Ezekiel 43

Then the man brought me back to the gate, the gate that faces east.

1Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:

Note"The man" is the guide who has been showing Ezekiel around the temple since chapter 40, a figure with the appearance of bronze, carrying a measuring cord and a measuring rod. The gate is one of the outer gateways of the temple complex Ezekiel has been measuring.

2And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of rushing water, and the earth shone with his glory.

2And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

Note"Glory" here translates a Hebrew word for weight or substance; in Ezekiel it means the blazing, visible presence of God, the same thing Ezekiel saw leave the Jerusalem temple by its east gate in chapter 10. It comes back now by the road it left by.

3What I saw looked like the vision I had seen before, the one I saw when I came to destroy the city, and like the visions I saw by the Chebar River. I fell facedown on the ground.

3And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.

NoteThe Chebar was a large canal near Babylon, where Ezekiel and other Judean exiles were settled; his first vision (chapter 1) happened there. "When I came to destroy the city" refers to his vision in chapters 8–11 of Jerusalem's destruction. The Hebrew here is odd and ancient copies differ: it may read "when he came to destroy the city," i.e. when God came, rather than the prophet.

4And the glory of the LORD came into the temple through the gate that faces east.

4And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.

5Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

5So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.

NoteThe temple had nested courtyards, each more restricted than the last: an outer court open to worshipers, an inner court for the priests, and then the temple building itself.

6I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple, while the man stood beside me.

6And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.

7He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where the soles of my feet rest. Here I will live among the people of Israel forever. The people of Israel will never again make my holy name unclean, neither they nor their kings, by their prostitution or by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places.

7And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.

Note"Son of man" is Hebrew for "human being", God's standard way of addressing Ezekiel throughout the book, marking the distance between the speaker and the mortal being spoken to. "Prostitution" is the prophets' regular image for worshiping other gods: Israel is pictured as a wife being unfaithful. Some of the practices being condemned may also have involved sex at shrines. The last phrase is genuinely uncertain. The Hebrew word can mean "corpses" or "funeral offerings/memorial stones," and the final word can be read as "their high places" (open-air worship sites, often on hilltops) or as "their death." So this is either about royal tombs placed too near the temple or about funeral rites performed for dead kings.

8They set their doorstep next to my doorstep and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They made my holy name unclean by the disgusting things they did. So I destroyed them in my anger.

8In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.

NoteIn Jerusalem the royal palace stood immediately next to the temple, sharing its walls and courts, so that the king's household and God's house were separated only by a partition. That physical closeness is the complaint. "Disgusting things" translates a word used mainly for religious practices regarded as intolerable, idol worship, and rites borrowed from neighboring peoples.

9Now let them put their prostitution and the dead bodies of their kings far away from me, and I will live among them forever.

9Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.

10As for you, son of man, describe this temple to the people of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins. Let them measure its plan.

10Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

11And if they are ashamed of everything they have done, then show them the design of the temple: how it is arranged, its exits and its entrances, its whole design, and all its rules, its forms, and its laws. Write it down where they can see it, so that they may keep its whole design and all its rules and carry them out.

11And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

12This is the law of the temple: the whole area around it on the top of the mountain shall be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

12This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.

Note"Most holy" is literally "holy of holies," the highest grade of holiness, normally reserved for the innermost room of the temple. Here the whole hilltop precinct is given that status.

13These are the measurements of the altar, using the long cubit, which is a cubit plus the width of a hand. Its gutter at the base shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

13And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar.

NoteA cubit was the distance from elbow to fingertip, about 18 inches or 45 cm. The "long cubit" used here adds a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), giving roughly 21 inches or 52 cm. A span is the width of a spread hand, thumb-tip to little-finger-tip, about 9 inches or 23 cm, half a cubit. The altar being described is a stepped structure, like a small square tower: a channelled base, then two ledges of decreasing width, then the flat top where the fire burned.

14From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits, and that ledge is one cubit wide. From the smaller ledge up to the larger ledge is four cubits, and that ledge is one cubit wide.

14And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit.

15The hearth on top of the altar shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall stick up from the hearth.

15So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.

Note"Horns" were four upward projections, one at each corner of the altar's top. Blood was smeared on them in the rituals described below, and a person in danger could claim protection by grabbing hold of them. The Hebrew words for the altar top in verses 15–16 sound like "mountain of God" and "hearth of God"; translators differ over which sense is meant.

16The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, square on all four sides.

16And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.

17The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, square on all four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it and a gutter of a cubit all around. Its steps shall face east."

17And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east.

NoteSteps up to an altar were forbidden in an older law (Exodus 20:26), which required a ramp or level ground so that the priest's body would not be exposed. Ezekiel's altar has them, facing east.

18Then he said to me, "Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: These are the rules for the altar on the day it is built, so that burnt offerings may be offered on it and blood may be sprinkled on it.

18And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.

NoteA burnt offering was burned whole on the altar, with none of it eaten. Blood was collected from the slaughtered animal and dashed or smeared on the altar as part of the ritual.

19You are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the priests, the Levites from the family of Zadok, who come near to me to serve me, says the Lord GOD.

19And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.

NoteLevites were the tribe set apart for work at the sanctuary; Zadok was the chief priest under David and Solomon, and his descendants held the senior priesthood in Jerusalem. Ezekiel restricts altar service to that one family. A "sin offering" (better, a purification offering) was not primarily about forgiving a person. Its blood was used to scour ritual contamination off sacred objects and buildings, here, off the brand-new altar.

20You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around. In this way you will cleanse the altar and make it pure.

20And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.

NoteThe verb translated "make it pure" is the one usually rendered "make atonement." Applied to an object rather than a person, it means to wipe clean or decontaminate.

21Then you are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the place set aside for it in the temple area, outside the sanctuary itself.

21Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.

NoteThe body of a purification-offering animal was not eaten or burned on the altar itself; it was taken to a designated spot away from the holy building and burned there.

22On the second day you are to offer a male goat with no flaw as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed just as it was cleansed with the bull.

22And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock.

Note"With no flaw" means physically perfect, no injury, disease, blindness or deformity. Damaged animals were disqualified for sacrifice.

23When you have finished cleansing it, you are to offer a young bull with no flaw and a ram from the flock with no flaw.

23When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.

24You are to present them before the LORD, and the priests are to throw salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD.

24And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.

NoteSalt was added to offerings as a standard part of the ritual. It preserves rather than spoils, and "a covenant of salt" was an idiom for an agreement meant to last.

25For seven days you are to provide a goat each day as a sin offering. They are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both with no flaw.

25Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.

26For seven days they are to make the altar pure and clean it, and in this way it will be set apart for its use.

26Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.

NoteSeven days of daily sacrifice was the standard length for installing something or someone into sacred service. The Hebrew idiom behind "set apart" is literally "fill the hands," used for ordaining priests; here it is applied to the altar itself, though some read it as the priests being ordained.

27When these days are over, then from the eighth day on, the priests are to offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar. And I will accept you, says the Lord GOD."

27And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.

NoteA "peace offering" (also called a fellowship offering) was different from a burnt offering: only part of it went on the fire, and the rest was eaten as a shared meal by the worshipers and priests. That the altar moves on to these offerings on the eighth day signals that the dedication period is over and normal worship has begun.