Ezekiel 36:23
in Ezekiel 36I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
KJV
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
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This verse in Ezekiel 36
Commentary
13 notes on this verseI will sanctify my great name - They gave the heathen occasion to think meanly of me, but I will shew I am as great as good. When God performs what he hath sworn by his holiness, then he sanctifies his name.
This site's exposition
not for your sake that I will act
on Ezekiel 36:22-23
The motive clause is the chapter's hinge: “It is not for your sake that I will act”, the Lord says, “but for My holy name”. The phrase grounds everything that follows in God's character. “I will show the holiness of My great name” answers the profaning in the previous unit.
This site's exposition
when I show My holiness in you
The LORD's holiness is displayed in what He does for Israel, the same promise made at 20:41 and 28:25. The nations watch it happen before their eyes. Israel's restoration becomes the proof of the LORD's name.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
All these things the Lord will bestow, not because of those who have perished as a result of their own errors but because of his holy name.
You brought into being the everlasting structure of the world by what you did. You, Lord, made the earth. You who are faithful in all generations, righteous in judgment, marvelous in strength and majesty, wise in creating, prudent in making creation endure, visibly good, kind to those who trust in you.
(Verse 16 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, the house of Israel have dwelt (or dwells) in their own land, and they have defiled it with their ways and their idols: according to the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity, their way has become before me.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And this was in part fulfilled in that wonderful effect which the captivity in Babylon had upon the Jews there, that it effectually cured them of their inclination to idolatry. But it is further intended as a draught of the covenant of grace, and a specimen of those spiritual blessings with which we are blessed in heavenly things by that covenant.
We cannot sanctify God's name unless he sanctify our hearts, nor live to his glory, but by his grace. That God would give them a new heart, a disposition of mind excellent in itself and vastly different from what it was before.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But, one way or other, God will make all his favourites to know and own that it is his grace, and not their goodness, his mercy, and not their merit, that made them so; and that therefore not unto them, not unto them, but unto him, is all the glory due. (2.) They must repent of the sin of their own evil ways.
And I will sanctify my great name,....
That he would sanctify them, by giving them his grace and fitting them for his service; and this for his own name's sake and in answer to their prayers,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
sanctify--vindicate and manifest as holy, in opposition to the heathen reproaches of it brought on by the Jews' sins and their punishment (see on Eze 36:20). sanctified in you--that is, in respect of you; I shall be regarded in their eyes as the Holy One, and righteous in My dealings towards you (Eze 20:41;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
I will sanctify my great name - By changing your hearts and your conduct, I shall show my hatred to vice, and my love to holiness: but it is not for your sakes, but for my holy name’s sake, that I shall do you good in your latter days.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְקִדַּשְׁתִּ֞י | vekidashti | and I will show holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמִ֣י | shemi | name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הַגָּד֗וֹל | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| הַֽמְחֻלָּל֙ | hamchulal | that has been] profaned | H2490 → | 143 times |
| בַּגּוֹיִ֔ם | bagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חִלַּלְתֶּ֖ם | chilaltem | you have profaned | H2490 → | 143 times |
| בְּתוֹכָ֑ם | betokham | in midst of them | H8432 → | 418 times |
| וְיָדְע֨וּ | veyadeu | and they will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֜ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| נְאֻם֙ | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| בְּהִקָּדְשִׁ֥י | behikadeshi | when I show holy myself | H6942 → | 171 times |
| בָכֶ֖ם | vakhem | by you | ||
| לְעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃ | leeineihem | to eyes their | H5869 → | 887 times |
וְקִדַּשְׁתִּ֞יand I will show holy
vekidashtiH6942 →171 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמִ֣יname my
shemiH8034 →864 times
הַגָּד֗וֹל<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
הַֽמְחֻלָּל֙that has been] profaned
hamchulalH2490 →143 times
בַּגּוֹיִ֔םamong the nations
bagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חִלַּלְתֶּ֖םyou have profaned
chilaltemH2490 →143 times
בְּתוֹכָ֑םin midst of them
betokhamH8432 →418 times
וְיָדְע֨וּand they will know
veyadeuH3045 →945 times
הַגּוֹיִ֜םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֗ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
נְאֻם֙[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
בְּהִקָּדְשִׁ֥יwhen I show holy myself
behikadeshiH6942 →171 times
בָכֶ֖םby you
vakhem
לְעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃to eyes their
leeineihemH5869 →887 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 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:5–6
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of…
- Revelation 1:6
who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
- Revelation 5:10
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
- Isaiah 61:6
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their…
- Exodus 19:5–6
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.”
- 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 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,…
- Psalms 46:10
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Holiness35 verses
On this page
Studies15
On this chapter
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 60:1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 11:36.16-38; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy.