Ezekiel 41

American Standard Version (1901) (ASV) · English

1 And 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. 2 And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance 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. 3 Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 And 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. 5 Then 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. 6 And the side-chambers were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side-chambers round about, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house. 7 And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest chamber to the highest by the middle chamber. 8 I saw also that the house had a raised basement round about: the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. 9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chambers, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that belonged to the house. 10 And between the chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. 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. 12 And the building that was before the separate place at the side 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. 13 So he measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, a hundred cubits long; 14 also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits. 15 And he measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at the back thereof, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, a hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court; 16 the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the threshold, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows (now the windows were covered), 17 to the space above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. 18 And it was made with cherubim and palm-trees; and a palm-tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces; 19 so that there was the face of a man toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm-tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house round about: 20 from the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm-trees made; thus was the wall of the temple. 21 As for the temple, the door-posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance thereof was as the appearance of the temple. 22 The altar was of wood, 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 Jehovah. 23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other. 25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a threshold of wood upon the face of the porch without. 26 And there were closed windows and palm-trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side-chambers of the house, and the thresholds.

Commentary — not Bible text

Ezekiel 41:1

Introduction

In this chapter the prophet gives us a circumstantial account of the measures, parts, chambers, and ornaments of the temple, vv. 1-26.

Verse 1

To the temple - He had first described the courts and the porch. See chap. 40.

Ezekiel 41:2-3

Verse 2

The breadth of the door - This was the door, or gate, of the sanctuary, (see gates 3, in the plan), and this doorway was filled up with folding gates. The measurements are exactly the same as those of Solomon's temple. See 1Kgs 6:2, 1Kgs 6:17.

Ezekiel 41:4-5

Verse 4

The length thereof, twenty cubits - This is the measurement of the sanctuary, or holy of holies. See G in the plan. This also was the exact measurement of Solomon's temple, see 1Kgs 6:20. This, and the other resemblances here, sufficiently prove that Ezekiel's temple and that of Solomon were on the same plan; and that the latter temple was intended to be an exact resemblance of the former.

Ezekiel 41:6

Verse 6

The side chambers were three - We find by Joseph. Antiq. 8:3, 2, that round Solomon's temple were chambers three stories high, each story consisting of thirty chambers. It is supposed that twelve were placed to the north of the temple, twelve to the south, and six to the east.

Entered into the wall - The beams were admitted into the outer wall, but they rested on projections of the inner wall.

Ezekiel 41:7-8

Verse 7

An enlarging, and a winding about - Perhaps a winding staircase that-widened upward as the inner wall decreased in thickness; this wall being six cubits thick; as high as the first story, five from the floor of the second story to that of the third, and four from the floor to the ceiling of the third story: and thus there was a rest of one cubit in breadth to support the stories. - Newcome.

Ezekiel 41:9-10

Verse 9

The thickness of the wall - See LLL in the plan.

The place of the side chambers - A walk, or gallery of communication along the chambers, five cubits broad, Eze 41:11.

Ezekiel 41:11

Verse 11

And the doors - See the plan, aa. bb.

Ezekiel 41:12

Verse 12

The length thereof ninety cubits - The temple, with the buildings which surrounded it, was eighty-one cubits long; add ten cubits for the vestibule, or five for the breadth of the separate place, and five for its wall; in all, ninety cubits. See the plan, LHIL. By the separate place I suppose the temple itself is meant.

Ezekiel 41:13

Verse 13

So he measured the house - The temple, taken from the wall which encompassed it from the western side to the vestibule, was one hundred and one cubits; five for the separate place, nine for the wall and the chambers attached to the temple, sixty for the sanctuary and the holy place, ten for the vestibule, and twelve for the two great walls on the west and east of the temple; in all, one hundred and one cubits, See the plan, GHI.

Ezekiel 41:14-17

Verse 14

The breadth of the face of the house - That is, the front. See the plan, FRR.

Ezekiel 41:18-19

Verse 18

A palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub - That is, the palm trees and the cherubs were alternated; and each cherub had two faces, one of a lion and the other of a man; one of which was turned to the palm tree on the right, the other to the palm tree on the left.

Ezekiel 41:20-21

Verse 20

From the ground unto above the door - The temple was thirty cubits high, 1Kgs 6:2, the gate was fourteen cubits, chap. Eze 40:48. The palm trees and the cherubim were the same height as the gate or door. The windows were above the door.

Ezekiel 41:22-24

Verse 22

The altar of wood - This was the altar of incense, and was covered with plates of gold.

Ezekiel 41:25-26

Verse 25

There were thick planks - The wood, or planks, were thick and strong; for the cherubim and palm trees were carved in relief out of their substance, and unless they had been of considerable thickness, this could not have been done.

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