Ezekiel 44:4-9

Context

44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed¹ the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. 44:5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention,² watch closely and listen carefully to³ everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances⁴ to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. 44:6 Say to the rebellious,⁵ to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel! 44:7 When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate⁶ it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You⁷ have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. 44:8 You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners⁸ to keep charge of my sanctuary for you. 44:9 This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.⁹

[44:4] ¹tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[44:5] ²tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).

[44:5] ³tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”

[44:5] ⁴tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.

[44:6] ³tc The LXX reads “house of rebellion.”

[44:7] ⁴tn Heb “to desecrate.”

[44:7] ⁵tc The Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”

[44:8] ⁵tc Instead of an energic nun (ן), the text may have read a third masculine plural suffix ם (mem), “them,” which was confused with ן (nun) in the old script. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:621.

[44:9] ⁶sn Tobiah, an Ammonite (Neh 13:8), was dismissed from the temple.