Ezekiel 43:8

When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Ezekiel during a vision of the restored temple, declaring judgment on Israel and its past rulers for merging their worship spaces with His. He speaks at the exact moment the new sanctuary's layout is being revealed to the prophet.

The words — The Hebrew סִפִּי (sip-pi) means threshold/my and מְזוּזָתִי (me-zu-za-ti) means doorpost/my, marking the physical boundary between God and the people. These terms appear alongside אֵצֶל ('etzel) for beside, underscoring how the wall merely separated their sanctuary from His.

The thread — The defilement of the sanctuary recurs in Ezekiel 5:11 as a precedent for divine consumption. The same pattern of placing foreign altars and images inside the house of God appears in 2 Chronicles 33:4 and 33:7 during Manasseh's reign.

Why it lands — The text states that physical proximity to God's dwelling did not prevent idolatry when the people placed their thresholds and doorposts next to His. It demands recognition that ritual architecture cannot substitute for the removal of detestable practices.

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

In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.
2 Chronicles 33:4 Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
2 Chronicles 33:7 Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.
Ezekiel 8:3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.
Ezekiel 23:39 On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.
Ezekiel 44:7 In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
2 Kings 21:4 Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.”
2 Kings 16:14 He also took the bronze altar that stood before the LORD from the front of the temple (between the new altar and the house of the LORD) and he put it on the north side of the new altar.
2 Kings 23:11 And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.