This verse describes the third function of the buildings of rooms on each side of the Temple, namely, they were changing rooms for the priests before and after they worked in the Temple, and storage rooms for the religious vestments and clothes that the priests wore while they were working in the Temple.

When the priests enter the holy place, that is, when they conduct their religious duties in the Temple, they shall not go out of it into the outer court, that is, they shall not go directly to the outer courtyard, without laying there the garments in which they minister, that is, they must take off the vestments and clothes they wear inside the Temple and leave them in the rooms, for these are holy, that is, because those clothes are for serving God. The Hebrew word rendered the holy place often refers to the Most Holy Place (compare 41.21, 23), but it can also refer to the holy area of the Temple in general. The fact that the priests had to change their clothes before going into the outer court shows that the holy place here refers not to the Temple building only, but to the inner courtyard as well. The position of the buildings of rooms made them ideal for this purpose, because they opened both on to the inner courtyard and also, by means of the half-meter walkway, on to the outer courtyard. This sentence may be rendered “When the priests have finished their work in the Temple area, they must not go directly to the outer courtyard. First, they must enter the rooms and take off the clothes they wore while performing their duties, for these clothes are for serving God.”

They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people: The priests were required to put on other clothes before they went to places where other people went. They did not do this to avoid their being contaminated by people who were ritually unclean, but to avoid the holiness of their clothes being transferred to people who were not priests (see 44.19 and the comments there). Unless it will be very confusing to readers, it is better not to include the reason here, but to say simply “They must put on other clothes before they go to places where other people are.” Contemporary English Version has “They must … put on regular clothes before going anywhere near other people.”

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 .