Bible Strands
Ezekiel 20:41
When 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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD addresses the exiled house of Israel during a prophetic declaration of future restoration. He speaks this promise immediately after describing their future worship on His holy mountain and just before confirming their return to the land of Israel.
The words — The text highlights אֶרְצֶ֣ה ('er.Tzeh), meaning "I will accept," and נִיחֹחַ֮ (ni.cho.aCh), meaning "soothing" or "pleasing aroma." These terms frame the gathering as a divinely received offering rather than a mere political return.
The thread — The gathering motif recurs in Ezekiel 11:17 and 28:25, which echo the promise to collect Israel from scattered nations. The theme of divine self-revelation to the nations appears in Ezekiel 38:23, where God magnifies Himself so that many will know He is the LORD.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to recognize that Israel's restoration serves as a public demonstration of God's holiness. It demands a sober acknowledgment that divine acceptance and national return are instruments for revealing God's identity to surrounding peoples.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 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 the nations. Then they will dwell in their own land, which I have given to My servant Jacob.
- Ezekiel 11:17 Therefore 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 to you the land of Israel.’
- Ezekiel 38:23 I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
- Ezekiel 28:22 And you are to declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified within you. They will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments against her and demonstrate My holiness through her.
- Isaiah 5:16 But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
- Isaiah 27:12 In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.
- Jeremiah 23:3 Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.
- Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’”
- 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 dwell in safety.
- Ezekiel 36:23 I 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.