Глава 43

The Lord is in His church and His altar. 1–12 Return of the Lord to the Church. 13–17. Altar. 18–27. Rules for the consecration of the altar. Ezek.43:1. And he led me to the gate, to the gate that faces the east. The prophet with his heavenly guide is located from Ezekiel 42.19 outside the space occupied by the church, on the western (according to Hebrew) or southern (according to LXX) side of this space. From here he is led ("led" without meanness, see the explanation of Eze. 40.17) "to the gate" about which it is not said at first, which, therefore, to the gate κατ εξοχην, eastern, which, however, is now explained by the prophet: "to those gates (repetition, like Eze. 42.12), which face the east." Through these gates, as the main one, God had to enter his church. Ezek.43:2. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east, and His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth was illuminated from His glory. Now the most important moment of the present vision (hence “behold” - see the explanation of Eze. 1.15): “the glory of the God of Israel,” which in the prophet Ezekiel is synonymous with God himself (see the explanation of Eze. 2.1), “came from the east,” where it went in Eze. 11.23. The location of paradise and the place of the first discovery of God on earth, the east was the most natural starting point for the procession of God, “the Sun of righteousness, whose name is east” (Mald.). The Prophet does not immediately indicate the form in which the Glory of God walked now, but the two most important ways of detecting its presence or procession in this case are common to Chapter I. Her procession made itself felt simultaneously by hearing and sight, thus being perceived immediately by all the main feelings of a person, by his whole being. “His voice (the pronoun can refer to both “Glory” and “God”) is like the sound of many waters” - from a number of corresponding comparisons Eze. 1.24, the first is chosen as the most characteristic (cf. Rev. 1:15, 14:2, 19.6). LXX give a lengthy paraphrase: “and the voice of the army (παρεμνολης, camp, addition according to Gen. 22.3; see the explanation of Eze. 1.24), like the voice of those who aggravate (διπλασιαζοντων) many” (any multitude, if doubled?). For vision, the glory of God made itself known, naturally, by light, as in Ezek.1.4, 27–28; (cf. 13), for “God dwells in the unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6.16) and is the Father of lights. This light of the glory of God now illuminated not only such a small space as in Ezekiel 10.4, the courtyard of the church, but in general the “earth,” hitherto immersed in deep darkness (Is. 60.1–2, 6.3). Ezek.43:3. This vision was the same as I had seen before, exactly the same as I saw when I came to announce the destruction of the city, and visions similar to the visions that I saw at the river Chebar. And I fell on my face. The real vision of the prophet was, so to speak, the general vision of his life, repeated more than once (the beginning of the verse is literal: “and as a vision, this is the vision that I saw”; LXX “as a vision” does not have). In addition to the present case, the prophet had this vision in two more places and at two important moments (due to the most honest definition, the repetition: “exactly the same as I saw”, lit. “like the vision (noun already 3rd time in the verse) that I saw” - verb 2 times already). 1) “when he came (Heb.: “I”; but Vulg. and Blessed Theod. “He”) to announce destruction (lit.; “when he came to destroy, kill - the prophet himself appears to be destroying Jerusalem, as in Eze. 22.18; Jer. 1.10) to the city”; 2) on the river Khovar; again the repetition of “and the vision” (plural due to the complexity of the vision; LXX: “and the vision of the chariot, which was seen”, which indicates that the entire Khobarin vision with the cherubim, this smart chariot of the Divine, and with wheels, and not part of the vision, for example, sitting on the throne), similar to the visions (single, part; 5th time in the verse noun), which I saw, were now repeated before the prophet.” (3rd time verb). The same vision is not mentioned in Ezekiel 3.23, since it, being so soon after the first and representing an exact repetition of it, moreover, having the goal only of the final strengthening of the prophet in his determination to begin his ministry, was essentially the same as Khovarsky: it was a call to prophecy. The vision of chapters VIII-XI is first called, as it is more similar in meaning to the present. – “And I fell on my face” – see explanation of Eze.2.1. Ezek.43:4. And the glory of the Lord entered the church through the gate facing the east. Ezek.43:5. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the whole church. “Once Ezekiel is within the sphere of action of the glory of God, the agent which determines his actions is not his own will, but the supersensible ruach, the Spirit” (Bert.). The prophet is introduced into the inner court to make sure that the glory of God has returned to the church and fills it in an image that should be similar to 1 Kings 8.1, etc. Exodus 40.34, etc. For the same reason, the prophet cannot be introduced into the church itself. Ezek.43:6. And I heard someone speaking to me from the church, and that man stood next to me, Now the prophet receives revelation. It is given to him differently from previous explanations by the “husband” who accompanied him, the Angel; when “that man” (it is remarkable that in Hebrew without a penis: this may be a sign of the prophet’s uncertainty whether this is the same man who led him, or is simply explained by the later writer’s freedom in the use of a penis) stood next to the prophet, the latter hears “someone speaking” (in Hebrew one participle; LXX: “and there was a sound, and behold a voice from the church speaking”) to him from the church (lit. "houses", buildings of the sanctuary and St. St.), i.e., of course, from the St. St.; deliberately, as in Ezekiel 2.2, the speaker is not indicated. In order to hear this voice, by the way, the prophet was brought into the inner courtyard, as in Ezek.44.4. Ezek.43:7. and he said to me: Son of man! this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the children of Israel forever; and the house of Israel shall no more profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, with their whoredoms and with the corpses of their kings on their high places. From the “Speaker” the prophet receives revelation, which is the grain and essence of this entire part of the book. Inspected by the prophet and measured in his presence, the church will be the place (in Hebrew vin. p. without a verb governing it; therefore LXX: “Have you seen the place?”) of the very throne of God, such a place as hitherto only heaven was. God will directly dwell in it (“the place of the soles of the feet”, an intensification of the expression: “the place of My throne”). This dwelling was made possible because “the house of Israel will no longer profane the holy name” of God. This desecration was carried out from two sides and was of a twofold nature. In addition to the fact that by desecrating the name of God the entire people together (“they”), the kings of Israel in particular desecrated it. The first did this by “whoredom,” a common designation for idolatry in Ezekiel (cf. chapters VIII, XVI, XXIII). The latter, not limiting themselves to this desecration (which they had in common with the people), so to speak, lifelong, extended it beyond the boundaries of their earthly life, desecrating the church by the proximity of their corpses to it, which they bequeathed to be buried in some place located in close proximity to the church. Already David and Solomon were buried not outside the city, but in the “city of David” itself (1 Kings 2.10, 11.43), that city, on one of the hills of which the church stood, precisely in the southwest. parts of Zion (Neh. 3.16). Although the author of the book of Kings speaks about this without a shadow of disapproval, this may be because the concepts of ritual impurity were not so subtle then. Kings Manasseh and Amun were probably buried even closer to the church, in some “garden of Uzzah” (2 Kings 21.18, 26). According to the rabbis, the prophet Ezekiel is talking about the burial place of Manasseh and Amon. The royal gardens were located in the lowlands near Siloam, at the intersection of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat. It was near the church itself. "On their heights", Heb. bamotam, "their burial mounds"; if you read to the Bemota, then “at their death” (Targ. Symmachus). LXX: “in the murder of their elders among themselves” (executions). Ezek.43:8. They set their threshold at My threshold and their doors next to My faiths, so that one wall was between Me and them, and they defiled My holy name with the abominations that they did, and for this I destroyed them in My wrath. The kings were buried in such close proximity to the church, because they lived and had their palaces (and kings were often buried in palaces) in such offensive proximity to the church that the thresholds and doorways (glorified “entrance” and “prague”) of the royal palace and the church were directly adjacent to each other. It is remarkable that this proximity is not excused in the eyes of God and the prophet by the fact that the royal palace was older than the church, therefore, it previously occupied its place. “Here we do not mean the proximity to the church of the city, although the latter in the prophet is 1 3 miles away from the new church: Ezek.45.1 et seq. (Smend). This proximity would not have been so offensive if the palace adjacent to the church had not been desecrated by various “abominations” (glory: “in lawlessness”), but mainly by idolatry. For the latter, God actually “destroyed them” - Israel and its kings “in anger” caused by abominations and their proximity to the church. Ezek.43:9. And now they will remove their fornication and the corpses of their kings from Me, and I will live among them forever. God repeats, as a sign of immutability, His promise that Israel will remove from Him both their abominations and even the graves of kings (“corpses” LXX: “killing their elders”), which will make God’s dwelling among Israel eternal. Ezek.43:10. You, son of man, tell the house of Israel about this church, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities and take away the measure from it. The vision of the church, even more mysterious than the vision of Chapter I, should not, however, remain a personal revelation to the prophet. The latter must make it public. This revelation should have a stunning effect on the house of Israel: “and they will be ashamed (Russian: “so that they may be ashamed”, LXX: “and let them rest from their sins”; Vulg. et confundatur) of their iniquities, and they will take away the measure from him" (Russian: “to take away”, Vulg. metiantur fabricam): LXX † “and the vision of him and the placing of his order”: two actions, obviously standing in close connection with each other. The Jews will then be ashamed of their iniquities when they measure the church as the angel measured it before the prophet. To measure in this case means to comprehend the plan of this mysterious building. It is not said when the house of Israel will be capable of such comprehension. Ezek.43:11. And if they are ashamed of all that they did, then show them the appearance of the church and its location, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its outlines, and all its statutes, and all its images, and all its laws, and write before their eyes, so that they preserve all its outlines and all its statutes and act according to them. The named action and its condition: shame for the behavior and measurement of the church - also have the reverse order: to comprehend the location of the church, and especially to carry it out, will be possible for Israel only “if they are ashamed (LXX: “and they will suffer execution”; instead of “to them,” if, they read the heme, they are obviously embarrassed by the reverse order of conditions and consequences compared to Art. 10; so is the Vulg.: et erubescant) everything that they did” (not only those indicated in Article 8, but also everything bad). Under this condition, the prophet can only introduce the people to the mysterious church: without this condition, its vision, although written down and read by the people, will not make sense for them, it will be a mystery and strange, which is what it seems to many to this day. Under the same condition, everything in the described church will be clear to the people, perhaps shown to them (“show”, goda, let them know). Then it is specified in detail what should be shown to the people in the mysterious church and understood (years) by them: 1) “view of the church”, tsurat bayit. Tsura in the present enumeration is named 4 times (Russian conveys with the words: “view”, “outlines”, “images”, “outlines”) and is not used anywhere else, except for the tsur Ps 58.18, transmitted by Russian. "strength", slav. “help” and having ketiv (different reading) tsir according to Isaiah 45.16 “idol”, i.e. image; on this basis, the last meaning is acquired by the real word. LXX is considered a verb, reading should be tsarta, “and paint the church.” Of course, it may be that the external appearance (Vulg. figuram) of the church, in contrast to its internal plan, is designated; 2) “his disposition”, Heb. techunato, LXX: “and its preparation”, ετοιμασιαν, of which the following. noun Vatik. and others do not have, Vulg. fabricae (definition to previous). Along with the general view and plan of the church, the most important details in the church should be shown (and have been previously described), that is, in great detail, which are: 3) “its exits” and 4) “its entrances,” since they determine for the church the most careful protection from all defilement, that is, from the attack of not only everything sinful, but also worldly; That is why the entire description of the church was, in essence, a description of these exits and entrances, meaning by them not only the gates, but also the vestibule, rooms for the priests and the rear building of the church. 5) “All its outlines” is also tsura, which is number 1; incomprehensible repetition in plural h.; LXX: “and its being”; Vulg.: “descriptionem”. 6) “And all his statutes”, Heb. hukkotav, LXX: “commands”, praecepta, rites to be performed in the church, not yet described, the description of which will be now and in subsequent chapters. 7) “And all his images”, again tsurato, already omitted by LXX, Vulg. ordinem, in view of which and also due to its similarity with the trace. the word “torotav”, its laws consider it an insertion of the scribe (De Lagarde noticed that the scribe, when he could not read the first letter of the word, put two possible readings side by side); 8) “All his laws” and in glory, Vulgate leges, laws, perhaps relating to sacred persons and their behavior in the church and set out in Chapter XLIV, and perhaps all the most important laws of the church, contained in the entire present section of the book, including chapters XLV-XLVIII. The prophet must not only announce all this to the people, but also “write before their eyes” in view of the special importance of the revelation, for its firm preservation, and because it is intended not so much for contemporaries as for future generations. But Israel must not know and not penetrate only with the mind into all this most mysterious revelation: it must “preserve” and “act” (lit. “do”, Vulg. faciant) according to these “outlines” (again tsurato) and “laws” of the church; Of the listed 8 points, they are named according to one main of their two categories: the structure of the church and the cult in it. How Israel can preserve these “outlines”, and especially “create” them, (“the laws” of the church described in Chapters XLIV-XLVIII are literally not feasible) - this is not explained by the prophet, of course, because it could not be explained then, as now. In order to warn the reader against a literal understanding of the prophet’s expression that Israel must, after the captivity, carry out in Palestine the literal plans of the prophet, LXX here changed the pronoun “his” (the church) to “Mine” (in Hebrew the pronominal suffixes “and” and “o” are very similar): “and they will provide all my excuses, and all my commandments, and I will do.” Ezek.43:12. This is the law of the church: at the top of the mountain, the entire space around it is the Holy of Holies; This is the law of the church! After the mention of the “laws” of the church, the most important of these laws is named, on which all the others “hang” (LXX: “and the schedule of the church,” reading instead of the mountain - tsur, but at the end of the verse: “this law of the church”): this is the greatest holiness - the “Holy of Holies” - not only of the church, but also of the entire place of the mountain around the church (see explanation of Eze. 40.2; cf. Eze. 42:20, 45:3, 44:13). The Divine should not be confused with anything created or worldly; and not only it, but also everything connected with it and participating in it (cf. the Orthodox idea of ​​the holiness of saints, imparted to them only by God, in contrast to pagan demigods and the newest idea of ​​some kind of church God-manhood, which does not reconcile with the God-manhood of the Son of God alone). Ezek.43:13. And these are the dimensions of the altar in cubits, counting cubit to cubit with palm: the base is a cubit, the width is a cubit, and the belt along all its edges is one span; and this is the back of the altar. The Prophet has already described the church. Now he can move on to depicting the cult performed in this mysterious church. The transition to this second part of the present vision is the description of the altar. “Altar” (glorified “breviary”), which has so far been mentioned only in passing in its place; (Ezek.40.47), is the most essential part of the church for the people, since it precisely mediates the latter’s communication with God, lifts up the people’s sacrifices to God and brings down the grace of God to the people. Therefore, it deserved no less careful measurement (description) than anything else in the church, and this measurement is most appropriate here in the transition to the description of the cult. By the fact that this measurement of the altar is given separately from the description of the entire church, the altar is placed at the same height as the entire church, is something independent and valuable in itself next to it, which is what it was in ancient times, often replacing the church. – Due to the importance of the measurement, the definition of the unit of measurement given in Ezekiel 40.5 is repeated before him: “and these are the dimensions of the altar in cubits, counting a cubit to a cubit with a palm”, lit.: “in cubits; elbow: elbow and palm"; LXX is abbreviated: “in the palm of your hand.” The measurement of the altar begins with its hek, a term of unknown and ancient meaning. The LXX renders it here κολπωμα, “bosom,” in v. 14 κοιλωμα, “indulgence”, in v. 17 κϋκλωμα, “maintenance,” therefore, is appropriated to it, as in the Vulg. sinus, the meaning of some kind of depression on the altar or at the altar, into which, obviously, the blood was supposed to flow (so that it would not wet the clothes of the priests, but from it would go through underground pipes to Kidron. Haneb. Alth. 1869, 5. 303. Smend). But the Targum assigns to the word the meaning of the foundation, the basis of the altar (also in Russian: “foundation”), Kretschmar combines these meanings so that a trench for blood drainage was made in the foundation of the altar. As for the measure of hake, it is given in two directions, but the first is not named, but simply said: “hake of the cubit”; whether the hake was a trench for blood drainage or a foundation, the expression is equally clear: in the first case, it can only mean depth (great!), and in the second - height, because the width is then indicated. This width was also a cubit. LXX supplement the Hebrew text; “bosom of depth, lacot (not in Greek) by lacot and lacot in width,” i.e. the gutter was 1 liter. depth and 1 l. width. See damn. abcd. After the gutter (or: foundation) the gevul measure is indicated, Russian. "belt", LXX γεισος, "fence", Vulg. definitio, i.e. curb. This border, which belongs, as shown by f. r. the pronoun with him (omitted from the LXX and in the Russian translation) hek, and not the altar (which is in the Hebrew word), walked along the edges of it (lit. “to his lips”, LXX “the mouth of him”, Vulg. ad labium ejus, which speaks for the first meaning of hek), apparently keeping the blood from spilling from the hek'a, and directing it along it. See damn. bc. Its measure (it is not indicated in which direction; rather in height than in width) was “one span”, Heb. zeret, back in Exodus 28.16, 39.9; 1 Samuel 17.4; Isa 40.12, the word should be of Egyptian origin (dzrt - hand), - but Art. 17 – 1 2 cubits. And “behold the woof of the altar,” the prophet concludes this description; if you give the word woof its usual meaning, back, “back side” (Russian translation), then the expression will be incomprehensible; therefore Vulg. lussa (a ditch around the altar), and LXX, reading govag and translating: “and this is the height of the breviary,” refers the expression to the next. verse. Perhaps by the time of Ezekiel, woof had acquired a different meaning, for example, a base, a foundation, or a ledge (lower here?). Ezek.43:14. From the base, which is in the ground, to the lower projection there are two cubits, and the width is one cubit; from the small projection to the large projection there are four cubits, and its width is one cubit. The altar was built with ledges and the described hake (abcd-qpo), its foundation or trench, was its first ledge. Each of its 2 ledges was of the same width (i.e., it also extended by one cubit bd, ef, gh), but twice as high as the previous one: the hake was 1 liter. height (a, b), the second ledge is 2 l, (de), and the third is 4 l. (fg). This is expressed by the prophet, like everything in this mysterious vision, with some originality. “From the foundation that is in the earth”, lit.: “from the hek of the earth”, i.e. from the lower hek (perhaps, in contrast to the hek of art. 17; LXX freely “from the depth (?, i.e., the beginning of the valley”) “to the lower ledge”, i.e., obviously, to the place where the lower, 2nd ledge of the altar begins - “two cubits, and the width (then the height was indicated) it (the lower projection) is one cubit" (ef). Heb. azara, translated here according to the context and according to the Vulg (сrepido - cliff) “protrusion”, in 2 Chronicles 4.9, 6.13, as in the Mishnah and Targum, means the courtyard of the church; (more vv. 17, 20; Ezek.45.19). From the “small azar,” the prophet continues his description of the mysterious altar, calling the same protrusion (“lower”) small because of its half the height compared to the next one, to the great azar (Russian: “from the small protrusion to the large protrusion 4 cubits (fg) and the width (hence the height was indicated) of one cubit" (gh). The idea of these protrusions could be that they protected the shrine of the victim from the attack of everything unclean, mainly from the body of the priest. Not without thinking about this, they should be given the same name as the courtyards of the church, which protect it from the same. The name of these projections in LXX is also characteristic: purification, ιλαστηριον: like the lid of the ark, they were not only sprinkled, but were constantly watered and washed with the blood of sacrificial animals. Ezek.43:15. The altar itself was four cubits high; and four horns go up from the altar. On the described second part of the altar rested the third, upper and most sacred part of it, the altar in the proper sense. This part is given the name garjeel, lit., which breathes sacred antiquity. “mountain of God”, according to Keri and the further description of ariel (LXX and here “Ariel”), “hearth of God” (cf. Isa 29.1–2 and Mesha’s inscription: “I took David’s ariel in Ataroth”; it may also mean “lion of God”; if “l” is inflection, then simply “hearth”; maybe gareel is a folk adaptation of ariel). This most sacred part of the altar was the same height as the second part - 4 cubits (hi). Like the altar of the tabernacle and church, the real altar, or rather the gareel or ariel of it, had 4 horns, symbols of strength and abundance. Sacrificed animals may have become attached to them. Egyptian altars (Trosh) also had such horns, therefore, it was a natural symbol in the altar. LXX read instead of arba, four, ama, cubit: horns of 1 cubit, and the number of horns is not indicated as self-explanatory. Ezek.43:16. The altar is twelve cubits long and twelve wide; it is quadrangular on all four sides. Now that the height of the three components of the altar is indicated, its area, length and width are indicated, and this measurement is given, naturally, in reverse order, from the upper side, where the height measurement ended, to the lower. The upper part of the altar, its ariel (Slavic “ariel”, Russian “altar”; not hareel, as in v. 15, see vol.) was a square, always considered for its correctness a symbol of perfection (Rev. 21.16), 12 cubits ("cubits" is not named in Hebrew, as is self-evident: the LXX has) length and width (il). Lit. from Hebrew: “12 in length, 12 in width, quadrangular on 4 sides,” is a descriptive expression of the concept of a square, 12 is a symbolic number. Moses' altar was 5 x 5 (Exodus 27.1). Ezek.43:17. And the platform is fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on all four sides, and around it there is a belt of half a cubit, and the base of it is a cubit around, and the steps to it are from the east. Already from the previous proportions (vv. 13, 14) it follows that “platform”, Heb. azara, LXX “purification place”, namely the upper one of the 2 azaras (see explanation of v. 14) will be 2 cubits wider than the altar in the proper sense, ariel, i.e. it will be a square (“on all four sides of it” see explanation of v. 16) 14 x 14 cubits (“cubits” are again not named). Although this is from the measurements of the 14th century. it follows by itself, but the prophet, precise in his description, says this about the upper “platform” (azar), but does not speak about the lower one (en 16 f.), especially since the lower base of the altar, due to its low height, was not so noticeable. Instead, the prophet repeated the measure for the lowest base (hek) of glory. “maintenance” and belts (gevul), slav. "enclosure" (see the explanation of these terms in v. 13) returns at the end of its description to its beginning. The width of the altar at its lower base (12 liters, ariil + 2 cubits of upper projections + 2 cubits of lower projections + 2 liters of hake) is 18 liters. stands in relation to 3 to its height, (1 l. hek'a + 2 l. 1 azars + 4 l. 2nd +4 l. ariel +1 l. horns according to LXX) 12 cubits, a ratio favored by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 41.22). Prof. Muretov finds that the Ezekiel altar “not only with its terrace-like structure and the triple number of ledges, but even with the ratio of the heights of the ledges one to another and to the total height of the altar, represents a mathematically exact correspondence to the proportions between the heights of different parts of Solomon’s temple - thus: the base or plinth of the church is 1 6 of the total height of the building (60:10); also the lower or fundamental ledge of the altar relates to the total height of the altar as 2 to 12 1 6” (Old Chronicle 367). According to prof. Olesnitsky Ezekiel's altar served as a model for the post-exilic altar, which in comparison was only doubled in scale: according to Midd. III, 1 at the base it had 32 square meters. l., and the top board is 24 sq.; The 1st ledge, called Yesod, was 1 cubit from the pavement, and the second ledge, sobeb, was 5 cubits from this (Old Chronicle 483). – The verse concludes with an indication of the steps to the altar, which should be supposed to be sloping; steps, the number of which is not indicated, led to the altar from the eastern, front side. In the altar of the tabernacle, which stood on level ground, opposite the steps were prohibited: Exodus 20.26. And in general, the appearance of the altar deviates from both Exodus 27.1–8 and 2 Chronicles 4.1, thereby signifying its New Testament nature. Ezek.43:18. And he said to me: Son of man! Thus says the Lord God: These are the statutes of the altar for the day when it is made for the offering of burnt offerings on it and for the sprinkling of blood on it. In the altar, this central part of the church, the conductor of God’s sanctification to the people, as well as its size, the method of its sanctification is important. Since the prophet does not say anything about the consecration of the mysterious church, but the consecration of the altar is described in detail, the latter obviously replaces the first and is equivalent to it. The charter for the consecration of the altar, called by the prophet “the statutes of the altar” (glorified “commandments of the breviary”), since from consecration only the altar deserves its own, the name is spoken to the prophet (“said”), by whom, it is not indicated (as in article 6, see vol.), - with the warning 1) that this is the word of God (the solemn formula “thus saith the Lord God” - not even in article 7; but the present department for the first time); 2) that this charter is subject to fulfillment “on the day” (melts, and LXX exactly from Hebrew: Russian “to the day”), when the altar “will be made”, and it will be made, of course, not earlier than the mysterious church will exist, unless it arises after the church itself; 3) that the purpose of the altar is: a) offering burnt offerings on it, i.e. burning on it entirely this most holy sacrifice and others, which are understood by its name as the main one, b) sprinkling (glorified “pouring”) blood on it, i.e. shedding blood on it, is the second component of every sacrifice, replacing in some types of sacrifices their burning on the altar. Ezek.43:19. To the priests of the tribe of Levi, who are from the tribe of Zadok, who draw near to Me to serve Me, says the Lord God, give a bull from the herd of oxen for a sin offering. The consecration of the altar, as an inanimate thing, or that same cleansing of it from all defilement, should be limited to, or at least began with, the cleansing of its servants. Therefore, its sanctification begins with the offering of a sacrifice for sin (see explanation of Ezek. 42.13) by the priests. But the new priesthood, the prophet notes here, is not entirely identical with the ancient one; its volume has changed (as if in order to increase holiness on its account): it is not composed of all the descendants of Aaron, but only from the tribe of Zadok, due to the apostasy of other branches (see explanation of Ezek. 40.46). The sacrifice for sin, different for different classes of society, for the priests is the largest, most honorable and, therefore, the most sacred - the calf (Lev. 8.14; Ex. 29.1, 10; cf. Eze. 1.7). Ezek.43:20. And take his blood and sprinkle it on his four horns, and on the four corners of the platform, and on his belt all around, and so cleanse him and sanctify him. The consecration of the altar itself should consist of sprinkling sacrificial blood on all the most protruding parts of it; not only a) on the horns, which were sprinkled with blood according to the Mosaic legislation (Exodus 29.12), but also b) on the corners, i.e., also a kind of horns, platforms, asra, the word translated in Art. 14 (see vol.) protrusion (here they are all collectively designated) and c) on the belt, gevul (see explanation of v. 13). Blood sprinkling means, according to blessed. Jerobimus, “the blood of the Savior; that the 4 horns of the altar are cleansed, this means 4 parts of the world; that the belt of purification, or the foundation around, is sprinkled, this means the purification of everything and that this purification is firm.” With such sprinkling, the altar will not only be cleansed (does this mean, by the way, Smend thinks, the injunction of Exodus 20.25, which was violated in the construction of the real altar?), but will also be sanctified. God orders the prophet to perform the rites of consecration, which cannot be understood in the literal sense in which Moses was once ordered to do this, but in the sense of the prediction: 2 l. units tsp instead of 3 l. pl. h., why LXX put 3 liters almost everywhere. pl. h.: ​​“they will take”, “they will lay down”. And so on. Ezek.43:21. And take the bullock for the sin offering, and burn it in the appointed place of the house outside the sanctuary. According to the Mosaic Law, the sacrifice for sin, as the bearer of its uncleanness, was burned outside the camp. The real mystical sacrifice should also be burned outside the sanctuary: but on the other hand, it should be, as more sacred than Moses, not entirely outside the church, but in a special place of it (“House”), called by the prophet mythkad, a word that is designated in Neh 3.31 as one of the eastern gates of the city, which, therefore, had a close relationship to the church or a direct connection with it, and precisely with the western, rear part of the church, where Ezekiel had a special building of less noble and sacred purpose and gizra; although this does not provide sufficient basis for identifying the mythkads with this last place of the church, and even less with the priestly kitchens Ezek.46.19–20 (Ewald). One can say with certainty about this place only that it did not lie outside the church area Eze.45.2; LXX call it “in the excommunicated (αποκεχωρισμενω) church” (read mithrad, instead of mythkad), suggesting, obviously, a deliberate building. The place thus served a half-sacred, half-unclean purpose (the subtlety of the prophet's division between the sacred and the unsacred). According to the Mosaic Law, not the entire sin offering was burned outside the camp: the fat and blood were burned from it on the altar. This should be the case with Ezekiel’s sacrifice, which is not said, perhaps only as a matter of course. Or maybe there is a difference here with Moses: only the purest part of the blood sacrifice (and not all of it, but what is needed only for sprinkling) is worthy of ascending to God through sprinkling from the victim who took on the sin. Ezek.43:22. And the next day, as a sin offering, offer a male goat without blemish from the herd of goats, and let them cleanse the altar in the same way as they cleansed the calf. With the sin offering, the bullock and its blood sprinkled on the altar, the latter was not yet completely cleansed; she has just begun to cleanse it, the completion of which requires a symbolically full number of 7 days. But on the remaining 6 days (cf. v. 25), such a large sacrifice as a calf is not required to cleanse the altar. The calf is replaced by a goat from goats (according to Rosenmuller, a gentle expression, as in Zech 9.9; perhaps an indication of youth: cub, sucker, Russian: “from the goat herd of a goat”, LXX: “two”, should be by analogy with the day of purification). This sacrifice must be brought with the same rites aimed at cleansing the altar with which the calf was offered on the first day of the consecration of the altar, that is, with sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice on the bulge of the altar and burning it in a special place. The same sacrifice for sin was offered daily on the great feasts: Ezek.45.23. According to the Mosaic Law, a ram (a sacrificial animal smaller than a goat) was offered daily as a sin offering at the dedication of the tabernacle. Ezek.43:23. When you have completed your cleansing, bring from the herd of oxen a bullock without blemish, and from the herd of sheep a ram without blemish; When the altar is cleansed with a sacrifice for sin, not on the seventh day, when this cleansing is completed completely, but, as v. 25 shows, on the very first day of cleansing, after the first cleansing sacrifice on it, it becomes fit for the most holy sacrifice, the sacrifice of κατ εξοχην, the sacrifice of sacrifices, the burnt offering. This sacrifice, at the same time, with its greatest holiness, completes, along with the daily sacrifice for sin, the daily cleansing of the altar. It must consist of immaculate (word, twice as a sign of the special importance of the requirement) Taurus and Aries; both are morally more perfect than a goat. “From the flock” - see explanation in Art. 22. Ezek.43:24. and offer them before the Lord; and the priests will throw salt on them, and offer them as burnt offerings to the Lord. This will be the first real sacrifice to the Lord (“offer them before the Lord”) on the new altar, a burnt offering. It must be salted (only ritually: by throwing salt on it) by the priests (for the first time in this cult they act as actors). According to the Mosaic Law, salting was required only for a bloodless sacrifice (Lev. 2.13), but practice has taught it to all victims: Mark 9.49, Josephus Ant. 3:9, 1. The high symbolism of salting the sacrifice is already visible from the name of salt in the Old Testament “salt of the covenant” (Numbers 18.19; 2 Chronicles 13.5). “Originally, each sacrifice was a common feast of the worshiper with his deity, and received such preparation as the people partook of it; and salt is still a symbol of hospitality in the east” (Bert.). Ezek.43:25. For seven days you shall offer a goat a day for a sin offering; They shall also sacrifice a bull from a herd of oxen and a ram from a herd of sheep without blemish. The sacrifice must be made for 7 days, a symbolic number of completeness and holiness, adopted in the Old Testament law for all sacred periods longer than one day. During these days, both the sin offering, consisting of a goat (more precisely: a bull for the first day, and a goat for the next 6; here in forms of conciseness, generalization), and a real “sacrifice”, i.e., a burnt offering - a bull and a ram, must be offered on the cleansed and sanctified altar. Ezek.43:26. For seven days they must cleanse the altar and sanctify it and fill their hands. All of the listed rites, filling 7 days, should consist of a) cleansing the mysterious altar from everything created and unclean in it, b) consecrating it for a divine purpose; both are for him c) a kind of filling of his hands (according to ketiv yadav, his hands, according to keri - yado, his hand, according to LXX poisons, his hands, i.e. priests) similar to the filling of the hands of consecrated priests with sacrificial meat, which was the final rite of their dedication (Exodus 29.9; Lev. 8.33). It is remarkable that nothing is said here about the consecration of priests to their ministry (unless the last word of the verse in the reading of it in LXX is taken as an indication of this). There is no mention of anointing the altar and church with oil. Thus, the rites of consecration of the new church differ from those of Moses not only in the type and number of consecration victims (see the explanation of v. 20 et seq.), but also in the very nature and essence of consecration, differing in greater simplicity and, so to speak, objectivity. Ezek.43:27. At the end of these days, on the eighth day and beyond, the priests will offer your burnt offerings and thanksgiving offerings on the altar; and I will be merciful to you, says the Lord God. From the eighth day, the first day following the 7 days of consecration and bearing in its number the highest and most mysterious symbolism (the greater seven, the image of the future century), the correct series of sacrifices can begin on the new altar, of which there are still two main types: ola, “burnt offering” and shelem, “thanksgiving sacrifice”, LXX: “even salvation”, in other places: “peace”, - differing in the amount of what was burned: in the first case everything was burned, in the second fat and blood. These sacrifices, in contrast to the old ones on the old altar, will be accepted (LXX, Russian even stronger “I will be merciful”; Hebrew terminus technicus rata should be more accurately conveyed by LXX) by God, of which He solemnly assures God with His word. You might be interested in: