Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He prescribes sacrifices for the prince, and at verse 16 enacts a law concerning the prince's gifts and bequests, and finally, at verse 19, prescribes the place and kitchens for the sacrificial victims.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 46:1-23
1. Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces East shall be closed for six days, during which work is done: but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, and also on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2. And the prince shall enter by way of the vestibule of the outer gate, and he shall stand at the threshold of the gate: and the priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings: and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate, and shall go out: but the gate shall not be closed until evening. 3. And the people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that gate on the sabbaths and on the new moons, before the Lord. 4. And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer to the Lord on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. 5. And the sacrifice shall be an ephah for the ram: but for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be whatever his hand may give: and a hin of oil for each ephah. 6. And on the day of the new moon, a calf from the herd without blemish: and six lambs and rams shall be without blemish. 7. And he shall offer a sacrifice of an ephah for the calf, and an ephah for the ram: but for the lambs, as his hand may find: and a hin of oil for each ephah. 8. And when the prince enters, he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way. 9. And when the people of the land come before the Lord at the solemnities: he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate: and he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate: he shall not return by way of the gate by which he entered, but shall go out by the one opposite it. 10. And the prince shall be in their midst: he shall enter when they enter, and go out when they go out. 11. And at fairs and at solemnities, the sacrifice shall be an ephah for the calf, and an ephah for the ram: but for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be as his hand may find: and a hin of oil for each ephah. 12. And when the prince offers a voluntary burnt offering, or voluntary peace offerings to the Lord: the gate that faces East shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as is usually done on the sabbath day: and he shall go out, and the gate shall be closed after he has gone out. 13. And he shall offer a lamb of the same year without blemish as a daily burnt offering to the Lord: he shall always offer it in the morning. 14. And he shall offer a sacrifice upon it every morning: a sixth part of an ephah, and a third part of a hin of oil, to be mixed with the flour: a sacrifice to the Lord, a legitimate, perpetual, and everlasting offering. 15. He shall offer the lamb, and the sacrifice, and the oil every morning: an everlasting burnt offering. 16. Thus says the Lord God: If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons: it shall be the inheritance of his sons, they shall possess it by inheritance. 17. But if he gives a bequest from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of release, and it shall revert to the prince: but his inheritance shall belong to his sons. 18. And the prince shall not take of the inheritance of the people by violence, nor of their possession: but from his own possession he shall give an inheritance to his sons: so that My people shall not be scattered, each from his possession. 19. And he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the chambers of the sanctuary belonging to the priests, which looked toward the North: and there was a place on the side toward the West. 20. And he said to me: This is the place where the priests shall cook the sin offering and the guilt offering: where they shall cook the sacrifice, so that they may not carry it out into the outer court, lest the people be sanctified. 21. And he brought me out into the outer court, and led me around through the four corners of the court, and behold there was a small court in the corner of the court, small courts in each corner of the court. 22. In the four corners of the court, small courts were arranged, forty cubits long and thirty wide: the four were of one measure. 23. And a wall
surrounding the four small courts all around: and kitchens were built under the porticos round about. 24. And he said to me: This is the house of the kitchens, in which the ministers of the house of the Lord shall cook the victims of the people.
Verse 1: THE GATE OF THE INNER COURT
1. THE GATE OF THE INNER COURT, — that is, the court of the priests. This is the closed gate, of which he spoke in chapter 44, verses 2 and 3. He commands here that it be opened for the prince on sabbaths and new moons.
Mystically, St. Jerome says: 'For six days, during which we labor in the world, the eastern gate of the inner court is closed to us. But when we come to the seventh day, that is, to the day of sabbath, in which is eternal rest: or to the day of the new moon, when after the blind night and dreadful darkness, there is the beginning of light, the eastern gate is opened to us. If any of us, through the merits of virtues, has attained the name and dignity of a leader, he shall enter through the way of the vestibule of the outer gate, that is, through the labors of this world and the gate of the Church, which is still situated on earthly boundaries, not into the inner court (for that is what is described in this passage), but to the threshold of the inner gate, and he shall stand in it.'
Verse 2: THE PRINCE SHALL ENTER BY WAY OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE OUTER GATE (that is, of the exterior gate, as
2. THE PRINCE SHALL ENTER BY WAY OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE OUTER GATE (that is, of the exterior gate, as the Chaldean and the Tigurina translate, which was in the court of the laity): AND HE SHALL STAND AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE, — of the inner gate, says St. Jerome, which was in the court of the priests, meaning: The prince shall enter through the gate of the court of the laity, and proceed to the gate of the court of the priests, so that from there he may watch the sacrifices which are offered through the priests in their court. For just as no layperson, so neither could the prince enter the court of the priests, but only priests: yet the prince came very close to it, and stood in the gate of the court of the priests, and had his royal seat there, in which he might sit if he wished, or stand beside it if he preferred: for 'he shall stand' signifies presence and remaining, not the quality of posture: therefore 'he shall stand,' that is, he shall remain and stay in that place, whether standing, sitting, or kneeling.
Adrichomius vividly depicts this seat of the king next to the court of the priests in his representation of Jerusalem and the temple, number 95. In a similar way, in former times Christian kings were forbidden to enter the choir of the priests, and were compelled to remain before the choir in the church with the people, as St. Ambrose compelled Theodosius to do. The Greeks still observe the same practice, keeping their choir, in which they celebrate the Liturgy, closed on all sides, accessible to no one except the priest and his ministers. Let princes learn here from God's ordinance how great a modesty they should exhibit in the temple, and how they should venerate priests as ministers of God.
BUT THE GATE SHALL NOT BE CLOSED UNTIL EVENING. — St. Jerome gives the reason: 'So that after the prince,' he says, 'all the people of the land may worship facing the entrance of that gate; but they worship on the sabbaths and on the new moons, when the gate is opened.'
AND THEY SHALL OFFER, — that is, they shall sacrifice.
Verse 3: AND THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND SHALL WORSHIP AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GATE
3. AND THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND SHALL WORSHIP AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GATE, — namely outside, after the prince: for the prince stood and worshipped at the very threshold of the gate.
Verse 5: AND THE SACRIFICE
5. AND THE SACRIFICE. — In Hebrew, mincha, that is, the sacrifice or flour libation shall be the measure of an ephah.
BUT FOR THE LAMBS, THE SACRIFICE SHALL BE WHATEVER HIS HAND MAY GIVE, — meaning: I do not prescribe the libation or measure of flour for the lambs that the prince shall sacrifice: let him give as much as he wishes; yet so that he adds and mixes a hin of oil for each ephah of flour that he chooses to give. For in all animal sacrifices, flour, oil, salt, and frankincense were to be added, as libations and seasonings of the sacrifice, as I have often said in Leviticus.
Verse 6: A CALF FROM THE HERD
6. A CALF FROM THE HERD. — In Hebrew בן בקר ben bacar, that is, a son of an ox, or of a cow, that is, a young and tender calf, which still follows its mother, namely the cow.
Verse 7: AND AN EPHAH OF (flour) FOR THE RAM HE SHALL OFFER AS A SACRIFICE
7. AND AN EPHAH OF (flour) FOR THE RAM HE SHALL OFFER AS A SACRIFICE. — In Hebrew, mincha, meaning: For each ram he shall offer an ephah of flour as a mincha, that is, as a sacrifice or grain libation. For throughout this passage, as also in Leviticus 2, 'sacrifice' — the Hebrew mincha — is called the offering and libation of flour.
AS HIS HAND MAY FIND, — as he may be able and willing to give. See what was said at verse 5.
Verse 8: AND WHEN THE PRINCE ENTERS, BY WAY OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE
8. AND WHEN THE PRINCE ENTERS, BY WAY OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE — the eastern gate, as he said in verse 2.
Two things are established here, and a twofold distinction is set between the prince and the people. First, that the prince alone may enter through the eastern gate, and that this gate, otherwise closed, may be opened for him when he enters, and closed after he exits in the evening: but the people shall enter and exit through the southern and northern gates, as is said in the next verse.
Second, that the prince shall enter and exit by the same gate: but the people, having entered by one gate, shall exit by the other and opposite gate, as is established in verse 10. So St. Jerome, Vilalpandus, Maldonatus, and others.
Hence Vilalpandus rightly infers, page 396, at the end, that what was permitted to the prince was much more rightfully permitted to the priests about to minister at the altar and in the temple. For greater sanctity, wisdom, observance of divine worship, and religion were required of priests than of a secular prince, to whom it was granted as the greatest of privileges that he might enter up to the inner threshold (or post) to worship, but was entirely forbidden to go further: and for contempt of this law, King Uzziah paid the severest penalties, being struck with leprosy by God, 2 Chronicles 26:16 and 19.
The moral reason was to signify that a different way, that is, a different life and conduct, befits the prince, as well as the priests, from that which befits the people — namely a more particular and holier one.
R. Solomon, R. David, and the Hebrews hold otherwise: for they think that here a law is established only concerning sabbaths and new moons, namely that on these feasts both the prince and the people must enter by one gate and exit by another: and they think this is established in verses 9 and 10. But the former opinion is more correct.
Verse 9: WHEN THE PEOPLE ENTER
9. WHEN THE PEOPLE ENTER. — It is here established that the people, entering through the gate, not the eastern, but the southern gate, shall exit through the northern; and entering through the northern gate, shall exit through the opposite one, namely the southern.
The Hebrews give the reason that, when the prayer which was made in the middle of the eastern court before the Lord was finished, the worshipper would have to turn back toward the temple to return to the same gate, and thus would turn his back on the temple: which would have been rude and uncivil. But the turning was equal, namely lateral, whether one exited through the same or through a different gate; and one turned one's back, or rather side, just as much when entering by one gate and exiting by another, as when entering and exiting by one and the same gate. The truer reason, therefore, seems to have been that in such a great crowd of people, the passage would be easier. For if they had exited by the same gate through which they entered, they would have met those coming and entering, and thus would have mutually impeded each other in passage, while some wanted to enter and others to exit — which is avoided if those who enter by one gate exit by another. We experience this here in Rome in the Basilicas of the Apostles and Martyrs, during the solemn station days.
Tropologically, it is signified that in the way and worship of God one should not go back, but go forward, so that with the Apostle, forgetting those things which are behind, we may stretch forward to those things which are ahead, says St. Jerome.
Verse 10: AND THE PRINCE IN THEIR MIDST
10. AND THE PRINCE IN THEIR MIDST, — that is, the prince shall enter through the gate which is in the middle between the southern and northern gates, through which the people enter: for thus the prince entered as if in the midst of the people, entering from both sides.
HE SHALL ENTER WITH THOSE ENTERING, — that is, at the same time when others enter, in their midst, as I have said, he himself shall enter; and at the same time when others exit, he himself shall exit.
Verse 11: AT THE FAIRS
11. AT THE FAIRS. — In Hebrew בחגים bechaggim, that is, at the feasts.
Verse 12: AND WHEN THE PRINCE OFFERS
12. AND WHEN THE PRINCE OFFERS, — when he offers through the priests, as he said in verse 2.
A VOLUNTARY BURNT OFFERING, — or voluntary peace offerings, or thanksgiving offerings, meaning: When the prince, beyond the sacrifices prescribed for him here on feasts, wishes to offer a sacrifice of his own free will on other days, the eastern gate shall be opened for him, as on feast days. So the Hebrew, Maldonatus, and others.
Verse 14: EVERY MORNING
14. EVERY MORNING, — that is, each day in the morning. It is a Graecism: for κατὰ in Greek means 'according to' or 'per': the repetition signifies a universal distribution, meaning: Each and every morning.
Verse 16: HIS INHERITANCE (that of the prince's son) SHALL BELONG TO HIS SONS
16. HIS INHERITANCE (that of the prince's son) SHALL BELONG TO HIS SONS, — meaning: The son shall transmit to his posterity this portion of the inheritance, received as a gift from his father the prince. He speaks of a portion of the royal goods, as is clear from the following verse.
Verse 17: A BEQUEST (in Hebrew מתנה mattana, that is, a gift, as preceded) UNTIL THE YEAR OF RELEASE
17. A BEQUEST (in Hebrew מתנה mattana, that is, a gift, as preceded) UNTIL THE YEAR OF RELEASE, — namely the jubilee, of which I spoke at Leviticus 25:13; for in that year, properties that had been sold reverted to their original sellers or owners. Here the distinction is established between the gifts that the prince gives to his sons and those he gives to his servants, namely that gifts given to servants, that is, subjects, shall revert to the prince in the jubilee, but gifts given to sons shall not revert. For this is what he says: 'But his inheritance shall belong to his sons,' which the Hebrew says more clearly: 'Nevertheless his inheritance shall be his sons' (that is, given to his sons by him as a gift), it shall be theirs.'
Hence St. Jerome teaches (understanding the pontiff by 'prince') that priests should not leave ecclesiastical goods to their sons, but only hereditary goods: 'He censures,' he says, 'not only the priests and princes of that time, but also of our own, who become richer by priestly dignity, and besides those things which are owed to them by the Lord's disposition, take from the poor by violence; or under the name of honor despoil the rich, so that they need leave nothing even to their own sons, to whom the paternal inheritance is owed, except what was left to them by their parents. Therefore, a priest who is richer than when he came to the priesthood should give whatever he has in excess not to his sons, but to the poor, and to holy brothers, and to the household of faith, who surpass the merits of children: so that he may render to the Lord what belongs to the Lord, who speaks in the Gospel: Whatever you did for one of these, you did for Me. For He Himself is received in hospitality in the poor, visited in prison, clothed when naked, given drink when thirsty, fed when hungry.
SO THAT MY PEOPLE SHALL NOT BE SCATTERED: therefore he scatters the people of God and takes away from them the everlasting possession of faith, who leaves to his sons and brothers and relatives other people's gifts or goods, whether by plunder, or flattery, or blandishments, or under the pretext of religion.' So St. Jerome. See what was said at chapter 44:23.
Verse 18: BY VIOLENCE
18. BY VIOLENCE. — Vatablus translates: That he might by force and oppression cast them out of their possession.
Verse 19: AND HE BROUGHT ME THROUGH THE ENTRANCE, etc
19. AND HE BROUGHT ME THROUGH THE ENTRANCE, etc. — Vatablus translates: Furthermore, he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate (the eastern gate of the court of the priests) to the holy chambers, which faced toward the North.
Verse 20: AND THE PEOPLE MAY BE SANCTIFIED
20. AND THE PEOPLE MAY BE SANCTIFIED, — by contact with or the presence of the sanctified meats: for whatever touched anything holy was considered holy. He said something similar about sacred vestments in chapter 44:19. God ordains that holy things, such as sacrificial victims, be kept in a suitable and holy place, lest they be cheapened in a profane setting among laypeople, or be held with less reverence. Whence St. Jerome says: 'He means that we should not easily give holy things to the unsanctified, nor, according to the Gospel, cast pearls before swine, nor give what is holy to dogs.'
Verse 21: HE BROUGHT ME OUT INTO THE OUTER COURT
21. HE BROUGHT ME OUT INTO THE OUTER COURT, — namely into the court of the people, as he said shortly before: for the inner court was that of the priests. From this, therefore, it appears that in the court of the laity, at its four corners, there were separate small courts, surrounded by a partition wall, as is said in verse 23, in which there were kitchens for cooking the portions of the peace offerings that were due by law to the laypeople who offered them, which they then ate feasting and rejoicing before the Lord in the same court: for the court of the priests would not have sufficed for cooking all of these, since the portions belonging to the priests and to God had to be cooked there. Moreover, it would have been troublesome, especially in winter and cold weather, to transfer individual cooked portions of meat from one court to another, and to return and distribute to each person their own in such a great crowd.
Maldonatus holds otherwise; for he thinks this outer court was in the same court of the priests, and is called outer because it was outside the chambers.
Verse 22: THE FOUR WERE OF ONE MEASURE
22. THE FOUR WERE OF ONE MEASURE, — meaning: These four small kitchen courts, placed in the four corners of the great court of the laity, were of one and the same measure, namely each was forty cubits long and thirty wide, as preceded. So Vatablus.
Verse 23: AND KITCHENS WERE BUILT UNDER THE PORTICOS
23. AND KITCHENS WERE BUILT UNDER THE PORTICOS. — These porticos rested on the walls surrounding the court, of which I have already spoken. He says that kitchens were built in these porticos for cooking the sacrificial victims. Vatablus translates differently, namely, under the walls, or openings of the hearth were all around; and he explains it thus: In the upper part of the wall, he says, there were holes in which they placed pots, and below, other holes for putting in fire.
Verse 24: IN WHICH THE MINISTERS OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD SHALL COOK THE VICTIMS OF THE PEOPLE
24. IN WHICH THE MINISTERS OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD SHALL COOK THE VICTIMS OF THE PEOPLE. — Just as the sacrificial victims, being holy, were slaughtered by the priest alone, so too their meats were cooked by the temple ministers alone, namely by the Levites, even in the court of the laity.