Ezekiel 20:41
in Ezekiel 20When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As a sweet savor will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
KJV
I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseGOD does not cease to observe the sins of His people. As the eyes of Moses never waxed dim, so the eyes of God do not grow dim with regard to the sins of His chosen. We may learn this from the recapitulation of those offenses which we find in the chapter before us and in many other places in Scripture. He looks down from Heaven and beholds their wanderings, the hardness of their hearts, the stubbornness of their will, their daily and continual violations of His statutes and commands.
This site's exposition
Go ye, serve ye every one his idols
on Ezekiel 20:39-42
The Lord tells Israel to go and serve their idols, but he adds the one condition that still stands, pollute my holy name no more. The turn comes at mine holy mountain, where all the house of Israel is promised full acceptance, offerings, firstfruits, and holy things once again received.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 40, 41.)
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Not one of God's jewels shall be lost in the lumber of this world. (2.) He will bring them to the land of Israel, which he had promised to give to their fathers; and the discontinuance of their possession shall be no defeasance of their right; it is the land of Israel still, and thither God will bring them safely again,
), as being very grateful to him and what he takes a complacency in; whereas, to hypocritical worshippers, he says, I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. (4.) He will give them true repentance for their sins,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
I will accept you with your sweet savour,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
with--that is, in respect to your sweet savor (literally, "savor of rest," see on Eze 16:19). Or, I will accept you (your worship) "as a sweet savor" [MAURER], (Eph 5:2; God first accepts the person in Messiah, then the offering (Eze 20:40;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
GOD does not cease to observe the sins of His people. As the eyes of Moses never waxed dim, so the eyes of God do not grow dim with regard to the sins of His chosen. We may learn this from the recapitulation of those offenses which we find in the chapter before us and in many other places in Scripture. He looks down from Heaven and beholds their wanderings, the hardness of their hearts, the stubbornness of their will, their daily and continual violations of His statutes and commands. Mercy has some other source than that of laxness in the memory of God. He knows the sins of man and He hates the sins of His people just as much as the sins of other men. No, if there are sins which are worse in God's estimation than others, they are the sins of His own elect. But, notwithstanding this severe strictness, and although God must have a much clearer view of the evil of sin than any of us ever can, He freely pardons those whom He reserves. He casts their sins behind His back and remembers not their iniquity. He blots out their transgression like a cloud, and their iniquities like a thick cloud. He has a time to chasten but He has also a set time to bless. He afflicts, but He does not afflict from the heart. And when He turns in a way of Grace to His people, He then seems to be flying on the wings of the wind for He comes with all His soul most heartily and richly to display His favor and His love toward the objects of His choice. One would have thought that the persons described in this chapter never would have been acceptable to God. They had so thoroughly defiled themselves, and after so many trials had been so desperately incorrigible, that one would have supposed the chapter would have concluded with thunderbolts of vengeance and a terrible voice condemning them to be driven forever from the face of the Most High.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּרֵ֣יחַ | bereiach | <in> an odor of | H7381 → | 58 times |
| נִיחֹחַ֮ | nichoach | soothing | H5207 → | 43 times |
| אֶרְצֶ֣ה | ʾertzeh | I will accept | H7521 → | 56 times |
| אֶתְכֶם֒ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּהוֹצִיאִ֤י | behotzii | when bring out I | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶתְכֶם֙ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְקִבַּצְתִּ֣י | vekibatzti | and I will gather | H6908 → | 127 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֔ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָ֣אֲרָצ֔וֹת | haaratzot | the lands | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נְפֹצֹתֶ֖ם | nefotzotem | you have been scattered | H6327 → | 67 times |
| בָּ֑ם | bam | among them | ||
| וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּ֥י | venikdashti | and I will show myself holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| בָכֶ֖ם | vakhem | among you | ||
| לְעֵינֵ֥י | leeinei | to [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| הַגּוֹיִֽם׃ | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
בְּרֵ֣יחַ<in> an odor of
bereiachH7381 →58 times
נִיחֹחַ֮soothing
nichoachH5207 →43 times
אֶרְצֶ֣הI will accept
ʾertzehH7521 →56 times
אֶתְכֶם֒<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בְּהוֹצִיאִ֤יwhen bring out I
behotziiH3318 →1067 times
אֶתְכֶם֙<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָ֣עַמִּ֔יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
וְקִבַּצְתִּ֣יand I will gather
vekibatztiH6908 →127 times
אֶתְכֶ֔ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָ֣אֲרָצ֔וֹתthe lands
haaratzotH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נְפֹצֹתֶ֖םyou have been scattered
nefotzotemH6327 →67 times
בָּ֑םamong them
bam
וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּ֥יand I will show myself holy
venikdashtiH6942 →171 times
בָכֶ֖םamong you
vakhem
לְעֵינֵ֥יto [the] eyes of
leeineiH5869 →887 times
הַגּוֹיִֽם׃the nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 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
Isaiah 5:16But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
it leads to
- Psalms 46:10
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”
- 1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- Isaiah 12:4
and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted.
- 1 Peter 2:15
For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.
- Isaiah 29:23
For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the…
- Psalms 46:10
Through
Ezekiel 38:23I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 9:16
The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
- Psalms 9:16
Through
Ezekiel 28:25This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will show Myself holy among them in the sight of…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:37
I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them…
- Jeremiah 32:37
Through
Ezekiel 11:17Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:25
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will show Myself holy among them in the sight of…
- Ezekiel 28:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 688: “Sweet Savor” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.