Ezekiel 43:1-12

Return of the Lord’s Glory and Description of Sacrifices and Worship

1 And he brought me to the gate which [was] {facing east}.
2 And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound [was] like [the] sound of many waters and the land radiated due to his glory!
3 And the appearance of the vision which I saw [was] as the vision which I saw at his coming to destroy the city, and [these] visions [were] [also] as the vision which I saw by the {Kebar River}, and I fell on my face.
4 And [then] the glory of Yahweh came to the temple {by the way of the gate facing east}.
5 And [the] Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple!
6 And I heard [someone] speaking to me from the house, and a man was standing beside me.
7 And he said to me, "Son of man, [this is] the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet {where I will dwell} in the midst of the {Israelites} to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile {my holy name} with their fornication and with their offerings for the dead of their kings [on] their high places.
8 {When they placed their threshold} with my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the wall [was] between me and between them, then they defiled {my holy name}, with their detestable things that they did, and [so] I consumed them in my anger.
9 Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead of their kings [away] from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them {forever}.
10 You, son of man, describe [to] the house of Israel the temple and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern.
11 And if they are ashamed of all that they did, [then] the plan of the temple and its arrangement and its exits and its entrances and all of its plans and all of its statutes. And all of its plans and all of its laws make known [to] them and write [them] before their eyes, so that they may remember all of its plans and all of its statutes, so that they do them!
12 This [is] the law of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all of its territory, {all the way around it}, {will be most holy}. Look, this [is] the law of the temple.

Ezekiel 43:1-12 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.

Footnotes 27

  • [a]. Literally "which [was] facing [to] the way of the east"
  • [b]. Hebrew "water"
  • [c]. Or "and as"; as is not needed in translation
  • [d]. Or "like"
  • [e]. Or "my coming"
  • [f]. Or "like"
  • [g]. Literally "river of Kebar"
  • [h]. Literally "[by] the way of [the] gate which its face [was to] the way of the east"
  • [i]. Or "from inside"
  • [j]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
  • [k]. Literally "which I will dwell there"
  • [l]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [m]. Literally "the name of my holiness"
  • [n]. Or "corpses"
  • [o]. Literally "in/at their placing their threshold"
  • [p]. Or "beside/next to"
  • [q]. Or "their"
  • [r]. Literally "the name of my holiness"
  • [s]. Or "corpses"
  • [t]. Literally "to eternity"
  • [u]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
  • [v]. Or "its entire pattern"
  • [w]. Or "purposes"
  • [x]. According to the reading tradition (Qere); cf. BHS
  • [y]. Literally "torah" or "instruction"
  • [z]. Literally "all around, all around"
  • [aa]. Literally "[will be] a holiness of holinesses"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.