And when they go out into the outer court to the people: This clause does not refer to the priests going into the outer courtyard to minister to the people, as, for example, a priest or minister might take the communion elements outside the church when there are too many people to fit inside the building. Rather, it refers to when they have finished their sacred duties and they go out to mix again with people in the ordinary way (compare 42.14). Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for this clause, saying “And before they leave to join the other people in the outer courtyard.” The Hebrew text repeats the words “into the outer court” in this clause (so also King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). However, many translations from as far back as the Septuagint treat the repeated words as a mistake by a copyist and omit them. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that translators do the same.
They shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering: Just as the priests had to put on special clothes when they entered the inner courtyard to begin their sacred duties (see verse 17), now “they must take off their priestly clothes” (Contemporary English Version).
And lay them in the holy chambers: They must “leave them in the holy rooms” (Good News Translation). The holy chambers are the rooms described in 42.1-14.
And they shall put on other garments: The other garments are presumably the ones they had taken off before they entered the inner courtyard (compare Contemporary English Version “their regular clothes”).
Lest they communicate holiness to the people with their garments: This clause refers to the belief in the Old Testament that holiness was contagious and could attach itself to people and things if they simply touched something that was holy. If this happened to the wrong people, they would die immediately, as was the case when Uzzah touched the Covenant Box in 2 Sam 6.6-8 (compare the footnote in Good News Translation). A model for this clause and the previous one is “They must put on other clothes [or, their normal clothes], so that people won’t touch their sacred clothes and die because they [or, people] were not allowed to touch anything sacred.”
Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .