Ezekiel 44:12
in Ezekiel 44Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and became a stumblingblock of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.
KJV
Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity.
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This verse in Ezekiel 44
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor certainly no one does more harm in the Church than one who has the name and rank of sanctity, while he acts perversely. For him, when he transgresses, no one presumes to take to task; and the offence spreads forcibly for example, when out of reverence to his rank the sinner is honoured.
This site's exposition
the Levites who wandered away from Me
on Ezekiel 44:10-14
The Levites who wandered after their idols became “a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel” and bear the consequences of their iniquity. They still keep the gates and slaughter the people's sacrifices, but they may not approach as priests or touch the most holy things.
This site's exposition
a stumbling block of iniquity
Gregory the Dialogist warns that no one harms the church more than a leader who holds a holy name and acts perversely. His rank shields him from rebuke, and others copy him. That is the charge here: these Levites led Israel into sin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
How is it that in the book of Ezekiel, where a description is given of the future church and of the heavenly Jerusalem, the priests who have sinned are degraded to the rank of sacristans and doorkeepers, and although they are in the temple of God, that is, on the right hand, they are not among the rams but among the poorest of the sheep?
(Verse 9 and following) Thus says the Lord God: Every uncircumcised foreigner in heart and in flesh shall not enter my sanctuary, every foreign son who is among the sons of Israel.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They are deprived but in part, ab officio--of their office, and, it should seem, not at all à beneficio--of their emoluments. They shall help to slay the sacrifice, which the Levites were permitted to do, and which in this temple was done, not at the altar, but at the tables, ch. xl.
), bowed with them in the house of Rimmon, or set up altars for them, as Urijah did for Ahaz, and so caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, led them to sin and hardened them in sin; for, if the priests go astray, many will follow their pernicious ways.
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Because they ministered unto them before their idols,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
as a stumbling block of iniquity priests of idolatry, attracting them to it.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
they shall slaughter the burnt offering a service that is valid [if performed] by non priests, slaves, or women.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַ֗עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְשָׁרְת֤וּ | yesharetu | they served | H8334 → | 97 times |
| אוֹתָם֙ | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| גִלּֽוּלֵיהֶ֔ם | giluleihem | idols their | H1544 → | 48 times |
| וְהָי֥וּ | vehayu | and they became | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְבֵֽית־ | leveit- | for [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לְמִכְשׁ֣וֹל | lemikhshol | <into> a stumbling block of | H4383 → | 14 times |
| עָוֹ֑ן | ʾavon | iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּן֩ | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| נָשָׂ֨אתִי | nasati | I lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| יָדִ֜י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֗ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נְאֻם֙ | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| וְנָשְׂא֖וּ | venaseu | and they will bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עֲוֹנָֽם׃ | ʾavonam | iniquity their | H5771 → | 233 times |
יַ֗עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְשָׁרְת֤וּthey served
yesharetuH8334 →97 times
אוֹתָם֙<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
גִלּֽוּלֵיהֶ֔םidols their
giluleihemH1544 →48 times
וְהָי֥וּand they became
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
לְבֵֽית־for [the] house of
leveit-H1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לְמִכְשׁ֣וֹל<into> a stumbling block of
lemikhsholH4383 →14 times
עָוֹ֑ןiniquity
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּן֩-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
נָשָׂ֨אתִיI lift up
nasatiH5375 →656 times
יָדִ֜יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֗םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
נְאֻם֙[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
וְנָשְׂא֖וּand they will bear
venaseuH5375 →656 times
עֲוֹנָֽם׃iniquity their
ʾavonamH5771 →233 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 20:15Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory…
it leads to
- Psalms 95:11
So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 106:26
So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,
- Psalms 95:11
Through
Psalms 106:26So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,
it leads to
- Hebrews 3:11
So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:15
Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory…
- Numbers 14:28–35
So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
- Hebrews 3:18
And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
- Hebrews 3:11
Through
Ezekiel 44:10Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 48:11
It will be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray.
- Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They…
- Ezekiel 48:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Gregory the Dialogist, Pastoral Rule, Part 1, Chapter 2; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.28; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.