Ezekiel 20:12
in Ezekiel 20I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth them.
KJV
Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI gave them my Sabbaths - The religious observance of the Sabbath was the first statute or command of God to men. This institution was a sign between God and them, to keep them in remembrance of the creation of the world, of the rest that he designed them in Canaan, and of the eternal inheritance among the saints in light. Of these things the Sabbath was a type and pledge.
This site's exposition
brought them into the wilderness
on Ezekiel 20:10-12
Brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, the nation receives the statutes and judgments. Alongside the law the Lord gives the sabbaths specifically as a sign between me and them. Henry reads the sabbath's placement here as deliberate, singled out because it is the commandment most visibly broken.
This site's exposition
a sign between us
Exodus 31:13 gives the Sabbath the same words, a sign that the LORD sanctifies His people. Clarke reads the sign as a reminder of the creation, of the rest in Canaan and of an eternal rest. Hebrews 4:9 speaks of that last rest.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
It is this truth that we shall realize perfectly when we shall be perfectly at rest and perfectly see that it is he who is God.
For indeed the Sabbath did at the first confer many and great benefits; for instance, it made them gentle towards those of their household, and humane; it taught them God's providence and the creation, as Ezekiel saith; it trained them by degrees to abstain from wickedness, and disposed them to regard the things of the Spirit.
(Verse 10 and following) Therefore I expelled them from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the desert, and gave them my commandments, and showed them my judgments, which a man should do and live by them. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel provoked me in the desert.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Moreover, also, I gave them my sabbaths,....
(3.) Sabbaths, if duly sanctified, are the means of our sanctification; if we do the duty of the day, we shall find, to our comfort, it is the Lord that sanctifies us, makes us holy (that is, truly happy) here, and prepares us to be happy (that is, perfectly holy) hereafter.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
sabbaths, . . . a sign between me and them--a kind of sacramental pledge of the covenant of adoption between God and His people. The Sabbath is specified as a sample of the whole law, to show that the law is not merely precepts, but privileges, of which the Sabbath is one of the highest.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
to be for a sign It is a great sign for them, that I gave the day of My resting to them for a resting. Behold this is a phenomenal manifestation that I hallowed them to Myself.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
they walked not in My statutes They tested Me with the calf, and in Rephidim [i.e., showing unwillingness] to receive the Torah, and they left over some of the manna.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַ֤ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שַׁבְּתוֹתַי֙ | shabetotai | sabbaths my | H7676 → | 110 times |
| נָתַ֣תִּי | natati | I gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | to them | ||
| לִהְי֣וֹת | lihyot | to become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְא֔וֹת | leot | <into> a sign | H226 → | 80 times |
| בֵּינִ֖י | beini | between me | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵֽינֵיהֶ֑ם | uveineihem | and between them | H996 → | 407 times |
| לָדַ֕עַת | ladaat | to know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מְקַדְּשָֽׁם׃ | mekadesham | [who] sanctified them | H6942 → | 171 times |
וְגַ֤םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שַׁבְּתוֹתַי֙sabbaths my
shabetotaiH7676 →110 times
נָתַ֣תִּיI gave
natatiH5414 →2011 times
לָהֶ֔םto them
lahem
לִהְי֣וֹתto become
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לְא֔וֹת<into> a sign
leotH226 →80 times
בֵּינִ֖יbetween me
beiniH996 →407 times
וּבֵֽינֵיהֶ֑םand between them
uveineihemH996 →407 times
לָדַ֕עַתto know
ladaatH3045 →945 times
כִּ֛יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֖ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מְקַדְּשָֽׁם׃[who] sanctified them
mekadeshamH6942 →171 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Thessalonians 5:23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
it leads to
- Jude 1:24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
- 1 Corinthians 1:8–9
He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:13
so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.
- 1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish…
- Jude 1:24
Through
Ezekiel 37:28Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”
it leads to
- John 17:17–19
Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
- Exodus 31:13
“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD…
- 1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
- John 17:17–19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 22.30; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 39:3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.