Глава 44

The sanctity of the church and the requirements it imposes on its visitors and servants: Levites and priests Having described the church in Ch. XL-XLII. and its consecration (through the return of the Lord to it and the cleansing of the altar) in Chapter XLIII, the prophet can now begin to establish the new church. The entire nature of these institutions can be predicted in advance by the holiness of the church, depicted in relief hitherto and again indicated (vv. 1-2, 4-5). The order of the instructions now set forth is very characteristic. He comes from the prince (Ezek.44.3) in order to return to him in prison (Ezek.45.7, 46.18). But much more important in the new theocracy are the priests (cf. Ezek. 44.1 with vv. 4, 24); therefore, a series of decrees are given a) on the selection of the uncircumcised from the ritual personnel (vv. 7–9) and b) the Levites from the priesthood (10–14), c) on the Zadokids as the only legitimate priesthood in the descendants of Aaron (15–16); d) about the duties, (17–27) and e) the content (28–31) of the new priesthood. Ezek.44:1. And he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, facing east, and it was closed. The prophet, whom we left in the inner court (Ezek.43.5) at the contemplation of the altar (Ezek.43.13 etc.), is brought ("brought" without a subject, see the explanation of Ezek.40.17) again (Ezek.40.6, 42.15, 43.1) to the outer eastern gate of the church ("sanctuary", mikdash in the broadest sense) - and exactly as can be seen from Art. 4 (see vol.) to their inner side, to show that these gates and the period of time since the last time the prophet was with them (Ezek. 42.15) were closed. Ezek.44:2. And the Lord said to me, “This gate will be shut, and it will not be opened, and no man will enter through it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it, and it will be shut.” They were closed, as the prophet learns from God’s deliberate revelation to him about this, therefore, of extraordinary importance, circumstances, forever, the reason for which was the entry of God through them into the new church for eternal dwelling in it, observed by the prophet in Ezekiel 43.1, trace. the entry is significant, not only symbolic and grace-filled, as in the previous church with its free access through all the gates (perhaps in the actual church the eastern gate, as facing an uninhabited area, was rarely opened, or at least its main span was closed, and for the use of the people a passage through the porch of the gate was provided - art. 3. Ave. A. Olesnitsky, Old Chronicle 431). It is the threshold of the church, this beginning and border of it, that, as a result of God’s entry into the church, must remain untrodden by human feet. This was a good sign of the complete reality of God’s dwelling in the new church. Right The Church therefore rightly sees the fulfillment of this prophecy in the incarnation of the Son of God from Prov. Virgin Mary and in her observance of virginity as a result of this, in view of which the place serves as a proverb for the feasts of the Mother of God. Ezek.44:3. As for the prince, he, like a prince, will sit in them to eat bread before the Lord; He will enter by the porch of this gate, and will come out the same way. The inaccessibility of the eastern gates was somewhat reduced for the prince - Heb. ganasi, not melek – king Messiah as in Ezek.36.22; LXX only 'ηγουμενος, slav. “elder”, but in proverbs “abbot”. Not having the right, like everyone else, to set foot on their sacred threshold, he can use this as an exclusive and most honorable privilege of the extensive (Ezek. 40.6 et seq.) buildings of these gates, their porch, in order to eat bread in them before the Lord, i.e., designated for the holy. feasting part of the peace offering and grain offering (Ezek.43.27). For this meal of the prince, either the porch of the gate (plan 1) or one of the 30 rooms of the outer courtyard (Ezek. 40.17) designated for the sacred meal of the people could serve, and it should be adjacent to the eastern gate. But for this purpose, the prince must enter and exit the gate structure not through the gate itself, their main span, but “by the porch” of them, LXX: κατα την ᾿οδον αιλαμ της πυλης, glory. “along the path of Elam” (in the proverbs inaccurately: the gates of Elam), i.e. through the extension to them from the side of the outer courtyard, which had more than one exit to the latter (Ezek. 40.13; see plan 1 and 3). Thus, the prince could only “swoop” at the holy threshold of these gates without setting foot on it. Ezek.44:4. Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the face of the church, and I saw, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell on my face. From the eastern gate, where the prophet stands, it is translated in order to show him that the glory of God fills the church (bait, i.e., the building of the sanctuary and the Holy Place), in front of its front, but is not brought along the closest path through the inner eastern gate, which was impossible in view of Ezek.46.1–2, but “by the northern gate.” In the face of the glory of God, which revealed the presence of God himself in the church, the prophet naturally fell on his face. Ezek.44:5. And the Lord said to me: Son of man! apply your heart to everything, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, everything that I tell you about all the statutes of the house of the Lord and all the laws thereof; and apply your heart to the entrance to the church and to all exits from the sanctuary. It must be from the interior of the sanctuary or Holy Place and the cloud that fills them that the prophet hears the real revelation. He is called by the Lord to special attentiveness both to previous revelations (“see with your eyes...”) and to the present: the decrees of the House of the Lord and its laws. The importance of the revelation is already indicated by the vastness and solemnity of this introduction to it. This revelation will concern the entrance to the church, i.e., as we will see from its contents, those entering the church, having access to it, to (before this the Russian translation adds “and”, which is not in Hebrew and in the LXX, and be, in, conveys “to”, like the previous le, for) all its exits, to which such important significance is given back in Ezekiel 43.11, see the explanation there. Ezek.44:6. And say to the rebellious house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is enough for you, O house of Israel, to do all your abominations. This revelation about “entry into the church” receives particular importance in view of the previous grave illegalities committed by Israel in this regard, which the decisions now given are intended to eliminate and the bitter memory of which tears from the lips of the prophet in relation to Israel the epithet “rebellious house”, which had not previously been used in the second part of the book (the first time in book 1, 8 and the last hitherto Eze. 24.3). At least now, in the new theocracy, Israel must abandon all its abominations, especially desecrating the church by introducing unworthy elements into it (as the following instructions hint at). Ezek.44:7. to bring in the sons of strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in the flesh, to be in My sanctuary and to defile My church, to offer My bread and fat and blood, and to destroy My covenant with all your abominations. The first and worst of the abominations of this kind, of which 3 categories are indicated (see the preface to the chapter), is the admission of foreigners (poetically and strongly called “sons of a stranger” of a non-Jewish woman who does not stand according to her tribe in a covenant relationship with God), who all or most of them, because of their foreign origin, are uncircumcised in heart (spiritual understanding of circumcision, anticipating Apostle Paul!), i.e., idolaters, and others uncircumcised in the flesh (such were all the pagans, excluding the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Assyrians and some others), admission into parts of the temple that could only be accessible to priests and Levites, even into the sanctuary itself (if the mikdash is understood here narrowly), which seems to prohibit further, for the performance of ecclesiastical duties there - offerings (ie. That is, it must have been the presentation into the hands of the priests) of the bread of God (sacrifice, as a symbolic food and meal of God) and even its most sacred parts - fat and blood (which were most often burned), since the peace offering, of which only these parts were burned, seemed to be the most common. Such participation of pagans in sacred rites, which is displeasing to Jehovah, violates God’s covenant, in which only Israel can participate. The prophet in this place clearly has in mind the initiative that had been established since I. Joshua and almost with his approval (I. Navin himself in his book does not blame himself for this) initiative in relation to the Gibeonites (Joshua 9.27) - the custom for the lower works at the tabernacle, which, according to the meaning of the Mosaic Law, should all be performed by the Levites, using prisoners of war, who constituted a special class of Nethinites at the church ( 1Ezra 2.43–54; Nehemiah 7.46–56); From chopping wood and carrying water, which was provided to them by I. Joshua, the Nethinim probably moved on to other work at the tabernacle, which required closeness to the priests, inaccessible to anyone except the Levites. subjects. The present place does not limit the right given to the pagans by Moses, the law and always recognized for them (see Solomon’s prayer at the consecration of the temple) to make sacrifices in the temple, not everything, however (for example, eating the Passover lamb was forbidden to them). Ezekiel is not doing anything here that is permitted by the Mosaic Law. Ezek.44:8. You did not act as guards at My holy things, but set them in your place to guard My sanctuary. Soldiers were probably often used for church guards, even without discrimination whether they were Jews or not (cf. 2 Kings 11). Ezek.44:9. Thus says the Lord God: No strange son, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in the flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, not even that strange son who dwells among the children of Israel. The prohibition for an uncircumcised foreigner ("a foreigner's son" is an adjective in the nominative case; m.r. instead of "foreign sons" in Article 7, where r.p.f.r.) to enter the sanctuary as a sign of persistence is repeated finally with the remark that it also applies to such a foreigner "who lives among the sons of Israel", i.e. has permanent residence and the right of citizenship in the new sacred society and which (Ezek. 42:22, 23) is in other respects equal to the Israelites. Ezek.44:10. Likewise, the Levites, who withdrew from Me during the apostasy of Israel, who, leaving Me, wandered after their idols, will bear punishment for their guilt. Not tolerating pagan servants within itself, the sanctuary cannot tolerate those of its legitimate servants - the descendants of Levi (the “Levites” here are the entire tribe of Levi) who, during the apostasy of Israel, left Jehovah, deviating into idolatry. The limitation of rights in the ministry that they must bear for this is depicted in Art. 11–14. The critical school sees in this place a historical explanation of the distinction introduced by the Pentateuch between priests and Levites: those from the tribe of Levi who, before the establishment of monotheism and the concentration of worship in Jerusalem, were ministers of high places and rural churches, became Levites, and the Jerusalem aristocratic family of the Zadokids remained priests. The Pentateuch reduced this degradation caused by historical circumstances to the difference in the origin of the Levites and priests. This is proven by the fact that: 1) in Deuteronomy the Levites are supposedly equal to the priests, 2) in Ezekiel this equality is destroyed and the difference between them is motivated, and 3) in the so-called “Priestly Code” (part of the book of Leviticus) this difference already refers to the Mosaic time (Smend). Not to mention other arbitrary statements of this hypothesis (for example, about Deuteronomy, where, due to the generality of content, there is no reason to dwell on the difference between priests and Levites), it puts a lie in the mouth of the inspired author of the book of Leviticus. Ezek.44:11. They will serve in My sanctuary, as watchmen at the gates of the church and as servants at the church; They will kill burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people, and will stand before them to minister to them. The lowest service at the church, assigned to the Levites, as well as the highest service of the priests, will be reduced to two main types: the guard and, in fact, the priesthood (cf. v. 16). Under the leadership of the priests, the Levites will be guards at the gates of the church (for which the latter are equipped with rooms - Ezekiel 40.7) and servants during sacrifices. This last kind of church service ("servants at the church") will consist of slaughtering burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people; for the prince, the victims, apparently, were slaughtered by the priests themselves - Ezek.46.2; They alone sacrificed sacrifices for sin and crime - Ezek.43.19; the rest of the victims, according to the Mosaic Law, apparently were left to the sacrificer himself to slaughter: Lev. 1:5, 11, 3:2, 4:28, 38 - which, if it was difficult to do it or simply did not want to, entrusted it to an experienced Levite. Thus, the service of the Levites was not so much to God (cf. v. 16) as to the people: glory. “they will stand before people (to stand before someone to serve: Gen. 41.46; Deut. 1.38, etc.; Russian unclear: “before them”) and serve them.” But since it also concerned God and took place in close proximity to His sanctuary, it was and should be honorable and desirable for everyone (Ps. 83.11), and therefore it was unlawfully entrusted to foreigners (see explanation of v. 7). It is remarkable that even after the captivity there were so few Levites in comparison with the priests (340-360, of which only 74 were under the priests, while the latter were 4289, - according to 1Ezra 2.36-41; Nehemiah 7.43-45; Ezra later found only 38 more) that the lack of them had to be filled by the Nethinims, the former foreign servants of the church. Ezek.44:12. Because they served them before their idols and were a temptation to the house of Israel to wickedness, I have lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord God, and they will bear the punishment of their guilt; The idolatry of the Levites is more unforgivable for them than for the people, since they were intended for direct service to God, but began to serve idols; but now, in the new church, they will serve not so much God as the people, whom they led into temptation with their authoritative example (“temptation to wickedness”, glory: “torment of unrighteousness”, see explanation in Ezek. 7.19 “cause for lawlessness”). God with an oath ("I lifted up my hand against them" see the explanation of Eze. 20.5) promises them punishment for this outrageous (hence the oath) sin. Ezek.44:13. they will not approach Me to perform sacred acts before Me and approach all My holy things, the Holy of Holies, but they will bear their dishonor and the abominations that they have committed. Having positively defined the duties of the Levites, the prophet defines them negatively, which clearly and not without bitterness characterizes their low, but well-deserved degree. They cannot approach God as close as the priests (Ezek.40.46, 42.13, 43.19) a) through direct sacred acts (laying on sacrifices, incense, etc.), b) through approaching (glorified “to bring”) inaccurate translation (Greek προσαγειν) to the shrines (instead of “Mine” LXX have the definition of “sons of Israel” gen. subjecti, instead of objecti), Heb. mikvashim, which, having the meaning of “sanctuary” in other places, is probably here, as the plural shows. h., means sacrifices, the holiest of which, for example, the offering for sin and crime (intended only for priests), are further called “holy things”, as b Eze.42.3; Numbers 4.19. Ezek.44:14. I will make them guards of the church for all its services and for everything that is done in it. The Levites will thus only be guards (“guards” here in a broader sense than in v. 11) - in the sense of the lower servants of the church in all its sacred rites. Ezek.44:15. And the priests of the tribe of Levi, the sons of Zadok, who, when the children of Israel departed from Me, constantly stood guard over My sanctuary, they will draw near to Me to serve Me, and will stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD. The apostate Levites are contrasted with the descendants of Levi, descended from Zadok (descendant of Eleazar, son of Aaron), whose very name means righteousness and who, upon Solomon’s accession to the kingdom, remained faithful to David and anointed Solomon, while the high priest Abiathar (descendant of Ithamar son of Aaron) took the side of Adonijah (1 Kings 1.7, 25), for which he lost the high priesthood, who from that time went to Zadok (1 Kings 2.26–27). Zadok also performed the first sacrifice in Solomon's Temple. Zadok's loyalty to David and Solomon (1 Kings 2.35) was, as it were, a guarantee of the loyalty of his descendants to the true God. The sons of Zadok and subsequently during the “retreat” of Israel (see explanation of v. 10) “stood guard over the sanctuary”, defended the legality of worship in Jerusalem alone and its church (high places) and one true God. Therefore, even now they, one of the descendants of Levi, “will draw near” to the Lord “to serve” Him (see explanation of Eze. 40.46) and “will stand before” (see explanation of v. 11) the Lord “to offer him fat and blood” (see explanation of v. 7). The Lord assures them of this by His word. According to the critic. schools, Ezekiel here stands up for the privileges gradually assumed by the Jerusalem priesthood (Zadokids) over the provincial priesthood (“high”) and for its claim to the exclusive right of priesthood (from the new Smend, Bert., Krechm.). Ezek.44:16. They will enter My sanctuary and approach My table to serve Me and keep My watch. In addition to the duties in the inner court of the church at the altar of the Lord, the offering of fat and blood - v. 15, the Zadokite priests will have even higher and more honorable duties in the “sanctuary” itself (in the proper sense), at the “table of the Lord”; as also called in Ezekiel 41.22 (see vol.) the altar of incense, where they will a) serve the Lord (through burning incense and there should be sprinkling of blood on this altar; if in the Ezekiel church there is supposed to be a table for the showbread and a lamp, then here of course there is also service associated with these sacred objects) and b) to observe the guard of the Lord in the sanctuary, i.e. to take care in every possible way about this holiest part of the church. Ezek.44:17. When they come to the gate of the inner courtyard, then they will put on linen garments, but they should not wear woolen clothing while they serve at the gate of the inner courtyard and inside the church. The holiness of the direct servants of God, the priests, is most clearly and most clearly expressed through the unusually strict requirements even regarding their clothing, this most external and at first glance unimportant detail in a person, which, however, a person looks at as a continuation of his being in the external world. The main requirement for this clothing is that it should not be wool. The basis for this requirement is not indicated, unless the remark of Art. 18: “they should not girdle in sweat” - that in woolen clothes the body rather sweats and sweat, this dirty secretion of the body, is retained by the wool forever and cannot be washed from it, like from flax. Probably the basis for this requirement is some other, deeper and symbolic one (maybe: wool is a kind of carrion, carrion). During their service, both in the entire courtyard, starting from its gates, i.e., mainly at the altar, and even more so “inside the church,” in the sanctuary, the priests must wear linen robes, for their purity and white color, which are appropriated by those who appear on earth to the inhabitants of heaven (Ezek. 9.2; Dan 10.5, 12.6, etc.). Linen material here is called pishte, real flax (meaning flax on the root), while in the Pentateuch bad (fiber). According to the Mosaic Law, only the lower dress (“from the loins to the shins” - nadragi, trousers) should be made of linen (bad) for the priests, and the upper one - the tunic and turban - should be made of fine linen (cotton), therefore, the prophet Ezekiel here strengthens Moses’ demand for the clothing of the priests and exalts the idea of ​​​​their purity. Priests should change into such linen clothes at the very “gates of the inner courtyard”, i.e., northern or southern (the eastern ones were mostly closed and they did not enter: Ezek.46.1-2), perhaps in the rooms they had built for singers Ezek.40.44; plan 3 – C and D, and take off these clothes in the rooms of Ezekiel 42.14 (H and N'). Thus, the priests do not leave the inner court by the same gate by which they entered, as is more specifically required of the laity in Ezek.46.9. Ezek.44:18. The withers on their heads must also be linen; and the underwear on their waists should also be linen; they should not girdle themselves in sweat. Even “withered” (headbands, Greek κιδαρεις, Slavic “hoods”, Hebrew peer, but in the Pentateuch migbaa, and the high priest has mitznefet, peer - ordinary worldly headbands: Eze. 24.17, 23; Isa. 3.20, etc.), like underwear (girdle, Greek, but Greek περισκελη, Vulg. leminalia, Hebrew miknesaim, personal short trousers (I. Flavius Ant. 3:7, 1; in Exodus 28.42 glorified "nadragi") should be linen for priests. Further, The prophet, apparently, also indicates the basis for such a requirement: “in sweat they should not gird themselves,” a remark that allows for such a translation: “they should not wear sweat (yaz, but close to the shed of Gen. 3.19 “sweat”) (see explanation of Art. 17: “and let them not gird themselves tightly,” βια - they should not over-tighten themselves in clothes, which is restrictive). freedom of movement and causes sweating. Ezek.44:19. And when it is necessary to go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, then they will have to take off their clothes in which they served, and leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that they do not touch the people with their sacred clothes. When the priests go out to the people, that is, into the outer courtyard, sacred clothes must be removed in special sacred rooms, so that they “do not sanctify the people” (Russian according to Targ. “not to touch”, but LXX: “let not the people sanctify”). To this extent, holiness must be protected from the attack of anything worldly: although it sanctifies the worldly with its touch, this sanctification must be sacrificed in order to observe it in all its crystal purity. Ezekiel’s idea of ​​the Divine is so transcendental. The critical school unfairly sees here an extreme materialization of holiness: this is deep symbolism. Ezek.44:20. And they should not shave their heads, and they should not let their hair grow, but they should certainly shave their heads. Naturally, the rules about clothing are accompanied by rules about hair, this natural clothing of animals. Priests are equally forbidden to shave their hair, which in ancient times was a sign of mourning (Ezek. 7.18; Am 8.10, etc.), and in Egypt - a distinction for priests; in Israel, the Mosaic Law also forbade the laity (Deut. 14.1), and to let them go, as the Nazarenes did (by the way, Samuel 1 Samuel 1.11; for priests this was inconvenient), but they must be cut (kasam, cf. Assyrian kasamu, cut). Wed. Lion. 21.5, 10. Hair was also considered the seat of life, which is why the Nazirites burned it as a sacrifice to God at the end of their vow. The life of the priests of the new church will be brought within proper boundaries, neither developing at the whim of nature nor dying out. Ezek.44:21. And no priest should drink wine when he goes into the inner court. The Mosaic prohibition (Lev. 10.9) forbidding priests to drink wine before performing their duties, that is, before entering the inner court, is confirmed. Having been widely used in pagan, in particular in Canaanite cults, wine has always not enjoyed the sympathy of the true servants of Jehovah (Nazarites, Rechavites) and the prophet Ezekiel does not name it among the sacrificial offerings (Ezek.45.17). Ezek.44:22. They must not take as wives either a widow or a woman divorced from her husband, but they can only take for themselves maidens from the tribe of the house of Israel and a widow left a widow by the priest. The requirement of cleanliness is increasingly transferred to important aspects of the life of a priest: from clothes to hair, then to food and here, finally, to marital cohabitation. The priest should not marry a widow or divorcee, but only a pure maiden and, moreover, from the tribe of Israel, since foreign women were considered daughters of other gods (Mal 2.11) with whom Jehovah does not want to have anything in common. However, the priest’s widow, as sanctified by her cohabitation with him, can be taken as his wife by the priest. Moses' requirements are not so strict: the priest is prohibited from marrying only a harlot, defamed or divorced, and the high priest is prohibited from marrying a widow (Lev. 21.7, 13 et seq.). Ezek.44:23. They must teach My people to distinguish between the sacred and the profane and explain to them what is unclean and what is clean. The listed demands from the priests were of a more external and negative nature. Now positive and internal requirements are indicated, the observance of which sanctifies the priest more deeply. By his very idea, the priest is, first of all, the guardian of holiness on earth, this power by which it stands. Only he is given real knowledge and sensation of all that is holy, which also belongs to God and bears His seal on earth. They teach the people to distinguish what is not sacred from it, thereby protecting the idea of ​​the Divine from the admixture of anything worldly with it (a phenomenon that characterized paganism), and also to distinguish the pure, that is, that which is earthly, which is worthy of approaching God, from the unclean. Wed. Lion. 10.10 (as well as XI-XVI, XXI); Ezek.22.26; Small 2.7. Ezek.44:24. In controversial cases, they must be present in court, and judge them according to My statutes, and observe My laws and My statutes on all My holidays, and keep My Sabbaths holy. As leaders of religious life, the priests of the new church must take an active part in both civil and social life, as well as religious and social life. They a) should constitute the highest authority of any court, as was commanded by Moses (Deut. 17.8 et al. Deut. 19.17, 21.5; Exodus 18.25 et c.; based on this law, Jehoshaphat appointed judges for the cities from the priests and Levites - 2 Chronicles 19.8; cf. 2 Chronicles 17.7 et seq., 2 Chronicles 19.5 etc.; and the judges of Christ were priests: Mark 15.43, etc.), “in controversial cases” (LXX: “at the court of blood”; Hebrew gemma, they read ladies, blood, in order to limit the participation of priests in court to the most important, criminal cases) they must be present (glorified more precisely: “let them stand”, since although the judges sat in court, they pronounced the verdict standing) in court, and according to the statutes It is mine (instead of human arbitrariness) to judge them.” The Torah has always been the main source of Jewish law (Benzinger Archaol. § 44-45) and should, in theory, be the same, therefore, its interpreters should be the supreme judges. “The accumulation of expressions shows that this has not been done before” (Smend). b) Even more, priests must be leaders of religious and social life, most clearly expressed in holidays and Sabbaths: they must “observe My laws (fundamental and main) and My statutes (most particular) on all My feasts, and keep holy (Ezek. especially) My Sabbaths”, both of them (feasts and Sabbaths) in the era of the new church will, of course, be more important for life than before. Wed. Ezek.20:12, 20, 22:8, 26. Ezek.44:25. None of them should approach a dead person, lest they become unclean; Only for the sake of father and mother, for the sake of son and daughter, brother and sister who was not married, can they make themselves unclean. To the indicated requirements from the priest is added one more, apparently less important, but necessary for the fullness and completion of his holiness, for its indestructible preservation: the priest must not approach (Heb. Bo, Slav. “let them not come”; not only touch; in Lev. 21.1-3 “to be defiled” by touching or approaching, it is not said) to a dead person (LXX “over the soul of a person”). Paganism also gave such instructions to its priests: the Flaminia of Jupiter is spoken of in Noct. Attic. Ch, 15: “never go to the place where corpses are burned and never touch the dead.” The exception is in accordance with Lev. 21.1–3 is done for the closest relatives, although they are also unclean, about which it is deliberately said: “for their sake they can make themselves unclean” (glorified, more precisely and more strongly “defiled.” Such is God’s condescension to human weaknesses. It is characteristic that a) from the number of the priest’s blood relatives, a sister (not a daughter!) who was married or entered into another clan is excluded and b) that the priest’s wife is not included in this number, as not being related to them by blood, which sheds light on Ezekiel 24.15–27: in view of the present law, for Ezekiel, if he was really a priest, the command of God not to mourn his wife was clearer. High Priest Lev. 21.10 also prohibits desecration of such close relatives; according to Ezekiel, it does not speak at all about the high priest in the vision of the new church. Ezek.44:26. After he has been cleansed, another seven days must be counted for him. Ezek.44:27. And on the day when he must approach the shrine in the inner court to serve at the shrine, he must offer a sacrifice for sin, says the Lord God. If touching a corpse, according to the Mosaic Law, defiles a layman for 7 days, and well-known rites are required to cleanse him: sprinkling on the 3rd and 7th days with cleansing water with the ashes of a red heifer (Numbers 19.11, etc.), then such cleansing is not enough for the priest of the new church: at the end of it, this cleansing, which is not described here by the prophet as well known to everyone, the priest considers another 7 days unclean and is not allowed into the inner courtyard to serve in the sanctuary (LXX as translated by Hebrew bakhodesh, Russian “to serve the shrine”). After these 7 days, another sacrifice for sin is required from the defiled priest, although here the sin was, apparently, not only completely natural and excusable, but also permitted by law. Serving God in the new church requires such purity and holiness! In 26 Art. instead of “according to purification,” they propose (Corneil) to read “according to defilement,” which brings the law closer to Numbers 19.11. Those who attribute the origin of parts of the Pentateuch to the post-exilic era see in this place an indication of the gradual development of laws on desecration by a corpse: seven days of uncleanness from touching a corpse for a priest (cf. Lev. 21.1–4) applies to everyone in Numbers 19.11. Ezek.44:28. And as for their portion, I am their portion. And do not give them possessions in Israel: I am their possession. The perfect holiness of the priests, their belonging to God alone, would be hindered not only by the number of defilements, but even by such an innocent thing as property, especially such valuable property as land. The inheritance (“and what about their inheritance” - strengthens the thought) of the priests (the expression literally from Numbers 18.20; Deut. 18.1, 10.9) will be Jehovah himself (what an honorable and profitable replacement for the land!), most immediately, what belongs to Him, sacrificial parts, etc., counted in Art. 29, 30. The priests (like the Levites, as can be seen from the projected chapter XLV and XLVII division of the land) should not have possessions in Israel. Although they are given plots of land in Ezekiel 45.1–5 (maybe only estate plots), the entire tribe of Levi is not given a specific area. Ezek.44:29. They will eat from the grain offering, from the sin offering, and from the trespass offering; and everything that is cursed in Israel belongs to them. Holiness is communicated to the priests and their food, which all consists of the greatest shrines. The priests belong to: 1) a bloodless sacrifice (mincha) of bread and some foodstuffs, which, as a prototype of a bloodless sacrifice and the ancestor of the most holy showbread, here thus first refers to the greatest shrines (Lev. 2:3, 10, 6:9–11, 7:9, etc.); 2) sacrifices for sin and for crime, which may have replaced the original ransom into the tabernacle for sins and therefore naturally and entirely belong to the priests (Lev. 6:19–22, 7:6; Num. 18.9); it, as the greatest shrine, could be consumed only in the church rooms (Ezek.42.13); 3) cursed, herem, i.e. dedicated to God without the right of redemption (Lev. 27.28) and becoming, as the exclusive property of God, an inviolable shrine, even if it was sinful (occupied cities. Lev. 27.21; Num. 18.14). - “To them”, perhaps, indicates a contestation of the rights of priests to the last (sworn). Ezek.44:30. And the firstfruits of all your fruits and of every kind of offering, whatever your offering may consist of, belong to the priests; and give the first fruits of what you ground to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your house. The calculated means of maintenance are more sacred than rich. More substantial means of maintaining priests are now indicated. They are like that. a) “Firstfruits... of fruits”, lit. “the best” (resolves, the first - both in origin and in quality) from the first-born (bikkurim). First-born fruits (bikkurim), and according to the law of Moses, were supposed to be brought to the sanctuary, as well as the “offerings” and “ground” mentioned below, and they were consumed by those who brought them together with the priests and the poor: Ex 23.16, 19, etc.; but according to Numbers 18.12, 13, 27 and Nehemiah 10.36, 38, they seem to act entirely to the priest; so here: strengthening of the original law. LXX: “the firstfruits (απαρχαι – proper firstfruits) of all and the firstborn” (πρωτοτοκα), probably meaning the latter as cattle, and the first as fruits; but bikkurim is always only about fruits and grains, but not about livestock; For some reason, Ezekiel does not speak about the firstborn cattle; but Exodus 22:30 and others require this offering to the priests. b) Offerings - temura, personal. raised (according to the ritual of elevation performed over them); LXX: “participation”, αφαιρεματα, separated, i.e. for the Lord, - voluntary offerings as opposed to the first, as obligatory by law, c) Firstfruits (Heb. also decides) ground (i.e. cereals, flour; Heb. arisa, cf. Talmud, arsan, barley groats), but Targ. Pesh. here and LXX in Numbers 15.20 “dough”; LXX in Nehemiah 10.38 “bread”, here: πρωτογεννηματα, but glory. "the firstfruits of life". Entering the millstones, the bread, from which the firstfruits have already been given to the priest, becomes a new kind of product and from it the firstfruits are again given to the priest, that is, to the Lord. This duty is heavier than the previous ones (corresponding to the tithes of Moses), therefore for it a special blessing of God is promised on the house, which can more than make up for the loss incurred for the Lord; Wed Small 3.10. Ezek.44:31. Priests must not eat any carrion or anything torn to pieces by wild beasts, either from birds or livestock. The positive requirement regarding the nutrition of priests is accompanied by a negative one: the prohibition to eat nevel, carrion, carrion and clubs, torn to pieces - equally from birds and animals. Both are forbidden to all Israelis - the first Exodus 22.31, the second Deut. 14.21, but not as strictly as the priests: according to Lev. 17.15, 16 and Lev. 11.39, 40 whoever eats this only becomes unclean until the evening; therefore, a layman is considered excusable for carelessly desecrating such food. The special holiness of the priest requires, according to Ezekiel, as well as according to Moses (Lev. 22.8), unconditional protection. You might be interested in: