Yehezkel 45-46

Central to perakim 45 and 46 are the roles of the prince among the people and in the temple, which are part of the process of renewal and repair in the future temple. The laws of the prince in these perakim reflect the complex status of the king- the king's honor and exalted status on the one hand, and the balances and limits which are meant to emphasize his subordination to God and the Torah on the other hand. This change was meant to prevent the king from taking advantage of the people, as was prevalent in the time of the First Temple. One expression of this change is Yechezkel's use of the term "prince" (in Hebrew, Nasi) in place of "king".

Perek 46 continues to deal with the laws of the prince. the perek begins with the sacrifices of the prince and his roles on Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat (1-15). It continues with the laws of transfer of property by inheritance from the prince (16-18). These end the listing of laws for the prince. The perek ends with the completion of Yechezkel's tour in the Temple- in the cooking places (19-24). Here, too, we see the trend of additional sanctification in the separation of the cooking places of the priests in the inner court, where the sacred meats are cooked, from the cooking places of the Levites in the corners of the outer court, where the sacrifices of the people are cooked, which are at a lower level of sanctity.