Ezekiel 11 Footnotes

11:23 God’s departure from the temple showed that he had distanced himself from the abominable practices described in 8:1-18. His glory left the temple and the city and went eastward to the Mount of Olives. Rabbinic sources trace the movement of the Lord’s glory in ten steps: (1) from one cherub on the ark to the other (9:3); (2) from the ark to the threshold of the temple (10:4); (3) back to the cherubim to be transported (10:18); (4) accompanied by the cherubim to the east gate (10:19); (5) the glory entered the court of the temple (10:4); (6) then moved to the altar of sacrifice (Am 9:1); (7) then moved to the roof of the temple (Pr 21:9); (8) then moved to the temple wall (Am 7:7); (9) then moved to the city (Mic 6:9); and (10) to the Mount of Olives (Ezk 11:23), where the glory remained for three-and-a-half years, as if waiting for a change in the hearts of the people.