Ezekiel 46

1 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The gate of the inner courtyard facing east must be shut [on] the six of the days for work, but on the day of the Sabbath it must be opened and on the day of the new moon it must be opened.
2 And the prince shall come [by] way of the portico of the gate from [the] outside, and he shall stand at the doorframe of the gate and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings, and he shall bow down at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be closed until the evening.
3 And the people of the land will bow down [at] the doorway of that gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons {before} Yahweh.
4 And the burnt offering which the prince will offer to Yahweh on the Sabbath day [must be] six male lambs without defect and a ram without defect.
5 And [the] grain offering [he will give] [shall be] an ephah {for each ram}, and for the male lambs [the] grain offering [shall be] {as much as he wants to give} and a hin of olive oil {for each ephah}.
6 And on the day of the new moon [he will offer] a bull, {a calf} without defect and six male lambs and a ram; they must be without defect.
7 And an ephah for each bull and an ephah for the ram he must provide [as] a grain offering, and [also] for the male lambs {as much as he can afford} and a hin [of] olive oil for each ephah.
8 And when the prince comes, on the way of the portico of the gate he shall come and by this way he shall go out.
9 And when the people of the land come {before} Yahweh at the festivals, [the] one coming [by] way of [the] gate of [the] north to bow down must go out [by] [the] way of [the] gate of [the] south, and the [one] coming [by] way of [the] gate of [the] south must go out [by the] way of [the] gate of [the] north, [so] he must not return [by] the way of the gate [by] which he came, but before it he shall go out opposite it.
10 And the prince [will be] in the midst of them; he will come in when they come in, and when they go out he will go out.
11 And at the festivals and at the appointed times, the grain offering will be an ephah with a bull and an ephah with the ram and with the male lambs, {as much as he wants to give}, and a hin of olive oil {for each ephah}.
12 And when the prince makes a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or a fellowship offering [as] a freewill offering to Yahweh, the gate facing east will be open for him. And he must offer his burnt offering and his fellowship offering {just as} he does on the day of the Sabbath, and [then] he must go out and the gate will shut {after he goes out}.
13 And a male lamb, {a yearling} without defect, he must provide as a burnt offering {daily} for Yahweh; {every morning} he must provide it.
14 And [a] grain offering he must provide in addition to it {every morning}, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of olive oil to moisten the finely milled flour [as] a grain offering to Yahweh {as a perpetual statute}.
15 [So] they must provide the male lamb and the grain offering and the olive oil {every morning} {as a regular burnt offering}."
16 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "If the prince gives a gift to any [one] from [among] his sons, it [is] his inheritance [and] it will belong to his sons; it is their possession as an inheritance.
17 And if he give a gift from his inheritance to one from [among] his servants, then it will belong to him until the year of release, and [then] it will return to the prince. His inheritance [with respect to] his sons will be only for them.
18 But the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people to rob them, [separating them] from their property; from his [own] property he shall bestow an inheritance on his sons, so that my people will not be driven away, any one, from his property."
19 Then he brought me through the entrance which [was] on the side of the gate {to the holy chambers} to the priests; [the chambers] were facing northwards and, look, there [was] a place at the extreme end westwards.
20 And he said to me, "This [is] the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, [and] where they shall bake the grain offering [in order] not to bring [them] out to the outer courtyard to make the people holy.
21 And he brought me to the outer courtyard and led me past the four corners of the courtyard; and look, {there was a courtyard in each corner of the courtyard}.
22 In the four corners of the courtyard [were] small courtyards forty [cubits] [in] length and thirty [cubits] [in] width, [each with] {the same measurements} for the four of them with corners.
23 And a row [was] all around inside them, and cooking-places [were] made under the rows of stones all around.
24 And he said to me, "These [are] the houses for cooking, where [the ones] serving the temple shall cook the sacrifices of the people."

Ezekiel 46 Commentary

Chapter 46

- The ordinances of worship for the prince and for the people, are here described, and the gifts the prince may bestow on his sons and servants. Our Lord has directed us to do many duties, but he has also left many things to our choice, that those who delight in his commandments may abound therein to his glory, without entangling their own consciences, or prescribing rules unfit for others; but we must never omit our daily worship, nor neglect to apply the sacrifice of the Lamb of God to our souls, for pardon, peace, and salvation.

Footnotes 38

  • [a]. Or "during"
  • [b]. Literally "to the face of"
  • [c]. Literally "to the ram"
  • [d]. Literally "the gift of his hand"
  • [e]. Literally "to the ephah"
  • [f]. Literally "son of cattle," or "son of [the] herd"
  • [g]. Literally "as that it stretches out his hand"
  • [h]. Or "by"
  • [i]. Or "his"
  • [j]. Literally "to the face of"
  • [k]. Or "to worship"
  • [l]. Hebrew "came by it"
  • [m]. According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  • [n]. Literally "the gift of his hand"
  • [o]. Literally "to the ephah"
  • [p]. Literally "as that"
  • [q]. Literally "after his going out"
  • [r]. Literally "a son of his year"
  • [s]. Literally "for the day"
  • [t]. Literally "in the morning in the morning"
  • [u]. Literally "in the morning in the morning"
  • [v]. Hebrew "the"
  • [w]. Hebrew "the"
  • [x]. Literally "regulations of everlasting continually"
  • [y]. Literally "in the morning in the morning"
  • [z]. Literally "as burnt offering of regularity/continuity"
  • [aa]. Hebrew "be"
  • [ab]. Hebrew "be"
  • [ac]. That is, the Year of Jubilee
  • [ad]. Or "oppress"
  • [ae]. Literally "to the chamber of the holiness"
  • [af]. Literally "a courtyard in the corner of the courtyard, a courtyard in the corner of the courtyard"
  • [ag]. Hebrew uncertain
  • [ah]. Literally "measurement one"
  • [ai]. Or "[being] cornered"
  • [aj]. Hebrew "in"
  • [ak]. Possibly some kind of stone ledge
  • [al]. Hebrew "of"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 46

This chapter treats of the shutting of the eastern gate of the inner court on working days, and opening it on sabbaths and new moons, for the prince and people to worship in, Eze 46:1-3, gives a further account of the sacrifices of both at these seasons, and of their different ways of going in and out, Eze 46:4-15, delivers some rules about the prince's disposing of his gifts to his sons and servants, Eze 46:16-18 and describes the places for the priest's baking and boiling the sacrifices, Eze 46:19-24.

Ezekiel 46 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.