Ezekiel 44:15-31

Ordinances for the Levites

15 "But the ¹Levitical priests, the sons of ²Zadok, who ³kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ⁴went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall ⁵stand before Me to offer Me the ⁶fat and the blood," declares the Lord GOD.

16 "They shall ⁷enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ⁸table to minister to Me and keep My charge.

17 "It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with ⁹linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house.

18 "Linen ¹⁰turbans shall be on their heads and ¹¹linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.

19 "When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall ¹²put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will ¹³not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 "Also they shall ¹⁴not shave their heads, yet they shall not ¹⁵let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.

21 "¹⁶Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court.

22 "And they shall not marry a widow or a ¹⁷divorced woman but shall ¹⁸take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

23 "Moreover, they shall teach My people the ¹⁹difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

24 "In a dispute ²⁰they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ²¹appointed feasts and ²²sanctify My sabbaths.

25 "²³They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however *, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves.

26 "After he is ²⁴cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him.

27 "On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the ²⁵inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ²⁶sin offering," declares the Lord GOD.

28 "And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that ²⁷I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel -I am their possession.

29 "They shall ²⁸eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every ²⁹devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 "The first of all the ³⁰first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ³¹first of your dough to cause a ³²blessing to rest on your house.

31 "The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has ³³died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.

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Ezekiel 44:15-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 44

This chapter treats of the eastern gate of the temple being appropriated to the use of the prince, Eze 44:1-3, of the sin of the Lord's people, in admitting strangers and unholy persons into the sanctuary, either to officiate or communicate there, Eze 44:4-9 of the degrading of the Levites, that went astray, assigning them inferior posts and service in the house of God, Eze 44:10-14 and of the establishment of the sons of Zadok in their ministry, who were faithful, Eze 44:15,16, then follow various laws relating to their garments; shaving of their heads; drinking wine; their marriage; performance of their ministerial work; their regard to the dead, and their food and maintenance, Eze 44:17-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 33

1. Jeremiah 33:18-22
2. Ezekiel 40:46; Ezekiel 43:19; Ezekiel 48:11
3. Numbers 18:7; Ezekiel 40:45
4. Ezekiel 44:10; Ezekiel 48:11
5. Zechariah 3:1, 7
6. Leviticus 3:16, 17; Leviticus 17:5, 6; Ezekiel 44:7
7. Num 18:5, 7, 8
8. Ezekiel 41:22; Malachi 1:7, 12
9. Exodus 28:42, 43; Exodus 39:27-29; Revelation 19:8
10. Exodus 28:40; Isaiah 3:20; Ezekiel 24:17, 23
11. Exodus 28:42; Leviticus 16:4
12. Leviticus 6:10; Leviticus 16:4, 23, 24; Ezekiel 42:14
13. Leviticus 6:27; Ezekiel 46:20
14. Leviticus 21:5
15. Numbers 6:5
16. Leviticus 10:9
17. Leviticus 21:7, 14
18. Leviticus 21:13
19. Leviticus 10:10; Ezekiel 22:26; Hosea 4:6; Micah 3:9-11; Zephaniah 3:4; Haggai 2:11-13; Malachi 2:6-8
20. Deuteronomy 17:8, 9; Deuteronomy 19:17; Deuteronomy 21:5; 1 Chronicles 23:4; 2 Chronicles 19:8-10
21. Lev 23:2, 4, 44
22. Ezekiel 20:12, 20
23. Leviticus 21:1-4
24. Numbers 19:13-19
25. Ezekiel 44:17
26. Leviticus 5:3, 6; Numbers 6:9-11
27. Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9; Deuteronomy 18:1, 2; Joshua 13:33
28. Numbers 18:9, 14; Joshua 13:14
29. Leviticus 27:21, 28; Numbers 18:14
30. Numbers 18:12, 13; 2 Chr 31:4-6, 10; Nehemiah 10:35-37
31. Numbers 15:20, 21
32. Malachi 3:10
33. Leviticus 22:8; Deuteronomy 14:21; Ezekiel 4:14

Footnotes 9

[a]. Lit "come upon"
[b]. Or "hang loose"
[c]. Lit "take as wives for themselves"
[d]. Lit "He"
[e]. Lit "be counted"
[f]. Or "dedicated"
[g]. Or "heave offering(s)"
[h]. Or "heave offering(s)"
[i]. Or "coarse meal"