I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

EZEKIEL 36:29KJV
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Ezekiel 36:29 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 36:29 mean?

Ezekiel 36:29 promises that God will rescue the people of Israel from all their impurities and will provide for their needs by calling for grain, increasing it, and ensuring they will not suffer famine. This verse assures the people that God’s restoration includes both spiritual cleansing and practical, physical blessing.

In this passage, God is speaking through the prophet Ezekiel to the exiled Israelites, who had experienced both spiritual decline and physical hardship. The verse comes in a section where God describes how He will renew and restore His people after their time of judgment, emphasizing that their future will be marked by abundance and freedom from past defilements.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 36:29

  • "save" (יָשַׁע, yashaʿ): This word means to deliver or rescue, often with a sense of bringing someone out of trouble or danger. Here, it highlights God’s active intervention to free Israel from all forms of impurity.
  • "uncleannesses" (טֻמְאָה, tumʾah): This term refers to ritual or moral impurity. Its use shows that God’s promise is not just about physical needs, but also about making the people spiritually clean.
  • "call" (קָרָא, qaraʾ): This word means to summon or call forth. The idea is that God commands the grain to grow, showing His authority over creation and provision for His people.
  • "corn" (דָּגָן, dagan): In this context, "corn" refers to grain in general, not specifically maize. It points to the basic food supply of ancient Israel, underlining God’s care for their daily needs.
  • "increase" (רָבָה, rabah): This verb means to make much or multiply. God is promising not just enough, but abundance.
  • "lay" (נָתַן, natan): This means to put or place. God assures that He will not place famine (רָעָב, raʿav) upon them, stressing His control over their well-being.

Why Ezekiel 36:29 matters

  • Ezekiel 36:29 clarifies that God’s restoration is holistic, addressing both spiritual uncleanness and physical needs, not just one or the other.
  • The verse emphasizes God’s direct involvement and authority, as He personally calls for the grain and guarantees abundance, rather than leaving provision to chance.
  • This promise is part of a larger message of hope in Ezekiel 36, where God is reversing the judgment and exile by pledging a future of blessing, security, and renewed relationship with His people.

Where else these words appear

“uncleannesses” Hebrew H2932 · used in 31 verses

  • Leviticus 5:3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
  • Leviticus 16:19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
  • Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

“corn” Hebrew H1715 · used in 40 verses

  • Genesis 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
  • 2 Chronicles 32:28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
  • Jeremiah 31:12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

“famine” Hebrew H7458 · used in 88 verses

  • Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
  • 2 Kings 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
  • Jeremiah 29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: