Ezekiel 44:9
in Ezekiel 44This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children of Israel.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 44
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
by way of the north gate
on Ezekiel 44:4-9
The prophet sees the glory filling the house and falls facedown again. Israel had brought in “foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh” while offering “the fat and the blood,” and so broke His covenant. The command is exact: “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary.”
This site's exposition
not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites
The bar reaches even a foreigner living in Israel, and it turns on circumcision of heart as well as flesh. Moses asked the same of Israel itself (Deuteronomy 10:16). Isaiah 56:6 to 7 welcomes the foreigner who holds to the covenant, so the line falls at the heart.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
He is uncircumcised in heart who holds heretical views in his mind and arranges blasphemous assertions against knowledge of Christ in his heart. But he is circumcised in heart who guards the pure faith in sincerity of conscience, about whom it can be said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
(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 Medieval Church1 voice
When the mind is longingly involved with one of these stirrings—this depends on the urgency of the matter at the time of supplication and is the result of great eagerness—the gaze of its stirring is drawn by the eye of faith inside the veil of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Thus saith the Lord God,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Only the Levites who distanced themselves Only thus shall you do to the Levites who distanced [themselves] from Me and became idolatrous priests and have now repented..
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
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֮ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִה֒ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֵכָ֗ר | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | 36 times |
| עֶ֤רֶל | ʾerel | uncircumcised of | H6189 → | 35 times |
| לֵב֙ | lev | heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וְעֶ֣רֶל | veerel | and uncircumcised of | H6189 → | 35 times |
| בָּשָׂ֔ר | basar | flesh | H1320 → | 270 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָב֖וֹא | yavo' | he will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִקְדָּשִׁ֑י | mikdashi | sanctuary my | H4720 → | 75 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֵכָ֔ר | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | 36 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֕ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּת֖וֹךְ | betokh | [is] in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
כֹּה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַר֮he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִה֒Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בֶּן־son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
נֵכָ֗רforeignness
nekharH5236 →36 times
עֶ֤רֶלuncircumcised of
ʾerelH6189 →35 times
לֵב֙heart
levH3820 →595 times
וְעֶ֣רֶלand uncircumcised of
veerelH6189 →35 times
בָּשָׂ֔רflesh
basarH1320 →270 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָב֖וֹאhe will go
yavo'H935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מִקְדָּשִׁ֑יsanctuary my
mikdashiH4720 →75 times
לְכָל־to every
lekholH3605 →5413 times
בֶּן־son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
נֵכָ֔רforeignness
nekharH5236 →36 times
אֲשֶׁ֕רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּת֖וֹךְ[is] in among
betokhH8432 →418 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
Mark 16:16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
it leads to
- John 11:25–26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Romans 10:9–14
that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
- John 3:18–19
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
- John 3:15–16
that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
- John 11:25–26
Through
Joel 3:17Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
it leads to
- Joel 2:27
Then you will know that I am present in Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.
- Nahum 1:15
Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be…
- Joel 2:27
Through
Ezekiel 44:7In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood;…
it leads to
- Leviticus 22:25
Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”
- Leviticus 22:25
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; Isaac of Nineveh, MYSTICAL TREATISES 22; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 3:6.