Ezekiel 44 is the forty-fourth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet/priest Ezekiel, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. The final section of Ezekiel, chapters 40-48, give the ideal picture of a new temple. The Jerusalem Bible refers to this section as "the Torah of Ezekiel". In particular, chapters 44âÂÂ46 record various laws governing the rites and personnel of the sanctuary, as a supplement to Ezekiel's vision.
This chapter contains Ezekiel's vision of the east gate assigned only to the prince (Ezekiel 44:1-3), the people are reproved for steering strangers to pollute the sanctuary (verses 4âÂÂ8), idolaters are declared incapable of undertaking the priest's office (verses 9âÂÂ14), the sons of Zadok are accepted thereto (verses 15âÂÂ16), and ordinances are given for the priests (verses 17âÂÂ31). The vision was given on the 25th anniversary of Ezekiel's exile, "April 28, 573 BCE", 14 years after the fall of Jerusalem and 12 years after the last messages of hope in chapter 39.
The original text was written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 31 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; <sup>B</sup>; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; <sup>A</sup>; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; <sup>Q</sup>; 6th century).
The part begins with the style of the original vision, with Ezekiel being led by the messenger from inner court ( to the east gate of the outer court (verses 1âÂÂ3), then to the northern gate facing the inner court (verse 4), followed by the rules and regulations for the temple (verses 5âÂÂ14).
Biblical commentator Susan Galambush notes that although the commandment suggests the special holiness attributed to the Lord God of Israel's "private entrance", the permanently locked gate also symbolizes the permanence of God's presence in the temple.
The Jerusalem Bible notes that this would have been "a sacred meal, presumably accompanying the communion sacrifice" of .
This section records the regulations for the levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who claimed to be of the line of Eleazar, the son of Aaron ) whereas the other priests claimed to be the descendants of Ithamar, Aaron's youngest son, and the rest of the Levites performed a subordinate role (cf. ). The meanings of these regulations are not completely clear, but mostly in parallel to the Priestly material in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.