They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person: Any contact with a dead body contaminated a person and made them “ritually unclean” (Good News Translation), that is, unfit to worship God (see Num 19.11-16). Therefore this rule forbids the priests from even going near to a dead person (similarly Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Century Version, King James Version / New King James Version, English Standard Version, Complete Jewish Bible), although some translations think this only refers to “touching a corpse” (Good News Translation; similarly Revised English Bible). It is better to retain the idea of not even “being in the presence of a dead person” (New Living Translation) or not “entering [a house] where there is a dead person” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), because that would avoid unintentional touching.

However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves: This sentence gives some exceptions to the above rule. Priests may be present with the dead bodies of close family members, namely, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, and unmarried sister. For these people the priests may defile themselves, that is, be close to or touch their dead bodies, so that they become ritually unclean. Thus the priests in the new Temple will be subject to the same rules as the priests of the Tabernacle and the Temple (see Lev 21.1-4). This sentence may be expressed as “However, if their father or mother dies, or their son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then they may touch those bodies and become ritually unclean.”

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 .