Ezekiel 46:12 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 46:12
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.
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
prepare
יַעֲשֶׂה֩ya.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
voluntary
נְדָבָ֜הne.da.Vah
H5071
properly (abstractly) spontaneity · noun, common feminine singular absolute
offering
עוֹלָ֣הo.Lah
H5930
a step or (collectively · noun, common feminine singular absolute
offerings
שְׁלָמִים֮she.la.Mim
H8002
properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
voluntarily
נְדָבָ֣הne.da.Vah
H5071
properly (abstractly) spontaneity · noun, common feminine singular absolute
LORD
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 45:17 And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and…
Ezekiel 46:1-2 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…
Leviticus 23:38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto…
2 Chronicles 29:31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into t…
Ezekiel 44:3 It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and…
Ezekiel 46:8 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.
Leviticus 1:3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the d…
Leviticus 7:16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and o…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 46:1-15
Whether the rules for public worship here laid down were designed to be observed, even in those things wherein they differed from the law of Moses, and were so observed under the second temple, is not certain; we find not in the history of that latter part of the Jewish church that they governed themselves in their worship by these ordinances, as one would think they should have done, but only by law of Moses, looking upon this then in the next age after as mystical, and not literal. We may observe, in these verses,
I. That the place of worship was fixed, and rules were given concerning that, both to prince and people.
1. The east gate, which was kept shut at other times, was to be opened on…
Not only is he to perform official acts of worship on holy days and feasts, but in "voluntary" offerings daily he is to show his individual zeal, surpassing all his people in liberality, and so setting them a princely example.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 46:10
And the prince in the midst of them - Even he shall act in the same way: he must also go straight forward, and never turn his back to go out at the same gate by which he entered. The prince and the people were to begin and end their worship at the same time.
John Gill on Ezekiel 46:12
Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering, or peace offerings voluntarily unto the Lord,.... That is, on week days, distinct from sabbath days, new moons, feasts, and solemnities, of which before; and seems to have respect to week day lectures, in distinction from the weekly and monthly stated times, for the ministry of the word and administration of the Lord's supper; in which lectures the principal thing insisted on must be the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and peace and reconciliation made by his blood; for the Gospel, which is to be preached in season and out of season, is the ministry of reconciliation, or the word preaching peace by Jesus Christ; and which should at a…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 12) When the prince offers a voluntary burnt offering or a voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offering as is customary on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate shall be closed. Where we read immaculate, in Hebrew it is written Thamim (), which the Aquila perfectum. And where LXX Manaa (): Theodotion, sacrifice; Aquila and Symmachus, they translate as gift. But for what we said, spontaneous, LXX translated as ὁμολογίαν, that is, confession: and for prince, they translate as leader, for this Nasi () signifies. Moreover, there is still talk of a prince, about whom Isaiah speaks: Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations, a prince and a teacher among the nations (Isaiah 55:4). And Ezekiel says: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and David will be their prince among them (Ezekiel 34:24). Therefore, when this prince acts willingly and says: May the voluntary and spontaneous offerings of my mouth be pleasing to you, Lord (Psalm 119:108): the voluntary burnt offering, which means offering oneself entirely to God, and the peaceful voluntary offerings, which are not mentioned earlier; for it is written: And the priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings: and concerning the voluntary and spontaneous offerings, which are now mentioned, it is completely silent, so that they are not done out of necessity, but out of free will: after the burnt offering, he shall offer the peaceful offerings and reconcile with God. Whereas virginity is greater than marriage (I Cor. VII), because it is not demanded, nor is it returned, but it is offered. The propitiatory offerings, which are called Selamim in Hebrew, are interpreted as salvific by the LXX: so too the reconciliation of the peace offerings is the salvation of the one offering them. Therefore, when the prince has done this, the gate will be opened to him; or according to the Septuagint, the gate that faces the East will be opened for him; that is, that gate about which it is written: 'This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it' (Ps. CXVII, 20), and from where the sun of justice arises. And he will make his burnt offering, and his peace offerings: of which we have now spoken. He shall do it alone, because it is his spontaneous…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
לַֽיהוָה֒la.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
open
וּפָ֣תַֽחu.Fa.tach
H6605
to open wide (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
gate
הַשַּׁ֙עַר֙ha.Sha.'ar
H8179
an opening · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
looketh
הַפֹּנֶ֣הha.po.Neh
H6437
to turn · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
east
קָדִ֔יםka.Dim
H6921
the fore or front part · noun, common masculine singular absolute
prepare
וְעָשָׂ֤הve.'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
offering
עֹֽלָתוֹ֙o.la.To
H5930
a step or (collectively · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
offerings
שְׁלָמָ֔יוshe.la.Mav
H8002
properly · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
did
יַעֲשֶׂ֖הya.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sabbath
הַשַּׁבָּ֑תha.sha.Bat
H7676
intermission · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
day
בְּי֣וֹםbe.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
forth
וְיָצָ֛אve.ya.Tza'
H3318
to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
The voluntary burnt offering or peace offering was in addition to the regular daily offerings of meat, grain, and oil that symbolized the regular table fellowship and communion that had now been restored between God and his people.
Rashi on Ezekiel 46:12
And when the prince brings a freewill offering on the six working days.
one shall then open for him the gate, etc. 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.”
after he has gone out 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…
