Ezekiel 44:1 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. The appropriating of the east gate of the temple to the prince (Eze 44:1-3). II. A reproof sent to the house of Israel for their former profanations of God's sanctuary, with a charge to them to be more strict for the future (Eze 44:4-9). III. The degrading of those Levites that had formerly been guilty of idolatry and the establishing of the priesthood in the family of Zadok, which had kept their integrity (Eze 44:10-16). IV. Divers laws and ordinances concerning the priests (Eze 44:17-31).

The prophet is here brought to review what he had before once surveyed; for, though we have often looked into the things of God, they will yet bear to be looked over again, such a copiousness there is in them. The lessons we have learned we should still repeat to ourselves. Every time we review the sacred fabric of holy things, which we have in the scriptures, we shall still find something new which we did not before take notice of. The prophet is brought a third time to the east gate, and finds it shut, which intimates that the rest of the gates were open at all times to the worshippers. But such an account is given of this gate's being shut as puts honour, 1. Upon the God of Israel. It is for the honour of him that the gate of the inner court, at which his glory entered when he took possession of the house, was ever after kept shut, and no man was allowed to enter in by it, Eze 44:2. The difference ever after made between this and the other gates, that this was shut when the others were open, was intended both to perpetuate the remembrance of the solemn entrance of the glory of the Lord into the house (which it would remain a traditional evidence of the truth of) and also to possess the minds of people with a reverence for the Divine Majesty, and with very awful thoughts of his transcendent glory, which was designed in God's charge to Moses at the bush, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot. God will have a way by himself. 2. Upon the prince of Israel, Eze 44:3. It is an honour to him that though he may not enter in by this gate, for no man may, yet, (1.) He shall sit in this gate to eat his share of the peace-offerings, that sacred food, before the Lord. (2.) He shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, by some little door or wicket, either in the gate or adjoining to it, which is called the say of the porch. This as to signify that God puts some of his glory upon magistrates, upon the princes of his people, for he has said, You are gods. Some by the prince here understand the high priests, or the sagan or second priest; and that he only was allowed to enter by this gate, for he was God's representative. Christ is the high priest of our profession, who entered himself into the holy place, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 44 This chapter treats of the eastern gate of the temple being appropriated to the use of the prince, Eze 44:1, of the sin of the Lord's people, in admitting strangers and unholy persons into the sanctuary, either to officiate or communicate there, Eze 44:4 of the degrading of the Levites, that went astray, assigning them inferior posts and service in the house of God, Eze 44:10 and of the establishment of the sons of Zadok in their ministry, who were faithful, Eze 44:15, then follow various laws relating to their garments; shaving of their heads; drinking wine; their marriage; performance of their ministerial work; their regard to the dead, and their food and maintenance, Eze 44:17.

Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary,.... The prophet was brought by his divine guide, from the altar of burnt offerings, which stood before the house, where he had given him the dimensions of it, and the ordinances concerning it, to the temple or holy place, called the outward sanctuary, in distinction from the inward sanctuary, or holy of holies; and to one of the gates of it, which was a gate of the inner court: and which looketh toward the east: the eastern gate, and was the same he had been at before, and therefore is said to be brought back the way of it; see Eze 43:1, and it was shut; when he was there before, it was open; for he saw the glory of the Lord enter into the house by the way of it; but now it was shut, and for that reason, because he had entered into it; signifying, among other things, that he would never return, or remove from thence any more. The Misnic doctors (d) interpret this of one of the little doors to the great gate of the temple, that had two little doors, one in the north, the other in the south; that which was in the south no man ever entered in by, and this they say is understood here; but it is not a little door, but a gate here spoken of, and that the eastern one; of which more in the following verses. (d) Misna Middot, c. 4. sect. 2.

Who is this gate, if not Mary? Is it not closed because she is a virgin? Mary is the gate through which Christ entered this world, when He was brought forth in the virginal birth and the manner of His birth did not break the seals of virginity.

(Chapter 44, verses 1 onwards) And he brought me back to the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces eastward and was closed. And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be closed and shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered (or will enter) by it; it shall be closed for the prince. The prince himself shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. Through the vestibule (that is, the porch), he shall enter by the gate, and he shall go out by its way. For it is written in Hebrew: 'It shall be shut to the prince.' The Septuagint translated it as: 'It shall be shut, for the leader himself shall sit in it.' There are many gates described in the Scripture of the temple of Ezekiel, both inside and outside. The previous discourse also covers the representation, consecration, and sacrifices of the altar. After this, he comes to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east and is shut. And immediately, the man who was the guide of the prophet and showed him everything spoke to him: This gate that you are looking at will always be shut and will not be opened, and no man will pass through it. And it gives the reason why it is always closed: because the Lord God of Israel has entered, or will enter through it: and it will be closed according to the Hebrew, to the prince, whom the LXX translated as leader. The prince and leader, that is, the Nasi, will sit in it to eat bread before the Lord: and he will enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and he will go out through it. What is this gate that is always closed, and only the Lord God of Israel enters through it? Namely, the one about which the Savior speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! And woe to you, teachers of the law, who take away the key of knowledge! You yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are entering (Matthew 23:23). Isaiah also writes about this book under this name: The words of this book shall be like the words of a sealed book: if you give it to a man who cannot read, saying, 'Read this,' he will say, 'I cannot read.' And they shall give the book to a man who knows letters, saying: Read; and he shall say: I cannot read, for it is sealed (Isa. XXIX, 11). But this is the book that no one can unseal or open the seals, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, except for the one of whom it is said in the Apocalypse of John: Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and offspring of David, has conquered, so that he may open the book and unseal its seals (Rev. V, 5). For before the Savior assumed a human body and humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant (Phil. II), the Law and the Prophets, and all the knowledge of the Scriptures, were closed, and paradise was closed. But after he hung on the cross, and spoke to the thief, 'Today you will be with me in paradise' (Luke XXIII, 43), immediately the veil of the temple was torn, and everything was opened; and with the veil removed, we say: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory (II Cor. III, 18). But if all things are revealed, for in Christ, according to the words of Paul, all things are revealed (Ibid., XIII), how will the gate be closed and not opened, and a man not pass through it? From these things we learn that even though we have come to the ultimate knowledge, compared to divine knowledge, we now know in part and understand in part; but when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will be done away with. Hence, in another place, the Apostle himself speaks of being imperfect and, again, perfect. But if it lacks interpretation, it seems to be the opposite. For he says: Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfect. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12, 14). And when we thought that he, according to his profession, was not yet perfect, and that he was seeking rather than having found what is true, he not only says this about himself, but also about others: Therefore, let us all who are perfect have this same attitude. But the meaning of this place is as follows: Compared to other people who do not have care of the knowledge of the Scriptures or the mysteries of God, I confess that I am perfect; but as for the understanding of the divine majesty, I now see it in an enigma and through a cloud and darkness, and I say with the prophet: Your knowledge is amazing to me, it is confirmed, and I will not be able to attain it (Ps. 138:6). Therefore, this gate, which is closed to everyone (for a man will not pass through it and perish), will be closed to the prince or leader, and it will be opened by his arrival, who will sit in it to eat bread before the Lord, about whom he himself testifies in the Gospel, saying: My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work (John 4:34). He is the prince and the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He is the offering and the priest who, in the presence of the Father, eats heavenly bread with us and drinks wine, of which he speaks in the Gospel: I will not drink of the fruit of this vine until I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom (Matthew 26:29): in that kingdom, of which he himself and elsewhere says: The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). And the gate will be closed. No one can truly understand the passion of the Lord, his body and blood as the sacraments of the divine mystery. Such is the greatness of his goodness and the prince of his mercy, that even though he alone sits at the closed door and eats bread before the Lord, he desires to have more companions at his table and feast, and says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone opens to me, I will enter in and dine with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20). But he alone eats bread in the presence of the Lord, because his substance and divine nature are separate from all the substances of creatures. He himself enters and exits through the same gate of the vestibule: for he is both inside and outside, that is, infused and encompassing all; entering through the gate in order to bring with him those who cannot enter without his teaching and help; and exiting in order to bring in others again; and speak to those who do not understand difficult things. But inasmuch as the Eastern gate outside the boundaries of the world is always closed and never opens to human sight, the Gospel of John proves the words of the one who said: No one has ever seen God: the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed Him (John 1:18). In other words, it will be closed to everyone except the ruler. The ruler alone will sit in it, to eat the bread of perfect and complete knowledge. For no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal (Matthew 11:27). Some understand beautifully that the closed gate through which only the Lord God of Israel enters, and the leader to whom the gate is closed, to be the Virgin Mary, who both before childbirth and after childbirth remained a virgin. Indeed, at the time when the angel spoke: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Luke 1:35), and when he was born, the virgin remained eternal; to confound those who claim that after the birth of the Savior, she had other sons by Joseph, based on the occasion of his brothers who are mentioned in the Gospel (Mark 3). I know that I wrote a small book in my youth, against Helvidius, the heretic of that time, in Rome.

Some quite emphatically understand this closed gate through which only the Lord God of Israel passes... as the Virgin Mary, who remains a Virgin before and after childbirth. In fact, she remains always a Virgin, in the moment in which the Angel speaks with her and when the Son of God is born.

But just as He who was conceived kept her who conceived still virgin, in like manner also He who was born preserved her virginity intact, only passing through her and keeping her closed. [Ezekiel 44:2] The conception, indeed, was through the sense of hearing, but the birth through the usual path by which children come, although some tell tales of His birth through the side of the Mother of God. For it was not impossible for Him to have come by this gate, without injuring her seal in anyway. The ever-virgin One thus remains even after the birth still virgin, having never at any time up till death consorted with a man.

On the contrary, It is written (Ezekiel 44:2): "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it; because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it." Expounding these words, Augustine says in a sermon (De Annunt. Dom. iii): "What means this closed gate in the House of the Lord, except that Mary is to be ever inviolate? What does it mean that 'no man shall pass through it,' save that Joseph shall not know her? And what is this—'The Lord alone enters in and goeth out by it'—except that the Holy Ghost shall impregnate her, and that the Lord of angels shall be born of her? And what means this—'it shall be shut for evermore'—but that Mary is a virgin before His Birth, a virgin in His Birth, and a virgin after His Birth?"

This chapter gives an account of the glory of God having returned to the temple, Eze 44:14. The Jews reproved for suffering idolatrous priests to pollute it with their ministrations, Eze 44:5-8. Ordinances respecting the conduct of the priests, and the maintenance due to them, vv. 9-31.

The outward sanctuary - In opposition to the temple itself, which was the inner sanctuary.

ORDINANCES FOR THE PRINCE AND THE PRIESTS. (Eze. 44:1-31) shut . . . not be opened-- (Job 12:14; Isa 22:22; Rev 3:7). "Shut" to the people (Exo 19:21-22), but open to "the prince" (Eze 44:3), he holding the place of God in political concerns, as the priests do in spiritual. As a mark of respect to an Eastern monarch, the gate by which he enters is thenceforth shut to all other persons (compare Exo 19:24).

The Place of the Prince in the Sanctuary. - Eze 44:1. And he brought me back by the way to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looked toward the east; and it was shut. Eze 44:2. And Jehovah said to me, This gate shall be shut, shall not be opened, and no one shall enter thereby; because Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered by it, it shall be shut. Eze 44:3. As for the prince, as prince he shall sit therein, to eat bread before Jehovah; from the way to the porch of the gate shall he go in, and from its way shall he go out. - From the inner court where Ezekiel had received the measurements of the altar of burnt-offering and the instructions concerning its consecration (Eze 43:5.), he is taken back to the east gate of the outer court, and finds this gate, which formed the principle entrance to the temple, closed. Jehovah explains this fact to him through the angel (ויּאמר is to be understood according to Eze 43:6 and Eze 43:7) thus: "this gate is to be shut, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered into the temple thereby," as we have already learned from Eze 43:2. Only the prince, as prince, was allowed to sit in it for the purpose of holding sacrificial meals there. So far the meaning of the words is clear and indisputable. For there can be no doubt whatever that Eze 44:3 introduces a more precise statement concerning the closing of the gate; in other words, that the right of sitting in the gate to eat bread before Jehovah, which is conceded to the priest, is intended as an explanation, resp. modification and limitation, of the statement והיה (Eze 44:2). On the other hand, the more precise definition of the prerogative granted to the prince in Eze 44:3 is not quite clear, and therefore open to dispute. Such a prerogative is already indicated in the prominence expressly given to the prince, consisting partly in the fact that את־הנּשׂיא is written first in an absolute form, and partly in the expression נשׂיא הוּא, which is repeated in the form of a circumstantial clause, "prince is he," equivalent to "because he is prince, he is to sit there." נשׂיא is neither the high priest, as many of the older commentators supposed, nor a collective term for the civil authorities of the people of Israel in the Messianic times (Hvernick), but the David who will be prince in Israel at that time, according to Eze 34:23-24, and Eze 37:24. "To eat bread before Jehovah" signifies to hold a sacrificial meal at the place of the divine presence, i.e., in the temple court, and is not to be restricted, as Kliefoth supposes, to that sacrificial meal "which was held after and along with the bloodless sacrifices, viz., the minchoth, and the shew-breads, and the sweet loaves of the Passover." There is no authority in the usage of the language for this literal interpretation of the expression "to eat bread," for אכל לחם means in general to partake of a meal, compare Gen 31:54, etc., and especially Exo 18:12, where Jethro "eats bread before God" with Aaron and the elders of Israel, that is to say, joins in a sacrificial meal composed of זבחים or slain-offerings. According to this view, which is the only one supported by usage, the prerogative secured to the נשׂיא of the future is not "that of participating in the sacrificial meals (of the priests), which were to be held daily with the minchoth and shew-bread, in opposition to the law which prevailed before" (Kliefoth), but simply that of holding his sacrificial meals in the gate, i.e., in the porch of the gate, whereas the people were only allowed to hold them in the court, namely, in the vicinity of the sacrificial kitchens. There is also a difference of opinion concerning the meaning of the second statement in Eze 44:3 : "from the way of the porch of the gate shall he enter in, and thence shall he go out." The suffix in מדּרכּו can only refer to אוּלם, "from the way from which he came (entered), from this way shall he go out again." Hitzig follows the Rabbins, who understand the passage thus: "as the gate is to remain shut, he must go by the way to the porch which is directed inwardly, toward the court (Eze 40:9). He must have gone into the outer court through the north or the south gate, and by the way by which he came he also went back again." But Kliefoth argues, in objection to this, that "if the prince was to eat the bread in the porch, the entrance through the south or the north gate would be of no use to him at all; as the gate which could be shut was at that door of the porch which was turned toward the outer court." Moreover, he affirms that it is not at all the meaning of the text that he was to eat the bread in the porch, but that he was to eat it in the gate-building, and he was to come thither מדּרך אוּלם השּׁער, i.e., "from the place which served as a way to the gate porch, that is to say, the walk from the eastern entrance of the gate-building to the front of the porch, and from that was he to go out again." The prince, therefore, was "to go into the gate-building as far as the front of the porch through the eastern entrance, there to eat his bread before Jehovah, and to come out again from thence, so that the gate at the western side of the gate porch still remained shut." But we cannot regard either of these views as correct. There is no firm foundation in the text for Kliefoth's assertion, that he was not to eat the bread in the porch, but in the gate-building. It is true that the porch is not expressly mentioned as the place where the eating was to take place, but simply the gate (בּו); yet the porch belonged to the gate as an integral part of the gate-building; and if דּרך אוּלם is the way to the porch, or the way leading to the porch, the words, "by the way to the porch shall he enter in," imply clearly enough that he was to go into the porch and to eat bread there. This is also demanded by the circumstance, as the meaning of the words cannot possibly be that the prince was to hold his sacrificial meal upon the threshold of the gate, or in one of the guard-rooms, or in the middle of the gateway; and apart from the porch, there were no other places in the gate-building than those we have named. And again, the statement that the gate on the western side of the gate porch was to be shut, and not that against the eastern wall, is also destitute of proof, as דּרך אוּלם, the way to the porch, is not equivalent to the way "up to the front of the porch." And if the prince was to hold the sacrificial meal behind the inner gate, which was closed, how was the food when it was prepared to be carried into the gate-building? Through a door of one of the guard-rooms? Such a supposition is hardly reconcilable with the significance of a holy sacrificial meal. In fact, it is a question whether eating in the gate-building with the inner door closed, so that it was not even possible to look toward the sanctuary, in which Jehovah was enthroned, could be called eating לפני. Hitzig's explanation of the words is not exposed to any of these difficulties, but it is beset by others. At the outset it is chargeable with improbability, as it is impossible to see any just ground why the prince, if he was to hold the sacrificial meal in the porch of the east gate, should not have been allowed to enter through this gate, but was obliged to take the circuitous route through the south or the north gate. Again, it is irreconcilable with the analogous statements in Ezekiel 46. According to Eze 46:1., the east gate of the inner court was to be shut, namely, during the six working days; but on the Sabbath and on the new moon it was to be opened. Then the prince was to come by the way of the gate porch from without, and during the preparation of his sacrifice by the priests to stand upon the threshold of the gate and worship. This same thing was to take place when the prince desired to offer a freewill offering on any of the week-days. The east gate was to be opened for him to this end; but after the conclusion of the offering of sacrifice it was to be closed again, whereas on the Sabbaths and new moons it was to stand open till the evening (Eze 46:12 compared with Eze 44:2). It is still further enjoined, that when offering these sacrifices the prince is to enter by the way of the gate porch, and to go out again by the same way (Eze 44:2 and Eze 44:8); whereas on the feast days, on which the people appear before Jehovah, every one who comes, the priest along with the rest, is to go in and out through the north or the south gate (Eze 44:9 and Eze 44:10). If, therefore, on the feast days, when the people appeared before Jehovah, the prince was to go into the temple in the midst of the people through the north or the south gate to worship, whereas on the Sabbaths and new moons, on which the people were not required to appear before the Lord, so that the prince alone had to bring the offerings for himself and the people, he was to enter by the way of the porch of the east gate, and to go out again by the same, and during the ceremony of offering the sacrifice was to stand upon the threshold of the inner east gate, it is obvious that the going in and out by the way of the porch of the gate was to take place by a different way from that through the north or the south gate. This other way could only be through the east gate, as no fourth gate existed. - The conclusion to which this brings us, so far as the passage before us is concerned, is that the shutting of the east gate of the outer court was to be the rule, but that there were certain exceptions which are not fully explained till Ezekiel 46, though they are hinted at in the chapter before us in the directions given there, that the prince was to hold the sacrificial meal in this gate. - The outer east gate, which was probably the one chiefly used by the people when appearing before the Lord in the earlier temple, both for going in and coming out, is to be shut in the new temple, and not to be made use of by the people for either entrance or exit, because the glory of the Lord entered into the temple thereby. This reason is of course not to be understood in the way suggested by the Rabbins, namely, that the departure of the Shechinah from the temple was to be prevented by the closing of the gate; but the thought is this: because this gateway had been rendered holy through the entrance of the Shechinah into the temple thereby, it was not to remain open to the people, so as to be desecrated, but was to be kept perpetually holy. This keeping holy was not prejudiced in any way by the fact that the prince held the sacrificial meal in the gate, and also entered the court through this gateway for the purpose of offering his sacrifice, which was made ready by the priests before the inner gate, and then was present at the offering of the sacrifice upon the altar, standing upon the threshold of the inner gate-building. דּרך אוּלם is therefore the way which led from the outer flight of steps across the threshold past the guard-rooms to the gate porch at the inner end of the gate-building. By this way the priest was to go into the gate opened for him, and hold the sacrificial meal therein, namely, in the porch of this gate. That the offering of the sacrifice necessarily preceded the meal is assumed as self-evident, and the law of sacrifice in Ezekiel 46 first prescribes the manner in which the prince was to behave when offering the sacrifice, and how near to the altar he was to be allowed to go.