Ezekiel 43:12
in Ezekiel 43This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This is the law of the house: upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
KJV
This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 43
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThis 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.
This site's exposition
describe the temple to the people of Israel
on Ezekiel 43:10-12
The purpose of nine chapters of measuring is stated only now, to “describe the temple to the people of Israel” so they may be ashamed. The law of the temple follows in one sentence, “All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy.”
This site's exposition
This is the law of the temple
Holiness becomes the rule for the whole mountain, and John Wesley calls it the first rule of the house. Adam Clarke extends it from the summit to the foot, with no ground left for common use. Charles Spurgeon preached the verse as a picture of the church.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 10 and following) But you, son of man, show the house of Israel the temple: and let them be confounded by their iniquities, and let them measure the structure, and let them be ashamed of all that they have done. Show them the form of the house and its structure, its exits and entrances, and all its descriptions and all its laws. Show them the entire order and all its laws, and write them in their sight, that they may keep all its arrangements and its laws, and do them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The law - This is the first comprehensive rule: holiness becomes God's house; and this relative holiness referred to personal and real holiness. The top - The whole circuit of this mountain shall be holy, but the top of it on which the temple stands, shall be most holy.
19 ), with this advantage, that whereas the high priest entered in the virtue of the blood of bulls and goats, we enter in the virtue of the blood of Jesus, and, wherever we are, we have through him access to the Father. The whole church shall be under a mighty obligation to press towards the perfection of holiness, as he who has called us is holy.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
This is the law of the house,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I SHALL not enter into the immediate meaning of Ezekiel's vision. I believe that the house of which Ezekiel speaks is typical of the Church of the Living God. In it I see not so much the visible Church as that spiritual, mystical Church of Jesus Christ which is the one place of His abode. It is found in a state of Grace on earth and in full Glory in Heaven. Below it is the holy Church militant—above it is the holy Church triumphant.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
whole . . . most holy--This superlative, which had been used exclusively of the holy of holies (Ex 26:34), was now to characterize the entire building. This all-pervading sanctity was to be "the law of the (whole) house," as distinguished from the Levitical law, which confined the peculiar sanctity to a single apartment of it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
I SHALL not enter into the immediate meaning of Ezekiel's vision. I believe that the house of which Ezekiel speaks is typical of the Church of the Living God. In it I see not so much the visible Church as that spiritual, mystical Church of Jesus Christ which is the one place of His abode. It is found in a state of Grace on earth and in full Glory in Heaven. Below it is the holy Church militant—above it is the holy Church triumphant. The Church is the only thing upon earth which can properly be called the House of God, for He dwells not in temples made with hands, that is to say of this building. The finest architecture could never constitute a proper shrine for Deity. Look to yon blue heavens, gaze upon the spangled vault of night and view the ever-flashing, wide and open sea and tell me if any handiwork of man can rival the temple of Nature! Peer into boundless space and see what a temple is already built—within what walls would you hope to house the infinite Jehovah? He has deigned, however, to choose Zion and to desire it for His habitation. The saints are built together as a spiritual house, a habitation of God through the Spirit. He resides among His people according to His promise, "I will dwell in them and walk in them." Hence the Church is the home of the Great Father, where He dwells in the midst of His family and takes His rest. Has He not said, "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell, for I have desired it"? As a man in his own house takes his case and finds delight, so does God take pleasure in them that fear Him—"His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." The Church is God's house, for there He makes Himself known and manifests Himself as He does not unto the outside world.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
See also Eze 47:12. This is the law of the ordinance of the new sanctuary. After the consecration, God pronounces the “law” which is to govern the ordinances of the sanctuary (compare 1 Kings 8), first briefly repeating the general rule that the place must be kept holy to the Lord (compare Rev 21:27), and then proceeding to specific ordinances commencing with the altar.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And if they are ashamed i.e., [if] they will be embarrassed and hide their faces because of all they did, then let them know what I am destined to do for them.
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| תּוֹרַ֣ת | torat | [is] [the] law of | H8451 → | 219 times |
| הַבָּ֑יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | [the] top of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָ֠הָר | hahor | the mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גְּבֻל֞וֹ | gevulo | territory its | H1366 → | 240 times |
| סָבִ֤יב׀ | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| סָבִיב֙ | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| קֹ֣דֶשׁ | kodesh | [will be] a holy place of | H6944 → | 469 times |
| קָדָשִׁ֔ים | kadashim | holy places | H6944 → | 469 times |
| הִנֵּה־ | hineh- | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| זֹ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| תּוֹרַ֥ת | torat | [is] [the] law of | H8451 → | 219 times |
| הַבָּֽיִת׃ | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
זֹ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
תּוֹרַ֣ת[is] [the] law of
toratH8451 →219 times
הַבָּ֑יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֹ֣אשׁ[the] top of
roshH7218 →599 times
הָ֠הָרthe mountain
hahorH2022 →546 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
גְּבֻל֞וֹterritory its
gevuloH1366 →240 times
סָבִ֤יב׀all around
savivH5439 →336 times
סָבִיב֙all around
savivH5439 →336 times
קֹ֣דֶשׁ[will be] a holy place of
kodeshH6944 →469 times
קָדָשִׁ֔יםholy places
kadashimH6944 →469 times
הִנֵּה־there!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
זֹ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
תּוֹרַ֥ת[is] [the] law of
toratH8451 →219 times
הַבָּֽיִת׃the house
habayitH1004 →2046 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
Revelation 21:27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 22:14–15
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- Revelation 20:15
And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
- Revelation 3:5
Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His…
- Isaiah 35:8
And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Isaiah 52:1
Through
Psalms 93:5Your testimonies are fully confirmed; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, for all the days to come.
it leads to
- Psalms 29:2
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.
- Psalms 119:111
Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
- Psalms 19:7–8
The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
- Psalms 29:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1618: “Holiness, The Law of God's House” (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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.