יחזקאל, פרק מ״ד, פסוק ז׳

A severe prophetic rebuke is directed at the nation for compromising the sacredness of the Temple. By allowing disqualified priests to serve, the people not only corrupted the sacrificial service but compounded a long, dark history of idolatry.

The accusation focuses on the specific individuals brought into the sanctuary. The primary approach among commentators is that while the nation dwelt in their land, they introduced priests who had turned away from God, effectively acting as apostates whose deeds alienated them from heaven. However, another perspective suggests these individuals were actual foreigners [רד״ק]. Furthermore, these men suffered from a profound spiritual blockage, possessing hearts completely closed off from knowing God [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון], having actively participated in idolatrous practices [רד״ק, מלבי״ם].

In addition to their spiritual failings, men who were physically uncircumcised were brought into the Temple. The commentators agree that these were priests who remained uncircumcised for valid medical reasons, such as having brothers who died as a result of the procedure. Although such a person is a victim of circumstance and not at fault, the physical state of being uncircumcised is unacceptable before God, rendering him unfit for holy service [רד״ק]. The law disqualifying an uncircumcised priest from service is not explicitly written in the original laws of Moses; rather, it was passed down as an oral tradition from Mount Sinai, which the prophet Ezekiel firmly established in this moment [רד״ק].

The mere entry of these unfit individuals into the Temple was enough to defile it. Their very presence inside the sanctuary profaned the holiness of the house, even before they performed any actual duties [מלבי״ם]. The situation worsened significantly when these priests were permitted to approach the altar and offer sacrifices of fat and blood. The prophet holds the entire nation directly responsible for these offerings, as it was the people who brought the disqualified priests to the altar in the first place [מצודת דוד, רד״ק]. Allowing them to actively perform the sacrificial service added a severe offense on top of their illicit entry [מלבי״ם].

Ultimately, these priests, who had previously served idols and failed to repent, shattered God's covenant [רד״ק, מלבי״ם]. Their defilement of the altar did not happen in a vacuum; it compounded the existing abominations and idolatrous sins already committed by the nation [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Alternatively, the breaking of the covenant can be understood as a direct consequence of the people's actions, meaning the covenant was shattered precisely because of all these accumulated abominations [ביאור שטיינזלץ].