Moreover, the spirit lifted me up
From the inner court of the temple, where the prophet was,
according to the last account of him, ( Ezekiel 8:16
) ; it was the same Spirit that took him by the lock of his head,
and lifted him up, as in ( Ezekiel 8:3 ) ; and
perhaps in the same manner: and brought me unto the east
gate of the Lord's house, which looketh
eastward;
where were the cherubim, and the wheels, and the glory of God
above them, ( Ezekiel
10:19 ) ; and behold at the door of the gate five and
twenty men;
not the same as in ( Ezekiel 8:16
) ; for they were in a different place, between the porch and the
altar; and about different service, they were worshipping there;
and seem to be men of a different order, priests; whereas these
were at the door of the eastern gate, sitting as a court of
judicature, and were civil magistrates; though Jarchi and Kimchi
take them to be the same. Some say Jerusalem was divided into
twenty four parishes, districts, or wards, and everyone had its
own head, ruler, and governor; and that there was one who was the
president over them all, like the mayor and aldermen of a city;
among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur;
not the same that is mentioned in ( Ezekiel 8:11
) ; he was the son of Shaphan, this of Azur; he was one of the
seventy of the ancients of Israel, this one of the twenty five
heads or rulers of the people; he seems to have been a prince; by
having a censer in his hand, this was a priest: the Septuagint
and Arabic versions call him Jechoniah: and Pelatiah the
son of Benaiah;
these two are mentioned by name, as being principal men, and well
known by the prophet; and the latter is observed more especially
for what befell him, hereafter related: princes of the
people;
men who were entrusted with power and authority to exercise the
laws of the nation; and who should have been reformers of the
people, and ought to have given them good advice, and set them
good examples; whereas they were the reverse, as follows: