= Ezekiel 45 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Ezekiel_44|Previous]] | [[Ezekiel_46|Next]] ] == Ezekiel 45 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. 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 sanctuary. 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. 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, 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. 8 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. 9 Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord God. 10 Ye 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, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten 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 them, saith the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. 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 God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: 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. 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. 21 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. 22 And upon that day 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 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. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 And when you divide the land by lot For they are destined to divide the land of Israel into twelve strips, not like the original division, in which the large [tribe] had [land] according to its number and the small [tribe] according to its number, and there were two or three tribes on one strip. Now the portions are equal and they are like rows in a vineyard, from the western side to the eastern side, as delineated at the end of the Book. an offering to the Lord in which to build this Temple. ==== Verse 2 From this shall be From this offering, there shall be for the needs of the Sanctuary: five hundred rods for the Temple Mount and the rest shall be for houses for the priests, as is delineated at the end of the Book. ==== Verse 3 And with this measurement [lit. from this measurement.] With the measuring rod by which the 500 by 500 square of the Temple Mount was measured, as is stated above (42:20): “To four sides he measured it; its wall all around, five hundred rods, etc.” you shall measure the length of 25,000 rods and the width of 10,000 rods. Because he did not explain in the first verse what the 25,000 are, whether rods or cubits, he had to say, concerning the 25,000 measures that they were measured with the measuring rod by which the five hundred by five hundred of the Temple Mount were measured. ==== Verse 4 It is the holy portion of the land Rearrange the verse: “The remainder of the holy portion, which is from that land, shall be for the priests, the ministers of the Sanctuary, who come near, etc. The holy portion of the land is this offering.” for the priests, the ministers of the Sanctuary The remainder over the 500 of the Temple Mount; 12,250 to the east and correspondingly to the westthe Sanctuary [being] in the center 4,750 to the north, and correspondingly to the south. and it shall be for them a place for houses this remainder, which surrounds the Sanctuary. and the hallowed part shall be for the Sanctuary And the middle five hundred by five hundred shall be hallowed for the Sanctuary, e sentije al sentuere in O. F., and consecrated for the Sanctuary. ==== Verse 5 And twenty-five thousand rods in length, and ten thousand in width, you shall separate as another strip beside this one, south of this one, for the Levites. It is explained at the end of the Book that it is in the south. Twenty chambers shall be for the Levites in the perimeter of the Sanctuary in order to guard the House and to provide beauty, and the remainder of the strip shall be used for their own needs. ==== Verse 6 And, [for] the property of the city The environs of the city; its properties meant for ordinary dwelling, in which the Israelites may build houses. you shall give a width of five thousand in the south of the second one, and a length equal to the measurement of the two strips. It is found that the entire offering is square, twenty-five [thousand] by twenty-five thousand. corresponding to the offering of the holy portion in the measurement of the length of the strips of the offering of the holy portion. for the entire House of Israel it shall be That third strip shall be the dwelling place for non priests. ==== Verse 7 And for the prince, on either side of the offering of the holy portion and of the possession of the city At the end of the section, he divides the land of Israel from east to west into thirteen strips: twelve as the number of the tribes each one twenty-five thousand rods wide, and its length equaling the length of all the land of Israel and one strip as an offering whose length is from the eastern border to the western border, and whose width is twenty-five thousand rods, just as each of the other portions. And from that strip he separated in its center the three strips stated above, which [all together] are twenty- five thousand by twenty-five thousand. And the remainder to the east until the end of the border of the land, and to the west, as well, shall be for the prince from either side to the east and to the west. alongside the offering of the holy portion and alongside the possession of the city opposite the entire breadth of the three strips separated for the offering of the holy portionof the strips of the priests, the Levites, and the property of the city. from the western side, westward from the west of the offering of the holy portion and the city until the west of the boundary. and from the eastern side, east ward And from the east of the offering to the eastern boundary, opposite one of the portions of the tribes delineated at the end of the Book, which are from the western boundary of the land of Israel, until the eastern boundary. ==== Verse 8 In the land he shall have it for a possession [Heb. לָאָרֶץ Jonathan renders: This land shall be for the prince as a possession. shall no longer defraud [Heb. יוֹנוּ,] an expression for monetary fraud; they take away their inheritance forcibly for they rob their inherited property ==== Verse 9 take away your evictions Take away [your practice] of evicting My people from their inherited property. ==== Verse 10 ephah of the dry measure. bath of the liquid measure. ==== Verse 11 one volume [Heb. תֹּכן,] a word denoting number, like (Exod. 5:18): “and a quota (וְתֹכֶן) of bricks you must deliver.” One measure is equivalent to one tenth of a “homer” of dry measure, which equals thirty “se’ah,” and which is a tenth of a “homer” of liquid measure. “Ephah” and “bath” are words for [units of] measurement. the homer [A measure known further as] kor, moy(d) or muy(d) in Old French, a measure. shall contain [Heb. לָשֵּׂאת,] similar to לָקַחַת, to take, and so too did Jonathan render it: לְמֵיסַב. A tenth part of a “homer” shall be a “bath,” and a tenth part of the dry “homer,” shall be an “ephah.” according to the homer shall be its volume The total amount of [the volume of] the “bath” and the “ephah” shall be according to the size of the “homer.” ==== Verse 12 And the shekel is twenty gerah Twenty “ma’ah.” twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels totaling sixty shekels. shall the maneh be to you Le zent in O. F., the 100 (zuz weight). Menahem, however, connected it to the word מִנְיָן, a number (p. 118). We have here 240 “zuz,” [four zuz to a shekel]. From here we derive that the “maneh” of the Sanctuary was double, and they added a sixth to it in Ezekiel’s time, totaling 240 [zuz] (Men. 77a). When Scripture divided it into three parts and did not write simply, “sixty shekels shall the maneh be for you,” it commanded to make from it a weight one third of it, and a weight equaling a fourth of it, and a weight of the ordinary “maneh” as it was originally. So too did Jonathan paraphrase: a third of the “maneh” shall be twenty “selaim” of silver; a “maneh” of silvertwenty-five “selaim”; a fourth of a “maneh”fifteen “selaim”; altogether, sixty “selaim”; and the great “maneh” of the Sanctuary shall be for you. ==== Verse 13 a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat This amounts to one out of sixty. Whoever wishes to give little shall not give less than this, and this is what they said (Ter. 4:3): “A stingy person gives one out of sixty.” and you shall separate a sixth And you shall separate a sixth of an “ephah” for the “terumah” of a “homer” of barley. ==== Verse 14 And the rule of the oil regarding tithes. the bath, [which is a measure of] oil, etc. The “bath,” which is a measure of oilthis is its tithe: the “bath” will be from a “kor.” I found [the following]: The tenth that the “bath” represents as a tithe shall be from a “kor.” How so? The tithe of a “bath” is from a “kor.” Dix measures in French, ten measures. This word is used for itself and for others, like (Num. 7:9): “the service of the Sanctuary,” (ibid. 4:33): “the service of [the families of] the sons of Merari.” ten baths shall equal a “homer” for you. Then it will be possible to take from it one “bath” as a tithe. for ten baths are a homer because the “homer” will consist of ten “baths” for you. So too did Jonathan render it: one out of ten is the “bath” in relation to the “kor” for ten “baths” are a “kor”. ==== Verse 15 And one lamb from the flocks A special one of his flocks, and so too said Moses (Deut. 12: 11): “and all the choice of your pledges, le meilleur in Fr., the best. out of two hundred, from Israel’s banquet Our Rabbis expounded (Pes. 48a) this as regarding libations [coming] from a multiplicity of two hundred [times as much of the original wine] as remained in the pit after the wine of “orlah” or of “mingled species in the vineyard” fell into it. From here it is derived that “orlah” and “mingled species in the vineyard” are nullified in two hundred [times as much]. from Israel’s banquet from what is permissible for Israel. All your sacrifices shall be drink that is fit for Israel. The main part of the feast is called by the name of the drink; i.e., the food and also the drink shall be from that which is permitted for Israel. ==== Verse 16 to give this oblation mentioned above; it will be [given] with the knowledge of all the people of the land. ==== Verse 17 on the prince I say that this “prince” as well as every [mention of] “the prince” in this section means the High Priest; but I heard in the name of Rabbi Menahem that it means the king. ==== Verse 18 So says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull [and] without blemish This is the bull of investiture mentioned at the beginning of this section (43:18 27), and he teaches [us] here that the investiture should be on the first of Nissan. and you shall purify [as translated,] and you shall purify. ==== Verse 20 And so shall you do on seven [days] in the month It may be said that [this means]: And so shall you do all seven, and so too he says above (43:26): “For seven days they shall effect atonement for the altar.” But our Rabbis explained it in Menahoth (45a) in the following manner: And so shall you make [as a sacrifice] a bull that is not to be eaten in [the event of] “seven” tribes who “interpreted the Torah in a new way (שֶּׁחְדֹּשּׁוּ)” and whose tribunal issued a decision that fat is permissible, and seven tribes, (which are the majority of the nation), who acted on their word. They must bring a bull for communal error. because of mistaken and simple-minded men This is a transposed verse: And you shall expiate the House from mistaken and simple-minded men. After the seven days of investiture, whenceforth the altar will be dedicated, they shall bring their sin-offerings and their guilt-offerings, and they will attain atonement, for at the time that Israel attains atonement, the House attains atonement. ==== Verse 21 seven days [Lit. weeks of days,] because they commence from it to count seven weeks. unleavened bread shall be eaten and unleavened bread shall be eaten on that festival. ==== Verse 22 And the prince shall make on that day, etc. Our Rabbis (Hag. 13a) said that they sought to suppress the Book of Ezekiel for his words contradicted the words of the Torah. Indeed, Hananiah the son of Hezekiah the son of Gurion is remembered for good, for he sat in his attic and expounded on it. But because of our iniquities, what he expounded on these sacrificeswhy a bull is brought on the fourteenth day of Nissanhas been lost to us. I say that perhaps he is dealing with the fourteenth of Nissan of the first Passover in which the fully erected House will be dedicated, and this bull will be brought in lieu of the calf born of cattle that Aaron offered up on the eighth of investiture (Lev. 9:2). [Scripture] tells us that if he will not have offered it up on the eighth day of investiture, he should offer it up on the fourteenth of Nissan in order that he should be initiated for the service before the Festival, for it is incumbent upon him [to bring] the sacrifices and the burnt offering of the appointed time, as is stated above (v. 17): “And the burnt offerings and the meal-offerings and the libations on the festivals...shall devolve on the prince, etc.” ==== Verse 23 seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily But the Torah states (Num. 28:19): “two young bulls, one ram.” We can explain this verse only as meaning seven bulls and seven rams for the seven days, a bull daily and a ram daily, and it comes to teach us that the bulls do not render each other invalid and the rams do not render each other invalid. [I.e., if one bull is missing, the other one may be brought.] So we learned in Menahoth (45a); however, they did not bring proof from this verse but from the verse below (46:6): “But on the New Moon: a young bull from those without blemish, and six lambs and a ram.” But perhaps this too comes to teach the same thing, and this is its meaning: seven bulls and seven rams daily. By adding the sacrifices of each day on its day, they add up to seven bulls for the seven days. and a sin-offering, a he-goat daily the he-goats of the pilgrimage festivals. ==== Verse 24 And a meal-offering...an ephah for a bull the meal-offering of the libations, an “ephah” for a bull. Now I do not know what this means, for the Torah stated (28:20): “three tenths for the bull.” It is possible that it means an “ephah” of flour from which we extract a tenth of fine flour from a “se’ah”, for the “ephah” is three “se’ahs”. and an ephah for a ram This too is flour from which we extract two tenths of fine flour sifted thoroughly, as we learned (Men. 6:6): The two loaves were two tenths from three “se’ahs”. [The requirement of] an “ephah” for the bull teaches that if he did not find fine sifted flour that yielded that much, he may bring from [flour that yields] a tenth to a “se’ah”. and for each ephah one hin of oil I do not know why. We may say that it does not mean that he must sacrifice the entire “hin,” but that there were notches in the “hin” and he would sacrifice oil according to the fine flour, according to the sacrificial laws for a bull according to its requirement and for a ram according to its requirement, according to the notches of the “hin”.