Ezekiel 43:2
in Ezekiel 43and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory.
KJV
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
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This verse in Ezekiel 43
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east - This was the chariot of cherubim, wheels, etc., which he saw at the river Chebar. And this glory, coming from the east, is going to enter into the eastern gate of the temple, and thence to shine out upon the whole earth. Is there not a mystery here? All knowledge, all religion, and all arts and sciences, have traveled, according to the course of the sun, From East To West!
This site's exposition
the gate that faces east
on Ezekiel 43:1-4
The glory returns “coming from the east,” by the road it took when it left the city at 11:23. His voice is “like the roar of many waters,” the figure chapter 1 used of the throne. Keil reads the return as the whole argument of the vision in one scene.
This site's exposition
coming from the east
John Wesley observes that the glory left eastward and now returns from the east. He takes the voice to be speech. Here the glory speaks words, as verse 6 shows, and Adam Clarke identifies it with the chariot of cherubim seen at the Kebar.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
And the earth shone with his majesty. Which properly happened at the coming of Christ; when the sound of the apostles went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world: and it is fulfilled daily in believers, and will be fulfilled completely, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality.
For here is where only the glory of the God of Israel enters; but there it is said that the fullness of the glory of the Lord was in the temple, as Isaiah also writes: I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the house was full of his glory; when we contemplate the revealed face of the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the image of the Creator.
(Chapter 43, verses 1 onwards) \"And he brought me to the gate that faced east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his majesty. And I saw a vision like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. And the vision that I saw was like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Came - When the glory departed, it went eastward, and now it returns, it comes from the east. And his voice - Though by the voice of God, thunder is sometimes meant, yet here it was an articulate voice.
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Christ's gospel, in the glory of which he shines, was to be proclaimed aloud, the report of it to be heard far; to some it is a savour of life, to others of death, according as they are. The brightness of his appearance which he saw: The earth shone with his glory; for God is light, and none can bear the lustre of his light, none has seen nor can see it.
A promise given of the continuance of God's presence with his people upon condition of their return to, and continuance in, the instituted way of worship, and their abandoning idols and idolatry,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the way of the east--the way whereby the glory had departed (Eze 11:22, 23), and rested on Mount Olivet (compare Zec 14:4). his voice . . . like . . . many waters--So English Version rightly, as in Eze 1:24, "voice of the Almighty"; Not as FAIRBAIRN translates, "its noise." earth his glory-- (Re 18:1).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And he led me He again led me into the Eastern Gate, and I saw the Glory descending to the Court.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִנֵּ֗ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| כְּבוֹד֙ | kevod | [the] glory of | H3519 → | 200 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בָּ֖א | ba' | [was] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מִדֶּ֣רֶךְ | miderekh | from [the] direction of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| הַקָּדִ֑ים | hakadim | the east | H6921 → | 69 times |
| וְקוֹל֗וֹ | vekolo | and sound its | H6963 → | 506 times |
| כְּקוֹל֙ | kekol | [was] like [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| מַ֣יִם | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| רַבִּ֔ים | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וְהָאָ֖רֶץ | vehaaretz | and the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הֵאִ֥ירָה | heirah | it gave light | H215 → | |
| מִכְּבֹדֽוֹ׃ | mikevodo | from glory his | H3519 → | 200 times |
וְהִנֵּ֗הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
כְּבוֹד֙[the] glory of
kevodH3519 →200 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בָּ֖א[was] coming
ba'H935 →2568 times
מִדֶּ֣רֶךְfrom [the] direction of
miderekhH1870 →707 times
הַקָּדִ֑יםthe east
hakadimH6921 →69 times
וְקוֹל֗וֹand sound its
vekoloH6963 →506 times
כְּקוֹל֙[was] like [the] sound of
kekolH6963 →506 times
מַ֣יִםwaters
mayimH4325 →581 times
רַבִּ֔יםmany
rabimH7227 →454 times
וְהָאָ֖רֶץand the earth
vehaaretzH776 →2504 times
הֵאִ֥ירָהit gave light
heirahH215 →
מִכְּבֹדֽוֹ׃from glory his
mikevodoH3519 →200 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 6:3And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
it leads to
- Revelation 4:8–9
And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty,…
- Psalms 72:19
And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.
- Numbers 14:21
“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,
- Revelation 4:8–9
Through
Revelation 1:15His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
it leads to
- Daniel 10:6
His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of…
- Revelation 14:2
And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of many waters and the loud rumbling of thunder. And the sound I heard was like harpists strumming their harps.
- Revelation 19:6
And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the…
- Revelation 2:18
To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
- Psalms 93:4
Above the roar of many waters— the mighty breakers of the sea— the LORD on high is majestic.
- Daniel 10:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.