CHAPTER 45
. ALLOTMENT OF THE
LAND FOR THE SANCTUARY,
THE CITY, AND THE
PRINCE.
1. offer an oblation—from a
Hebrew root to "heave" or "raise"; when
anything was offered to God, the offerer raised the hand. The special
territorial division for the tribes is given in the forty-seventh and
forty-eighth chapters. Only Jehovah's portion is here subdivided into
its three parts: (1) that for the sanctuary (Ezekiel 45:2;
Ezekiel 45:3); (2) that for the
priests (Ezekiel 45:4); (3) that
for the Levites (Ezekiel 45:5).
Compare Ezekiel 48:8-13.
five and twenty thousand
reeds, &c.—So English Version
rightly fills the ellipsis (compare Note, see on Ezekiel 48:8-26). Hence "cubits" are mentioned in Ezekiel 48:8-26, not here, implying that there alone cubits are
meant. Taking each reed at twelve feet, the area of the whole would
be a square of sixty miles on each side. The whole forming a square
betokens the settled stability of the community and the harmony of
all classes. "An holy portion of the land" (Ezekiel 48:8-26) comprised the whole length, and only two-fifths of the
breadth. The outer territory in its distribution harmonizes with the
inner and more sacred arrangements of the sanctuary. No room is to be
given for oppression (see Ezekiel 48:8-26), all having ample provision made for their wants and
comforts. All will mutually co-operate without constraint or
contention.
7. The prince's possession is to
consist of two halves, one on the west, the other on the east, of the
sacred territory. The prince, as head of the holy community, stands
in closest connection with the sanctuary; his possession, therefore,
on both sides must adjoin that which was peculiarly the Lord's
[FAIRBAIRN].
12. The standard weights were
lost when the Chaldeans destroyed the temple. The threefold
enumeration of shekels (twenty, twenty-five, fifteen) probably refers
to coins of different value, representing respectively so many
shekels, the three collectively making up a maneh. By weighing
these together against the maneh, a test was afforded whether
they severally had their proper weight: sixty shekels in all,
containing one coin a fourth of the whole (fifteen shekels), another
a third (twenty shekels), another a third and a twelfth (twenty-five
shekels) [MENOCHIUS]. The
Septuagint reads, "fifty shekels shall be your
maneh."
13-15. In these oblations there
is a progression as to the relation between the kind and the
quantity: of the corn, the sixth of a tenth, that is, a sixtieth part
of the quantity specified; of the oil, the tenth of a tenth, that is,
an hundredth part; and of the flock, one from every two hundred.
18. The year is to begin with a
consecration service, not mentioned under the Levitical law; but an
earnest of it is given in the feast of dedication of the second
temple, which celebrated its purification by Judas Maccabeus, after
its defilement by Antiochus.
21. As a new solemnity, the
feast of consecration is to prepare for the passover; so the passover
itself is to have different sacrifices from those of the Mosaic law.
Instead of one ram and seven lambs for the daily burnt offering,
there are to be seven bullocks and seven rams. So also whereas the
feast of tabernacles had its own offerings, which diminished as the
days of the feast advanced, here the same are appointed as on the
passover. Thus it is implied that the letter of the law is to give
place to its spirit, those outward rites of Judaism having no
intrinsic efficacy, but symbolizing the spiritual truths of Messiah's
kingdom, as for instance the perfect holiness which is to
characterize it. Compare 1 Corinthians 5:7;
1 Corinthians 5:8, as to our spiritual
"passover," wherein, at the Lord's supper, we feed on
Christ by faith, accompanied with "the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth." Literal ordinances, though not slavishly
bound to the letter of the law, will set forth the catholic and
eternal verities of Messiah's kingdom.
CHAPTER 45
. ALLOTMENT OF THE LAND FOR THE SANCTUARY, THE CITY, AND THE PRINCE.
1. offer an oblation—from a Hebrew root to "heave" or "raise"; when anything was offered to God, the offerer raised the hand. The special territorial division for the tribes is given in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth chapters. Only Jehovah's portion is here subdivided into its three parts: (1) that for the sanctuary (Ezekiel 45:2; Ezekiel 45:3); (2) that for the priests (Ezekiel 45:4); (3) that for the Levites (Ezekiel 45:5). Compare Ezekiel 48:8-13.
five and twenty thousand reeds, &c.—So English Version rightly fills the ellipsis (compare Note, see on Ezekiel 48:8-26). Hence "cubits" are mentioned in Ezekiel 48:8-26, not here, implying that there alone cubits are meant. Taking each reed at twelve feet, the area of the whole would be a square of sixty miles on each side. The whole forming a square betokens the settled stability of the community and the harmony of all classes. "An holy portion of the land" (Ezekiel 48:8-26) comprised the whole length, and only two-fifths of the breadth. The outer territory in its distribution harmonizes with the inner and more sacred arrangements of the sanctuary. No room is to be given for oppression (see Ezekiel 48:8-26), all having ample provision made for their wants and comforts. All will mutually co-operate without constraint or contention.
7. The prince's possession is to consist of two halves, one on the west, the other on the east, of the sacred territory. The prince, as head of the holy community, stands in closest connection with the sanctuary; his possession, therefore, on both sides must adjoin that which was peculiarly the Lord's [FAIRBAIRN].
12. The standard weights were lost when the Chaldeans destroyed the temple. The threefold enumeration of shekels (twenty, twenty-five, fifteen) probably refers to coins of different value, representing respectively so many shekels, the three collectively making up a maneh. By weighing these together against the maneh, a test was afforded whether they severally had their proper weight: sixty shekels in all, containing one coin a fourth of the whole (fifteen shekels), another a third (twenty shekels), another a third and a twelfth (twenty-five shekels) [MENOCHIUS]. The Septuagint reads, "fifty shekels shall be your maneh."
13-15. In these oblations there is a progression as to the relation between the kind and the quantity: of the corn, the sixth of a tenth, that is, a sixtieth part of the quantity specified; of the oil, the tenth of a tenth, that is, an hundredth part; and of the flock, one from every two hundred.
18. The year is to begin with a consecration service, not mentioned under the Levitical law; but an earnest of it is given in the feast of dedication of the second temple, which celebrated its purification by Judas Maccabeus, after its defilement by Antiochus.
20. for him that is simple—for sins of ignorance (Leviticus 4:2; Leviticus 4:13; Leviticus 4:27).
21. As a new solemnity, the feast of consecration is to prepare for the passover; so the passover itself is to have different sacrifices from those of the Mosaic law. Instead of one ram and seven lambs for the daily burnt offering, there are to be seven bullocks and seven rams. So also whereas the feast of tabernacles had its own offerings, which diminished as the days of the feast advanced, here the same are appointed as on the passover. Thus it is implied that the letter of the law is to give place to its spirit, those outward rites of Judaism having no intrinsic efficacy, but symbolizing the spiritual truths of Messiah's kingdom, as for instance the perfect holiness which is to characterize it. Compare 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Corinthians 5:8, as to our spiritual "passover," wherein, at the Lord's supper, we feed on Christ by faith, accompanied with "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Literal ordinances, though not slavishly bound to the letter of the law, will set forth the catholic and eternal verities of Messiah's kingdom.