4 And at the front of the chambers `is' a walk of ten cubits in breadth unto the inner part, a way of one cubit, and their openings `are' at the north.
5 And the upper chambers `are' short, for the galleries contain more than these, than the lower, and than the middle one, of the building;
6 for they `are' threefold, and they have no pillars as the pillars of the court, therefore it hath been kept back -- more than the lower and than the middle one -- from the ground.
7 As to the wall that `is' at the outside, over-against the chambers, the way of the outer-court at the front of the chambers, its length `is' fifty cubits;
8 for the length of the chambers that `are' to the outer court `is' fifty cubits, and of those on the front of the temple a hundred cubits.
9 And under these chambers `is' the entrance from the east, in one's going into them from the outer court.
10 In the breadth of the wall of the court eastward, unto the front of the separate place, and unto the front of the building, `are' chambers.
11 And the way before them `is' as the appearance of the chambers that `are' northward, according to their length so `is' their breadth, and all their outlets, and according to their fashions, and according to their openings.
12 And according to the openings of the chambers that `are' southward `is' an opening at the head of the way, the way directly in the front of the wall eastward in entering them.
13 And he saith unto me, `The north chambers, the south chambers, that `are' at the front of the separate place, they `are' holy chambers, where the priests (who `are' near to Jehovah) eat the most holy things, there they place the most holy things, and the present, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering, for the place `is' holy.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 42
Commentary on Ezekiel 42 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 42
Eze 42:1-20. Chambers of the Priests: Measurements of the Temple.
2. Before the length of an hundred cubits—that is, before "the separate place," which was that length (Eze 41:13). He had before spoken of chambers for the officiating priests on the north and south gates of the inner court (Eze 40:44-46). He now returns to take a more exact view of them.
5. shorter—that is, the building became narrower as it rose in height. The chambers were many: so "in My Father's house are many mansions" (Joh 14:2); and besides these there was much "room" still left (compare Lu 14:22). The chambers, though private, were near the temple. Prayer in our chambers is to prepare us for public devotions, and to help us in improving them.
16. five hundred reeds—the Septuagint substitutes "cubits" for "reeds," to escape the immense compass assigned to the whole, namely, a square of five hundred rods or three thousand cubits (two feet each; Eze 40:5), in all a square of one and one-seventh miles, that is, more than all ancient Jerusalem; also, there is much space thus left unappropriated. Fairbairn rightly supports English Version, which agrees with the Hebrew. The vast extent is another feature marking the ideal character of the temple. It symbolizes the great enlargement of the kingdom of God, when Jehovah-Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, and from thence to the ends of the earth (Isa 2:2-4; Jer 3:17; Ro 11:12, 15).
20. wall … separation between … sanctuary and … profane—No longer shall the wall of partition be to separate the Jew and the Gentile (Eph 2:14), but to separate the sacred from the profane. The lowness of it renders it unfit for the purpose of defense (the object of the wall, Re 21:12). But its square form (as in the city, Re 21:16) is the emblem of the kingdom that cannot be shaken (Heb 12:28), resting on prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone.