Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ezekiel 41

Introduction

1  The measures, parts, chambers, and ornaments of the temple.
Verse 1

Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.
he brought
40:2,3,17
to the temple
1 Kings 6:2, Zechariah 6:12,13, Ephesians 2:20-22, 1 Peter 2:5, Revelation 3:12, 11:1,2, Revelation 21:3,15
the posts
These were probably a sort of door-case on each side of the entrance; and the tabernacle perhaps was a kind of covering to the door, of the same dimensions.
Verse 2

And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.
the door
or, the entrance. This was the door out of the porch into the sanctuary, which seems to have been wider than that from the court to the porch.
Exodus 26:36, 36:37, 1 Kings 6:31-35, 2 Chronicles 3:7, 29:7, John 10:7,9
the length
1 Kings 6:2,17, 2 Chronicles 3:3
Verse 3

Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.
two cubits
This was the thickness of the partition wall between the sanctuary (ver. 2) and holy of holies (ver. 4); the breadth of the wall on each side of the gate being seven cubits, and the entrance into the holy place six cubits in width.
Verse 4

So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
twenty cubits
1 Kings 6:20, 2 Chronicles 3:8, Revelation 21:16
This
Exodus 26:33,34, Hebrews 9:3-8
Verse 5

After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
side chamber
6,7, 42:3-14, 1 Kings 6:5,6
Verse 6

And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house.
one over another
Heb. side chamber over side chamber. thirty in order. or, three and thirty times, or feet. We find by Josephus, that around Solomon's temple were chambers three stories high, each story consisting of thirty chambers; which are supposed to have been on the north, south, and east sides of the temple.
and they
1 Kings 6:6,10
have held
Heb. be holden.
1 Peter 1:5
but
That is, the beams or supporters, of the chambers were not let into the main wall of the temple; but rested on projections of the outer wall, which became a cubit narrower at every story, leaving a ledge of one cubit, to support the beams.
Verse 7

And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.
there was
Heb. it was, made broader, and went round.
1 Kings 6:8, Matthew 13:32, Hebrews 6:1
an enlarging
In the same proportion in which the thickness of the wall decreased, the chambers increased, so that the middle story was one cubit larger, and the upper story two cubits larger, than the lower rooms; and a winding staircase, which widened in the same manner as the rooms, ascended from the bottom to the top.
Verse 8

I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.
a full
40:5, Revelation 21:16
Verse 9

The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within.
was five
that which
This appears to have been a walk, or gallery of communication between the chambers, five cubits broad, into which the doors opened.
11, 42:1,4
Verse 10

And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
the chambers
As the word rendered chambers is different from that used before, it is supposed there was another row of buildings, parallel with the side chambers, with a passage of twenty cubits between.
Verse 11

And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.
and the breadth
9, 42:4
Verse 12

Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.
separate
13-15, 42:1,10,13, Revelation 21:27, 22:14,15
the wall
This appears to have been a building erected at the west end of the temple.
Verse 13

So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long;
he measured
These verses (13-15) seem to intimate, that all the buildings of the temple occupied an area of 100 square cubits.
Verse 15

And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
galleries
or, several walks, or walks with pillars.
42:3, Song of Solomon 1:17, 7:5, Zechariah 3:7
with the
17, 42:15
Verse 16

The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered;
narrow
26, 40:16,25, 1 Kings 6:4, 1 Corinthians 13:12
ceiled with wood
Heb. ceiling of wood.
1 Kings 6:15, 2 Chronicles 3:5, Haggai 1:4
from the ground up to the windows
or, the ground unto the windows. covered. Probably either by jutting out of the main wall of the temple; or by lattice work, or curtains, or by both.
Verse 17

To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.
To that
That is, the windows were placed above the height of the door, at the east end of the temple, and thus continued, at the same height, and at measured distances, along both sides of the holy place, to the wall of the inner sanctuary, in which there were no windows.
measure
Heb. measures.
42:15
Verse 18

And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
with cherubims
1 Kings 6:29-32, 7:36, 2 Chronicles 3:7
palm trees
40:16,22, Revelation 7:9
and every
1:10, 10:14,21, Revelation 4:7-9
Verse 21

The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other.
posts
Heb. post.
40:14, 1 Kings 6:33; *marg:
Verse 22

The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD.
altar
This must signify the altar of incense; which, both in the tabernacle and Solomon's temple, was covered with plates of gold. It is very remarkable, that in this temple described by Ezekiel, there is not the least mention of gold or silver, though there was such a profusion of these metals in the former; which may probably imply, that a glory of a more spiritual nature was intended under these emblems.
Exodus 30:1-3, 1 Kings 6:20,22, 7:48, 2 Chronicles 4:19, Revelation 8:3
This is
23:41, 44:16, Exodus 25:28-30, Leviticus 24:6, Proverbs 9:2, Song of Solomon 1:12, Malachi 1:7,12, 1 Corinthians 10:21, Revelation 3:20
before
Exodus 30:8
Verse 23

And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
1 Kings 6:31-35, 2 Chronicles 4:22
Verse 24

And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door.
40:48
Verse 25

And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
cherubims
Verse 26

And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.
16, 40:16

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