Ezekiel 41:12-26

Ezekiel 41:12. And the building which was in front of the separate place on the west end was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building five cubits broad round about, and its length ninety cubits, lo. And he measured the house an hundred cubits long, and the separate place, and the building and its walls, an hundred cubits long.

Ezekiel 41:14. And the breadth of the front of the house, and of the separate place on the east, an hundred cubits.

Ezekiel 41:15. And he measured the length of the building in front of the separate place, which was upon its back part, and its galleries upon the one side and the other side, an hundred cubits; (By the אַתִּוֶקִים, galleries, are supposed to be meant some sort of terrace building, but the word, being only found in this description of Ezekiel, cannot be defined exactly. Indeed in the account contained in these four verses there is considerable obscurity, so that some have even held, and Böttcher still holds, that it is only the temple that is spoken of. But I think this impossible. The prophet seems plainly to mean, that on the west, or to the back of the temple, there was a separate place occupied as to its greater part by buildings, which were much about the same external dimensions with the temple; both being in their entire compass an hundred cubits square. But in neither case is the description so full as to enable us to make up the different items with anything like certainty.) and (he measured) the inner temple in the porches of the court,

Ezekiel 41:16. The thresholds, and the fixed windows, and the galleries roundabout, with their three (storeys) over against the threshold; of fine wood (or wainscoated with wood) round about, and from the ground up to the carved windows (probably the highest, and as such covered from the view below, though the expression is still peculiar);

Ezekiel 41:17. Above the entrance, even to the interior of the house, and the outside, and to all the wall round about, within and without; measurements (were taken).

Ezekiel 41:18. And there were made cherubim and palm-trees; and a palm-tree was between each cherub; and the cherub had two faces.

Ezekiel 41:19. And the face of a man was toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a lion toward the palm-tree on the other; they were made over all the house round about.

Ezekiel 41:20. From the ground to above the entrance were the cherubim and palm- trees made, and the wall of the temple.

Ezekiel 41:21. The door-posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary was of the well-known appearance (literally, of the appearance according to the appearance, the appearance it was wont to present).

Ezekiel 41:22. The altar of wood was three cubits high, and its length two cubits, and its corners, and its length, and its walls were of wood; and he said to me, “This is the table which is before the Lord.”

Ezekiel 41:23. And there were two doors to the temple and the sanctuary.

Ezekiel 41:24. And the two doors had two leaves, turning-leaves; two leaves for one door, and two for the other.

Ezekiel 41:25. And there were made for them, for the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, like those made on the walls; and a wooden sill-piece (or plank) upon the front of the porch from without.

Ezekiel 41:26. And there were fixed windows, and palm-trees on each hand on the sides of the porch, and the side-chambers of the house, and the sill-pieces (or planks).

The latter part of the description has reference chiefly to the ornamental work which was done upon the walls of the temple, and which is also mentioned in 1 Kings 6. The account here is fuller, though it makes no mention of the flowers and the overlaying with gold, which are found there. What is meant by the עב in Ezekiel 41:25-26 is quite uncertain, but has been conjecturally understood to be some sort of sill-piece or plank about the threshold. Some later writers (Ewald, Hitzig) incline rather to understand it of some peculiar kind of carved work, or settings in the outer porch; but opinions may vary as much as the fancies of men. It will be observed, too, that the only article of sacred furniture mentioned, the altar of incense, is called the Lord's table; and it is again also, at Ezekiel 44:16, referred to under this name: “They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me.” It was at the incense altar, and not at the table of show-bread, that the daily and regular ministrations of the priesthood in the sanctuary proceeded; and it was of this also, which stood in immediate front of the veil, that it could with special propriety be said that it was “before the Lord.” Its being called a table probably referred to the satisfaction and delight with which the Lord was to regard the services, which were henceforth to be offered to him by his renewed people. And possibly on this account, too, the dimensions are given larger than of old three cubits in height and two in breadth, instead of two and one. But the most peculiar part of the description is what relates to the buildings connected with the separate place, so closely adjoining to the temple, in the unoccupied ground on the west, and so much resembling it in size. Nothing is said of their exact intention, nor is there even any particular description of the internal construction. The account as to details is remarkably general and obscure; and why then given at all? To show, as it would seem, that there was now to be no place left, as of old, which might not be held to be sacred ground. It appears to have been there that in Manasseh's time the horses were kept which were consecrated to the sun (2 Kings 23:11), called “the suburbs of the temple.” But all excuse was henceforth to be taken away for such abominations; the Lord laid claim to all for his peculiar service, and had this also filled up with sacred erections.