Ezekiel 43:20

43:19 And 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.

And 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.

KJV

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You shall take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around: thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.

And 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.

And you shall take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and on the border round about: thus shall you cleanse and purge it.

And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse it and make atonement for it.

43:21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.

What does Ezekiel 43:20 mean?

Ezekiel 43:20 is a verse in the book of Ezekiel, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include לָקַח (lâqach), דָּם (dâm), נָתַן (nâthan). It connects to 40 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

And

thou

shalt

takeלָקַחlâqach/law-kakh'/H3947to take (in the widest variety of applications)

the

bloodדָּםdâm/dawm/H1818blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by analogy, the juice of the grape; figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed (i.e. drops of blood)

thereof,

and

putנָתַןnâthan/naw-than'/H5414to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)

the

fourאַרְבַּעʼarbaʻ/ar-bah'/H702four

hornsקֶרֶןqeren/keh'-ren/H7161a horn (as projecting); by implication, a flask, cornet; by resemblance. an elephant's tooth (i.e. ivory), a corner (of the altar), a peak (of a mountain), a ray (of light); figuratively, power

it,

and

the

fourאַרְבַּעʼarbaʻ/ar-bah'/H702four

cornersפִּנָּהpinnâh/pin-naw'/H6438an angle; by implication, a pinnacle; figuratively, a chieftain

the

settle,עֲזָרָהʻăzârâh/az-aw-raw'/H5835an inclosure; also a border

and

upon

the

borderגְּבוּלgᵉbûwl/gheb-ool'/H1366properly, a cord (as twisted), i.e. (by implication) a boundary; by extension the territory inclosed

round

about:סָבִיבçâbîyb/saw-beeb'/H5439(as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environs; but chiefly (as adverb, with or without preposition) around

thus

shalt

thou

cleanseחָטָאchâṭâʼ/khaw-taw'/H2398properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn

and

purgeכָּפַרkâphar/kaw-far'/H3722to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel

it.

Commentary on Ezekiel 43:20

CLARKE · whole chapter

earth. Is there not a mystery here? All knowledge, all religion, and all arts and sciences, have traveled, according to the course of the sun, From East To West! From that quarter the Divine glory at first came; and thence the rays of Divine light continue to diffuse themselves over the face of the earth. From thence came the Bible, and through that the new covenant. From thence came the prophets, the apostles, and the first missionaries, that brought the knowledge of God to Europe, to the isles of the sea, and to the west first, and afterwards to these northern regions. Verse 5 The spirit took me up - And, to follow this thought for a moment, how many men has this heavenly Spirit taken up; filled them with his own influence, and sent them to every country, and nation, and tongue, and people, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God, and to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ! What spiritual temples have been raised, beautified, and filled with the glory of God! And this light is shining and burning more and more unto the perfect day, when the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of God! Verse 7 Son of man, the place of my throne - The throne refers to his majesty; the soles of his feet, to his condescension in dwelling among men. Where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel - The tabernacle and temple were types of the incarnation of Jesus Christ: "Destroy This Temple, and after three days I will raise it up; - but this he spake of the temple of his body;" Joh 2:19, Joh 2:21. And in That Temple "dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Into this immaculate humanity did the glory of the Supreme God enter; and thus, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." And this Jesus is Immanuel, God with Us. In him we find united the ineffable majesty of God, with the abjectness of man. He humbled himself in human nature, not only to bear the form of a servant, but to suffer death upon the cross as a malefactor slave! But by these means he has purchased eternal redemption for us; and the spiritual Israel, who find redemption in his blood, shall be raised up wherever his holy name shall be proclaimed; and shall not, like the old apostate Israel, defile that great name by idolatry or a life of wickedness, but they shall show forth the virtues of Him who has called them from darkness into his marvellous light. Verse 8 In their setting of their threshold - They had even gone so far as to set up their idol altars by those of Jehovah; so that their abominable idols were found in the very house of God! therefore, "he consumed them in his anger." Verse 9 Now let them put away their whoredom - Their idolatry. And the carcasses of their kings - It appears that God was displeased with their bringing their kings so near his temple. David was buried in the city of David, which was on Mount Zion, near to the temple; and so were almost all the kings of Judah; but God requires that the place of his temple and its vicinity shall be kept unpolluted; and when they put away all kinds of defilement, then will he dwell among them. Verse 10 Show the house to the house of Israel - Show them this holy house where the holy God dwells, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Their name, their profession, their temple, their religious services, all bound them to a holy life; all within them, all without them, should have been holiness unto the Lord. But alas! they have been bound by no ties, and they have sinned against all their obligations; nevertheless, let them measure the pattern, let them see the rule by which they should have walked, and let them measure themselves by this standard, and walk accordingly. Verse 11 And if they be ashamed - If, in a spirit of true repentance, they acknowledge their past transgressions, and purpose in his help never more to offend their God, then teach them every thing that concerns my worship, and their profiting by it. Verse 12 This is the law of the house - From the top of the mountain on which it stands, to the bottom, all round about, all shall be holy; no buildings shall be erected in any part, nor place nor spot be appropriated to a common use; all shall be considered as being most holy. Verse 13 The cubit is a cubit and a hand breadth - It is the same cubit by which all the previous admeasurements were made, and was a hand breadth or four inches longer than the Babylonian cubit. Verse 15 So the altar - ההראל haharel, "the mount of God." And from the altar - ומהאראיל umihaariel, "and from the lion of God." Perhaps the first was a name given to the altar when elevated to the honor of God, and on which the victims were offered to him, and the second, the lion of God, may mean the hearth, which might have been thus called, because it devoured and consumed the burnt-offerings, as a lion does his prey. See on Isa 29:1 (note). Verse 17 And the settle - The ledge on which the priests walked round the altar, see Eze 43:14. By these settles or ledges the altar was narrowed towards the top. "The ascent shall look toward the east;" this ascent was an inclined plane. But these settles, or more properly ledges, as Bp. Newcome translates, may be thus computed. The altar itself was ten feet high and twenty broad; the same as that of Solomon, 2Chr 4:1. Height Cubits For the base, Eze 43:13, is in height 1 From the surface of the base to the first ledge, Eze 43:14 1 From the lower ledge to the upper, Eze 43:14 4 From the upper ledge to the ariel or hearth, Eze 43:15 4 In all 10 Breadth Cubits And as to the breadth, the upper ledge, Eze 43:17, was 14 Add a cubit on each side for the higher ledge, Eze 43:14, latter part 2 Add a cubit on each side for the lower ledge, Eze 43:14, former part 2 Add a cubit on each side for the base, Eze 43:13 2 In all 20 The altar of burnt-offerings, described Exo 27:1; Exo 38:1, was smaller than this, because it was to be removed from place to place with the tabernacle. This was designed for a permanent temple. See Bp. Newcome on this chapter. Verse 19 The priests - that be of the seed of Zadok - It was this Zadok that was put in the place of Abiathar, by Solomon, 1Kgs 2:35, in whose family the priesthood had continued ever since. Verse 25 Seven days shalt thou prepare - These are, in general, ordinances of the Law; and may be seen by consulting the parallel passages. All these directions are given that they might follow them, when they should be put in possession of their own land. For in several cases the prophet enters into particulars, as if he had supposed that the book of the law had perished. Introduction This chapter gives an account of the glory of God having returned to the temple, Eze 44:14. The Jews reproved for suffering idolatrous priests to pollute it with their ministrations, Eze 44:5-8. Ordinances respecting the conduct of the priests, and the maintenance due to them, vv. 9-31. Verse 1 The outward sanctuary - In opposition to the temple itself, which was the inner sanctuary. Verse 2 This gate shall be shut - It was not

HENRY_FULL · Ezekiel 43:13–27

The Vision of the Temple. ( b. c. 574.) 13 And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and a 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. 14 And 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. 15 So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns. 16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof. 17 And 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. 18 And 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. 19 And 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. 20 And 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. 21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary. 22 And 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. 23 When 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. 24 And 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 . 25 Seven 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. 26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. 27 And 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 . This relates to the altar in this mystical temple, and that is mystical too; for Christ is our altar. The Jews, after their return out of captivity, had an altar long before they had a temple, Ezra iii. 3 . But this was an altar in the temple. Now here we have, I. The measures of the altar, v. 13 . It was six yards square at the top and seven yards square at the bottom; it was four yards and a half high; it had a lower bench or shelf, here called a settle, a yard from the ground, on which some of the priests stood to minister, and another two yards above that, on which others of them stood, and these were each of them half a yard broad, and had ledges on either side, that they might stand firmly upon them. The sacrifices were killed at the table spoken of before, ch. xl. 39 . What was to be burnt on the altar was given up to those on the lower bench, and handed by them to those on the higher, and they laid it on the altar. Thus in the service of God we must be assistant to one another. II. The ordinances of the altar. Directions are here given, 1. Concerning the dedication of the altar at first. Seven days were to be spent in the dedication of it, and every day sacrifices were to be offered upon it, and particularly a goat for a sin-offering ( v. 25 ), besides a young bullock for a sin-offering on the first day ( v. 19 ), which teaches us in all our religious services to have an eye to Christ the great sin-offering. Neither our persons nor our performances can be acceptable to God unless sin be taken away, and that cannot be taken away but by the blood of Christ, which both sanctifies the altar (for Christ entered by his own blood, Heb. ix. 12 ) and the gift upon the altar. There were also to be a bullock and a ram offered for a burnt-offering ( v. 24 ), which was intended purely for the glory of God, to teach us to have an eye to that in all our services; we present ourselves as living sacrifices, and our devotions as spiritual sacrifices, that we and they may be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory. The dedication of the altar is here called the cleansing and purging of it, v. 20 , 26 . Christ, our altar, though he had no pollution to be cleansed from, yet sanctified himself ( John xvii. 19 ); and when we consecrate the altars of our hearts to God, to have the fire of holy love always burning upon them, we must see that they be purified and cleansed from the love of the world and the lusts of the flesh. It is observable that there are several differences between the rites of dedication here and those which were appointed Exod. xxix. , to intimate that the ceremonial institutions were mutable things, and the changes in them were earnests of their period in Christ. Only here, according to the general law, that all the sacrifices must be seasoned with salt ( Lev. ii. 13 ), particular orders are given ( v. 24 ) that the priests shall cast salt upon the sacrifices. Grace is the salt with which all our religious performances must be seasoned, Col. iv. 6 . An everlasting covenant is called a covenant of salt, because it is incorruptible. The glory reserved for us is incorruptible and undefiled; and the grace wrought in us is the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible. 2. Concerning the constant use that should be made of it, when it was dedicated: Henceforward the priests shall make their burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon this altar ( v. 27 ), for therefore it was sanctified, that it might sanctify the gift that was offered upon it. Observe further, (1.) Who were to serve at the altar: The priests of the seed of Zadok, v. 19 . That family was substituted in the room of Abiathar by Solomon, and God confirms it. His name signifies righteous, for they are the righteous seed that are priests to God, through Christ the Lord our righteousness. (2.) How they should prepare for this service ( v. 26 ): They shall consecrate themselves, shall fill their hand with the offerings, in token of the giving up of themselves with their offerings to God and to his service. Note, Before we minister to the Lord in holy things we must consecrate ourselves by getting our hands and hearts filled with those things. (3.) How they should speed in it ( v. 27 ): I will accept you. And if God now accept our works, if our services be pleasing to him, it is enough, we need no more. Those that give themselves to God shall be accepted of God, their persons first and then their performances, through the Mediator.

WESLEY · Ezekiel 43:20

Shalt take - Appoint it to be taken.

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Exodus 29:12

And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

Exodus 29:36

And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

Leviticus 4:25

And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.

Leviticus 4:30

And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.

Leviticus 4:34

And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:

Leviticus 8:15

And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.

Leviticus 9:9

And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:

Leviticus 16:19

And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

2 Samuel 16:11

And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.

2 Kings 24:2

And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

2 Kings 24:3

Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

2 Chronicles 36:17

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

Isaiah 6:11

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

Isaiah 10:5

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

Isaiah 13:3

I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.

Isaiah 24:12

In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

Isaiah 37:26

Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

Isaiah 45:1

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

Lamentations 1:1

How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

Ezekiel 9:11

And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Ezekiel 21:4

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

Ezekiel 32:29

There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

Ezekiel 33:10

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

Ezekiel 33:27

Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

Ezekiel 33:28

For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.

Ezekiel 37:8

And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Ezekiel 38:23

Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 39:1

Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

Ezekiel 39:2

And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

Ezekiel 39:8

Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

Ezekiel 43:15

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

Ezekiel 43:22

And 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.

Ezekiel 43:26

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

Ezekiel 44:2

Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

Ezekiel 44:22

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

Amos 3:6

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?

Micah 7:13

Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

Zechariah 1:12

Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

Zechariah 7:14

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Matthew 22:7

But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Ezekiel 43:20.

Exodus 27:2

And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

Exodus 38:2

And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.

Exodus 29:12

And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

Exodus 30:10

And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord.

Ezekiel 45:19

And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.

Genesis 14:21

And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

Genesis 15:10

And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

Genesis 16:3

And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Frequently asked questions

What does Ezekiel 43:20 say?

Ezekiel 43:20 (King James Version) reads: "And 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."

Is Ezekiel 43:20 in the Old or New Testament?

Ezekiel 43:20 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Ezekiel.

Reflect

As you read Ezekiel 43:20, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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