44:2 Then said the LORD to me; This gate shall be a shut, it
shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it;
because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it,
therefore it shall be shut.
(a) Meaning, from the common people, but not from the
priests nor the prince, read (Eze 46:8,9).
44:7 In that ye have brought [into my sanctuary] b strangers,
uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be
in my sanctuary, to pollute it, [even] my house, when ye
offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken
my covenant because of all your abominations.
(b) For they had brought idolaters who were from other
countries, to teach them their idolatry,
(Eze 23:40).
44:8 And ye have not kept the c charge of my holy things: but
ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for
yourselves.
(c) You have not offered to me according to my Law.
44:10 And the d Levites that have gone away far from me, when
Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their
idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.
(d) The Levites who had committed idolatry were put from
their dignity and could not be received into the
priests office although they had been of the house of
Aaron, but must serve in the inferior offices as to
watch and to keep the doors, read (2Ki 23:9).
44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that e
kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of
Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to
minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to
me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
(e) Who observed the law of God and did not fall to
idolatry.
44:20 Neither shall they f shave their heads, nor allow their
locks to grow long; they shall only cut [the hair of]
their heads.
(f) As did the infidels and heathen.
44:25 And they shall come near no dead person to defile
themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or
for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no
husband, they may g defile themselves.
(g) They may be at their burial which was a defiling.
