At the feasts and the appointed seasons …: This verse describes what offerings the king must give at the feasts, that is, the three main religious festivals (see 45.17), and the appointed seasons, that is, any other religious ceremonies (compare 45.17). He must give one young bull, one ram, and presumably six lambs, along with the set amount of grain or flour and olive oil. For the cereal offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, see Ezek 46.6; for with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah, see Ezek 46.5. A model for this verse is:

• “For each of the regular festivals and the other ceremonies to worship me [God], the king must bring a young bull, a male sheep and the lambs to sacrifice. He must also bring a container [or, bag] of grain for each bull and each male sheep, and as much as he wants for the lambs, as well as one container [or, jug] of olive oil for each container of grain.

However, some scholars think that this verse describes what each of the worshipers must bring to sacrifice at the religious ceremonies. If so, the young bull, the ram, and the lambs are likely to be alternatives, and the worshipers need only bring one of them. A model for this interpretation is:

• “When the people come to worship me at the main festivals and the other ceremonies, for an offering they must bring a young bull with a bag of flour, or a male sheep with a bag of flour, or a young sheep with as much flour as they choose to give. They must also bring a jug of olive oil with each bag of flour.

The first interpretation is preferable, because it would have been a large financial burden for ordinary worshipers to bring any of these animals.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .