Chapter Forty-Six

Ezekiel 46:1. Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. While the outer eastern gates must be shut constantly (Ezek 44:1) as a sign of the complete incomprehensibility of the Divine apart from His revelation outside the future temple and for those who have no access to it, the inner eastern gates are opened at festivals, during which God is more known and felt than on ordinary days.

Ezekiel 46:2. The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate and shall stand by the doorpost of the gate; and the priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offering; and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate, and then go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. While formerly kings had for themselves in the inner court of the temple a magnificent chamber (2 Sam 16:18) and special gates of the inner court, probably corresponding to later southern ones, were granted exclusively to them (Ezek 43:8), now the prince does not dare even enter the inner court, and only can look into it through the opened eastern gates, which faced right opposite the altar, and see how on the latter his sacrifices are brought. He cannot even stand in the very gates, but only in their vestibule, which represented a whole hall, and was located in the inner gates on their external side, facing the outer court (see plan 3). LXX “outer” unjustly considered as a definition of the gates; in this vestibule he can stand at the very door, or more truly doorframe, “mezuzat” (“doorpost,” LXX “entrance” — see explanation Ezek 45:19 and Ezek 41:21), coming out from the vestibule into the opening of the gates, not daring to enter even this opening. From here there was a direct view of the altar face to face; this position was nearer to the temple and more honorable than the place for the people (verse 3); but on the great festivals the prince was indistinguishable from the people (verse 10), being distinguished from them only on Sabbaths and new moons, when due to the small number of people in the temple the prince was easily distinguished from them. The burnt offering must be of the size of verse 4, and the peace offering according to his zeal. The gates are opened not only for the prince, but also for the people, so that they too could look at the altar face to face, therefore the gates were not shut after the prince left (as that was done when they were opened especially for the prince — verse 12 end), “so that all the people of the land might pray before the opening of these gates” (blessed Jerome). According to Kimchi: “the king here is the Messiah, for after this prophecy there were no kings in Judah, but leaders, as is evident from the books of the Maccabees.”

Ezekiel 46:3. And the people of the land shall worship at the entrance of this gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons before the Lord. On the greater festivals the people, it seems, could see the altar only through the side gates (verse 9). The revelation of God on these days was greater than on the Sabbath and new moon, and exceeded the comprehension of the people.

Ezekiel 46:4. The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall consist of six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; The size of the Sabbath sacrifice is established, which the prince offers from all the people, as their representative, since the people on these festivals should not appear in the temple. Why 6 lambs and 1 ram, see preliminary remarks to XLV:18-XLVI.

Ezekiel 46:5. and a grain offering of one ephah for the ram, and a grain offering for the lambs as much as he wishes to give, and a hin of oil for each ephah. The size of the grain offering for a lamb in contrast to Num 28:20, is not established, is left to the wish of the prince (“as much as his hand provides,” perhaps a full handful? Lev 5:12). Therefore even the drink offering is determined in relation to the grain offering, but not to the animal. Grain offering Hebrew minchau LXX for some reason a transliteration μαναα, while usually “offering,” prosphora.

Ezekiel 46:6. On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, as well as six lambs and a ram; they shall be without blemish. About the character and size of the sacrifice see preliminary remarks to XLV:18-XLVI. — “Without blemish” — in the Hebrew plural, should be an error under the influence of “without blemish,” where the plural is required or “a correction according to Num 28:11” (see). Trumpets, this chief rite of the new moon according to Moses, are not mentioned (as also the Passover lamb and Tabernacles).

Ezekiel 46:7. He shall provide as a grain offering one ephah for the bull and one ephah for the ram, and for the lambs as much as he wishes, and a hin of oil for each ephah. “As much as he wishes,” in Hebrew expressed somewhat differently than in verse 5: therefore the LXX there: “a gift of his hand,” here: “as his hand shall attain” (a handful); but no basis for difference in meaning is found.

Ezekiel 46:8. And when the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way. On the described only festivals: the Sabbath and the new moon — the prince in regard to his entry into the temple enjoys the advantage before the people, granted to him in Ezek 44:3; see explanation there.

Ezekiel 46:9. But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not go back through the gate by which they entered, but shall go out straight ahead. The prescription prevented crowds. But hardly did it have only such a base purpose. Perhaps there is in mind a known peculiarity in the movement of the cherubim (Ezek 1:9), and that Israel on the new land will be what the cherubim of the first vision are (Gaupp, Die Eigehtümlichkeit des Ez. In Neue kirchliche Zeitschrift, 5, 618). — “Festivals” — moadim should be only two annual — Passover and Tabernacles, when all the people should appear “before the Lord”; but in Ezek 45:17 the term designates all festivals.

Ezekiel 46:10. And the prince shall be in their midst; when they enter, he shall enter, and when they go out, he shall go out. At the great festivals the prince in regard to his entry into the temple does not have the advantage before the people (should be because the people represented in their entirety are not lower than the prince), granted to him in relation to his entry into the temple in Ezek 44:3 and here in verses 2 and 8 on the Sabbath and new moon, i.e., must enter and go out of the temple by the same gates and just as the people does, perhaps even because the eastern gates then were not opened (see explanation of verses 1 and 3). But the Peshitta: “the prince with them can through the same gates through which he came, and go out.”

Ezekiel 46:11. And at the festivals and at the appointed seasons the grain offering shall be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as much as one wishes to give, and a hin of oil for each ephah. “Festivals,” Hebrew haggim (Vulgate. for some reason here: nundiuis — fairs), “appointed seasons,” Hebrew moadim, see explanation Ezek 45:12. But in the haggim (Passover and Tabernacles) no lamb is offered (unless as an ordinary daily sacrifice). LXX: “mana” — see explanation of verse 5. The verse in general is a repetition of verses 5, 7, Ezek 45:24. There is no subject, but the prince is clearly implied.

Ezekiel 46:12. And if the prince offers a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or a peace offering, as a freewill offering to the Lord, then the gate facing east shall be opened for him; and he shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offering as he does on the Sabbath day, and then he shall go out; and after he goes out, the gate shall be shut. “From his zeal” — not from a vow or obligation; thus in Mosaic law only a peace offering could be offered. LXX: “confession.” — “Must open,” Hebrew “and will open,” therefore LXX: “and he will open for himself”; but of course an impersonal statement. — “After his going out the gates shall be shut,” so that the distinction between a weekday and a festival should not be lost. A great prerogative for the prince.

Ezekiel 46:13. Every day you shall provide a burnt offering to the Lord: a yearling lamb without blemish you shall provide every morning. “Provide” LXX, Peshitta, and Vulgate “shall make,” i.e., the prince, the chief steward of the cult (see preliminary remarks to Ezek 45:9-17), who was obligated to represent the people both in the daily as in the festival sacrifice, though of course might not always be personally present at it. — “Every morning.” Mosaic law required both morning and evening, but Ezekiel gives a new law; in him generally only the beginning of each period of time is sanctified: half-year, month, week, day. LXX: “mana” see explanation of verse 5.

Ezekiel 46:14. And you shall provide a grain offering with it every morning: one-sixth of an ephah, and one-third of a hin of oil, to moisten the choice flour, as a perpetual ordinance for the Lord. Grain offering larger than in Moses: Exod 29:38-42; Num 28:3-8, but there is no wine; see explanation Ezek 45:23. Here the size of the grain offering for a lamb is established, when in verses 5, 7, 11 it is left to his wish. — “Every morning” — Vulgate. cata mane — a strange insertion of the Greek preposition. — “To moisten” — Hebrew hap. leg. should be an Aramaism. — “Flour,” Hebrew solet, LXX: “semidl,” Vulgate. simila — finest flour, which was required for the sacrifice also in Mosaic law, in distinction from common flour kemach. — “Perpetual” — usual also in Moses for ritual institutions, sometimes replaced by a more precise: “in their generations.”

Ezekiel 46:15. Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a regular burnt offering. Ezekiel 46:16. Thus says the Lord God: If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their property by inheritance. Ezekiel 46:17. But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his only until the year of liberty; then it shall revert to the prince. Only his sons may keep an inheritance from him. Ezekiel 46:18. The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their holding; but out of his own possession he shall give an inheritance to his sons, so that none of my people shall be separated from his property. Just as eternal and perpetual, as the already concluded exposition “ordinance” (verse 14) concerning sacrifices, must also be the property provision of the prince, this exclusively — guardian of sacrifices. He must not divide his allotment, which embraces the allotment of the Lord and as if isolates the latter from all worldly things. He can divide it only within the bounds of his own kind, the disposition already implying that the main mass of property passes to the firstborn — the heir. But if the prince gives an allotment to a servant (such people were often considered by ancient kings as all their officials, even ministers), it can remain with its owner only until the year of liberty, i.e., the Sabbath (Exod 21:2; Deut 15:12; Jer 34:14), consequently not more than 7 years. On the other hand, the prince is not even permitted to increase his allotment at the expense of the people: in this case the prophet could have been guided by sad memories of the past. The prescriptions attached to Ezek 46:16-18 and Ezek 45:8, the placement of which here is completely inexplicable to the understanding of modern interpreters, if one sees in them only practical laws.

Ezekiel 46:19. Then he led me through the entrance, which is on the side of the gate, to the sacred chambers of the priests, which face north; and there, at the far west, I saw a place. To complete the regulation of the sacrificial cult, it remained to say where to boil and bake for the sacrifices that which is designated to be boiled and baked. And in this regard a strict distinction is made between the sacrificial parts belonging to the priests from those of the people, although both are sacred. The kitchens for the latter are not on the inner but on the outer court. The prophet stood according to Ezek 44:4 before the front of the temple, namely the building of the Sanctuary. From there he was led (“by a man” Ezek 40:3) “by the entrance which is on the side of the gate,” as is evident from the further, described in Ezek 42:4 (according to plan 3: g-i) “to the sacred chambers for (Hebrew “el,” to, LXX, Peshitta and Targum read “asher le” which for) priests,” described in Ezek 42:13-14, (LXX: “to an enclosure — see explanation Ezek 42:13, sacred of priests”), namely to those of two rows of these chambers which were “facing north,” i.e., located on the north side of the temple. Beside these chambers there was a “place,” evidently uncovered, a free part of the court (LXX: “a place separated” instead of the rest) “at the far west,” literally “in two corners to the sea (west),” should be L, L’ according to plan No. 3, not one L because symmetry would be violated, and not V, V’ (Smend) because the place would not be sufficiently sacred (the back, dark court of the temple). The LXX give, it seems, an explanatory translation, when they add to “gates” — “which on the south”: the northern gates on their inner side faced the south, and to this side the prophet should have approached from the front of the temple.

Ezekiel 46:20. And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, without bringing them out into the outer court, in order not to transmit holiness to the people. As is evident from the preceding verse, near those chambers where the priests should according to Ezek 42:13 eat the parts belonging exclusively to them from the sacrificial animals, there was also a place for kitchens in which these parts were boiled. And a list is given of the sacrifices from which such parts came, presented already in Ezek 44:29; in the burnt offering everything was burned, and in the peace offering the laypeople were also admitted. The prophet intensifies here his concern about the non-communication of the sacred with the profane to the point that he does not permit even the carrying out to the outer court of the most sacred parts of the sacrifice (as earlier forbidden the sacred clothes — Ezek 42:14). Especially strong is the expression: “in order not to transmit holiness to the people,” to somehow not hallow the people with the carried out most sacred part of the sacrifice. (Vulgate. “and may the people be sanctified”): in Ezek 44:19 more precisely, but not so forcefully; “so that with their sacred clothes they should not touch the people,” cf. Lev 8:31 after “grain offering” (“mana” — see explanation of verse 3) † “completely,” to panto, completely, i.e., to consume all remains of these sacrifices.

Ezekiel 46:21. Then he led me out to the outer court, and led me past the four corners of the court; and in each corner of the court there was a court. “In each corner of the court another court,” an enclosure enclosed by a wall (verse 23) a space, literally: “a court in the corner a court in the corner a court,” an anaphoric repetition as in Ezek 1:23; from which the LXX: “and behold, a court at the corners of the court (verse 22). At the corner a court.”

Ezekiel 46:22. In the four corners of the court were small enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide; all four corner courts were the same size. “Enclosed,” Hebrew keturot — inexplicable. Targ. and Pesh. derive from Aramaic root meaning to bind, enclose — enclosed (by walls, verse 23) courts; in the Talmud: uncovered (an unnecessary addition about courts); the LXX read ketanot — “small,” Vulgate. disposita; the former is more probable and in no way the Russian translation. Sounds like “smoke”; “always smoking” (Schroeder). — “Corners,” corresponding to Hebrew mehuqzaot — Aramaic form participle Hof. from root “corner”: drawn out into a corner? placed at the corners? square-shaped? The Masoretes as suspicious marked puncta extraordinaria; LXX, Pesh., Vulgate. do not read. The beginning of the verse in Slavonic “At the corner a court,” see explanation of verse 21.

Ezekiel 46:23. And around all of them, all four, there was a row of masonry, with hearths built all around under the rows. “Walls,” Hebrew tur, literally a row as in 1 Sam 6:36 about rows of stones. LXX exedrai, an enclosure. The main purpose of these walls — the arrangement of hearths in them. “Under,” Hebrew tachat, below, as in LXX and V.; the hearths were perhaps underground.

Ezekiel 46:24. And he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people. “Those who serve the temple” — the Levites: Ezek 44:11 et seq. cf. 15. “Sacrifices,” Hebrew zevach, most precisely Slavonic “slaughterings” (Greek thymatа), but only peace offerings are understood, from which the people could eat. Cf. 1 Sam 2:13 et seq.