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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 44:17-31

God's priests must be regulars, not seculars; and therefore here are rules laid down for them to govern themselves by and due encouragement given them to live up to those rules. Directions are here given, I. Concerning their clothes; they must wear linen garments when they went in to minister or do any service in the inner court, or in the sanctuary, and nothing that was woollen, because it would cause sweat, Ezek. 44:17, 18. They must dress themselves cool, that they might go the more readily... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 44:20

Neither shall they shave their heads ,.... As the priests and worshippers of Isis and Serapis did, as Jerom on the text observes; and as the Romish priests now do, from whom the Lord's faithful ministers must be distinguished: nor suffer their locks to grow long ; as the Nazarites, that a distinction might be preserved between those who were and were not such; or rather, after the manner of women, their locks hanging down, and flowing about their shoulders, as a token of levity,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 44:20

Neither shall they shave their heads - The priests of Isis shaved their heads close to the skin; the priests of Budhoo do so still, their ordinances oblige them to shave their heads every tenth day. To let the hair grow long would have been improper; therefore the Lord commands them to poll - cut the hair short, but not to shave. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 44:17-31

A good minister of Jesus Christ. What the faithful priest was under the Law, that the "good minister" is under Christ ( 1 Timothy 4:6 ). And while the form of service is altogether different, the spirit should be the same. The ideal priest, as here delineated, is, mutatis mutandis , the true bishop or pastor of the New Testament. The latter is— I. STUDIOUS OF HIS MASTER 'S WILL , EVEN IN SMALL PARTICULARS . The priest was to carry out very minute instructions... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 44:20

The next rubric concerned the mode in which the priests should wear their hair. It should neither be shaved nor worn long, thus avoiding excess on either side (compare for the first, Le Ezekiel 21:5 ; and for the second, Le Ezekiel 10:6 ; Ezekiel 21:10 , Revised Version), but should merely be polled. The obligation to let the hair grow freely was imposed upon the Nazarite only during the period of his vow ( Numbers 6:5 ). The verb "to poll," or "cut" ( כָּסַם ), occurs nowhere... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 44:17-31

Regulations as to the priests’ services. The garments of the priests are defined and various rules prescribed in the Law are repeated with some additions in order to denote additional care to avoid uncleanness.Ezekiel 44:18The material of which the four vestments of the ordinary priest were made was “linen,” or, more accurately, “byssus,” the cotton stuff of Egypt. The two special qualities of the byssus - white and shining - are characteristic, and on them part of the symbolic meaning... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 44:17-20

Ezekiel 44:17-20. When they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court The court just before the temple, where the altar of the burnt-offering stood; they shall be clothed with linen garments The ephod, breeches, mitre, and girdle, (the habit of the ordinary priests,) were all of fine linen, contrived for glory and beauty, (Exodus 28:40,) fine linen being the habit of persons of the greatest quality; while they minister in the gates of the inner court That is, in the court of the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 44:1-31

Service in the temple (44:1-31)Because the glory of God had entered the temple through the east gate of the outer court, no human being was considered worthy to enter by this gate. It therefore had always to be kept shut (44:1-2). The king, however, could eat his sacrificial meal in the vestibule that was on the inside of the east gate. He had to enter the temple compound by either the north or the south gate, then enter the vestibule from the courtyard side (3).The presence of God’s glory in... read more

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