The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering: After the bull is killed, a priest will take some of its blood. Although this clause does not specify which priest is to do this, it is reasonable to assume that it will be the High Priest. He will catch some of the blood, probably in a bowl or bucket, and carry it to different places within the Temple’s inner courtyard, where he will conduct the ritual to purify the Temple. Here the sacrificed bull is called a sin offering (see the comments on verse 17).

And put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court: The priest will put, that is, paint, daub, “apply” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “smear” (Contemporary English Version), perhaps with his finger (compare 43.20), some of the blood on the doorposts of the temple, that is, the doorposts at the entrance to the Temple building (see 41.21), on the four corners of the ledge of the altar (see 43.17, 20), and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. The posts of the gate of the inner court reflects the Hebrew accurately, but it is uncertain which gate is meant, and whether the posts refers to the doorposts on the inner or outer side of the gateway of the inner courtyard. As a result, some translations have interpreted this phrase to mean all the doorposts of the inner courtyard’s gateways; for example, Good News Translation has “the posts of the gateways to the inner courtyard” (similarly Moffatt), Contemporary English Version says “the doorposts of the gates that lead into the inner courtyard” (similarly Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible), and New International Reader’s Version translates “the gateposts of the inner courtyard” (similarly New International Version, Revised English Bible). There is little justification for doing so, and translators should only do so if their language demands it. If only one gate is intended, we may guess that it may have been the east gateway, which was special and not used for people to go in and out. We may also guess that the location of the posts of the gate was on the inner side of this gateway, that is, on the side facing the inner courtyard, since the other places where the priest will daub the blood are also within the inner courtyard. It is best for translators not to be specific here if possible; for example, New Century Version says “the posts of the gate to the inner courtyard.”

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 .