1 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut 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.
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of [that] gate from without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall offer his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate, and shall go forth: but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
3 And the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before Jehovah on the sabbaths and on the new moons.
4 And the burnt-offering that the prince shall present unto Jehovah on the sabbath-day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.
5 And the oblation shall be an ephah for a ram, and the oblation for the lambs as he shall be able to give; and oil, a hin for an ephah.
6 And on the day of the new moon, a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.
7 And he shall offer an oblation, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according to what his hand may attain unto; and oil, a hin for an ephah.
8 And when the prince cometh in, he shall come in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go out by the way thereof.
9 And when the people of the land come in before Jehovah in the set feasts, he that cometh in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that cometh in by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him.
10 And the prince shall come in in the midst of them, when they come in; and when they go out, they shall go out [together].
11 And on the feast-days, and in the solemnities, the oblation shall be an ephah for a bullock and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give; and oil, a hin for an ephah.
12 And when the prince shall offer a voluntary burnt-offering or voluntary peace-offerings unto Jehovah, the gate that looketh toward the east shall be opened for him and he shall offer his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings as he did on the sabbath-day, and he shall go out again, and the gate shall be shut after he hath gone out.
13 And thou shalt daily offer a burnt-offering unto Jehovah, of a yearling-lamb without blemish: thou shalt prepare it morning by morning.
14 And thou shalt prepare an oblation with it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and of oil the third part of a hin, to moisten the fine flour: an oblation unto Jehovah continually by a perpetual ordinance.
15 They shall offer the lamb, and the oblation, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt-offering.
16 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, it shall be that one's inheritance, for his sons: it shall be their possession by inheritance.
17 But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of liberty; and it shall return to the prince: to his sons alone shall his inheritance remain.
18 And the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them by oppression out of their possession: he shall give his sons an inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every one from his possession.
19 Then he brought me through the passage which was at the side of the gate, into the holy cells which were for the priests, which looked toward the north; and behold, a place was there at the end westward.
20 And he said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering, and the sin-offering, [and] where they shall bake the oblation, that they bring them not out into the outer court, so as to hallow the people.
21 And he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.
22 In the four corners of the court there were enclosed courts, forty [cubits] long and thirty broad: these four corner courts were of one measure.
23 And there was a row [of building] round about in them, round about those four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about.
24 And he said unto me, These are the boiling-houses, where those who do the service of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 46
Commentary on Ezekiel 46 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 46
Eze 46:1-24. Continuation of the Ordinances for the Prince and for the People in Their Worship.
2. The prince is to go through the east gate without (open on the Sabbath only, to mark its peculiar sanctity) to the entrance of the gate of the inner court; he is to go no further, but "stand by the post" (compare 1Ki 8:14, 22, Solomon standing before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the congregation; also 2Ki 11:14; 23:3, "by a pillar": the customary place), the court within belonging exclusively to the priests. There, as representative of the people, in a peculiarly near relation to God, he is to present his offerings to Jehovah, while at a greater distance, the people are to stand worshipping at the outer gate of the same entrance. The offerings on Sabbaths are larger than those of the Mosaic law, to imply that the worship of God is to be conducted by the prince and people in a more munificent spirit of self-sacrificing liberality than formerly.
9. The worshippers were on the great feasts to pass from one side to the other, through the temple courts, in order that, in such a throng as should attend the festivals, the ingress and egress should be the more unimpeded, those going out not being in the way of those coming in.
10. prince in the midst—not isolated as at other times, but joining the great throng of worshippers, at their head, after the example of David (Ps 42:4, "I had gone with the multitude … to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day"); the highest in rank animating the devotions of the rest by his presence and example.
12-15. Not only is he to perform official acts of worship on holy days and feasts, but in "voluntary" offerings daily he is to show his individual zeal, surpassing all his people in liberality, and so setting them a princely example.
16-18. The prince's possession is to be inalienable, and any portion given to a servant is to revert to his sons at the year of jubilee, that he may have no temptation to spoil his people of their inheritance, as formerly (compare Ahab and Naboth, 1Ki 21:1-29). The mention of the year of jubilee implies that there is something literal meant, besides the spiritual sense. The jubilee year was restored after the captivity [Josephus, Antiquities, 14.10,6; 1 Maccabees 6:49]. Perhaps it will be restored under Messiah's coming reign. Compare Isa 61:2, 3, where "the acceptable year of the Lord" is closely connected with the comforting of the mourners in Zion, and "the day of vengeance" on Zion's foes. The mention of the prince's sons is another argument against Messiah being meant by "the prince."
19-24. Due regard is to be had for the sanctity of the officiating priests' food, by cooking courts being provided close to their chambers. One set of apartments for cooking was to be at the corners of the inner court, reserved for the flesh of the sin offerings, to be eaten only by the priests whose perquisite it was (Le 6:25; 7:7), before coming forth to mingle again with the people; another set at the corners of the outer court, for cooking the flesh of the peace offerings, of which the people partook along with the priests. All this implies that no longer are the common and unclean to be confounded with the sacred and divine, but that in even the least things, as eating and drinking, the glory of God is to be the aim (1Co 10:31).
22. courts joined—Fairbairn translates, "roofed" or "vaulted." But these cooking apartments seem to have been uncovered, to let the smoke and smell of the meat the more easily pass away. They were "joined" or "attached" to the walls of the courts at the corners of the latter [Menochius].
23. boiling places—boilers.
under the rows—At the foot of the rows, that is, in the lowest part of the walls, were the places for boiling made.