Ezekiel 20:40 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 20:40
For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
mountain
בְהַרve.har-
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
mountain
בְּהַ֣רbe.Har
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
height
מְר֣וֹםme.Rom
H4791
altitude · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
saith
נְאֻם֙ne.'Um
H5002
an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be…
Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with accepta…
Malachi 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, sa…
Ezekiel 17:23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under i…
Ezekiel 43:27 And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the…
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus…
Psalms 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 20:33-44
The design which was now on foot among the elders of Israel was that the people of Israel, being scattered among the nations, should lay aside all their peculiarities and conform to those among whom they lived; but God had told them that the design should not take effect, Eze 20:32. Now, in these verses, he shows particularly how it should be frustrated. They aimed at the mingling of the families of Israel with the families of the countries; but it will prove in the issue that the wicked Israelites, notwithstanding their compliances, shall not mingle with them in their prosperity, but shall be distinguished from them for destruction; for idolatrous Israelites, that are apostates from God, sh…
For--Though ye, the rebellious portion, withdraw from My worship, others, even the believing remnant, will succeed after you perish, and will serve Me purely.
in mine holy mountain-- (Isa 2:2-3). Zion, or Moriah, "the height of Israel" (pre-eminent above all mountains because of the manifested presence of God there with Israel), as opposed to their "high places," the worship on which was an abomination to God.
all--not merely individuals, such as constitute the elect Church now; but the whole nation, to be followed by the conversion of the Gentile nations (Isa 2:2, "all nations;" Rom 11:26; Rev 11:15).
with--rather, "in all your holy things" [MAURER].
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 20:40
For in mine holy mountain - The days shall come in which all true Israelites shall receive Him whom I have sent to be the true sacrifice for the life of the world; and shall bring to Jerusalem - the pure Christian Church, their offerings, which I will there accept, for they will give me thanks for my unspeakable gift.
John Gill on Ezekiel 20:40
For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God,.... Alluding to Mount Zion, or Moriah, on which the temple was built, on the highest part of the land of Israel, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; here the Gospel church is meant, comparable to a "mountain" for its firmness and durableness; said to be a "holy" one, because consisting of holy persons, performing holy worship to a holy God; and represented as "high", being established, as it will be in the latter day, upon the top of the mountains, and be very visible and glorious:
there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: when all Israel shall be saved, or converted; and, the…
The Church Fathers
Admittedly the divine, because it is without a body, is untouchable and entirely intact, because the divine is beyond every creature, both visible and intelligible, and in nature it is incorporeal, immaculate, untouchable and incomprehensible. Since the only-begotten Word of God, having taken a body from the holy virgin, and, as I already said over and over again, having made it his own, offered himself in an odor of sweetness to God the Father as a spotless sacrifice, in this way it is asserted that he endured on our behalf what happened to his flesh. Everything that happened to flesh would rightly be attributed to him, sin alone excepted, for it is his own body. Accordingly, since God the Word became man, he remained impassible as God, but, because he necessarily made the things of his flesh his own, it is asserted that he endured what is according to flesh, although he is without experience of suffering in so far as he is thought of as God.
(Verse 40, 41.) But on my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel shall serve me; all I say in the land in which they will please me, and there I will seek your firstfruits and the beginning of your tithes, in all your sanctifications, I will accept you with a sweet odor, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you from the lands where you were scattered; and I will sanctify myself in you in the eyes of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Concerning this mountain, on which the whole house of Israel is to serve God, Isaiah and Micah sang with equal voice: In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be made manifest on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will flow to it, and many people will go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house ((or mountain)) of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion the law will go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Is. 2 ff.; Mic. 4:1-2). And again Isaiah says: 'Ascend to a high mountain, you who announce Zion. Lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem.' (Isaiah 40:9). By the mountain Zion, or the Church, we understand the watchtower, which is elevated and established on the heights of holy teachings. Or we understand the Lord Himself, the Savior, in whom the first fruits, tithes, and all offerings turn into a pleasing aroma. So that all the nations seeing that the people of the Lord have been saved may glorify God and recognize those who have been saved, that He is the Lord.
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֔הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
house
בֵּ֧יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
land
בָּאָ֑רֶץba.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
serve
יַעַבְדֻ֜נִיya.'av.Du.ni
H5647
to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
accept
אֶרְצֵ֔ם'er.Tzem
H7521
to be pleased with · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
require
אֶדְר֣וֹשׁ'ed.Ro.osh
H1875
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
offerings
תְּרוּמֹֽתֵיכֶ֗םte.ru.mo.tei.Khem
H8641
a present (as offered up) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
firstfruits
רֵאשִׁ֛יתre.Shit
H7225
the first · noun, common feminine singular construct
oblations
מַשְׂאוֹתֵיכֶ֖םmas.'o.tei.Khem
H4864
properly · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
things
קָדְשֵׁיכֶֽםka.de.shei.Khem
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
Ezekiel 20:40
40. For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
40. Quia in monte sanctitatis meae, in monte excelso Israel, dicit Dominator Iehovah, illic colent me tota domus Israel, tota inquam in terra, illic propitius ero illis: [293] et illic requiram oblationes vestras et primitias donorum vestrorum in omnibus sanctificationibus vestris.
God now directs his address to the elect, or the remnant in whom he wished his Church to survive. Thus…
The Ultimate Gathering of Israel, and Its Conversion to the Lord
Eze 20:39. Ye then, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Go ye, serve every one his idols! but afterwards - truly ye will hearken to me, and no longer desecrate my holy name with your sacrificial gifts and your idols, Eze 20:40. But upon my holy mountain, upon the high mountain of Israel, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, there will all the house of Israel serve me, the whole of it in the land; there will I accept them gladly; there will I ask for your heave-offerings and the first-fruits of your gifts in all that ye make holy. Eze 20:41. As a pleasant odour will I accept you gladly, when I bring you out from the na…
The people of Israel might continue to worship . . . idols, but in the end, they would worship God in spirit and in truth on his holy mountain (see chs 40–48, in which the purified worship of God is restored in the Temple; cp. John 4:21-24). God’s purpose in choosing Israel to be a holy nation would ultimately stand. The people would be a pleasing sacrifice to him and would display God’s holiness. The result of this new exodus would be pure worship, offered by a purified people who were saved by sovereign grace.
Rashi on Ezekiel 20:40
and the first of your food Heb. מַשְׂאוֹתֵיכֶם, like מִשְׁאַרוֹתֵיכֶם your kneading troughs, an expression of food, like (Exod. 21:10): “her food (שְּׁאֵרָה), her clothing, or her conjugal rights shall not be diminished.” Menachem also (p. 168) associated it in this manner.