1 And in your causing the land to fall in inheritance, ye lift up a heave-offering to Jehovah, a holy `portion' of the land: the length -- five and twenty thousand `is' the length, and the breadth ten thousand; it `is' holy in all its border round about.
This `is' the land that ye separate by inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these `are' their portions -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
And Moses commandeth the sons of Israel, saying, `This `is' the land which ye inherit by lot, which Jehovah hath commanded to give to the nine tribes and the half of the tribe;
In that day there is on bells of the horse, `Holy to Jehovah,' And the pots in the house of Jehovah Have been as bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, Have been holy to Jehovah of Hosts, And all those sacrificing have come in, And have taken of them, and boiled in them, And there is no merchant any more in the house of Jehovah of Hosts in that day!
`And the land is not sold -- to extinction, for the land `is' Mine, for sojourners and settlers `are' ye with Me;
all the inhabitants of the hill-country, from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-Maim, all the Sidonians: I -- I dispossess them before the sons of Israel; only, cause it to fall to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
Jehovah `is' the portion of my share, and of my cup, Thou -- Thou dost uphold my lot. Lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, Yea, a beauteous inheritance `is' for me.
Honour Jehovah from thy substance, And from the beginning of all thine increase;
There is of this for the sanctuary five hundred by five hundred, square, round about; and fifty cubits of suburb `is' to it round about. And by this measure thou dost measure: the length `is' five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand: and in it is the sanctuary, the holy of holies. The holy `portion' of the land it `is'; for priests, ministrants of the sanctuary, it is, who are drawing near to serve Jehovah; and it hath been to them a place for houses, and a holy place for a sanctuary. `And of the five and twenty thousand of length, and of the ten thousand of breadth, there is to the Levites, ministrants of the house, for them -- for a possession -- twenty chambers. `And of the possession of the city ye give five thousand of breadth, and of length five and twenty thousand, over-against the heave-offering of the holy `portion': to all the house of Israel it is. As to the prince, on this side, and on that side, of the heave-offering of the holy place, and of the possession of the city, at the front of the heave-offering of the holy place, and at the front of the possession of the city, from the west corner westward, and from the east corner eastward -- and the length `is' over-against one of the portions from the west border unto the east border --
`And ye have divided this land to you, according to the tribes of Israel; and it hath come to pass, ye separate it for an inheritance to yourselves, and to the sojourners who are sojourning in your midst, who have begotten sons in your midst, and they have been to you as native, with the sons of Israel, with you they are separated for an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel.
and by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side is the heave-offering that ye lift up, five and twenty thousand broad and long, as one of the parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary hath been in its midst. The heave-offering that ye lift up to Jehovah `is' five and twenty thousand long, and broad ten thousand. And of these is the holy heave-offering for the priests, northward five and twenty thousand, and westward `in' breadth ten thousand, and eastward `in' breadth ten thousand, and southward `in' length five and twenty thousand: and the sanctuary of Jehovah hath been in its midst. For the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who erred not in the erring of the sons of Israel, as the Levites erred, even the heave-offering hath been to them, out of the heave-offering of the land, most holy, by the border of the Levites. `And `to' the Levites over-against the border of the priests `are' five and twenty thousand `in' length, and `in' breadth ten thousand, all the length `is' five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. And they do not sell of it, nor exchange, nor cause to pass away the first-fruit of the land: for `it is' holy to Jehovah. And the five thousand that is left in the breadth, on the front of the five and twenty thousand, is common -- for the city, for dwelling, and for suburb, and the city hath been in its midst. And these `are' its measures: the north side five hundred, and four thousand, and the south side five hundred, and four thousand, and on the east side five hundred, and four thousand, and the west side five hundred, and four thousand. And the suburb to the city hath been northward, fifty and two hundred, and southward, fifty and two hundred, and eastward, fifty and two hundred, and westward, fifty and two hundred. `And the residue in length over-against the heave-offering of the holy `portion is' ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward, and it hath been over-against the heave-offering of the holy `portion', and its increase hath been for food to the servants of the city, even `to' him who is serving the city, they serve it out of all the tribes of Israel. All the heave-offering `is' five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand, square do ye lift up the heave-offering of the holy `portion' with the possession of the city. `And the residue `is' for the prince, on this side and on that side of the heave-offering of the holy `portion', and of the possession of the city, on the front of the five and twenty thousand of the heave-offering unto the east border, and westward, on the front of the five and twenty thousand on the west border, over-against the portions of the prince; and the heave-offering of the holy `portion', and the sanctuary of the house, hath been in its midst. And from the possession of the Levites, from the possession of the city, in the midst of that which is to the prince, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, there is to the prince. `As to the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin one,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 45
Commentary on Ezekiel 45 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 45
Eze 45:1-25. 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 (Eze 45:2, 3); (2) that for the priests (Eze 45:4); (3) that for the Levites (Eze 45:5). Compare Eze 48:8-13.
five and twenty thousand reeds, &c.—So English Version rightly fills the ellipsis (compare Note, see on Eze 42:16). Hence "cubits" are mentioned in Eze 45:2, 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" (Eze 45:1) 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 Eze 45:8), 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 (Le 4:2, 13, 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 1Co 5:7, 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.