What Does Ezekiel 45:22 Mean?
On that day the lifted one shall prepare, for himself and for all the people of the land, a bullock as an offering for falling short.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.THE KEY
The one raised above the people stands within the same offering for missing as they do.
THE MEANING
The verse holds the prince and all the people of the land within one offering: he prepares a bullock for himself and for them. His position does not place him outside the need the offering names.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The ruler’s office makes him exempt from the need shared by the people.
THE ROOT
חַטָּאת
chatta’t
GROWS FROM
חטא
To miss, or go wrong.
“offering for falling short” in this verse is chatta’t. חַטָּאת (chatta’t) can name both missing and the offering brought in response to it. The root keeps the missing itself visible within the ritual phrase “sin offering.”
ALSO GROWS
chataʾ: To miss; to sin.
חָטָא
The verb names the missing that the offering addresses.
chet: Missing; sin.
חֵטְא
This related noun keeps the condition at the heart of the offering in view.
נָשִׂיא
nasi
GROWS FROM
נשׂא
To lift, carry, or bear.
“lifted one” in this verse is nasi. The title נָשִׂיא (nasi, prince) shares its root with נשׂא (nasaʾ, lift or carry), carrying an image of an elevated office. Yet the verse places the prince within the same offering for missing as all the people.
ALSO GROWS
nasaʾ: To lift, carry, or bear.
נָשָׂא
This verb shares the prince’s root and brings out the title’s sense of being raised up.
massaʾ: A burden or load.
מַשָּׂא
This word from the same root echoes the weight carried by one who bears responsibility.
THE PATTERN
The one who leads remains within the same need for offering as the people led.
When the falling short in which they have missed the mark is perceived, the assembly brings near a young bull as an offering for falling short, and brings it before the tent of meeting.But into the second, once a year, goes the high priest alone, not without blood, which he brings near for himself and for the unknowing missings of the people.THE THREAD
Against you alone have I missed the mark, and done the evil in your eyes, so that you are aligned in your word and clear when you judge.Psalm 51:4 uses חָטָא (chataʾ, to miss or sin), the verb from the same root as חַטָּאת (chatta’t, missing or an offering for missing). Ezekiel names the offering; the psalm speaks the missing that lies within its name.
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