46:16-17 The prince could give a gift to any of his sons out of his own inheritance from the Lord. This gift was theirs forever. However, if he gave such a gift to one of his servants, it would revert back to him on the year of liberty. This year would evidently be similar to the year of jubilee (every fiftieth year) under the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Lev. 25:10; 27:24). Its purpose, in the past and in the future, is to remind God's people that He owns everything and that they only occupy and possess what He has entrusted to them.
46:18 The prince was not to give gifts from the inheritances of the other people of the land but only from his own inheritance. Israel's leaders and people in the past had appropriated other people's property as their own (cf. 45:8-9; 2 Sam. 24:24; 1 Kings 21:19; Mic. 2:1-2). This ordinance would also result in the prince's sons remaining in his allotment of land rather than being scattered among the other tribal allotments. Since this prince would have sons it seems clear that he will not be the Messiah.
