Ezekiel 44:22
New International Version
They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests.

New Living Translation
They may choose their wives only from among the virgins of Israel or the widows of the priests. They may not marry other widows or divorced women.

English Standard Version
They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Berean Standard Bible
And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

King James Bible
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

New King James Version
They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

New American Standard Bible
And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but shall take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

NASB 1995
“And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

NASB 1977
“And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they shall not take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife but shall take virgins from the seed of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Amplified Bible
And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman; but they shall marry virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who was previously married to a priest.

Christian Standard Bible
He is not to marry a widow or a divorced woman, but may marry only a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He is not to marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

American Standard Version
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they shall not take for themselves a widow or a divorced woman as wives, but they shall take only a virgin of the seed of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a Priest

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Neither shall they take to themselves to wife a widow, or one that is put away, but a virgin of the seed of Israel: but if there should happen to be a priest's widow, they shall take her.

Contemporary English Version
A priest must not marry a divorced woman; he can marry only a virgin from Israel or the widow of another priest.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Neither shall they take to wife a widow, nor one that is divorced, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel: but they may take a widow also, that is, the widow of a priest.

English Revised Version
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They must not marry widows or women who have been divorced. They may marry only virgins from the nation of Israel or widows of priests.

Good News Translation
No priest may marry a divorced woman; he is to marry only an Israelite virgin or the widow of another priest.

International Standard Version
They are not to marry a widow or a divorced woman. Instead, they are to marry virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest."

JPS Tanakh 1917
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.

Literal Standard Version
And they do not take a widow or divorced woman to themselves for wives, but they take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, and the widow who is widow of a priest.

Majority Standard Bible
And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

New American Bible
They shall not take as wives either widows or divorced women, but only unmarried women from the line of Israel; however, they may take as wives widows who are widows of priests.

NET Bible
They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a priest's widow.

New Revised Standard Version
They shall not marry a widow, or a divorced woman, but only a virgin of the stock of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

New Heart English Bible
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Webster's Bible Translation
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

World English Bible
They shall not take for their wives a widow, or her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Young's Literal Translation
And a widow and divorced woman they do not take to them for wives: but -- virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, and the widow who is widow of a priest, do they take.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Duties of the Priests
21No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court. 22And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest. 23They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.…

Cross References
Leviticus 21:7
A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

Leviticus 21:13
The woman he marries must be a virgin.

Leviticus 21:14
He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,


Treasury of Scripture

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

Neither.

a widow

Leviticus 21:7,13,14
They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God…

1 Timothy 3:2,4,5,11
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; …

Titus 1:6
If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

put away [heb] thrust forth

Deuteronomy 24:1-4
When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house…

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Descent Divorced House Husband Israel Israelite Maidens Marry Offspring Priest Seed Stock Virgin Virgins Widow Widows Wives Women
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Descent Divorced House Husband Israel Israelite Maidens Marry Offspring Priest Seed Stock Virgin Virgins Widow Widows Wives Women
Ezekiel 44
1. The east gate assigned only to the prince
4. The priests reproved for polluting the sanctuary
9. Idolaters incapable of the priests office
15. The sons of Zadok are accepted thereto
17. Ordinances for the priests














(22) A widow that had a priest before.--In regard both to marriage and to mourning (Ezekiel 44:25-27) the Levitical law made a broad distinction between the ordinary priest and the high priest. The former was only forbidden to marry a divorced woman (Leviticus 21:7), but was allowed to marry a widow; the latter could marry only a virgin of Israel (ib. 14). So also in the law of mourning; the high priest might not be "defiled" nor make any sign of mourning even for his nearest of kin (Leviticus 21:11-14). Ezekiel does not recognise this distinction, and in fact nowhere mentions the high priest at all; but, instead, gives a general law for all priests, somewhat between the two.

Verse 22. - As to marriage (since the priests in Ezekiel's "house" were no more expected to be celibates than were those employed about Moses' tabernacle or Solomon's temple), they were forbidden to marry widows (which the Levitical priests were not, though the high priest was) or divorced women, and allowed to wed only virgins of the house of Israel, or (the sole exception) widows of such as had been priests (compare with the priest-code, Leviticus 21:7, 13, 14). Ezekiel's enactment discovers two variations - first, that it does not formally forbid to the priests marriage with a harlot; and, second, that it sanctions marriage with a priest's widow. But the first was implied in the prohibition of marriage with an adulteress, and the second was a sign of the higher sanctity of the priesthood belonging to Ezekiel's temple. Hence, so far from indicating the priority of Ezekiel, it rather points to the priority of Leviticus.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And they shall not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

marry
יִקְח֥וּ (yiq·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3947: To take

a widow
וְאַלְמָנָה֙ (wə·’al·mā·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 490: A widow, a desolate place

or a divorced woman,
וּגְרוּשָׁ֔ה (ū·ḡə·rū·šāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular
Strong's 1644: To drive out from a, possession, to expatriate, divorce

but must marry
יִקָּֽחוּ׃ (yiq·qā·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3947: To take

a virgin
בְּתוּלֹ֗ת (bə·ṯū·lōṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 1330: A virgin, sometimes, a bride

of the descendants
מִזֶּ֙רַע֙ (miz·ze·ra‘)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2233: Seed, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity

of the house
בֵּ֣ית (bêṯ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of Israel,
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

or a widow
אַלְמָנָ֔ה (’al·mā·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 490: A widow, a desolate place

of a priest.
מִכֹּהֵ֖ן (mik·kō·hên)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 44:22 Neither shall they take for their wives (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 44:21
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