Ezekiel 43:9-19

9 Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, ¹and I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 "As for you, ²son of man, ³describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan.

11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, ⁴make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, ⁵its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down ⁶in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out.

12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of ⁷the mountain ⁸all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 "These are the measurements of ⁹the altar by cubits (the cubit being ¹⁰a cubit and a handbreadth):^[a] its base shall be one cubit high^[b] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span^[c] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar:

14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit;

15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, ¹¹four horns.

16 The altar hearth shall be ¹²square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad.

17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. ¹³The steps of the altar shall face east."

18 And he said to me, ¹⁴"Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and ¹⁵for throwing blood against it,

19 you shall give to ¹⁶the Levitical priests ¹⁷of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord GOD, ¹⁸a bull from the herd for a sin offering.

Read Chapter Compare

Ezekiel 43:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 43

The temple or house of God being measured, the worship of God in it is pointed out and observed in this and the following chapter; and which, though evangelical, is expressed in the language of the Old Testament. An account is given of the glory of the Lord returning to the house, and the way he did, and his taking possession of it, which the prophet was favoured with a view of, Eze 43:1-5, a promise is made of his continuance there, provided his people behaved as they should, Eze 43:6-9, an order is given to the prophet, to show them the form and fashion, the laws, orders, and ordinances of the house to them, to be observed by them, Eze 43:10-12, then follows the measuring of the altar of burnt offerings; which, though measured before in chapter forty, the dimensions are here given, Eze 43:13-17, and the chapter is concluded with directions about the consecration of it, Eze 43:18-27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. [See ver. 7 above]
2. [See ver. 7 above]
3. Ezekiel 40:4
4. [See ver. 10 above]
5. [Ezekiel 44:5]
6. See Ezekiel 12:3
7. [Ezekiel 40:2]
8. See Ezekiel 42:15-20
9. [Ezekiel 40:47; Ezekiel 47:1]; See Exodus 27:1-8
10. Ezekiel 40:5; [Ezekiel 41:8]
11. See Exodus 27:2
12. [Ezekiel 40:47; Exodus 27:1]
13. [Exodus 20:26]
14. See Ezekiel 2:1
15. See Leviticus 1:5
16. Ezekiel 44:15; Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 18:1; Deuteronomy 24:8; Deuteronomy 27:9
17. See Ezekiel 40:46
18. Ezekiel 45:18; Exodus 29:1, 10

Footnotes 3

[a]. A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters
[b]. Or its gutter shall be one cubit deep
[c]. A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.