HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 314
Admission to the Temple
4Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; and I looked, and lo! the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD; and I fell upon my face. 5The LORD said to me: Mortal, mark well, look closely, and listen attentively to all that I shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the LORD and all its laws; and mark well those who may be admitted toa the temple and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary. 6Say to the rebellious house,b to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations 7in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. Youc have broken my covenant with all your abominations. 8And you have not kept charge of my sacred offerings; but you have appointed foreignersd to act for you in keeping my charge in my sanctuary.
9Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. 11They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them. 12Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord GOD, that they shall bear their punishment. 13They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, and the consequences of the abominations that they have committed. 14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it.
The Levitical Priests
15But the levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD. 16It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen vestments; they shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19When they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall remove the vestments in which they have been ministering, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, so that they may not communicate holiness to the people with their vestments. 20They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22They shall not marry a widow, or a divorced woman, but only a virgin of the stock of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24In a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and they shall keep my sabbaths holy. 25They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person; for father or mother, however, and for son or daughter, and for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27On the day that he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord GOD.
28This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no holding in Israel; I am their holding. 29They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30The first of all the first fruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests; you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, in order that a blessing may rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or animal, that died of itself or was torn by animals.
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a Cn: Heb the entrance of
b Gk: Heb lacks house
c Gk Syr Vg: Heb They
d Heb lacks foreigners
44.1–3 The exterior east gate closed. The east gate, described in 40.6–16, is shut because God is now in the temple. Such action makes the gate function as part of the wall, which is a boundary between the holy and the common (42.20).
44.2 The closed gate apparently symbolizes the final (43.7, 9) reentry of God into the temple.
44.3 Prince, the “civil” ruler in Ezekiel’s new polity; see 46.1–18; note on 34.23–24. Eat food before the LORD, consume food prepared as part of a sacrifice, e.g., a well-being sacrifice. What was a gate becomes a ritual dining area.
44.4–5 Reprise recapitulating much in 40.4; 43.2–3, 12. One key difference is that the gate now used is the north one, presumably due to the closing of the east gate (v. 2). In addition, v. 5b links the language of ordinances and laws to the ensuing regulations regarding admission to the temple complex.
44.6–16 Admission of priests to the temple.
44.6–8 The prophet inveighs against Israel for allowing foreigners to worship at the sanctuary; see similarly Lev 22.25; cf. Ezek 47.22–23; Isa 56.3–8. For specific instances, see 1 Chr 9.2; Neh 13.4–9.
44.7, 9 Uncircumcised in heart and flesh. Cf. Lev 26.41; Deut 10.16; Jer 4.4; 9.25. Consistent with Deut 23.2–4, no foreigners who reside in Judahite territory are to be allowed into the temple precinct.
44.10–14 The Levites, who were enfranchised to sacrifice in Deut 18.6–8, are demoted because of idolatrous behavior. Though no specific charges are leveled, there may be an allusion to levitical malfeasance as narrated in Num 16. Nonetheless, they are to have a role in the temple compound, i.e., oversight of the gates and preparation of sacrifices, especially since foreigners have been barred from such activity.
44.15–31 Zadokite priests and their duties.
44.15–16 The Zadokites, because of past orthodox behavior, will conduct sacrifices. Zadok, a priest in Jerusalem when David ruled (2 Sam 20.25), became prominent during Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 1.41–45). Cf. 40.46.
44.16 My table. See 41.22.
44.17–18 Priestly apparel. Linen. See note on 9.1–2.
44.19 Cf. the description of holy chambers (42.1–14). Communicate holiness. See note on 46.20.
44.20 Tonsure is forbidden; cf. Lev 21.5. Deut 14.1–2 indicates that shaving one’s head as a form of lamentation (cf. Jer 7.29) could be construed as non-Yahwistic.
44.21 Drink wine. See Lev 10.9.
44.22 Marry. Cf. Lev 21.7, 13–14.
44.23 Teach my people. Cf. Deut 33.8–10.
44.24 Act as judges. Cf. Ex 22.9 for such a case; Deut 17.8–9; 19.17;21.1–5.
44.25 Corpse defilement. See Lev 21.1–3; Num 19.
44.26 It takes seven days to remove corpse defilement for the laity, twice that for priests.
44.28 No holding, or “no inheritance” (RSV), i.e., the tradition that the levitical priests had no land holdings (Num 18.20–24; Josh 13.14; 18.7); cf. Ezek 45.1–5; 48.8–14.
44.29 On the priestly portion of the grain offering, see Lev 2.3; the sin offering, Lev 6.24; and the guilt offering, Lev 7.6; more generally, see Num 18.9–13. On every devoted thing, cf. Num 18.14; Lev 27.28–29.
44.30 On other priestly income, see Num 18.25–30. Dough, “coarse meal” (RSV).
44.31 See Ex 22.31; Lev 17.15, where the prohibition applies to all people, but cf. Lev 22.8, where the stipulation devolves specifically on priests.
EZEKIEL 45
The Holy District
1When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside for the LORD a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twentya thousand cubits wide; it shall be holy throughout its entire extent. 2Of this, a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3In the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4It shall be a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him; and it shall be both a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their holding for cities to live in.b
6Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign as a holding for the city an area five thousand cubits wide, and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.
7And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the holding of the city, alongside the holy district and the holding of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no longer oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.
9Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord GOD.
Weights and Measures
10You shall have honest balances, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.c 11The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall make a mina for you.
Offerings
13This is the offering that you shall make: one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14and as the fixed portion of oil,d one-tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor,e like the homer, contains ten baths); 15and one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the pastures of Israel. This is the offering for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and offerings of well-being, to make atonement for them, says the Lord GOD. 16All the people of the land shall join with the prince in Israel in making this offering. 17But this shall be the obligation of the prince regarding the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the festivals, the new moons, and the sabbaths, all the appointed festivals of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the offerings of well-being, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
Festivals
18Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 19The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.
21In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the festival of the passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23And during the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24He shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. 25In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the festival, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.
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a Gk: Heb ten
b Gk: Heb as their holding, twenty chambers
c A Heb measure of volume
d Cn: Heb oil, the bath the oil
e Vg: Heb homer
45.1–8 Instruction about a holy district in the restored land, which treats the matter of priestly inheritance differently from 44.28 and continues the distinction between Levites and priests.
45.1 Inheritance, i.e., in perpetuity; see 48.14. The district is a square plot 25,000 cubits on a side. Cf. the longer description of land divisions in 48.8–22.
45.2 Land for the sanctuary, a plot 500 cubits square, and open space; cf. 42.20; 48.8, 17.
45.3–4 The share of the land for the priests in the South. According to 48.10, the temple is located in this priestly allotment.
45.5 The Levites’ share, which lies in the North. The forty-eight levitical cities (Josh 21.1–42) are all to be located in this section.
45.6 Land for the city. Cf. 48.15–20.
45.7 The prince’s portion, which lies to the east and west of all three other allocations.
45.9 Princes of Israel, language reminiscent of Ezekiel before 587 BCE (e.g., 21.12), which in this context may have been secondarily applied to the priests in the new polity. On earlier evictions, see 1 Kings 21.1–16; Isa 5.8; Mic 2.2. But land possession was important for Ezekiel as well, e.g., 11.14–16.
45.10–12 Dry volume and weight. Not only are measures standardized, but Israel is admonished to adhere to them. Such admonitions are consistent with earlier stipulations (Lev 19.35–36; Deut 25.13–16). Earlier prophets had inveighed against violation of standard measures, e.g., Am 8.5; Mic 6.10–11. Cf. Prov 11.1; 20.10. Homer, the base for dry measurement, 5–6 bushels (the Hebrew word suggests that it was the load one donkey could bear). Shekel, the standard for weight, a little less than a half ounce, though both a “heavy” and a “light” shekel are known—thus justifying such a call for standardization.
45.13–17 Offerings. The people’s agricultural products are subject to a tax of the following percentages: grain, 1.5 percent; olive oil, 1 percent; livestock, .5 percent. These are payable in the form of offerings in kind (grain offerings, burnt offerings, and offerings of well-being).
45.16 Cf. “All the people of the land shall give this offering to the prince of Israel” (RSV).
45.17 The prince is subject to a higher tax; cf. 45.22–46.15 on the prince’s obligations for the sacrificial system.
45.18–25 Rites of purification and festivals.
45.18–20 An otherwise unattested annual rite of temple purification. For the use of blood in purification rites, cf. 43.18–27; on the Day of Atonement, cf. Lev 16.
45.20 Purification of the individual (anyone), though the text is difficult.
45.21–25 Passover and Festival of Booths (Tabernacles). Ezekiel has revised significantly the standard festival calendar (cf. Num 28) by highlighting these two primary feasts.
45.21 Calendar for the Passover celebration.
45.22–24 The prince’s responsibilities for Passover sacrifices.
45.25 The festival, the fall harvest festival otherwise known as Booths, Ingathering, or Tabernacles. Cf. Lev 23.33–36; Num 29.12–38; Deut 16.13–15, where it continues for eight days.
EZEKIEL 46
Miscellaneous Regulations
1Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall remain closed on the six working days; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his offerings of well-being, and he shall bow down at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be closed until ev
ening. 3The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons. 4The burnt offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; 5and the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 6On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish; 7as a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 8When the prince enters, he shall come in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.
9When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not return by way of the gate by which they entered, but shall go out straight ahead. 10When they come in, the prince shall come in with them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
11At the festivals and the appointed seasons the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or offerings of well-being as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him; and he shall offer his burnt offering or his offerings of well-being as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be closed.