Thus saith the Lord Jehovah If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, it shall be that one's inheritance, for his sons it shall be their possession by inheritance.
Ezekiel 46 belongs to a long vision of a restored temple, its offerings and its officials. Here the subject turns to property, and one rule about gifts raises a bigger question: who is this prince?
The prince of these chapters holds an honour no high priest ever held. Yet he is not the Messiah, and this verse gives one of the reasons: he has sons.
He is to have the honour of going in and out through the porch of that gate. No high priest ever claimed this. He is not a priest but the prince, the earthly leader of Israel. Chapters 45 and 46 tell us a little more about him. It is enough to say that he is certainly not the Messiah. He is clearly marked off from a priest, yet he needs to offer a sin-offering, and he may have sons. No doubt he is a future prince of the house of David.
Another writer takes the vision literally, and finds it plain:
The vision gives full details of the temple. It also gives the sacrifices and feasts — and notably, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Weeks are missing. Besides these, it mentions A PRINCE, gives him a portion of land, and names the sacrifices he will offer. If we take all this literally, it is plain and easy to understand. No doubt the prince will be a representative of the royal house of David.
The verse separates two kinds of gift. What a son gets stays in the family. What a servant gets has a time limit.
The same distinction shows up in the rule for handing on the prince's property (Ezekiel 46:16-18). The prince's inheritance goes to his sons, and it stays in the family. If he gives any property to his servants, it must return to the family in the year of jubilee. Such a rule could never apply to the Lord Jesus. It applies instead, all through the millennial kingdom, to His representative on the earth. That man will be a descendant of the house of David, whom the Lord finds and brings forward, just as He found the sons of Zadok in Aaron's priestly line and rewarded their faithfulness to Him (Ezekiel 48:11).
So the prince may give, but not beyond his limits. The jubilee is what holds him to them.
Next, care is taken that the prince does not overstep his proper limits when he makes a gift to his servants. This keeps the rights of his sons intact, and the rights of every Israelite too… Judgment will indeed return to righteousness in that day. The jubilee is then kept in all its force.
The honour and the safeguard come from the same source. One writer ties the prince's high place to God's glory, and to his dealings with the people.
These rules give remarkable honour to the Prince, tied to the glory of God, who gave him his place among the people. Just as surely, they secured what follows in verses 16-18: brotherly and kind relations between him and the people of God. They took away every opportunity for oppression.
The point of the gift rule is not dynastic pride but the security of everyone else's land. If the prince's grants could drift permanently into other hands, someone would eventually be pushed off his portion.
Further warning against oppression is given, and the purpose expressed that each preserve his own inheritance. This latter feature is guarded in the regulation concerning the division of the Prince's inheritance. It must remain in his family, so that a portion given to a servant reverts to him in the year of jubilee, or liberty.
Follow the gift as it moves. It goes from the prince to his sons, then to his servants, then back at the jubilee — never at the people's cost.
- The prince. He holds an honour no high priest ever held, yet he is not the Messiah: he offers a sin-offering, and he has sons. He is a future prince of David's line.
- His sons. A gift to a son becomes inheritance, and it stays in the family.
- His servants. A gift to a servant is real but time-limited, held only until the year of jubilee.
- The return. At the jubilee the servant's portion goes back to the prince, and judgment returns to righteousness.
- The people. The rule guards the rights of every Israelite, and leaves oppression no opening.
But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of liberty; and it shall return to the prince to his sons alone shall his inheritance remain.
This rule is about land, not worship: a gift from the prince to a servant lasts only until the year of liberty. Two questions sit behind that detail — who is this prince, and why does God guard every man's portion so closely?
This part of Ezekiel names a ruler called "the prince," and some readers take him to be the Messiah. His sons and his servants are one reason commentators reject that.
The same distinction appears in the rules for any disposal of the prince's property (Ezek. 46:16-18). The prince's inheritance shall be for his sons, and shall remain in the family. If he gives any property to his servants, it must return to the family in the year of jubilee. It is impossible to think of such a rule applying to the Lord Jesus. It does apply, throughout the millennial kingdom, to His representative on the earth. That man will be a descendant of the house of David. Jehovah will find him and bring him forward, just as He found the sons of Zadok in the line of Aaron and rewarded their faithfulness to Him (Ezek. 48:11).
Another writer reaches the same verdict, and adds what the prince receives and what he must not touch:
This important person, the Prince, is apparently one of the nation, not Christ Himself. Scripture speaks of his sons (Ezek. 46:16), and he offers a sin offering for himself (Ezek. 45:22)… he is given his own special portion in the land, and he is told not to take any of the people's inheritance.
The rule fences in the prince's generosity. He may give, but not for ever, and not at the cost of his sons' inheritance.
Next comes care that the prince should not overstep his proper limits when he makes a gift to his servants. This keeps the rights of his sons intact, and the rights of every Israelite too… Judgment will truly return to righteousness in that day. The jubilee is then observed in all its force.
The phrase points back to the jubilee. Its whole character was giving things back.
What did the jubilee year mean to Israel? Liberty was proclaimed. Every man returned to his possession, every man to his family. All wrongs were put right, and those held in bondage were redeemed. The word "return" appears seven times, and the word "redeem" even more often. It was the time of returning, the blessed time of restoration and redemption.
So the servant's plot goes back. The jubilee does not cancel the prince's kindness; it returns every holding to its rightful owner.
The verse turns on the difference between a son and a servant. Scripture carries it far beyond land. In the quotation below, Boyd's older translation reads "servant" where the ESV has "slave."
I have said servants do not inherit. It is only as sons that we are heirs of God (Gal. 4:30). In one way we are all servants of God, but not as servants are we heirs, but as sons. Nor do servants have any security, except what their faithfulness gives them… "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:35-36).
There is a reason God fences the land so tightly. He handed out every portion Himself.
God cares that each of His people should keep the inheritance allotted to him. This teaches us that His giving never changes, since He settled it all by lot. It also teaches us that He intends each person's own individuality to be preserved in the inheritance. So the person and his portion of land, as God allotted it, are so joined in His mind that no separation is to take place.
The arrangement also shapes how the prince and the people live together. He receives honour, but never at their expense:
These rules gave remarkable honour to the Prince, in connection with the glory of God, who gave him his place among the people. At the same time they secured what follows in verses 16-18: warm and kind relations between him and the people of God. And they took away every opportunity for oppression.
- Giving — The prince may be generous, but never with other people's land. His gift to a servant holds until the year of liberty.
- Returning — That year is the jubilee. Its keyword is return: every man back to his possession and his family.
- Inheriting — Sons hold by inheritance, servants by grant. Only sonship lasts, and Scripture applies that to believers too.
- Protecting — God allotted each portion Himself. In His mind the man and his land belong together, and no ruler may split them.
- Ruling — The result is a kingdom where the prince has honour and the people are safe. Oppression has no opening left.
And the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them by oppression out of their possession he shall give his sons an inheritance out of his own possession that my people be not scattered every one from his possession.
Ezekiel 46 closes with property rules for the prince: what he may give away, what must stay in his family, and what he may never touch. Here he is forbidden to push people off their land, which raises a question — why does a ruler in a restored kingdom still need such a fence?
Readers ask whether this prince is the Messiah. Kelly answers from the details of the prince's life, not from his title.
We shall learn from chapters 45 and 46 a little more about the prince. It is enough to say that he is certainly not the Messiah. Although he is clearly distinguished from a priest, he still needs to offer a sin offering, and he may have sons. Doubtless it is a future prince of the house of David.
The verse before this one separates what the prince gives his sons from what he gives his servants. Time makes the difference.
There is a further warning against oppression here, and a stated purpose: each person should keep his own inheritance. The rule about dividing the Prince's inheritance guards this. It must stay in his family, so that a portion given to a servant reverts to him in the year of jubilee, or liberty.
So the prince is free to be generous, but not free to be permanent about it.
The limit works in two directions at once. It protects his sons' rights, and it protects every ordinary Israelite.
Next comes care that the prince should not go beyond his proper limits when he gives a gift to his servants. This keeps the rights of his sons intact, and the rights of every Israelite too. … Truly judgment shall return to righteousness in that day. The jubilee is then observed in all its force.
Ezekiel's rules for the prince do two jobs at once.
These rules gave remarkable honour to the Prince, in connection with the glory of God, who gave him his place among the people. At the same time they secured what follows in verses 16-18: brotherly and kind relations between him and the people of God. And they took away every opportunity of oppression.
The prince must provide for his sons out of his own possession. Rank is not a licence to help himself.
Behind the rule stands a history of rulers who did what this verse forbids. Ahab wanted a neighbour's vineyard, and Naboth refused to give it up.
The possession given to the Prince is meant to correct past abuses. Those who ruled in Israel used to take the possessions of others for themselves, as in the case of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21). Naboth's refusal was based on the Lord's word. … God takes care that each of His people keeps the inheritance given to him. This teaches us that His giving never changes, because everything was settled by lot, and He controlled the lot. It also teaches that He means each person's own distinctness to be kept in the inheritance. So the person and the portion God gave him are bound together in His mind, and no separation is to take place. … Israel lost her inheritance, and the land went back to Him who had given it and who claims it as His. But Israel is to be brought back, and the land will be divided by lot again, according to this vision of Ezekiel. Then its division among the redeemed people will last, according to the purpose of God.
This is why the verse ends where it does: none of God's people is to be scattered from his property. His land is not just something he owns; it is God's assignment to him.
The rule sends a servant's gift back at the jubilee, the fiftieth year. That year belonged to the Lord.
In Israel the land and the people both belonged to the Lord, and in the year of jubilee He dealt with them as His own. For forty-nine years He allowed confusion to prevail. Lands might be sold, and the people themselves might go to the creditor. But this was only for a season, for God's claim came first; and every fiftieth year He would assert it. … all this corruption and disturbance was to have an end, and this end came with the returning year of jubilee.
- Owner. In Israel the land and the people both belonged to the Lord. The prince rules inside a map he did not draw.
- Limit. Because the Owner assigned each plot, gifts to servants run out at the year of liberty. What he gives his sons stays in the family.
- Source. He provides for his family out of his own possession. He pushes no one off his land to fund the palace.
- Correction. The rule answers a real history — rulers who seized what belonged to others, as Ahab seized Naboth's vineyard.
- Result. Honour to the prince and safety for the people stand together. Judgment returns to righteousness, and the jubilee holds in full force.