Ezequiel 43

ARC · Chapter 43/48

1Então me levou á porta, á porta que olha para o caminho do oriente.

2E eis que a gloria do Deus de Israel vinha do caminho do oriente; e a sua voz era como a voz de muitas aguas, e a terra resplandeceu por causa da sua gloria.

3E o aspecto da visão que vi era como o aspecto que eu tinha visto quando vim a destruir a cidade; e eram os aspectos da visão como o aspecto que vi junto ao rio de Chebar; e cahi sobre o meu rosto.

4E a gloria do Senhor entrou no templo pelo caminho da porta, cuja face está para o caminho do oriente.

5E levantou-me o espirito, e me levou ao atrio interior: e eis que a gloria do Senhor encheu o templo.

6E ouvi a um que fallava comigo de dentro do templo, e estava um homem em pé junto comigo.

7E me disse: Filho do homem, este é o logar do meu throno, e o logar das plantas dos meus pés, onde habitarei no meio dos filhos de Israel para sempre; e os da casa de Israel não contaminarão mais o meu nome sancto, nem elles nem os seus reis, pelas suas fornicações, e pelos cadaveres dos seus reis, nos seus altos

8Pondo o seu umbral ao pé do meu umbral, e a sua umbreira junto á minha umbreira, e havendo uma parede entre mim e entre elles; e contaminaram o meu sancto nome com as suas abominações que faziam; por isso eu os consumi na minha ira

9Agora lançarão para longe de mim a sua fornicação, e os cadaveres dos seus reis, e habitarei no meio d'elles para sempre.

10Tu pois, ó filho do homem, mostra á casa de Israel esta casa, para que se envergonhe das suas maldades, e meça o exemplar d'ella.

11E, envergonhando-se elles de tudo quanto fizeram, faze-lhes saber a forma d'esta casa, e a sua figura, e as suas saidas, e as suas entradas, e todas as suas formas, e todos os seus estatutos, todas as suas formas, e todas as suas leis; e escreve-as aos seus olhos, para que guardem toda a sua forma, e todos os seus estatutos, e os façam.

12Esta é a lei da casa: Sobre o cume do monte todo o seu contorno em redor será sanctidade de sanctidades; eis que esta é a lei da casa.

13E estas são as medidas do altar, pelos covados; o covado é um covado e um palmo: e o seio d'um covado de altura, e um covado de largura, e o seu contorno da sua borda ao redor, d'um palmo; e zesta é a base do altar.

14E do seio desde a terra até á listra de baixo, dois covados, e de largura um covado: e desde a pequena listra até á listra grande, quatro covados, e a largura d'um covado.

15E o Harel, de quatro covados: e desde o Ariel e até acima havia quatro cornos.

16E o Ariel terá doze covados de comprimento, e doze de largura, quadrado nos quatro lados.

17E a listra, quatorze covados de comprimento, e quatorze de largura, nos seus quatro lados; e o contorno, ao redor d'ella, de meio covado, e o seio d'ella, de um covado, ao redor: e os seus degraus olhavam para o oriente.

18E me disse: Filho do homem, assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Estes são os estatutos do altar, no dia em que o farão, para offerecer sobre elle holocausto e para espalhar sobre elle sangue.

19E aos sacerdotes levitas, que são da semente de Zadoc, que se chegam a mim (diz o Senhor Jehovah) para me servirem, darás um bezerro, para expiação do peccado.

20E tomarás do seu sangue, e o porás sobre os seus quatro cornos, e nas quatro esquinas da listra, e no contorno ao redor: assim o purificarás e o expiarás.

21Então tomarás o bezerro da expiação do peccado, e o queimarão no logar da casa para isso ordenado, fóra do sanctuario.

22E no segundo dia offerecerás um bode, sem mancha, para expiação do peccado: e purificarão o altar, como o purificaram com o bezerro.

23E, acabando tu de o purificar, offerecerás um bezerro, sem mancha, e um carneiro do rebanho, sem mancha.

24E os offerecerás perante a face do Senhor; e os sacerdotes deitarão sal sobre elles, e os offerecerão em holocausto ao Senhor.

25Por sete dias prepararás um bode de expiação cada dia: tambem prepararão um bezerro, e um carneiro do rebanho, sem mancha.

26Por sete dias expiarão o altar, e o purificarão, e encherão as suas mãos.

27E, cumprindo elles estes dias, será que, ao oitavo dia, e d'ali em diante, prepararão os sacerdotes sobre o altar os vossos holocaustos e os vossos sacrificios pacificos; e eu me deleitarei em vós, diz o Senhor Jehovah.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The glory of the Lord returns to the temple through the east gate, exactly as it had departed in chapters 10-11, and God declares that he will dwell there forever, giving instructions about the altar and its consecration.

Explanation

This is the emotional high point of the entire book: the same glory that Ezekiel saw sorrowfully departing from the ancient temple (chapters 10-11) now returns, entering through the very same east gate through which it had left. This closes a powerful narrative circle, showing that God's withdrawal was never final or vengeful, but disciplinary and temporary. The instruction for the people to feel ashamed of their past sins as they consider this new temple (v.10-11) shows that restoration does not erase the need for a sincere acknowledgment of wrongdoing. The details about the seven-day consecration of the altar echo consecration rituals already seen in Exodus and Leviticus, showing continuity between the old covenant and this new phase of relationship with God.

Fun facts

  • The return of God's glory through the east gate (v.4) is a deliberate and careful parallel to its departure through the same gate in Ezekiel 10:19 and 11:23, one of the clearest examples of circular literary structure in the whole Bible.
  • The command that the east gate remain shut afterward, used only by the prince (Ezekiel 44:1-3), may reflect special reverence because it was the gate through which the very glory of God had entered.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 43:1The glory of the Lord returns and enters through the same east gate it had left by in chapters 10 and 11 — the symmetrical close of one of the book’s most important threads: the presence of God that abandoned the temple now returns to stay.
  2. Ezequiel 43:2The glory of God returns by way of the east, with a sound like “many waters,” the same language used in the opening vision of chapter 1 — the earth shines with this presence.
  3. Ezequiel 43:3Ezekiel recognizes this scene as matching earlier visions: the one of the city’s destruction (chapters 8-11, when the glory left the temple) and the initial one by the Chebar River — the return closes a loop opened long before.
  4. Ezequiel 43:4The glory of God enters the temple exactly through the east gate — the same gate through which, in an earlier vision, it had left before Jerusalem’s destruction.
  5. Ezequiel 43:5The Spirit carries Ezekiel into the inner court, where he sees the temple completely filled with the glory of God — the opposite of the empty temple from before the exile.
  6. Ezequiel 43:6Someone speaks to Ezekiel from inside the temple, while the “man” who had been measuring everything stays standing beside him.
  7. Ezequiel 43:7The complaint about kings being buried too close to the sanctuary refers to the real practice of burying Judah’s royalty near the temple, in Jerusalem — the text treats this closeness between royal tombs and the sacred space as a form of contamination that must never happen again.
  8. Ezequiel 43:8Explains the reason for the earlier destruction: kings and people profaned the temple by placing their own spaces right against the sacred wall, mixing the common with the holy.
  9. Ezequiel 43:9The condition for God to dwell there forever: the people must permanently put away these practices of profanation tied to the old royal customs.
  10. Ezequiel 43:10Ezekiel receives the task of showing this detailed “house” to the people, not as an architectural curiosity, but so they may be ashamed of their own evils in light of this standard of holiness.
  11. Ezequiel 43:11Details the task: to write down the whole form, the entrances, exits, and laws of the temple, so that the people will truly keep and practice what they are instructed.
  12. Ezequiel 43:12Sums up the “law of the house” in a single sentence: the whole top of the mountain, all around, is most holy — the principle that organizes everything measured up to this point.
  13. Ezequiel 43:13“Harel” and “Ariel,” names given to different parts of the altar, are ancient technical terms meaning something like “mountain of God” and “hearth of God” — specific sacrificial-architecture vocabulary that does not appear in many other places in the Bible.
  14. Ezequiel 43:14Details the altar’s tiers, measuring from the ground up through the different ledges that formed its stepped structure.
  15. Ezequiel 43:15Names specific parts of the altar, with Hebrew terms tied to “mountain of God” and “lion of God,” along with its four horns, a common element in ancient altars.
  16. Ezequiel 43:16Measures the top of the altar as a perfect square, twelve cubits by twelve cubits.
  17. Ezequiel 43:17Measures the tier below, larger than the top, with steps facing east — the orientation toward the sunrise repeats at several points in the complex.
  18. Ezequiel 43:18The altar’s seven-day dedication, with blood applied to its horns and corners, follows the same pattern of ritual purification described in Exodus and Leviticus for consecrating a sacred space before its first use.
  19. Ezequiel 43:19Details the start of the consecration ritual: a bull offered by the priests descended from Zadok, the ones authorized to serve at this altar.
  20. Ezequiel 43:20The bull’s blood is applied to the horns of the altar and its edges, a purification ritual that symbolically “cleanses” the structure before its first use.
  21. Ezequiel 43:21The bull used in the purification is burned at a specific place outside the sanctuary, not on the altar that has just been purified.
  22. Ezequiel 43:22On the second day of the consecration, a goat without blemish repeats the same process of purifying the altar.
  23. Ezequiel 43:23Once purified, the altar receives its first regular offerings: a bull and a ram, both without physical blemish.
  24. Ezequiel 43:24Details the offering: salt is added, an element tied to durability and purity in biblical sacrifices, before everything is burned as a burnt offering.
  25. Ezequiel 43:25The consecration process repeats for seven full days, with a goat, a bull, and a ram offered daily.
  26. Ezequiel 43:26Sums up the purpose of the seven days: to purify the altar and prepare it for continued use, a Hebrew expression tied to the consecration of sacred objects.
  27. Ezequiel 43:27From the eighth day on, the altar comes into regular use, and God promises to be pleased with the offerings made there — marking the end of the temple’s dedication process.

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