Ezekiel 44:16
in Ezekiel 44They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
KJV
They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
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This verse in Ezekiel 44
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThey shall enter into my sanctuary,.... Both to officiate, and to participate, which strangers and uncircumcised persons might not do, Eze 44:9, and they shall come near to my table to minister unto me; which some understand of the altar of burnt offering, which was as a table, and the sacrifice on it was the food of the Lord, Lev 3:11, others, the altar of incense; see Eze 41:
This site's exposition
the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok
on Ezekiel 44:15-16
Against the Levites who went astray stand “the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok,” who kept charge of the sanctuary when Israel went astray. To them alone goes the nearness withheld from the others, to offer fat and blood and “draw near to My table” in the sanctuary.
This site's exposition
draw near to My table
John Gill records two readings: the altar of burnt offering, whose sacrifice Leviticus 3:11 calls the Lord's food, or the altar of incense of 41:22. Either way, the nearness denied the Levites in verse 13 is given to Zadok's sons. They alone approach.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Awakening1 voice
23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Come near to my table - To place the shew-bread there, and to burn incense on the golden altar in the holy of holies.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
But the priests, the Levites [i.e., the priests, who are] of the tribe of Levi.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֜מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יָבֹ֣אוּ | yavou | they will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִקְדָּשִׁ֗י | mikdashi | sanctuary my | H4720 → | 75 times |
| וְהֵ֛מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יִקְרְב֥וּ | yikrevu | they will draw near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שֻׁלְחָנִ֖י | shulchani | table my | H7979 → | 71 times |
| לְשָׁרְתֵ֑נִי | leshareteni | to serve me | H8334 → | 97 times |
| וְשָׁמְר֖וּ | veshameru | and they will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁמַרְתִּֽי׃ | mishmarti | charge my | H4931 → | 78 times |
הֵ֜מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
יָבֹ֣אוּthey will come
yavouH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מִקְדָּשִׁ֗יsanctuary my
mikdashiH4720 →75 times
וְהֵ֛מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →553 times
יִקְרְב֥וּthey will draw near
yikrevuH7126 →280 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שֻׁלְחָנִ֖יtable my
shulchaniH7979 →71 times
לְשָׁרְתֵ֑נִיto serve me
leshareteniH8334 →97 times
וְשָׁמְר֖וּand they will keep
veshameruH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִשְׁמַרְתִּֽי׃charge my
mishmartiH4931 →78 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
Malachi 1:7By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.
it leads to
- Malachi 1:12
“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
- 1 Corinthians 11:27–32
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
- Malachi 1:8
When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased…
- Malachi 1:12
Through
Numbers 18:5And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.
it leads to
- Exodus 27:21
In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to…
- Numbers 16:46
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the…
- Exodus 27:21
Through
Ezekiel 41:22There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:41
You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,
- Malachi 1:7
By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.
- Ezekiel 23:41
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.