Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 45

Verse 1

Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.

When ye shall divide by lot the land ... ye shall offer an oblation, [tªruwmaah ( H8641)] - from a Hebrew root [heeriym or ruwm (H7311)] to heave or raise; because when anything was offered to God the offerer raised the hand. The special territorial division for the tribes is given in Ezekiel 47:1-23 ; Ezekiel 48:1-35 . Only Yahweh's portion is here subdivided into its three parts:

(1) that for the sanctuary ( Ezekiel 45:2-3);

(2) that for the priests (Ezekiel 45:4 );

(3) that for the Levites ( Ezekiel 45:5 ). Compare Ezekiel 48:8-13.

The length shall be ... five and twenty thousand reeds ... So the English version rightly fills the ellipsis (cf. note, Ezekiel 42:16). Hence, "cubits" are mentioned in Ezekiel 45:2, not here, implying that there alone cubits are meant. Taking each reed at 12 feet, the area of the whole would be a square of 60 miles on each side. The whole forming a square betokens the settled stability of the community, and the harmony of all classes. "The holy portion of the Lord" (Ezekiel 45:1) comprised the whole length, and only two-fifths of the width. 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 45:8), all having ample provision made for their wants and comforts. All will mutually cooperate without constraint contention.

Verses 2-4

Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

Verse 5

And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.

The Levites ... have ... for a possession for twenty chambers - i:e., the Levites shall have it for a possession who are to live in twenty chambers.

Verse 6

And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Verse 7

And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border.

A portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion. 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).

Verses 8-11

In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

Verse 12

And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.

The shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh. The standard weights were lost when the Chaldeans destroyed the temple. The three-fold 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 read, 'fifty shekels shall be your maneh.'

Verses 13-15

This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley:

This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat ... of oil ... the tenth part of a bath out of the cor ... one lamb ... out of two hundred. In these oblations there is a progression as to the relation between the kind and the quantity: of the grain the sixth of a tenth - i:e., a 60th part of the quantity specified; of the oil the tenth of a tenth - i:e., 100th part; and of the flock one from every 200 animals.

Verses 16-17

All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. No JFB commentary on these verses.

Verse 18

Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:

In the first month, in the first day ... thou shalt take a young bullock ... and cleanse the sanctuary. 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.

Verse 19

And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Verse 20

And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.

So thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple - for 'sins of ignorance' (Leviticus 4:2 ; Leviticus 4:13 ; Leviticus 4:27).

Verses 21-23

In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. In the first month, in the fourteenth day ... ye shall have the Passover ... And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily. 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.

Verse 24

And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Verse 25

In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.

In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day ... shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days. 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 5:7-8 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." Ordinances that are literal, though not slavishly bound to the letter of the law, will set forth the catholic and eternal verities of Messiah's kingdom.

Remarks:

(1) In the blessed time which is coming to Israel, ample provision will be made for the sanctuary, the holy city, and the prince. They shall each have allotted to them their respective portions. Thus, no room will be left for the oppressions of past days, all having ample provision made for their wants and comforts ( Ezekiel 45:8 ). All will mutually cooperate for the goad of one another, and for the common welfare.

(2) The thought of that happy and righteous age to come ought to lead all, in their several spheres, even now to put far from them violence and injustice, and to have just balances ( Ezekiel 45:10) in all their dealings with, their fellow-men. The time past should "suffice" us (Ezekiel 45:9) to have neglected our obligations toward our fellow-man and toward our God. Henceforth let us do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8 ). How happy would nations be if their princes ruled in justice, not for self-aggrandizement, but for the glory of God, and as holding their authority under Christ; and how happy the people so governed would be, living in tranquillity, prosperity, and, above all, true godliness!

(3) Hereafter there shall be a new Passover (Ezekiel 45:21 ) and a new Feast of Tabernacles ( Ezekiel 45:25; Zechariah 14:16-19) observed in Israel, with ceremonies vastly exceeding glory those of the same feasts under the Old Testament. The antitypical, perfect, and eternal realities of Christ's manifested kingdom shall be set forth with observances which, though literal, are not to be slavishly bound down to the letter of the old law, but which shall bring out all the heretofore hidden glories and excellencies of that law, viewed in its essential spirit. Meanwhile Christ is spiritually our Passover, sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth ( 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). Let us, as sojourners in tabernacles of clay, look forward to the blissful time when, dwelling in our house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, we shall celebrate with joy our feast of tabernacles, commemorating our having ended our wilderness journey, and entered the everlasting rest which remaineth for the people of God.