How do the inner gate’s schedule and inheritance rules govern the prince?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The inner east gate follows worship schedules, while gifts and service courts have distinct conditions.

Chapter breakdown

The east-facing gate of the inner court stays shut during the six working days and opens on the sabbath and new moon. The prince enters by its porch and stands at the threshold while priests offer his holocaust and peace offerings. He adores there and leaves, and the gate remains open until evening. The people adore at its doorway on sabbaths and new moons. This inner gate's schedule differs from the outer east gate's permanent closure in Ezechiel 44.

On the sabbath, the prince offers six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram, an ephi with the ram, what his hand allows with the lambs, and a hin of oil for each ephi. On the new moon, the offerings are an unblemished calf, six lambs and rams, all without blemish; an ephi accompanies the calf and an ephi the ram, with the lambs' portion according to his hand and a hin of oil per ephi. The wording lists rams in the plural before referring to the ram's portion. The prince ordinarily enters and leaves through the same porch. At solemn feasts, people entering by the north gate leave by the south, and those entering by the south leave by the north; they do not return through their entrance. The prince is among them and enters and leaves with them. Feast sacrifices likewise include an ephi for each calf and ram, what the hand allows for the lambs, and a hin of oil per ephi.

For a voluntary holocaust or peace offering, the east gate is opened for the prince. He offers as on the sabbath, leaves, and the gate is shut after him. Every morning an unblemished year-old lamb is offered with a sixth of an ephi and a third of a hin of oil mixed with fine flour, as a perpetual offering.

A gift from the prince's inheritance to a son passes to his children as hereditary possession. A gift to a servant lasts until the year of release and then returns to the prince; his inheritance belongs to his sons. He must take his gifts from his own possession, without taking the people's inheritance violently or dispersing them from their land.

Ezechiel is led through an entry beside the gate to the north-facing priestly chambers and shown a place bending toward the west. There priests boil sin and trespass victims and dress sacrifices, keeping them from the outer court so that the people are not sanctified. Four small courts occupy the outer court's corners, each forty long and thirty broad, with enclosing walls and kitchens beneath the rows. The house's ministers boil the people's victims there.

The story inside

The prince joins the feast crowd’s entrance and departure. A son’s inherited gift differs from a servant’s gift until release. Priestly preparation and the people’s boiled victims use separate places.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The prince joins the feast crowd’s entrance and departure.
2
A son’s inherited gift differs from a servant’s gift until release.
3
Priestly preparation and the people’s boiled victims use separate places.

Test your recall

How do a son’s gift and a servant’s gift differ?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 96463–96475
46:1. Thus saith the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east, shall be shut the six days, on which work is done; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, yea and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 46:2. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate from without, and he shall stand at the threshold of the gate: and the priests shall offer his holocaust, and his peace offerings: and he shall adore upon the threshold of the gate, and shall go out: but the gate shall not be shut till the evening. 46:3. And the people of the land shall adore at the door of that gate before the Lord on the sabbaths, and on the new moons.
Lines 96494–96502
46:9. But when the people of the land shall go in before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that goeth in by the north gate to adore, shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that goeth in by the way of the south gate, shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go out at that over against it. 46:10. And the prince in the midst of them, shall go in when they go in, and go out when they go out.
Lines 96527–96538
46:16. Thus saith the Lord God: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons: the inheritance of it shall go to his children, they shall possess it by inheritance. 46:17. But if he give a legacy out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of release, and it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall go to his sons. 46:18. And the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by violence, nor of their possession: but out of his own possession he shall give an inheritance to his sons: that my people be not dispersed every man from his possession.
Lines 96545–96563
46:20. And he said to me: This is the place where the priests shall boil the sin offering, and the trespass offering: where they shall dress the sacrifice, that they may not bring it out into the outward court, and the people be sanctified. 46:21. And he brought me into the outward court, and he led me about by the four corners of the court: and behold there was a little court in the corner of the court, to every corner of the court there was a little court. 46:22. In the four corners of the court were little courts disposed, forty cubits long, and thirty broad, all the four were of one measure. 46:23. And there was a wall round about compassing the four little courts, and there were kitchens built under the rows round about. 46:24. And he said to me: This is the house of the kitchens wherein the ministers of the house of the Lord shall boil the victims of the people.