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Ezekiel 44:25

in Ezekiel 44

A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.

KJV

And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.

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This verse in Ezekiel 44

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

(Verse 25) And they shall not go unto a dead person, lest they be defiled (for the Septuagint translated it as, and they shall not go upon the soul of a dead person, lest they be defiled): except for father and mother, he said, and son and daughter, brother and sister who has no husband, they shall be defiled. And what follows: They shall not enter the place where the dead person is, lest they be polluted.

This site's exposition

shave their heads, nor suffer their locks

on Ezekiel 44:20-27

The priests neither shave their heads nor let their locks grow long, but poll them, a middle course between the shaved heads of pagan mourning rites and unkempt hair, and they drink no wine when they enter the inner court, the same caution Leviticus 10 already tied to Nadab and Abihu's death before the Lord. Marriage is restricted to a maiden of Israel or a widow who had a priest before, and the priests' teaching office is stated plainly, to teach the difference between the holy and the profane and to judge Israel's controversies by the Lord's own statutes. Corpse defilement is avoided except for the closest kin, father, mother, son, daughter, brother or an unmarried sister, and even then seven days and an offering restore the priest to his ministry, the same structure of controlled contact and required cleansing that has governed the whole chapter.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Decent expressions of a pious sorrow for dear relations, when they are removed by death, are not disagreeable to the character of a minister. Yet by this approach to the dead body of a relation they contracted a ceremonial pollution, from which they must be cleansed by a sin-offering before they went in again to minister,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves - Touching the dead defiles a Hindoo now, as it formerly did a Jew; and they must bathe to become clean again.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְאֶל־and to

    veel-H413 →5510 times

  • מֵ֣תdead

    metH4191 →839 times

  • אָדָ֔םa person

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָב֖וֹאhe will go

    yavo'H935 →2568 times

  • לְטָמְאָ֑הto become unclean

    letameahH2930 →162 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אִם־except

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • לְאָ֡בfor a father

    leavH1 →1212 times

  • וּ֠לְאֵםand for a mother

    uleemH517 →220 times

  • וּלְבֵ֨ןand for a son

    ulevenH1121 →4930 times

  • וּלְבַ֜תand for a daughter

    ulevatH1323 →588 times

  • לְאָ֗חfor a brother

    leachH251 →630 times

  • וּלְאָח֛וֹתand for a sister

    uleachotH269 →114 times

  • אֲשֶֽׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הָיְתָ֥הshe has belonged

    hayetahH1961 →3559 times

  • לְאִ֖ישׁto a husband

    leishH376 →1663 times

  • יִטַּמָּֽאוּ׃they will make themselves unclean

    yitamauH2930 →162 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Leviticus 21:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,7 worksLeviticus 22:4If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen,3 worksLuke 9:59–60Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”2 worksMatthew 8:21–22Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”2 worksNumbers 6:7Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the crown of consecration to his God is upon his head.2 works1 Thessalonians 4:13–15Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.1 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Corinthians 5:16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.1 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Leviticus 22:4

    If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 15:13–16

      When the man has been cleansed from his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he shall be clean.

    • Leviticus 11:39

      If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening.

    • Leviticus 15:2–3

      “Say to the Israelites, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean.

    • Leviticus 6:25–29

      “Tell Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is…

    • Numbers 18:19

      All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Ezekiel

The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 44 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezekiel 44 →