Her priests have despised my law, and have defiled my sanctuaries: they have put no difference between holy and profane: nor have distinguished between the polluted and the clean: and they have turned away their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.
כֹּהֲנֶ֜יהָ חָמְס֣וּ תוֹרָתִי֮ וַיְחַלְּל֣וּ קָדָשַׁי֒ בֵּֽין־קֹ֤דֶשׁ לְחֹל֙ לֹ֣א הִבְדִּ֔ילוּ וּבֵין־הַטָּמֵ֥א לְטָה֖וֹר לֹ֣א הוֹדִ֑יעוּ וּמִשַׁבְּתוֹתַי֙ הֶעְלִ֣ימוּ עֵֽינֵיהֶ֔ם וָאֵחַ֖ל בְּתוֹכָֽם׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
His priests disregarded My commandments and desecrated My sacred offerings; their carelessness resulted in a failure to distinguish between the sacred and the secular, meaning they did not differentiate between the holy and the common.
His sacrifices have disregarded My commandments. The highest form of wrongdoing is when those appointed to guide others remain in a state of ignorance themselves. They have desecrated My sacred space by unlawfully conducting their duties. He reveals how they have violated the law. They failed to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, as well as between the clean and the unclean; in other words, they did not clarify and instruct what is holy and divine versus what is secular and human. The term profane here refers not to anything inherently unclean, but to that which is commonly used and set apart from the divine.
The distinction of clean and unclean is based on the laws, encompassing not only food and sacrifices, but also garments and various actions, whether done willingly or unwillingly, such as sowing seeds, monthly purification, contact with leprosy, contact with the deceased, handling all forms of dead animals, and any other prohibitions set forth by the law. They have turned a blind eye to My sabbaths and have dishonored Me among themselves. Despite the evident violation of the sabbath and the performance of illicit activities on the day of rest, they refused to admonish those who dared to break the law. Instead, they acted as if they were averting their gaze, pretending not to notice what was occurring before their eyes. God resumes His address to the rulers:
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS