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Supports: Displaced identity, false hope, durable collective hope, restoration, land, temple, transformed community, and their limits.
Hiebel, 'Hope in Exile,' Religions 10.8 (2019), pp. 1-16, sections on Ezekiel 13, 20, 34-37, and 40-48; applied to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 10:18–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 10:18–22
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Ezekiel course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and passage studies
Alan G. Padgett; revised by Tyler Mayfield
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised June 2023
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: signs, temple judgment, and departing glory; applied to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Open the Enter the Bible Ezekiel course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Ezekiel Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 1-2 study guides: temple vision, judgment, responsibility, and presence; applied to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed open access literary and theological article
Hope in Exile: In Conversation with Ezekiel
Janina M. Hiebel
Religions 10.8, article 476, 2019
Supports: Displaced identity, false hope, durable collective hope, restoration, land, temple, transformed community, and their limits.
Exact location: Hiebel, 'Hope in Exile,' Religions 10.8 (2019), pp. 1-16, sections on Ezekiel 13, 20, 34-37, and 40-48; applied to Ezekiel 10:18–22
Open Hiebel on hope in Ezekiel ↗