And he said to me: This clause introduces God’s words to Ezekiel, which continue to the end of this chapter.

For Son of man (International Children’s Bible “Human being”),

Having entered the Temple, God says this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet. A throne is the special chair where a king or queen sits to rule (see 1.26). If this concept is not known, translators may render this is the place of my throne as “this is the place where I will put my seat for ruling the people.” The place of the soles of my feet is the place where a king puts his feet, a footstool (compare New International Reader’s Version “The stool for my feet”). In the Bible the reference to a king, or God, sitting on a throne with his feet on a footstool is figurative language of his conquering and ruling other nations or people (compare Psa 110.1). That is why some translations leave out the reference to the soles of my feet and replace it with a phrase such as “rule [over] them” (Good News Translation).

Where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever: The Temple is also the place where God will live among the Israelites forever. Contemporary English Version says “I will live here among the people of Israel forever” (similarly Good News Translation). For the house of Israel, that is, “the people of Israel” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation), see the comments on 3.1.

And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings means the Israelites and their kings will not disgrace God’s reputation again. For the Hebrew word rendered defile, see the comments on 4.14. Here it may be translated “make … [ritually] unclean” (New Century Version), “treat … as if it were not holy” (New International Reader’s Version), or “disgrace” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). My holy name refers to God’s perfect reputation (see the comments on 20.39 and 36.20). Many languages have an idiom for spoiling a person’s good name, and it may be appropriate to use that idiom here. The Israelites had defiled God’s reputation in the past in three ways:

1. By their harlotry: The Hebrew word for harlotry refers literally to sexual immorality with prostitutes, but in Ezekiel the idea of prostitution is often used to describe how Israel turned away from God and worshiped other gods (see the comments on 6.9, where the Hebrew word from the same root as harlotry is rendered “wanton” and “wantonly”).
2. And by the dead bodies of their kings means “by burying the corpses of their dead kings” (Good News Translation) on the Temple grounds. However, there is no evidence that the kings of Israel were ever buried on the Temple grounds. The last Hebrew word in verse 7 can mean “their high places” (New American Bible) or “when they die” (New American Standard Bible, New English Bible; similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), depending on what vowels are used. The reading “at/on/in their high places” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, King James Version / New King James Version, English Standard Version, Complete Jewish Bible) does not fit grammatically in the sentence, but it also seems unnecessary to add “when they die” when talking about corpses. However, if the reference to the dead bodies of their kings means that the Temple became defiled when the kings died in the palace close by (see Ezek 43.8), the whole phrase makes good sense. A model that expresses this sense is “Never again will my reputation be ruined because of the bodies of the kings when they die [next to the sacred area].”
Some translations suggest that God is not talking about corpses here, but about “monuments raised to dead kings” (Revised English Bible; similarly New Living Translation [1996], Hebrew Old Testament Text Project) or “setting up memorials to [honor] their dead kings” (Contemporary English Version). The people may even have worshiped these “monuments.” This is a possible interpretation, because it would be easy for people to begin worshiping the monuments that they set up to honor kings when they die, instead of worshiping only God, and this would bring shame to God’s name. Nevertheless, in the context we believe it is better to understand that this phrase is referring to the deaths of Israel’s kings close to the Temple area.
3. By setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them: There are two ways to understand the Hebrew text here. First, while the previous Temple was still standing, the royal palace had been built right next to the southern wall of the Temple compound (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote). Their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts means the doorway of the Temple was right next to the doorway of the palace. It almost appears as if the same doorway served both buildings. With only a wall between me and them means there was only a wall between the sacred compound of the Temple and the living quarters of the kings. This meant that the sacred parts of the Temple could be contaminated and made unclean by contact with the royal palace. A model that follows this interpretation is “Israel’s kings built their palaces so close to my holy temple that only a wall separated them from me” (Contemporary English Version). Second, their threshold and their doorposts may refer to the entrances of shrines that people had built in or near the Temple to worship other gods. New Living Translation follows this interpretation by saying “They put their idol altars right next to mine with only a wall between them and me.” Either of these interpretations is acceptable.

They have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed: God summarizes these ways in which the people had dishonored his name by calling them their abominations which they have committed, that is, “the disgusting things they did” (Good News Translation). For abominations see 5.9.

So I have consumed them in my anger: Because the people did these things, God was angry with them and completely destroyed them. New International Reader’s Version says “So I became angry with them and destroyed them” (similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version).

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .