Ezekiel 46:20
in Ezekiel 46and said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering and the sin-offering, and where they shall bake the meal-offering; that they bring them not forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people.
KJV
Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 46
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe trespass-offering - Part of this, and of the sin-offering, and the flour-offering was the portion of the priests. See Num 18:9, Num 18:10.
This site's exposition
the holy chambers facing north
on Ezekiel 46:19-20
The guide brings the prophet “through the entrance at the side of the gate into the holy chambers facing north”. There the priests “boil the guilt offering and the sin offering” and “bake the grain offering”. The chambers of chapter 42 keep what is most holy from what is common.
This site's exposition
transmit holiness to the people
Adam Clarke notes that these offerings were the priests' food, as Numbers 18:9 to 10 assigns them. Matthew Henry reads the rule as guarding the people from thinking that contact with holy flesh made them acceptable to God. The same concern governs the priests' garments in 44:19.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 19 and following) And he led me through the entrance that was on the side (or behind) the gate into the treasuries of the sanctuary, to the priests (or into chambers and rooms) that faced north. And there was a place there that faced west (or the sea: and as the LXX translated, separated).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Care was taken that they should not bear them out into the outer court, to sanctify the people. Let them not pretend to sanctify the people with this holy flesh, and so impose upon them; or let not the people imagine that by touching those sacred things they were sanctified, and made any the better or more acceptable to God.
We may observe, in these verses, I. That the place of worship was fixed, and rules were given concerning that, both to prince and people. The east gate, which was kept shut at other times, was to be opened on the sabbath days, on the moons (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Then said he unto me,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Due regard is to be had for the sanctity of the officiating priests' food, by cooking courts being provided close to their chambers. One set of apartments for cooking was to be at the corners of the inner court, reserved for the flesh of the sin offerings, to be eaten only by the priests whose perquisite it was (Le 6:25;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| זֶ֣ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הַמָּק֗וֹם | hamakom | [is] the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְבַשְּׁלוּ־ | yevashelu- | they will boil | H1310 → | 28 times |
| שָׁם֙ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָשָׁ֖ם | haasham | the guilt offering | H817 → | 46 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחַטָּ֑את | hachatat | the sin offering | H2403 → | 295 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יֹאפוּ֙ | yofu | they will bake | H644 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּנְחָ֔ה | haminchah | the grain offering | H4503 → | 211 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֥י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| הוֹצִ֛יא | hotzi' | to take [them] out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הֶחָצֵ֥ר | hechatzer | the courtyard | H2691 → | 191 times |
| הַחִֽיצוֹנָ֖ה | hachitzonah | <the> outer | H2435 → | 25 times |
| לְקַדֵּ֥שׁ | lekadesh | to make holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
זֶ֣הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הַמָּק֗וֹם[is] the place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְבַשְּׁלוּ־they will boil
yevashelu-H1310 →28 times
שָׁם֙there
shamH8033 →834 times
הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔יםthe priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאָשָׁ֖םthe guilt offering
haashamH817 →46 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַחַטָּ֑אתthe sin offering
hachatatH2403 →295 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יֹאפוּ֙they will bake
yofuH644 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּנְחָ֔הthe grain offering
haminchahH4503 →211 times
לְבִלְתִּ֥יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
הוֹצִ֛יאto take [them] out
hotzi'H3318 →1067 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הֶחָצֵ֥רthe courtyard
hechatzerH2691 →191 times
הַחִֽיצוֹנָ֖ה<the> outer
hachitzonahH2435 →25 times
לְקַדֵּ֥שׁto make holy
lekadeshH6942 →171 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 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 44:29They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.
it leads to
- Numbers 18:14
Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you.
- Leviticus 27:21
When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests.
- Leviticus 27:28
Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
- Leviticus 6:29
Any male among the priests may eat it; it is most holy.
- Numbers 18:14
Through
2 Chronicles 35:13They roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the regulation, and they boiled the other holy offerings in pots, kettles, and bowls and quickly brought them to all the people.
it leads to
- Exodus 12:8–9
They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
- 1 Samuel 2:13–15
or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling
- Exodus 12:8–9
Through
Ezekiel 44:19When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes…
it leads to
- Leviticus 6:27
Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place.
- Leviticus 6:10–11
And the priest shall put on his linen robe and linen undergarments, and he shall remove from the altar the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed and place them beside…
- Leviticus 6:27
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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.
