Chapter XLV
Ver. 1-25. Allotmp;nt of the Land for the SanctuAFY, THE City, and the Prince. 1. offer an oblation— —from a Hebrew voot to heave or raise; because when anything wa.s ottered to Goil, the offerer raised the hand. The
special territorial division tor the tribes is given in ch. 47.,
48. Onl3^ Jehovah's portion is here subdivided into its three parts: (1) that for the sanctuary (v. 2, 3); (2) that for
tlie priests {v. i) \ (S) that for tlie Levltes {v. 5). Cf. ch. 48.
8-13. five and twenty thousand reeds, &c.—so English Version riglitly fills the ellipsis (cf. Note, ch. 42. 16). Hence "cubits" are mentioned in u. 2, not here, implying that
is to be conducted by the prince and people in a more munificent spirit of self-sacrificing liberalily than formerly. 9. The worshippers were on the great feasts to pass from one side to the other, through 1 he loniple courts, in order that, in such a throng as should attend the festivals, the ingress and egress should be the more unimpeded, those going out not being in the way of those coming in. 10. prince In tUe inl<1st^—not isolated as at other times, but joining the great throng of worshippers, at their head, after the example of David (Psalm 42. 4, "I had gone with the multitude ... to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day"); the highest in rank animating the devotions of the rest by his presence and example. 13-15. Not only is he to perform offlcialacis of worship on holy days and fe;ists, but in "voluntary" offerings daily he is
there (done cuhlls are meant. Taking each reed at twelve
feet, the area of the whole would be a square of sixty m les on each side. The whole forming a square be-
tc-xens the settled stability of the community and the harm >ny of all classes. "The holy portion of the Lord" iv.
1) lomprised the whole length, and only two-fifths of the breadth. The outer territory in its distribution harmon-
izes with the inner and more sacred arrangements of the sand uary. No room is to be given for ojypression (see v. 8),
all having ample provision made for their wants and comforts. All will mutually co-operate without constraint or contention. 7. The prince's possession is to consist of two halves, one on the west, the other on the east, of the sacred territory. The prince, as head of the holy community, stands In closest connection with the sanctuary
to show his individual zeal, surpassing all his people in
liberality, and so setting them a princely example. IB-
his possession, therefore, on both sides must adjoin that which was peculiarly the Lord's. [Fairbairn.] 13. The standard weights were lost when the Chaldeans destroyed the teinple. The threefold enumeration of shekels, twen-
IS. The prince's possession is to be inalienable, and any portion given to a servant is to revert to his sons at the year of jubilee, that he may have no temptation to spoil his people of their inheritance, as formerly (cf. Ahab and Naboth, 1 Kings 21). The mention of tlie year of jubilee implies that there is something literal meant, besides the spiritual sense. The Jubilee year was restored after the captivity. [Josepiius, Antiquities, 14. 10, 6; 1 Maccabees 6.
ty, twenty-five, fifteen, probably refers to coins of different value, representing respectively so many shekels, the three collectively making Op a maneh. By weighing these together against the maneh, a test was afforded whether they severally had their proper weight: sixty shokQls in all, containing one coin a fourth of the whole
49.] Perhaps.it will be i-estored under Messiah's coming reign. Cf. Lsaiah 01. 2, 3, where "the acceptable year of the Lord" is closely connected with the comforting of the mourners in Zion, and "the day of vengeance" on Zion's
(fifteen sliekels), another a tliird (twenty shekels), another a third and a twelfth (twenty-five shekels). [Menochius.] LXX. read, "/?/,'^ shekels shall be your maneh." 13-15. In these oljlations there is a progression as to the relation between the kind and the quantity: of the corn, the sixth of a tenth, *. e.,a sixtieth part of the quantity specified; of the oil, the tenth of a tenth, t. e., an hundredth part; and of the tiock, one from every 200. 18. The year is to begin with a consecration service, not mentioned under the Levitical law; but an earnest of it is given in the feast of dedication of tiie second temple, which celebrated its purification by .Judas Maccabeus, after its defilement by Antiochus. 30. for Kim that is simple—for sins of ignorance (Leviticus 4. 2, 13, 27). 31. As a new solemnity, the feast of consecration is to prepare for the passover, so the passover itself is to have different sacri-
foes. The mention of the prince's sons is another argument against Messiah being meant by "the prince."
19-34:. Due regard is to be had for the sanctity of the officiating priests' food, by cooking-courts being provided close to their chambers. One set of apartments for cooking was to be at the corners of the inner court, reserved
for the flesh of the sin offerings, to be eaten only by the priests whose perquisite it was (Leviticus 6. 25; 7.7), before coming forth to mingle again with thepcople; another set at the corners of the ou^er court, for cooking the flesh of the peace offerings, of which the people partook along with the priests. All this implies that no longer are the common and unclean to be confounded with tlie sacred and divine, but that in even the least things, as eating and drinking, the glory of God is to be the aim (1 Corinthians 10. 31). 33. courts joined—Faikbairn translates, "roofed" or "vaulted." But these cooking apartments seem to have been uncovered, to' let the srnoke and smell
fices from those of the Mosaic law. Instead of one ram and seven lambs for the daily burnt offering, there are to be seven bullocks and seven rams. So also whereas the
feast of tabernacles had its own offerings, which diminished as the days of the feast advanced, here the same are appointed as on the passover. Thns it is implied, that the letter of the law is to give place to its spirit, those outward rites of Judaism having no intrinsic efHcacy,but symbolizing the spiritual truths of Messiah's kingdom,
of the meat the more easily pass away. They were "joined" or "attached" to the walls of the courts at the corners of the latter. [Menochius.] 33. boiling-places —boilers, under the rows—at the foot of the rows, i.e., in the lowest part of the wall^, were the places for boiling made.
af? for instance the perfect holiness which is to character-