Ezekiel 44:4-9

4 Then he brought me by way of ¹the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ²the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And ³I fell on my face.

5 And the LORD said to me, ⁴"Son of man, mark well, ⁵see with your eyes, ⁶and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning ⁷all the statutes of the temple of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well ⁸the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary.

6 And say to ⁹the rebellious house,^[a] to the ¹⁰house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, ¹¹enough of all your abominations,

7 in ¹²admitting foreigners, ¹³uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, ¹⁴profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You^[b] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations.

8 And ¹⁵you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

9 "Thus says the Lord GOD: ¹⁶No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

Ezekiel 44:4-9 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.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 40:20
• 2. See Ezekiel 43:5
• 3. See Ezekiel 1:28
• 4. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 5. Ezekiel 40:4
• 6. Ezekiel 40:4
• 7. [Ezekiel 43:11]
• 8. [Ezekiel 43:11]
• 9. See Ezekiel 2:3
• 10. Ezekiel 40:4
• 11. Ezekiel 45:9; [1 Peter 4:3]
• 12. [ver. 9; Nehemiah 7:64, 65; Acts 21:28]
• 13. [Jeremiah 9:26; Acts 7:51]
• 14. Ezekiel 23:39
• 15. [Ezekiel 22:26]
• 16. [ver. 7]

Footnotes

• [a]. Septuagint; Hebrew lacks house
• [b]. Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew They