EZEKIEL 40-48. RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION OF THE PEOPLE IN THE MESSIANIC
DAYS.
To a modern taste these Chapter s, crowded with architectural and
ritual detail, may seem dreary and irrelevant: to Ezekiel they are the
real climax of his book, the crown as well as the conclusion of all
his literary and rel... [ Continue Reading ]
EZEKIEL 44-46. THE TEMPLE OFFICERS AND FESTIVALS.
Ezekiel 44:1. From the inner court where he had seen the Divine glory
and heard the mysterious voice (435f.) the prophet was led back to the
outer eastern gate; but as Yahweh had crossed its threshold on
re-entering the Temple (_cf._ 1 Samuel 5:5)... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LEVITES. The regulations that follow are among the most important
in the book, and they have played a great part in the critical
rearrangement of OT literature and the consequent reconstruction of OT
history (p. 129). The drastic character of the innovation about to be
described is forcibly sugg... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PRIESTS. (_Their duties.) The_ only officials qualified to bear
the name or discharge the duties of priests especially the duty of
sacrifice are the Zadokites, _i.e._ the descendants of the Zadok who
had been appointed head of the Jerusalem priesthood by Solomon, when
Abiathar, who had sided wit... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PRIESTS. (_Their revenues._) Certain offerings are to be the
perquisites of the priests, also as they are the representatives of
the Deity the best of the first-fruits. Formerly the sin-offering and
the guilt-offering had been paid to them in money (2 Kings 12:16). The
welfare of the people woul... [ Continue Reading ]