1 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, on that same day the hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me thither.
2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain; and upon it was as the building of a city, on the south.
3 And he brought me thither, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a flax-cord in his hand, and a measuring-reed; and he stood in the gate.
4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thy heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for in order that it might be shewn unto thee art thou brought hither. Declare to the house of Israel all that thou seest.
5 And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring-reed of six cubits, [each] of one cubit and a hand breadth. And he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
6 And he came to the gate which looked toward the east, and went up its steps; and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold one reed broad.
7 And [each] chamber was one reed long and one reed broad; and between the chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate, beside the porch of the gate within, was one reed.
8 And he measured the porch of the gate within, one reed.
9 And he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.
10 And the chambers of the gate which was toward the east were three on this side and three on that side: they three were of one measure; and the posts on this side and on that side had one measure.
11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; [and] the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
12 And there was a border before the chambers of one cubit, and a border of one cubit on the other side; and the chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
13 And he measured the gate from the roof of [one] chamber to the roof [of the other], a breadth of five and twenty cubits, entry opposite entry.
14 And he made posts, sixty cubits, and by the post was the court of the gate round about.
15 And from the front of the gate of the entrance unto the front of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.
16 And there were closed windows to the chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the projections; and the windows round about were inward; and upon [each] post were palm-trees.
17 And he brought me into the outer court, and behold, there were cells, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty cells were upon the pavement.
18 And the pavement was by the side of the gates, answering to the length of the gates, [namely] the lower pavement.
19 And he measured the breadth from the front of the lower gate unto the front of the inner court outside, a hundred cubits eastward and northward.
20 And the gate of the outer court, that looked toward the north, he measured its length and its breadth.
21 And its chambers were three on this side and three on that side; and its posts and its projections were according to the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and breadth five and twenty cubits.
22 And its windows, and its projections, and its palm-trees were according to the measure of the gate that looked toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and the projections thereof were before them.
23 And the gate of the inner court was opposite to the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.
24 And he brought me toward the south: and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its posts and its projections according to these measures.
25 And there were windows to it and to its projections round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
26 And there were seven steps to go up to it; and its projections were before them; and it had palm-trees, one on this side and one on that side, upon its posts.
27 And there was a gate to the inner court toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.
28 And he brought me into the inner court by the south gate; and he measured the south gate according to these measures:
29 and its chambers, and its posts, and its projections, according to these measures; and there were windows to it and to its projections round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
30 And there were projections round about, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits broad.
31 And its projections were toward the outer court; and there were palm-trees upon its posts: and its ascent was [by] eight steps.
32 And he brought me into the inner court toward the east; and he measured the gate according to these measures:
33 and its chambers, and its posts, and its projections, according to these measures; and there were windows to it and to its projections round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
34 And its projections were toward the outer court; and there were palm-trees upon its posts on this side and on that side: and its ascent was [by] eight steps.
35 And he brought me to the north gate, and he measured [it] according to these measures:
36 its chambers, its posts, and its projections; and there were windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
37 And its posts were toward the outer court; and there were palm-trees upon its posts, on this side and on that side: and its ascent was [by] eight steps.
38 And there was a cell and its entry by the posts of the gates; there they rinsed the burnt-offering.
39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt-offering and the sin-offering and the trespass-offering.
40 And at the side without, at the ascent to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables:
41 four tables on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate, -- eight tables, whereon they slew [the sacrifice],
42 -- and at the ascent, four tables of hewn stone, of a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereon also they laid the instruments with which they slew the burnt-offering and the sacrifice.
43 And the double hooks of a hand breadth were fastened round about within; and upon the tables [they put] the flesh of the offering.
44 And outside the inner gate were two cells in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate, and its front towards the south; the other was at the side of the south gate, the front towards the north.
45 And he said unto me, This cell whose front is towards the south is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.
46 And the cell whose front is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, those who, from among the sons of Levi, approach unto Jehovah to minister unto him.
47 And he measured the court, the length a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits, four square: and the altar was before the house.
48 And he brought me to the porch of the house; and he measured the post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side; and the breadth of the gate, three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, even by the steps whereby they went up to it; and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and one on that side.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 40
Commentary on Ezekiel 40 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 40
The waters of the sanctuary which this prophet saw in vision (ch. 47:1) are a proper representation of this prophecy. Hitherto the waters have been sometimes but to the ankles, in other places to the knees, or to the loins, but now the waters have risen, and have become "a river which cannot be passed over.' Here is one continued vision, beginning at this chapter, to the end of the book, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions of scripture in all the book of God. The Jews will not allow any to read it till they are thirty years old, and tell those who do read it that, though they cannot understand every thing in it, "when Elias comes he will explain it.' Many commentators, both ancient and modern, have owned themselves at a loss what to make of it and what use to make of it. But because it is hard to be understood we must not therefore throw it by, but humbly search concerning it, get as far as we can into it and as much as we can out of it, and, when we despair of satisfaction in every difficulty we meet with, bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough, and wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. These chapters are the more to be regarded because the last two chapters of the Revelation seem to have a plain allusion to them, as Rev. 20 has to the foregoing prophecy of Gog and Magog. Here is the vision of a glorious temple (in this chapter and ch. 41 and 42), of God's taking possession of it (ch. 43), orders concerning the priests that are to minister in this temple (ch. 44), the division of the land, what portion should be allotted for the sanctuary, what for the city, and what for the prince, both in his government of the people and his worship of God (ch. 45), and further instructions for him and the people, ch. 46. After the vision of the holy waters we have the borders of the holy land, and the portions assigned to the tribes, and the dimensions and gates of the holy city, ch. 47, 48. Some make this to represent what had been during the flourishing state of the Jewish church, how glorious Solomon's temple was in its best days, that the captives might see what they had lost by sin and might be the more humbled. But that seems not probable. The general scope of it I take to be,
In this chapter we have,
Eze 40:1-4
Here is,
Eze 40:5-26
The measuring-reed which was in the hand of the surveyor-general was mentioned before, v. 3. Here we are told (v. 5) what was the exact length of it, which must be observed, because the house was measured by it. It was six cubits long, reckoning, not by the common cubit, but the cubit of the sanctuary, the sacred cubit, by which it was fit that this holy house should be measured, and that was a hand-breadth (that it, four inches) longer than the common cubit: the common cubit was eighteen inches, this twenty-two, see ch. 43:13. Yet some of the critics contend that this measuring-reed was but six common cubits in length, and one handbreadth added to the whole. The former seems more probable. Here is an account,
Eze 40:27-38
In these verses we have a delineation of the inner court. The survey of the outer court ended with the south side of it. This of the inner court begins with the south side (v. 27), proceeds to the east (v. 32), and so to the north (v. 35); for here is no gate either of the outer or inner court towards the west. It should seem that in Solomon's temple there were gates westward, for we find porters towards the west, 1 Chr. 9:24; 26:8. But Josephus says that in the second temple there was no gate on the west side. Observe,
Eze 40:39-49
In these verses we have an account,