Problem with macro behaviour in lisp -

if in repl this:

(dolist (x (1 2 3))   (print x)) 

then error since in (1 2 3) digit 1 not symbol or lambda expr. if do:

(dolist (x (list 1 2 3))       (print x)) 

then works ok.

my question why following works:

repl> (defmacro test (lst)            (dolist (x lst)              (print x))) => test repl> (test (1 2 3)) 1 2 3 =>nil 

why dolist accept (1 2 3) when inside macro definition not when directly in repl? assumption:

"since test macro ,it not evaluate arguments, (1 2 3) passed dolist macro. dolist must complain when passed (1 2 3) in repl"

is wrong. where?

update: although answers clarify misunderstandings macros, question still stands , try explain why:

we have established dolist evaluates list argument(code blocks 1, 2). well, doesnt seem case when called inside macro definition , list argument passed 1 of defined macro arguments(code block 3). more details: macro, when called, not evaluate arguments. test macro, when called, preserve list argument , pass dolist @ expansion time. @ expansion time dolist executed (no backquotes in test macro def). , executed (1 2 3) argument since test macro call passed it. why doesnt throw error since dolist tries evaluate list argument, , in case list argument (1 2 3) not evaluatable. hope clears confusion bit.

macros arguments passed unevaluated. may choose evaluate them. dolist list argument. works unquoted list passed in lst in macro test:

(defmacro test (lst)   (dolist (x lst)     (print x))) 

that's because @ macro-expansion time dolist sees lst argument. when evaluates it, gets list (1 2 3).