1 Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward 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 And 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 Likewise 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 And 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 hin 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, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth.
11 And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, 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 voluntarily 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 sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.
13 Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering 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 morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat 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.
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 sons' for them.
18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance 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: and, behold, 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 offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.
21 Then he brought 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 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 ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.
<html><b>The gate of the Inner Court that faces toward the east, etc.</b> Our Rabbis learned in Tractate Middoth (4:2): The gate of the Heichal had two wickets, one in the south and one in the north. Concerning the one in the south it is explained in the post Mosaic Scriptures (above 44:2): “and no man shall come through it…and it shall be closed.”</html>
<html><b>by way of the vestibule of the gate without</b> as he states above (40:31): “And its halls were to the Outer Court.” By way of the vestibule of the Gate of the Court, i.e., he shall enter by way of the Eastern Gate, which serves for entry and exit, and come to that wicket. <b>and he shall stand at the doorpost of the gate</b> That small gate is the wicket. <b>his burnt offering and his peace offering</b> The burnt offering for appearing in the Temple and the peace offering for celebrating the festivals; this verse refers to the festivals. <b>and he shall stand at the doorposts of the gate</b> The inner gate; this is the wicket, as the master stated (Taanith 4:2): “Is it possible for a person’s sacrifice to be offered up when he is not standing over it?” <b>shall not be closed until the evening</b> Now why should it not be closed?</html>
<html><b>And the people of the land shall prostrate themselves</b> all day, and whoever comes, too, and in the evening they shall close it.</html>
<html><b>On the Sabbath day shall be six lambs</b> I do not know why, for the Torah said (Num. 28:9): “two lambs,” and “on the Sabbath Day” means either the Sabbath commemorating the Creation or a festival. I, therefore, say that this Sabbath is not the Sabbath commemorating the Creation, but a festival that requires seven lambs and two rams. Scripture comes and teaches you that [the absence of one] does not render the other one invalid, and if he does not find seven, he should bring six, and if he does not find two rams, he should bring one, as our Rabbis expounded regarding the New Moon.</html>
<html><b>as he is able to give</b> This teaches that the meal-offerings do not render each other invalid [in each other’s absence].</html>
<html><b>But on the New Moon: a young bull without blemish</b> Our Rabbis expounded upon this verse in Menahoth (45a): Why does it say, “a young bull”? Since it is stated in the Torah (Num. 28:11): “And at the beginnings of your months, etc., two young bulls,” how do you know that if he did not find two, he should bring one? Because it is stated: “a bull.” <b>and six lambs</b> Why is it necessary to state this? Since it is said in the Torah, “seven,” how do you know that if he did not find seven, he should bring six? Because it is stated: “and six lambs.” And how do you know [that he should bring] even one? Because the Torah says, “but for the lambs as much as he can afford.”</html>
<html><b>And whenever the prince goes in</b> on the New Moon and on the Sabbath of Creation, when Israel is not commanded to appear at the Temple, and he comes in to prostrate himself. <b>he shall go in by way of the vestibule of the gate, and by the same way shall he go out</b> Through the very same gate he shall go out, and he is not commanded to make the Court a short-cut. But on the festivals, concerning which it is stated (Deut. 16:16): “shall all your males appear,” he is required to make it a short-cut like the rest of the people. That is what is written (verse 10): “goes in among them when they go in, and when they go out, they [the prince and people together] go out.”</html>
<html><b>But when the people of the land come, etc., by way of the north gate, etc., but he shall go out by that which is opposite it</b> It is incumbent upon them to be seen in full view in the Court.</html>
<html><b>The prince</b> When he enters the Temple Court through the southern wicket of the Heichal to prostrate himself, he too must make the Temple Court a short-cut. He shall enter by way of the northern gate and leave by way of the southern gate with the rest of the people of the land. This is the meaning of “enters in their midst when they go in, and when they go out, they go out”all of them, the prince with the rest of the people. And he shall not enter by way of the eastern gate as he regularly does on the New Moon and on the Sabbath of Creation, for the eastern gate has no gate opposite it in the west.</html>
<html><b>And when the prince brings a freewill offering</b> on the six working days. <b>one shall then open for him the gate, etc.</b> Not to enter the Heichal through it, but he shall stand there, and the priests shall make his burnt offering and his peace-offering, and he shall prostrate himself and leave, as it is said: “as he would do on the Sabbath day.” Now what is stated regarding the Sabbath day (here)? (Verse 2) “And he shall stand at the doorpost of the gate, and the priests shall offer his burnt offering, etc.” <b>after he has gone out</b> He does not say here: “but the gate shall not be closed until the evening,” as he says regarding the Sabbath day. For regarding the Sabbath day it says (verse 3): “And the people of the land shall prostrate themselves at the entrance of that gate.” Therefore, it is left open. But on weekdays it is not customary for them to come to prostrate themselves, for everyone is occupied with work; therefore, “after he has gone out, one shall close the gate.”</html>
<html><b>And a lamb of the first year</b> the daily sacrifice.</html>
<html><b>a sixth of an ephah</b> of the [post-Exodus] Jerusalemite measure, which is a fifth of the [Mosaic] “measure of the desert,” equaling two tenth parts, one for the daily meal-offering and one for the pancakes. And although the pancakes were offered up by halves, he brings a complete tenth part in the morning and divides it in half, as we learned in Menahoth (4:5) <b>to stir [with] the fine flour</b> [Heb. לָרֹם,] asperger in French, to moisten, besprinkle. Manuscripts read: ameller in Old French, to mix. לָרֹם אֶתהַסֹלֶת, to crush and mix with it the fine flour, a form of word for crushing (רִסוּם), as in (Amos 6: 11): “and he shall smite the great house into splinters (רְסִיסִים),” and in the language of the Mishnah (Shab. 8:6): If it was thick or cracked (מְרֻסָם).</html>
<html><b>the year of liberty</b> the Jubilee year. <b>and then it comes back</b> [Heb. וְשָּׁבָת, like וְשָּׁבָה. <b>only to his sons shall his inheritance belong</b> [Only his inheritancehas sons, to them it shall be.] This is like: only to his sons shall his inheritance belong, and it shall not be given permanently to anyone else.</html>
<html><b>Now he brought me through the entry</b> by way of the cubit at the corner of the depository of the knives, by which they enter the space of twenty [cubits] that is between the chambers in the north and the cells of the Heichal. <b>that was on the side of the gate</b> the northern gate; the side of the gate that is west of the gate. <b>which face northward</b> Which have entrances to the side of the Outer Court to the north; and they had entrances to the space of twenty [cubits]. <b>at the end toward the west</b> at the end of the chambers to the west.</html>
<html><b>so as not to bring [them] out</b> [Heb. הוֹצִיא,] like לְהוֹצִיא, for the “most holy sacrifices” become disqualified by being taken out. <b>to mingle with the people</b> [Heb. לְקַדֵשׁ אֶתהָעָם lit. to sanctify the people.] Jonathan renders: to mingle with the people.</html>
<html><b>corners</b> [Heb. מִקְצוֹעֵי,] angles in French, corners.</html>
<html><b>open enclosures</b> We learned in Tractate Middoth (2:5): קְטֻרוֹת means that they had no roofs, and there it is explained what they were used for. <b>in the corners</b> in the corners of the Court.</html>
<html><b>And a row around in them</b> A row of masonry, a wall of stones protruding from the wall, near the ground, in which there were holes, a place to stand pots. Below the row [of masonry] was a space in which to kindle a fire and the pots [would be heated] above it. <b>and a place for cooking was made</b> that is the space below the placing of the pots.</html>
<html><b>the people’s sacrifices</b> The breast and the thigh of the peace offering, which do not become unfit by going out of the Israelites’ Court as do the sin-offering and the guilt-offering.</html>