Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Ezekiel to declare the outcome of the coming judgment on Gog and his coalition. The declaration immediately follows the description of divine punishment involving plague, bloodshed, and elemental destruction.
The words — The Hebrew verbs הִתְגַּדֵּלְתִּי (hit.ga.dil.Ti) and הִתְקַדֵּשְׁתִּי (hit.ka.dish.Ti) mean "I will show myself great" and "I will show myself holy." These reflexive forms describe God's self-revelation through decisive historical action.
The thread — The pattern of God vindicating His name before the nations appears in Ezekiel 36:23 and Psalms 9:16. It directly follows the warning in Ezekiel 38:16 regarding Gog's advance against Israel in the latter days.
Why it lands — The text states that witnessing the judgment will force the nations to acknowledge Yahweh's identity. It requires readers to accept that divine sovereignty, not human military power, dictates historical outcomes.
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
Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Cross-references
- Psalms 9:16 The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
- Ezekiel 38:16 You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”
- Revelation 19:1 After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
- Revelation 15:3 and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!
- Ezekiel 39:7 So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
- Ezekiel 39:13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day I display My glory, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ezekiel 39:27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations.