Ezekiel 46:20

Eze 46:20 Then said he unto me, This [is] the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear [them] not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.

Ver. 20. Where they shall bake the meat offering,] i.e., The ministers shall indite or boil good matters in their hearts for the use of the people, and then their tongues shall be as the pen of a ready writer. {Psa 45:1} They shall not feed their hearers with crude and indigested stuff, but such as is well boiled and baked with the fire of the Holy Spirit, kindled on the hearth of their own hearts; that from the heart they may speak to the heart.

To sanctify the people.] As in promiscuous communions, where all are pell-mell admitted.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That the people should not have to do with those things which appertain to the Lord, and think it lawful for them to eat them.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 20. The trespass-offering] Part of this, and of the sin-offering, and the flour-offering was the portion of the priests. See Nu 18:9-10.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) Shall boil . . . shall bake.—The flesh of all sacrifices except the Passover was by the law required to be boiled, and the unbloody “meat offering,” when not already cooked, was to be baked.

Bear them not out into the utter court.—In one sense the priestly chambers and also these cooking rooms were themselves in the outer court; but as already remarked, these, with the walk that led to them, although within the enclosure of the outer, were considered as appurtenances of, and therefore belonging to, the inner court. The reason given for not bearing the flesh of the sin and trespass offering into the outer court is, lest they should thereby “sanctify the people,” and the same reason is given in Eze_44:19 for not allowing the priests’ garments to come into the outer court. Under the law all those offerings which it was the duty of the priests to consume are called “most holy,” and whoever touched them or the sacred vessels of the sanctuary became “holy” in the sense of set apart to God (Lev_6:18; also Exo_29:37; Exo_30:29). The object of the command is therefore to prevent that ceremonial sanctification of the people which would interfere with their ordinary life.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then he brought me forth into the utter court,.... From the holy chambers of the priests, and from viewing the place where they boiled the sacrifices, and baked the meat offering:

and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; in each of the four corners of the outward court there was another court; signifying that there will be courts or churches in the several parts of the world in the latter day.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering; those that were brought sacrifices for sin were in part for the sacrificing priest, and he was to eat thereof; but it was to be dressed in the verge of holy ground, and so kitchens, boilers, ovens, and other utensils were prepared to do it, and these kitchens are here described,

That they bear them not; the priests, or the attending Levites.

Into the utter court, where the people were, and many times in great numbers, that this holy flesh must needs be very near many of them, if it were carried out.

To sanctify the people: see Eze 44:19.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The "place" was designed as a kitchen where the priests should boil the trespass and the sin offerings and bake the meat (or, meal) offering, i.e. cook the portions of the sacrifices they should eat in their official capacity. (see Eze_42:13) The Law of Moses (Lev_8:31) required the flesh to be boiled (and probably also the flour to be baked) at the tabernacle door. The last clause, that they, i.e. the priests, bear them, i.e. the offerings, not out into the utter (or, outer) court, to sanctify the people, is by most interpreters understood in the sense of Eze_44:19 (which see). To this, however, Kliefoth objects that the conception of deriving ceremonial sanctity from contact with such offerings is completely strange to the Old Testament, (see Hag_2:12) and accordingly he connects the words. "to sanctify the people," with the "baking" and "boiling" of the preceding clause.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The outer court - Where the people were.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

so as not to bring [them] out [Heb. הוֹצִיא,] like לְהוֹצִיא, for the “most holy sacrifices” become disqualified by being taken out.

to mingle with the people [Heb. לְקַדֵשׁ אֶתהָעָם lit. to sanctify the people.] Jonathan renders: to mingle with the people.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.