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.

EZEKIEL 43:8KJV
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Ezekiel 43:8 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 43:8 mean?

Ezekiel 43:8 describes how the people placed their own entrances and doorposts right next to God’s, with only a wall separating them, and through their offensive actions, they dishonored God’s holy name, leading to His anger and judgment. The verse highlights the seriousness of mixing what is sacred with what is not, and the consequences that follow.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Israel, explaining why judgment came upon them. The setting is a vision of the restored temple, and God is recalling how the former kings and people set up their palaces and practices so close to God’s holy place that it showed disrespect. The verse uses the image of thresholds and posts to show how closely they mingled their lives and sins with God’s presence, which was meant to be kept holy.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 43:8

  • "threshold" (סַף, saf): This word refers to the entrance or doorstep. Here, it emphasizes how the people placed their own entrances right next to God’s, showing a lack of separation between the sacred and the ordinary.
  • "defiled" (טָמֵא, tame): This word means to make unclean or impure. The verse uses it to describe how the people’s actions polluted God’s holy name, not just the physical space.
  • "abominations" (תּוֹעֵבָה, toʿevah): This word refers to actions that are especially offensive or detestable to God, often connected to idolatry or immoral acts. It highlights the seriousness of what the people did.
  • "holy" (קֹדֶשׁ, qodesh): This word means set apart or sacred. The verse stresses that God’s name and presence are meant to be treated with special respect, which was violated by the people’s behavior.

Why Ezekiel 43:8 matters

  • This verse clears up that the problem was not just physical closeness but a spiritual mixing of what should be kept separate—God’s holiness and human wrongdoing.
  • Ezekiel 43:8 helps explain why God’s anger was so strong: it was not just about breaking rules, but about dishonoring God’s very name and presence.
  • The verse connects to the larger theme in Ezekiel of God restoring proper worship and respect for His holiness after a period of neglect and disrespect.

Where else these words appear

“post” Hebrew H4201 · used in 17 verses

  • Exodus 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
  • Deuteronomy 11:20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
  • 1 Kings 7:5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

“threshold” Hebrew H5592 · used in 28 verses

  • Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
  • 2 Kings 25:18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
  • Jeremiah 35:4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

“by” Hebrew H681 · used in 57 verses

  • Genesis 39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
  • 1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam:
  • Proverbs 7:12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

“wall” Hebrew H7023 · used in 64 verses

  • Exodus 30:3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
  • 1 Kings 6:29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
  • Ezekiel 8:8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.