Laws respecting] : EZEKIEL. filled the house of the LORD and I fell upou my face. 5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. 6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GoD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, 7 In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, uor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. 10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. 12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. 13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. 15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall [the Priests and Levites. stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: 16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to winister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 And it shall come to pass, that when controversy they shall stand in judgment; NOTES-Chap. XLIV. Con. sovereign in the East, this is one, that the gate whereby he enters is in future closed to all other persons. Harmer's Obs. vol. iii. p. 329. Ver. 7. Sirangers-Hebrew, "The children of a stranger." See Levit. xxii. 25. Ver. 10. They shall bear their iniquity. — Many Levites survived the captivity, some of whom in arly life had probably served the altar of the idola ters; neither they nor their children should now be admitted to their full privileges, but be subservient to others; and thus "bear their iniquity." Ver. 12. Caused the house, &c. - Heb. "Were a stumbling block of iniquity uuto," &c.—I lifted mine hand-that is, I have sworn, &e. Ver. 25. They shall come, &c.-The following re gulations are chiefly repetitions of the Mosaic law Division of] CHAP. XLV. the first of all the first fruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. 31 The priest shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast. CHAP. XLV. 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. 2 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. 3 And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. 4 The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sauctuary. 5 And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the minis ters of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers. 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. 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, aud 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. 8 In the laud 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. 9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove vio [the land. lence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my 10 Ye people, saith the Lord GOD. shall have just balances, and a just ephah and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. 12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh. 13 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 : 14 Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, for ten which is an homer of ten baths; baths are an homer: 15 And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for 16 All the them, saith the Lord GoD. people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Isracl. 17 And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. 18 Thus saith the Lord Gop; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blem19 And ish, and cleanse the sanctuary : the priest shall take of the blood of the sin upon the posts of the offering, and put house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of 20 And so the gate of the inner court. 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. 21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread 22 And upon that day shall be eaten. shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. 23 And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering NOTES. CHAP. XLV. Ver. 1. When ye shall divide, &c. -See Josh. xxiii. 4, &c.—Five and twenty thou sand reeds.-The word reeds is not in the original; Michaelis, Newcome, Boothroyd, &c. therefore supply cubits, as far more probable than reeds: 25,000 of the latter would be 150,000 cubits, which would amount to more than 42 miles in length, and upwards of 16 in breadth; at the lowest calculation, and reckoning the larger cubit, ch. xl. 5., 52 miles by 20, much too large for the hills on which Jerusalem was built. Ver. 6. Five thousand, &c. - Abp. Newcome reckons this full four times the size of Jerusalem, according to Josephus. Ver. 12. Twenty shekels--this appears to be much like the manner of reckoning in the East at the present time. See Orient. Cust. No. 329. Ver, 18. In the first month, &c.-Michaelis says the following regulations differ materially from the Mosaic. to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. 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. 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. CHAP. XLVI. HUS saith the Lord God; The gate of THUS, saith the Lord The gate of the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2 Aud the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3 Like wise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons. 4 Aud the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. 5 And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 6 And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish. 7 And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hiu of oil to an ephah. 8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. 9 But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it. 10 And the prince in the midst of them, [the offerings. 11 And when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth. in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bul lock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 12 Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings, voluntary unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabhath day then he shall go forth; and after his going forth shall shut the gate. 13 Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offer ing unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. 14 And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morn ing, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a neat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD. 15 Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering. : one 16 Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sous' for them. 18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inherit ance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession. 19 After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: aud, be hold, there was a place on the two sides westward. 20 Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offer ing, where they shall bake the meat offer ing; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to saucify the people. 21 Then he bought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and NOTES. CHAP. XLVI. Ver. 4. Six lambs....and a ram. -The Mosaic law appointed only two lambs, with out a ram. Ver. 14. Every morning - Heb. "Morning by morning." Here is no mention of an evening sacrifice, which forms another important variation from the Mosaic law, See Exod. xxix, 38-40. Ver. 21. In every corner, &c.-Heb. "A court in a co ner of a couit, and a court in a corner of court." Ver. 22. There were courts joined, &c. - Newcme, "Small courts, 48 cubits long," &c. But our margi reads, "made with chimneys." thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure. 23 And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about. 24 Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the minis [of Holy Waters. sand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. 6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he ters of the house shall boil the sacrifice of brought me, and caused me to return the people. CHAP. XLVII. AFTERWARD he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. 2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ancles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thou to the brink of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. 10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. NOTES. CHAP. XLVII. Ver. 1. Under the threshold.-See Note on chap. xliii. 8; also chan, xlvi. 2, 3. Ver. 5. Waters were risen — Heb. "Swoln;" LXX,Lifted up their proud waves." These waters beautifully represent the gradual progress of the gospel. See Isa, i. 2-4. Compare Joel i 18; Zech xiv. 8; Isa. lv. 1; John vii.38." Newcome. Waters to swim in-Heb. "Waters of swimming." Ver. 7. Bak-Heb. "lip;" Newcome, “Brink ;' the same word as is so rendered in ver. 6. Ver. 8. Desert- Mary. "Plain." See Deu', iii. 17. Brought forth into the sea-by ver. 10, 11, restrained to the read, or salt sen, Gen. xiv. 3. It is called the dead sea on account of a tradition which, though disputed, has never been refuted, that no fish can live in it. This may be partly owing to its excessive saltness, containing (as ascer amed by recent experiments) one fourth of its weight in salt, which renders it singularly buoyant and bitter, and may account for its being uninhabited. See Modern Trav. vol. ii p. 29. Ver. 9. Every thing that liveth, which movethNewcome," Every living thing which moveth." 12 And by the river upon the bank Whithersoever the rivers-Heh. "Two rivers;" but as we read of but one in the context, Michaelis (by only dividing one Hebrew word into two, see Note. p viii. Introduction to our first volume) reads, "Whithersoever the river shall come, the sea shall live." But in Hebrew. the plural is often used for the singular, and here may rerhaps intend the spreading streams of this sacred wa er. Ver. 10. From En-gedi un o En-eglaim.--The former place lay nearly due east from Jerusalem, the latter at the northern extremity of the dead sea, where the Jordan flows into it: from 15 to 20 miles of coast.As the fish of the great sea.-This implies, not that the water shall become fresh, (like the lake of Gennesareth) but like the ocean, its deleterious qualities being purged by the accession of these sacred waters. Ver. 11. The marishes (or marshes) shall not be healed. The south end, where Sodom stood on the south-west, and "the valley of salt" on the southenst.They shall be given (up) to salt—and this may figuratively represent those nations that utterly refuse the healing streams of salvation. thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (X) [Omit, and pass to ver. 21, chap. xlviii.] 13 Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the CHAP. XLVII. [of the land, land according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inbe of the land toward the north side, from ritance. 15 And this shall be the border the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as me go to Zedad; 16 Hamath, Berothal, Sibraim, which is between the border d Dainascus and the border of Hamath; Hazar-batticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. 17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border d Damascus, and the north northward, and EXPOSITION. (X) Ver. 1-12. The vision of the holy waters and mystic trees. We now approach the close of this extraordinary vision, and various circumstances lead us to consider it in many parts of mystic import. Though the temple itself may not in magnitude exceed that of Solomon, yet the grand scale on which the surrounding courts and adjacent grounds are laid out, seems strongly to intimate a great increase of the true church of God, principally by the accession of the Gentiles. So in this chapter the mighty stream of waters flowing from the sanctuary, though it may have some reference to the waters formerly supplied from an adjacent spring or two for the priest's use, are in volume so vastly greater, and in virtue so perfectly distinct and superior, that he must be a dreaming expositor indeed, who can explain this literally of water only to cleanse the sacrifices and sacrificial instruments. Besides, this water ran from the temple-increased as it proceeded, and conveyed life and health and blessing wherever its streams flowed. ably to the nature of fructifying streams convey fertility and verdure wherever they may spread. Moreover, these waters have a singular power of conveying life and salo brity to the dead sea itself: a lake which, after discarding all the fables of credu lous travellers, is confessedly barren of living creatures. If we allegorize these streams, it seems natural that the dead sea should also be em· blematical of the state of both the jewish and heathen world prior to the promulgation of the gospel. The religion of the Jews and the science of the Greeks were alike dead. To what good purpose did the former ap ply their rabbinical lore? or the latter their admired wisdom? The former sunk into the most ridiculous superstitions and the latter into the most gross idolatries, which, at the same time as they practised and recommended to the vulgar they ridiculed themselves. But these healing streams, wherever they flowed, evangelized the former, and rationalized the latter. "Christ crucified," was indeed to the Jews stumbling block" till the veil was taken from their hearts; and then they read the gospel in all the books of Moses. The same doctrine was to the Greeks foolishness," till they also were enlightened; and then they saw in the doctrine of redemption a display of divine wisdom, and felt its power in the renovation of their hearts and lives. Thus the dead sea is filled with living fish, and the trees which grow upon its banks, instead of the fabled apples of Sodom, produce trees of perpetual verdure, and fruits of immortality and ever fresh, while its leaves shall heal basis of the sea. These waters, too, agree- all the disorders of human life. Nothing is more common in the Holy Scriptures than to represent the influences of the Holy Spirit under the emblem of water; and, in perfect accordance with this remark, the spread of knowledge, truth and righteousness is often expressed by the image of Rowing streams,-streams that, uniting and continuing to spread, we are led to believe shall cover the earth with the knowledge and glory of the Lord as the waters cover the immense NOTES. Ver. 12. Shail grow (Heb." spring up") all trees for food-Here is an evident allusion to the trees of paradise. See our Note on Gen. ii. 9-The leaf thereof for medicine - Newcome, "Healing." The medical art in the East is still chiefly confined to external applications. ever new Ver. 13. This shall be the border. The precise situation of many of the places named in this and the following chapter, can hardly now be ascertained. It is, however, evident, that provision is here sade for the return of all the tribes, though many did out come. |