Ezekiel 46:4
in Ezekiel 46The burnt offering that the prince presents to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the burnt-offering that the prince shall offer unto Jehovah shall be on the sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;
KJV
And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.
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This verse in Ezekiel 46
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe burnt-offerings that the prince shall offer - The chief magistrate was always obliged to attend the public worship of God, as well as the priest, to show that the civil and ecclesiastical states were both under the same government of the Lord; and that no one was capable of being prince or priest, who did not acknowledge God in all his ways. It is no wonder that those lands mourn, where neither the established priest nor the civil magistrate either fear or love God. Ungodly priests and profligate magistrates are a curse to any land.
This site's exposition
six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram
on Ezekiel 46:4-7
On the Sabbath the prince presents “six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram”. The New Moon adds “a young, unblemished bull”. Gill notes that the grain with the lambs is left to the giver, “as much as he is able”, within an otherwise fixed ordinance.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 46—Verses 1 onwards). Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed for six days, during which work is being done; but on the Sabbath day it will be opened, and also on the day of the new moon it will be opened. And the prince shall enter through the vestibule of the outer gate, and shall stand at the threshold of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then leave.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But it should rather seem that he did not go through the gate (as the glory of the Lord had done), though it was open, but he went by the way of the porch of the gate, stood at the post of the gate, and worshipped at the threshold of the gate (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
), to intimate how much we should abound in sabbath work, now in gospel-time, and what plenty of the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise we should offer up to God on that day; and, if with such sacrifice God is well-pleased, surely we have a great deal of reason to be so.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the burnt offering the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath day,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The offerings prescribed here Eze 46:4-15 are generally in excess of those enjoined by the Law, to note not only the greater devotion and magnificence under the new state of things, but also the willingness (compare Deu 16:17) of king and people ready to give of their substance to the utmost of their means.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָ֣עֹלָ֔ה | vehaolah | and the burnt offering | H5930 → | 287 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַקְרִ֥ב | yakriv | he will bring near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| הַנָּשִׂ֖יא | hanasi' | the prince | H5387 → | 134 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשַּׁבָּ֗ת | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| שִׁשָּׁ֧ה | shishah | [will be] six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| כְבָשִׂ֛ים | khevasim | lambs | H3532 → | 107 times |
| תְּמִימִ֖ם | temimim | unblemished | H8549 → | 91 times |
| וְאַ֥יִל | veayil | and a ram | H352 → | 187 times |
| תָּמִֽים׃ | tamim | unblemished | H8549 → | 91 times |
וְהָ֣עֹלָ֔הand the burnt offering
vehaolahH5930 →287 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יַקְרִ֥בhe will bring near
yakrivH7126 →280 times
הַנָּשִׂ֖יאthe prince
hanasi'H5387 →134 times
לַֽיהוָ֑הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשַּׁבָּ֗תthe sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
שִׁשָּׁ֧ה[will be] six
shishahH8337 →216 times
כְבָשִׂ֛יםlambs
khevasimH3532 →107 times
תְּמִימִ֖םunblemished
temimimH8549 →91 times
וְאַ֥יִלand a ram
veayilH352 →187 times
תָּמִֽים׃unblemished
tamimH8549 →91 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 45:17And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He…
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:23
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 31:3
The king contributed from his own possessions for the regular morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, as written in the Law of…
- Ezekiel 46:4–12
The burnt offering that the prince presents to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram.
- Ezekiel 43:27
At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- 1 Kings 8:63–64
And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.
- Isaiah 66:23
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.