Bible Strands
Ezekiel 44:19
When 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 so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God issues these directives to the prophet Ezekiel concerning the operational conduct of temple priests. The instructions govern the moment priests transition from performing sacred duties to appearing before the general assembly.
The words — וּ/בְּצֵאתָם (U./ve./tze.to/m) means "and when they go out," and חָצֵר הַ/חִיצוֹנָה (he./cha.Tzer ha./chi.tzo.Nah) means "the outer courtyard." These terms establish the precise physical threshold where ritual service must cease.
The thread — The prohibition against carrying holiness into the common area parallels Leviticus 6:27, which declares that garments touching holy objects become consecrated. It also connects to Leviticus 6:10, which requires priests to remove their service garments before handling ashes.
Why it lands — The text demands strict separation between consecrated function and ordinary life. Readers must recognize that ritual boundaries require deliberate physical and procedural breaks to prevent sacred contamination.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Ezekiel 46:20 and 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.”
- Leviticus 6:10 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 it.
- Exodus 29:37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will become most holy; whatever touches the altar will be holy.
- Exodus 30:29 You are to consecrate them so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
- Matthew 23:17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?
- Ezekiel 42:13 Then the man said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the temple courtyard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy.
- 1 Corinthians 3:5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.