Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He passes from the plan and construction of the temple to the division and measurement of the city and the holy land. Just as Joshua, entering the promised land, divided it among the Hebrews, so here God commands the same people, after their return from Babylon, to divide the same land again according to the plan and measure which He here prescribes. And so in this chapter He divides Jerusalem into four portions, of which the first He assigns to the priests and the temple, verse 5; the second to the Levites, verse 5; the third to the city and citizens, verse 6; the fourth to the prince, verse 7. Moreover, he continues the measurement of the land of Israel and its distribution among the twelve tribes in the following three chapters, to the end of the book. Hence, in verse 9, He decrees laws of justice, especially that weights be just, and in verse 13, laws of religion concerning first-fruits and victims, and specifically, in verse 18 and following, concerning sacrifices to be offered in the first month, and at Passover, and in verse 23, at the feast of Tabernacles.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 45:1-20
1. And when you shall begin to divide the land by lot, separate first-fruits for the Lord, a holy portion of the land, in length twenty-five thousand, and in breadth ten thousand: it shall be holy in all its borders round about. 2. And of all this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred by five hundred, foursquare round about: and fifty cubits for its suburbs round about. 3. And with this measure thou shalt measure the length of twenty-five thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand, and in it shall be the temple and the Holy of Holies. 4. The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, who approach to the ministry of the Lord: and it shall be a place for their houses, and for the holy place of the sanctuary. 5. And five and twenty thousand of length, and ten thousand of breadth shall be for the Levites who minister to the house: they shall possess twenty chambers. 6. And you shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad and twenty-five thousand long, according to the separation of the sanctuary, for the whole house of Israel. 7. For the prince also on this side and on that side, toward the separation of the sanctuary, and toward the possession of the city, over against the separation of the sanctuary, and over against the possession of the city: from the side of the sea to the sea, and from the side of the East to the East: and the length shall be alongside each part from the western border to the eastern border. 8. He shall have land for a possession in Israel: and the princes shall no more pillage my people: but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes. 9. Thus says the Lord God: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: cease from iniquity and robberies, and execute judgment and justice, separate your confines from my people, says the Lord God. 10. You shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. 11. The ephah and the bath shall be equal and of one measure: that the bath may contain the tenth part of a cor, and the ephah the tenth part of a cor: according to the measure of the cor shall their weighing be equal. 12. And the shekel has twenty obols. Moreover, twenty shekels, and twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels make a mina. 13. And these are the first-fruits which you shall take: the sixth part of an ephah out of a cor of wheat, and the sixth part of an ephah out of a cor of barley. 14. The measure also of oil, a bath of oil is the tenth part of a cor: and ten baths make a cor: because ten baths fill a cor. 15. And one ram out of a flock of two hundred, of those that Israel nourishes for sacrifice, and for holocausts, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God. 16. All the people of the land shall be bound to these first-fruits for the prince in Israel. 17. And upon the prince shall be the holocausts, and the sacrifice, and the libations on the solemnities, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, and on all the solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall offer the sacrifice for sin, and the holocaust, and the peace-offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel. 18. Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, the first of the month, thou shalt take a calf of the herd without blemish, and thou shalt expiate the sanctuary. 19. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering: and he shall put it on the posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20. And so shalt thou do in the seventh day of the month, for every one that has been ignorant, and has been deceived by error, and thou shalt make expiation for the house.
Vilalpandus notes, book 1, chapter 13, that this plan and measurement of the city and land, as well as of the temple, proposed here to Ezekiel, was not fully carried out by Zerubbabel and the Jews returning from Babylon, on account of fear of Cyrus and the Persians, lest they seem to be building a fortress and wanting to rebel; also because Sanballat and other neighboring enemies hindered them, as is clear from Nehemiah 4 and following; also because of the poverty of the Jews; and finally so that God might show that these things were to be perfectly fulfilled mystically in the Church of Christ: for He was looking at and delineating that Church here more than the temple of the Jews.
Moreover, there is here an equal difficulty and equal obscurity as that which we have seen thus far in the plan of the temple. Whence St. Jerome, in book 14 on Ezekiel, begins this chapter thus; the poet sings:
'This was that laborious work of the house, and that inextricable maze.'
And in another place:
'As once in lofty Crete the labyrinth is said To have had a path woven with blind walls, and a treacherous Deceit of a thousand ways, by which the elusive And irreversible maze deceived whoever followed its signs.'
'So too I, having entered the ocean of these Scriptures and, so to speak, the labyrinth of the mysteries of God, of which it is written: He made darkness His hiding place, and clouds round about Him; I do not dare claim for myself a perfect knowledge of the truth, but I trust that, by not my own powers but by the mercy of Christ, who for us wanderers Himself unravels the deceits and windings of the building, guiding our blind steps by the Holy Spirit, following whom we shall be able to arrive at the port of the explanations of the prophet Ezekiel.'
The end of this book depends on the understanding of this chapter. For the distribution of the land of Israel was made into twelve parts, besides the dwellings of the priests, the Levites, the city, and the prince.
Verse 1: AND WHEN YOU BEGIN TO DIVIDE THE LAND BY LOT
1. AND WHEN YOU BEGIN TO DIVIDE THE LAND BY LOT — among the Jews returning from Babylon. He says 'by lot,' not because it was divided by lot by Nehemiah (as Joshua, chapter 14:2, divided it by lot): for it was divided by God's judgment and prescription, as follows. But he calls the lot an inheritance (for this is what the Hebrew נחלה nachala means), which was usually divided by lots; whence in Hebrew the literal wording is: 'When you cause the land to fall into an inheritance,' that is, when you divide the land by lot. So Vatablus. Again, although from the perspective of God who divides according to His own judgment, there was no lot here: yet it was a lot from the perspective of the Hebrews, to whom each person's portion, as if by lot and chance,
SEPARATE THE FIRST-FRUITS FOR THE LORD. — In Hebrew הרימו harimu, that is, 'lift up,' that is: Offer an oblation to the Lord, that is, separate a portion of the land that may be offered to the Lord, and be sacred to Him. For the first-fruits of crops used to be lifted on high when they were offered to the Lord, as is clear from Leviticus 23:11. Hence 'to lift' by catachresis means the same as 'to offer.'
SANCTIFIED, — that that portion of land may be sanctified and consecrated to the Lord.
TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND IN LENGTH, — not of cubits, as some think, but of reeds: for the measuring reed was in the hand of the man measuring these things, chapter 40:3, and land is usually measured not by cubits, but by reeds or canes. So St. Jerome, Maldonatus, Vatablus, and others.
Symbolically, the number 25 is sacred here and elsewhere. For it is the number of the first-fruits of the Lord, and of the priests, the Levites, the city, and the temple. In the same way, it was consecrated by the Annunciation and conception of the Blessed Virgin, and by the Incarnation of the Son of God, who is the firstborn of all creation, and this in a temple, namely the sacred womb of the Virgin. For St. Athanasius, or rather Anastasius, in his Questions to Prince Antiochus, Question 17, teaches that Christ was incarnated in the Virgin's womb on March 25, and that on the same day, in the beginning of the world, God created the first man. Hence it is that in this very month all trees and plants, and animals too, reproduce, as if they were created by God at this time.
Gregory of Nazianzus also says, in his second oration on Easter: 'There is a secret tradition among the Hebrews,' he says, 'that this was the time when God created the entire mass of the world. Moreover, this is the time of spring, when plants grow.' Whence on this day, or thereabouts, Passover is celebrated. For this reason the Romans celebrated on March 25 the Hilaria, that is, feasts of joy and public games, and happy days; because at that time the sun, having traversed the space of the zodiac through all the stations of the signs, returns to us. See more in Peter
came to each one, as far as it depended on them. So the Apostle says that we were called by lot to grace and salvation. For from the perspective of those called, it is a lot, not merit, not something owed, although from the perspective of God who calls, it is not a lot, nor chance, but a destined plan and decree.
Bongus, in his book On the Mysteries of Numbers, page 450.
R. David and Vatablus note that here the length is reckoned from East to West, and the width from South to North, as cartographers observe and describe. For otherwise the length of Judea was reckoned from South to North, and its width from East to West: for in the former direction it extended further, in the latter it was narrower.
IT SHALL BE SANCTIFIED IN ALL ITS BORDERS ROUND ABOUT, — meaning: This measured space of land, separate and dedicate to God, not for the temple alone (for that only had 500 reeds on each side, as is clear from chapter 42:16 and following), but also for the dwelling and use of the priests who are God's ministers.
St. Jerome thinks that here only the place for the priests around the temple is designated, while they were to be ministering in it: for at other times, when they were not ministering, they lived scattered throughout all Judea. Similarly in verse 3, he commands that twenty chambers be built for the Levites around the temple, while they were ministering in it. For a hundred, or even a thousand, would not have sufficed for all of them. But this matter of the priests' place can be called into question. For a huge area is assigned to them here, namely 25 thousand reeds, which make fifty miles, as I shall show at the end of chapter 47.
Verse 2: AND OF IT THERE SHALL BE SANCTIFIED ON EVERY SIDE
2. AND OF IT THERE SHALL BE SANCTIFIED ON EVERY SIDE. — Vatablus translates clearly: From this (that is, from this first portion of the oblation) a square space of five hundred reeds in every direction shall be given over to a more sacred place, that is, it shall be for the sanctuary. From the entire space of the priests, he here carves out and designates the temple.
FIVE HUNDRED BY FIVE HUNDRED, — that is, five hundred on each side. It is a Hebraism. By 'five hundred,' understand not cubits but reeds, as is clear from what was said at chapter 42:16. So St. Jerome.
FIFTY CUBITS FOR ITS SUBURBS. — 'Suburbs,' in Hebrew מגרש migras, he calls a place neither planted with trees nor occupied by houses, but left vacant, as Vatablus translates, for the sake of reverence and sanctity, as well as beauty, so that the temple might be more conspicuous. So St. Jerome.
Vilalpandus has a different view, page 23. For by 'suburbs' he understands the Court of the Gentiles, which he thinks is described here. But that is not properly called 'suburbs.'
Verse 3: AND FROM THIS MEASURE
3. AND FROM THIS MEASURE. — 'From,' that is 'in.' For in Hebrew, min is often used in place of bet. Moreover, 'in this measure,' that is, by the reed, meaning: You shall measure this place consecrated to God, namely the length of 25 thousand and the width of ten thousand reeds, with the same measure by which you measured the temple, chapter 42:16, namely by the reed, and in this space you shall designate a place for the temple. Therefore some wrongly think that the station of the Levites is described here.
Verse 4: THE SANCTIFIED PORTION OF THE LAND
4. THE SANCTIFIED PORTION OF THE LAND, — meaning: This place from the land of Judah shall be separated and sanctified, so that in it the temple may be built, and around it, after an intervening space of 50 cubits, as I said at verse 2, the houses of the priests may be built.
Note morally this passage concerning the residence of Pastors and Priests, inasmuch as God here willed them to reside and dwell around the temple. See H. Pintus here.
Verse 5: AND TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND
5. AND TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND, — another portion, namely besides that which has already been assigned to the priests. For He here commands that the same amount of space be measured out for the Levites as was measured out for the priests: 'The same dimensions,' says St. Jerome, 'are assigned here in length and width for the multitude of Levites as are given to the small number of priests.' Here, therefore, the portion and seat of the Levites near the temple is described; inasmuch as they too ministered to the Lord there, and assisted the priests, as deacons assist our priests.
St. Jerome distinguishes these things differently; for he considers these portions as pertaining to the preceding section and to the priests. But to the Levites he assigns the following dimension of the city, namely 25 thousand in length, and five thousand in width, so that their portion was smaller than the priests' portion by five thousand in width.
THEY SHALL POSSESS TWENTY CHAMBERS, — namely in the temple, that is, in the court of the priests. For it was necessary that while they ministered by their turns, they should have their own dwelling places there just as the priests did. So R. Solomon and Maldonatus.
Others think it is here commanded that twenty rooms be built in their portion. But what are these among so many? For their many thousands required far more lodgings and buildings: whence their portion is here made equal to the portion of the priests. For a space equal and equivalent to the space of the priests is assigned to them here, namely having 25 thousand reeds in length, and 10 thousand in width.
Verse 6: AND THE POSSESSION OF THE CITY
6. AND THE POSSESSION OF THE CITY. — Here He measures out the third portion and part, namely of the city and the citizens of Jerusalem, and assigns it equal in length to the portion of the priests and the Levites; but lesser and unequal in width, namely of five thousand reeds, whereas theirs was ten thousand. Let princes learn here how ample the dwellings God granted to His priests and ministers, so as to exceed the space of the city itself: although He does not forbid, but rather permits, that when the number of citizens, which was then small among those returning from Babylon, has grown, they should expand these spaces. So formerly in the Thebaid and Egypt, entire cities contained more thousands of monks than lay citizens. So too even now in Rome we see the better part belonging to churches and ecclesiastics.
Again, in founding the city, namely Jerusalem, God begins with the temple and the place of the priests, and designates it before all else. Let princes imitate this.
CORRESPONDING TO THE SEPARATION OF THE SANCTUARY. — In Hebrew: Opposite the offering of the sanctuary, that is, opposite the portion of the priests and the Levites, meaning: Opposite the sacred portion; or after the portion of the priests and the Levites you shall build the city. God here describes the plan of a faithful
and perfect city, just as Plato described the ideal of a perfect republic in his book On the Republic, and in our age Blessed Thomas More in his Utopia, just as Xenophon in his Cyrus describes not so much Cyrus as the ideal of a good prince. Even though the Jews did not actually realize this, nor could they match it, on account of poverty, neighboring enemies, fear of Cyrus, and other causes which I listed at the beginning of the chapter. But all these things pertain rather allegorically to the construction of the Church, both militant and triumphant, which St. John describes in Revelation 21, where he clearly alludes to this construction of Ezekiel, as is evident to anyone comparing the words and phrases of both.
For this reason not only St. Jerome, but also the Hebrews, understand the Messiah by the prince who follows: whence this prince is discussed at length in the following chapter. Again, this city is more magnificent than Jerusalem as rebuilt by Nehemiah: whence it had the temple not within but outside itself, as also the dwellings of the priests. Therefore St. Jerome, Gregory, Hugo, the Carthusian, Maldonatus, Lyranus, and Fernandius (vision 19, section 1) consider that this city literally signifies the secular principate and state in the Church, just as the temple signifies the ecclesiastical order.
Furthermore, just as the temple is more worthy than the city, so the episcopate excels the secular principate, and should direct it, not be ruled by it. For sacred things excel profane things, and are their end and goal: and God must be obeyed more than a king. So St. Maurice said to the Emperor Maximian, who was compelling him and his Theban Martyrs to sacrifice to idols: 'We are your soldiers, O Emperor, but nevertheless servants of Christ: to you we owe military discipline and service, but to God we owe obedience and innocence.'
Hence also St. Gregory of Nazianzus, in his oration 17 to the princes of his diocese: 'The law of Christ,' he says, 'subjects you also to my authority and throne. For we too exercise authority, and I add, a more excellent and perfect one; unless indeed it is right that the spirit should submit its authority to the flesh, and heavenly things yield to earthly.' If therefore a prince wishes to rule Bishops, he does the same as if the flesh were to rule the spirit, or the earth were to rule heaven.
FOR THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. — 'House,' that is, tribe: for members of every tribe were to dwell in Jerusalem.
Verse 7: AND FOR THE PRINCE ALSO
7. AND FOR THE PRINCE ALSO, — namely you shall give him his own place and space as to the others, but a particular one, and worthy of a prince. Here the fourth portion is designated for the prince.
ON THIS SIDE AND ON THAT SIDE, — from both sides, namely from East and West; or to the South and to the North.
IN THE SEPARATION OF THE SANCTUARY. — 'In' means 'up to': by 'separation' he means the separated portion, meaning: After the portion which I commanded to be separated first for the priests, then for the Levites, third for the city and citizens; in the fourth place you shall separate and designate a place for the prince, so that he, as it were the last, may encircle all like a rampart, as guardian and defender of the commonwealth, as will be clear in chapter 48:21.
From this verse 7, Fernandius (vision 19, section 4) concludes that royal power flows from God, not immediately, but through the commonwealth, which is, as it were, an intermediary between God and the king. For God by the instinct of nature gave every people the right to create a king for themselves.
Others explain it thus, meaning: Between the sacred portion of the temple, the priests and the Levites, and the lay portion of the city and citizens, place the prince in the middle, so that he may better protect both, namely both clergy and laity; and because it seems fitting that the first place be given to the priests, the second to the Levites, the third to the prince, the fourth to the people. So Maldonatus.
This is true of the portion of the twelve tribes, but not of the city, as will be clear in chapter 48.
So we see that in well-ordered kingdoms, kings reside in the middle of the kingdom and are like the center of a circle, so that from every direction they may easily and equally be approached by their subjects, and they themselves may approach them, and so that with a single glance, as it were, they may survey all the borders of their kingdom, and provide for each one, and so that they may unite and connect all regions in the middle, as it were. For the more united a kingdom is to itself and to its king, the stronger and more firm it is. The philosopher Calanus demonstrated this to Alexander the Great with a dry hide: for when he stood on its edges, it would spring up; but when he trod in the middle, the whole thing lay still. So Plutarch in his Life of Alexander.
The Hebrews and Vatablus explain it differently, meaning: In the prince's portion shall be the portion of the priests and Levites, as well as the temple and the city. But this is hardly probable; for in that case the prince's portion would have encompassed all the portions of the others, whereas here God assigns him an equal, particular, and proper portion, just as He does to the others.
FACING THE SEPARATION OF THE SANCTUARY, — opposite the sacred portion, and the portion or possession of the city. He explains what he had said shortly before: 'In the separation of the sanctuary, and in the separation of the city.' These things will be clear in chapter 48, in the diagram of the division of all portions, which I shall present at the beginning of that chapter.
FROM THE SIDE OF THE SEA TO THE SEA, — that is, as Vatablus explains, from the western region to the West (for to the Hebrews 'the sea' is the West, hence by 'sea' they mean the West), and from the eastern region to the East. He explains what he said above: 'On this side and on that side,' meaning: You shall measure the prince's boundaries on both sides, both toward the West and toward the East.
AND THE LENGTH SHALL BE ALONGSIDE EACH PORTION. — In Hebrew: And its length shall be corresponding to one of the portions, that is, the length shall be taken from West to East corresponding to one of the portions, namely the southern part of the prince shall be opposite the southern part of the citizens, and the northern part of the prince opposite the northern part of the citizens, from the western boundary (both of the prince's portion and of the citizens') to the East, says Maldonatus.
How great this portion of the prince was, Scripture does not express, and the interpreters vary. Maldonatus and others
think it was as large as the portion of the priests and Levites: but the Hebrews, to whom St. Jerome is favorable, think that the third lay portion was divided into thirteen equal parts; of which one went to the prince, and the remaining twelve were distributed among the same number of tribes of Israel.
Note: Some take the prince to be the pontiff; for he commands first-fruits to be given to him, verses 16 and 17 and following. He commands this prince to perform, that is, to sacrifice victims: therefore he was a priest, not a layman. The reason is that after the captivity the Jews lacked a secular king and prince, and the Pontiffs presided over the people in both political and sacred matters, as is clear from the Maccabees: whence he immediately commands this prince, that is the Pontiff, not to burden the people with taxes, and to take care that weights are just. For he looks principally to the Messiah, that is Christ, who was a prince both secular and sacred, as the Hebrews and St. Jerome teach. But in chapter 46:2 it will be clear that a secular prince is understood here, not a pontiff.
Verse 8: HE SHALL HAVE A POSSESSION OF THE LAND
8. HE SHALL HAVE A POSSESSION OF THE LAND, — meaning: The prince shall live from the portion of land which I command to be separately assigned to him, lest he invade the fields of the people, or burden and oppress them with taxes.
BUT THEY SHALL GIVE THE LAND. — meaning: They shall distribute the remaining land to the people.
Verse 9: LET IT SUFFICE YOU
9. LET IT SUFFICE YOU, — O princes! That you have thus far burdened and plundered the people; see that henceforth you neither plunder nor burden them. Therefore:
SEPARATE YOUR BOUNDARIES, — so that, content with your own limits, you do not invade those of your people. The Hebrew and Vatablus translate: Remove your forced labor, that is, your taxes and exactions. The Hebrew migras properly signifies boundaries and suburban places.
Verse 10: A JUST BALANCE
10. A JUST BALANCE. — For it is the prince's duty to define the quantity of weights and measures, and to ensure that they are kept fair by the people. For this is what public justice in buying and selling requires, and if it is violated, the entire commonwealth is disturbed and thrown into confusion. Hence Solomon says, Proverbs 20:10: 'Diverse weights and diverse measures, both of them are an abomination to God,' meaning: He who has different and unequal weights and measures, for example, uses a larger one when he buys and a smaller one when he sells; him God, who is just and the avenger of justice, abominates.
Josephus relates that the first city which Cain founded, and named Enochia after his son, was most corrupted by the same Cain, because he invented unjust weights and measures. For God teaches how necessary this justice of weights and measures is, having established it both by word here, and at Leviticus 19:35 and Amos 5:15, and by example. For He Himself, as the Wise Man says, chapter 11:21, when founding this commonwealth of the universe, disposed all things in measure, and number, and weight. Aristotle teaches that the same is above all necessary in a commonwealth, in book 9 of the Metaphysics.
Verse 11: THE EPHAH AND THE BATH SHALL BE EQUAL
11. THE EPHAH AND THE BATH SHALL BE EQUAL. — The ephah and the bath were equal measures; but the ephah was for dry goods, the bath for liquids, namely these measures were a tenth part of a cor. For the cor contained three seahs, or sata, that is 30 modii; the ephah and bath, three modii. The Septuagint translates bath as choenix, and cor as gomor, but gomor is a corrupt reading for homer, as it is in the Hebrew. For the gomor was a small measure for a day's food, as I said at Exodus 16:16; but the homer, or cor, was large and vast, containing 30 modii.
ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF THE COR SHALL BE THE FAIR PROPORTION, — that is, a fair division by weight and adjustment to the cor, meaning: Both shall be measured in relation to the cor, namely so that the ephah and the bath may be a tenth part of the cor. So Vatablus.
Verse 12: THE SHEKEL SHALL HAVE TWENTY OBOLS
12. THE SHEKEL SHALL HAVE TWENTY OBOLS. — The shekel, or stater, was a tetradrachm, equal in weight and value to four Italian giulii, and four Spanish reales, or one Belgian florin, for this contains 20 obols, that is, stuivers. See what was said at Exodus 30:13.
MOREOVER TWENTY SHEKELS, etc., — meaning: The mna, or mina, contains 60 shekels. Note: He here distributes the mina into three parts, because there were three separate types of coins, all of which the mina encompassed, namely there was a coin, first, of 15 shekels, or a quarter part of a mina; second, of 20 shekels, that is, a third part of a mina; third, of 25 shekels, that is, a third plus a twelfth part of a mina. So R. David, Vatablus, Maldonatus, and Vilalpandus, volume 2, page 327, where he teaches that each of these types was also called a mna or mina, and therefore there was a fourfold mina, namely the first of 15; the second of 20; the third of 25; the fourth of 60 shekels, and this is what Ezekiel indicates here.
Whence also Solomon, in 3 Kings 10:17, is said to have made shields for his bodyguards, each of which was covered with 300 minas of gold; where the mina must be understood not as 60 shekels (for then these shields would have been very heavy, and impossible to carry even by the strongest men), but as 20. For Vilalpandus, by correct calculation, shows that 666 talents, mentioned in 3 Kings 10:16, were spent on these two hundred shields.
The Hebrews and Maldonatus note that the profane mina is discussed here, for the sacred one was twice as large, and contained 120 shekels. But others deny this, and hold that the sacred and profane mina were one and the same, whether of the temple or the marketplace, of the common people or the priests, as I said at Exodus 30.
Moreover, mina or mna is said to come from מנה mana, that is, a portion or a numbered and subtracted part, from the root מנה mana, that is, 'he numbered.' Whence Mene, Tekel, Peres, Daniel 5:25.
Verse 13: THESE ARE THE FIRST-FRUITS THAT YOU SHALL OFFER
13. THESE ARE THE FIRST-FRUITS THAT YOU SHALL OFFER. — In Hebrew אשר תרימו ascer tarimu, that is, which you shall offer by lifting them up before the Lord. For the first-fruits were to be offered by this rite, according to the law of Leviticus 23:11, so that they might thereby testify that they had received these crops from God, and therefore offered Him their first-fruits. You may ask: What first-fruits are discussed here? R. David thinks
that the first-fruits to be offered at the common dedication of the temple are specified here. Maldonatus thinks that the princes' sacrifices are specified here: but sacrifices are not first-fruits, and those are specified in the following chapter. Better therefore is the opinion of St. Jerome with the Hebrews, who hold that properly the first-fruits of crops, such as wheat, barley, etc., to be offered to God and the priests, are here specified, lest either the greed of the priests demand more, or the laity give less than was fair. He therefore commands that a sixtieth part of crops be given to God as first-fruits: for he commands that a sixth part of an ephah be given, which is a sixtieth part of a cor.
The Hebrews note that the first-fruits are here specified according to the lowest lax standard. For they themselves hold that for first-fruits it was not lawful to give less than a sixtieth, nor more than a fortieth part. Whence St. Jerome says: 'Between a fortieth and a sixtieth, it was permitted to offer whatever they wished.'
Verse 14: THE MEASURE OF OIL ALSO
14. THE MEASURE OF OIL ALSO. — He commands here that a hundredth part of oil be mixed into the sixtieth part of flour that is offered as first-fruits. For a tenth part of a bath, or ephah, is a hundredth part of a cor. For the cor contained ten baths, or ephahs.
Verse 15: AND ONE RAM
15. AND ONE RAM. — In Hebrew שה vesce echad, that is, one head of cattle, not a ewe or female, as the Hebrews would have it, but a male. Whence our translator learnedly renders it 'a ram.' For male animals were to be offered to God in sacrifice.
FROM A FLOCK OF TWO HUNDRED, — meaning: Whoever has two hundred sheep shall give one, namely the two-hundredth, to God as a sacrifice.
Verse 16: ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND SHALL BE BOUND TO THESE FIRST-FRUITS FOR THE PRINCE
16. ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND SHALL BE BOUND TO THESE FIRST-FRUITS FOR THE PRINCE, — namely of the priests, that is, the Pontiff. Others less correctly understand the king: for first-fruits are to be given to the Pontiff, not to the king, by divine law. Therefore 'prince' is taken here differently than in the following chapter and chapter 44:3. The meaning is: The people shall give these first-fruits to the Pontiff, so that with them he may bear the burden of offering burnt offerings and sacrifices on sabbaths, new moons, and other feasts for the whole people. So St. Jerome, Vatablus, and the Hebrews generally. For this is what he adds:
Verse 17: AND UPON THE PRINCE SHALL BE THE BURNT OFFERINGS, etc
17. AND UPON THE PRINCE SHALL BE THE BURNT OFFERINGS, etc. — meaning: Upon the prince, and upon the prince's shoulders, as it were, shall rest the burden of the burnt offerings, etc.
Verse 18: IN THE FIRST MONTH
18. IN THE FIRST MONTH. — Nisan, which corresponds partly to our March and partly to April, and is the first from the vernal equinox, and therefore the Paschal month, Exodus chapter 12, verse 2.
ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH. — So often elsewhere by enallage, a cardinal number is used for an ordinal, 'one' for 'first.'
Verse 19: AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE OF THE BLOOD (of the sacrifice, or piacular offering) WHICH SHALL BE FOR
19. AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE OF THE BLOOD (of the sacrifice, or piacular offering) WHICH SHALL BE FOR SIN, AND SHALL PUT IT ON THE POSTS OF THE HOUSE, — namely of the temple. So the Hebrews.
AND ON THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE LEDGE (not of the court, as the Rabbis would have it, but) OF THE ALTAR. — For this altar had a double ledge, and in Hebrew it is called עזרה azara, chapter 43:14, as also here.
AND ON THE POSTS OF THE GATE OF THE INNER COURT. — The inner court was the court of the priests, as I said, chapter 42:3. R. David less correctly takes the outer court as the court of women, the inner as that of men.
Verse 22: AND THE PRINCE SHALL OFFER (that is, sacrifice)
22. AND THE PRINCE SHALL OFFER (that is, sacrifice), — not by himself, but through the priests, as is explained in the following chapter, verse 2.
Verse 23: DAILY FOR SEVEN DAYS
23. DAILY FOR SEVEN DAYS, — that is, daily seven calves and seven rams, and this for seven days. So the Hebrew, Vatablus, and Maldonatus. These sacrificial victims appear to be prescribed here for the prince alone. For there were other and more numerous victims for the feast and the people, which are prescribed in Numbers 29:13 and following.
Verse 24: A SACRIFICE OF AN EPHAH FOR EACH CALF
24. A SACRIFICE OF AN EPHAH FOR EACH CALF. — For 'sacrifice' the Hebrew has מנחה mincha, that is, a grain offering or flour offering, meaning: He shall offer an ephah of flour with each calf, and an ephah with each ram, and shall mix one hin of oil. Concerning the hin, the ephah, and other Hebrew measures, see what was said at the end of the Pentateuch.
Verse 25: AT THE SOLEMNITY
25. AT THE SOLEMNITY, — namely the feast of Tabernacles: for this was celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month, Leviticus 23:39.
BOTH FOR THE SIN OFFERING, — meaning: What I said about the victims, flour, and oil to be offered at the feast of Passover, the same is to be understood, and the same manner and measure observed, at the feast of Tabernacles. So Vatablus, Maldonatus, and others.
From these victims, libations, and all the rest, it is clear that these things literally pertain to the temple and the Jewish commonwealth.