Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 47:22
And it shall come to pass, [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
And to the strangers – Here is quite a new feature in the distribution of the land. Not only the Israelites by descent, but those who join themselves to Israel by allegiance to the true God, shall have a right of inheritance. Here are opened out the blessings which were to accrue to the Gentiles through the seed of Abraham. Compare Rom 9:24, following. The difference which existed under the old covenant between Jew and Gentile is now at last done away. But while pagandom thus unites itself with Gods people, Israel is still as ever the chosen people, the center of this union. No new Church is founded side by side with the old. Pagandom is absorbed in Israel – the standard which God has set up for the nations – i. e., in the One True Church, which has subsisted from the beginning, and will subsist in eternity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. And to the strangers that sojourn] In former divisions of the land, no place was given to strangers; but in this division, (which seems to have no other reference than to the Gospel, for literally such a division never took place,) the strangers are to have an inheritance; intimating the calling of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Glory be to God for his unspeakable gift! Amen. Amen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It shall come to pass: this directs what they should do, as well as foretells the event that shall be.
Ye shall divide it by lot; so it was divided before, so it must again, for thus all controversies shall be prevented; thus he will choose their inheritance for them, for the disposition of the lot is of the Lord.
Unto you, that are the natural seed of Abraham.
To the strangers that sojourn among you: foreigners never had such privilege before; though they might dwell and trade among the Jews, yet they were excluded all hereditary right, could not purchase nor possess inheritances. But now the constitution is altered; and by this temporal external incorporating them, a spiritual and heavenly is signified, no doubt; they are put into capacity of inheriting with Israel in both Cananus, in this below, in that above.
Which shall beget children among you; who from their birth should be invested with this right of inheriting.
Among the children of Israel; equally with the children of Israel in point of right, and with that very tribe ill which they sojourn.
Have inheritance; possess and enjoy, as well as you.
With you: this speaks the equal title or privilege.
Among the tribes: this directs where the inheritance of these strangers born among them, or that first came with them when they came out of Babylon, should be assigned them, viz. in that very tribe where they sojourned, which is fully expressed in the next verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. to the strangersIt isaltogether unprecedented under the old covenant, that “strangers”should have “inheritance” among the tribes. There would notbe room locally within Canaan for more than the tribes. The literalsense must therefore be modified, as expressing that Gentiles are notto be excluded from settling among the covenant-people, and thatspiritually their privileges are not to be less than those of Israel(Rom 10:12; Gal 3:28;Eph 3:6; Col 3:11;Rev 7:9; Rev 7:10).Still, “sojourneth,” in Eze47:23, implies that in Canaan, the covenant people are regardedas at home, the strangers as settlers.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall come to pass,…. In the last days, under the Gospel dispensation:
that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you; who were Israelites, both by natural descent, and by the Spirit and grace of God: the Gospel was first preached to Israel after the flesh, and made effectual to the conversion of many of them; and the first churches were made up of them, and they shared all the blessings and privileges thereof; as they also will in the latter day, when converted:
and to the strangers that sojourn among them; not such as were strangers to spiritual and divine things; for this would contradict the rule in Eze 44:9, but converted Gentiles, so called because of their natural descent and civil state, being, with respect to both, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; yet were to be, as they have been, and will be, taken into the same Gospel church state with the believing Jews:
which shall beget children among you; not only in a natural, but in a spiritual sense; be the means of begetting many souls again to the lively hope of a glorious inheritance:
and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; that is, the children begotten by the Gentiles shall be considered all one as those of the children of Israel, being born again of the same Spirit and grace; and so have an equal right to the same privileges, and to which they shall be admitted:
they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel; this is a new thing, and what in a literal sense was never granted; for though in the times of Moses and onward, and by his direction from the Lord, such as have been called proselytes of the gate, and proselytes of righteousness, have been admitted to various privileges, by conforming to certain rules, rites, and ceremonies, yet never were allowed to have any inheritance in the land; and, after the captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah drove out the strangers, who by affinity with some had got among them: but this respects Gospel times, and the coalition of Jews and Gentiles in the same church state; where there is no difference, but Christ is all in all; where they are admitted to the same ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper; partake of the same blessings of grace, and promises of the word, and have an equal right to the heavenly inheritance: Eph 3:6, is the best commentary on this passage; which contains the same mystery the Apostle Paul was acquainted with,
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel;
[See comments on Eph 3:6]. See Eph 2:12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
C. The Place of Aliens in the Land 47:2223
TRANSLATION
(22) And it shall come to pass, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. (23) And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourns, there shall you give him his inheritance, (oracle of the Lord GOD.
COMMENTS
Aliens who lived among the Israelites would receive an inheritance within the restored Israel of the future (Eze. 47:22-23). Proselytes who embraced the worship of the true God would have the same privileges as native-born Israelites. Similar broadminded statements are found in Eze. 14:7 and Eze. 22:7. The unification of Jew and Gentile in the kingdom of Jesus Christ is thus foreshadowed.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(22) By lot.See Note on Eze. 45:1.
To the strangers.An entirely new feature is here added to the Mosaic law. According to Lev. 19:34, strangers were to be treated with kindness, but the entire territory was to be divided among the Israelites, and strangers could therefore acquire no land except in so far as they might purchase a temporary right between the years of Jubilee. Now, however, such of them as shall beget children among you, thus showing a disposition to permanent residence, are to receive an inheritance along with the tribes and in the portion of that tribe where they may have chosen to fix their residence. This privilege is absolute, without any condition of receiving circumcision.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22, 23. This land shall be divided “by lot.” Although this word means “by lot,” yet evidently it was here used in the same way as our word “allot;” for the sections in which each tribe shall dwell are stated in the next chapter. A striking difference between Ezekiel’s division of the land as compared with the Levitical code (Lev 25:47-55) is the care with which the rights of “strangers” are guarded. These proselytes who have permanently settled in the land are allowed a perfect equality with the native born in the matter of inheritance. They are to share equally with the members of the tribe in which they live. (Compare note Eze 47:14.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 47:22 And it shall come to pass, [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
Ver. 22. An inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you. ] What can the spiteful Jews say to this? who stick not to say, that rather than the bastard Gentiles (so they call Christians) should share with them in their Messiah, they would crucify him a hundred times over and over. Under the Old Testament, though strangers lived with the children of Israel, yet they had no inheritance with them at any time, as now they are appointed to have.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
strangers = foreign sojourners.
children = sons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
ye shall divide: Eze 47:13, Eze 47:14
and to the strangers: Isa 56:6, Isa 56:7, Act 2:5-10, Act 11:18, Eph 2:12, Eph 2:13, Eph 2:19-22, Eph 3:6, Rev 7:9, Rev 7:10
they shall have: Act 15:9, Rom 10:12, Gal 3:28, Gal 3:29, Col 3:11
Reciprocal: Exo 12:48 – let all Num 26:53 – General Jos 18:10 – cast lots
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 47:22. One word in Strong’s definition of the original for inheritance is occupancy which is evidently Its meaning with regard to the strangers among the tribes, The actual possession of land was restricted to the people of Israel, but the Lord was always mindful of the sojourner among His people and instructed them as to how they should be treated (Exo 22:21; Exo 23:9; Lev 19:10),
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 47:22. Ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you See the note on Eze 47:14. And to the strangers that sojourn among you Foreigners never before had the privilege of purchasing or possessing any inheritance among the Jews; so this mystically denotes the incorporating the Gentiles into the same church with the Jews, making them fellow-heirs, and of the same body with them by the gospel, Eph 3:6. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes, &c. In whatsoever tribe they sojourn, as it is expressed in the next verse.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
47:22 And it shall come to pass, [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be to you as born in the country among the children of Israel; {l} they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
(l) Meaning that in this spiritual kingdom there would be no difference between Jew nor Gentile but that all would be partakers of this inheritance in their head Christ.