Ezekiel 44:13
in Ezekiel 44They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall not come near unto me, to execute the office of priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, unto the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
KJV
And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 44
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of priest unto me,.... To bring the sacrifice to the altar, and offer it there; to sprinkle the blood, or burn the fat, or the incense; to intercede for the people, or bless them; see Hos 4:6, nor to come near to any of my holy things in the most holy place; to do any business, either in the holy or in the most holy place; to offer holy things, or eat of them.
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
They will bear the shame
Matthew Henry calls it a great punishment to be forbidden to come near to God, and yet he finds mercy mixed in the sentence. John Gill lists what is withheld: sprinkling blood, burning incense, blessing the people. The Levites keep their place without the nearness.
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
Note, those who have robbed God of his honour will justly be deprived of their honour. And it is really a great punishment to be forbidden to come near to God; and justly might those who have once gone away from him be rejected as unworthy ever to come near to him and put at an everlasting distance. Yet there is a mixture of mercy in this sentence.
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.
), for though they have (we charitably hope) repented of it, yet they shall not come near to do the office of a priest, that is, those parts of the office that were peculiar to them, they shall not come near to any of the holy things within the sanctuary,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
as a stumbling block of iniquity priests of idolatry, attracting them to it.
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִגְּשׁ֤וּ | yigeshu | they will draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| אֵלַי֙ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לְכַהֵ֣ן | lekhahen | to serve as priests | H3547 → | |
| לִ֔י | li | <to> me | ||
| וְלָגֶ֙שֶׁת֙ | velageshet | and to draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| קָ֣דָשַׁ֔י | kadashai | holy things my | H6944 → | 469 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| קָדְשֵׁ֖י | kadeshei | [the] holy things of | H6944 → | 469 times |
| הַקְּדָשִׁ֑ים | hakedashim | the holy things | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וְנָֽשְׂאוּ֙ | venaseu | and they will bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| כְּלִמָּתָ֔ם | kelimatam | disgrace their | H3639 → | 30 times |
| וְתוֹעֲבוֹתָ֖ם | vetoavotam | and abominations their | H8441 → | 117 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשֽׂוּ׃ | ʾasu | they have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִגְּשׁ֤וּthey will draw near
yigeshuH5066 →125 times
אֵלַי֙to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
לְכַהֵ֣ןto serve as priests
lekhahenH3547 →
לִ֔י<to> me
li
וְלָגֶ֙שֶׁת֙and to draw near
velageshetH5066 →125 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
קָ֣דָשַׁ֔יholy things my
kadashaiH6944 →469 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
קָדְשֵׁ֖י[the] holy things of
kadesheiH6944 →469 times
הַקְּדָשִׁ֑יםthe holy things
hakedashimH6944 →469 times
וְנָֽשְׂאוּ֙and they will bear
venaseuH5375 →656 times
כְּלִמָּתָ֔םdisgrace their
kelimatamH3639 →30 times
וְתוֹעֲבוֹתָ֖םand abominations their
vetoavotamH8441 →117 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָשֽׂוּ׃they have done
ʾasuH6213 →2628 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
Numbers 18:3And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and…
it leads to
- Numbers 4:15
When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they…
- Numbers 4:15
Through
Ezekiel 32:20They will fall among those slain by the sword. The sword is appointed! Let them drag her away along with all her multitudes.
it leads to
- Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Psalms 28:3
Through
2 Kings 23:9Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 44:10–14
Surely 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.
- Ezekiel 44:10–14
Through
Ezekiel 16:61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.
it leads to
- Hebrews 8:13
By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
- Galatians 4:26–31
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
- Isaiah 66:7–12
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
- Romans 15:16
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy…
- Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Hebrews 8:13
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; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.28; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.