KJV
Ezekiel 40-44
Ezekiel 40
1¶ In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth [day] of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.
2In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which [was] as the frame of a city on the south.
3And he brought me thither, and, behold, [there was] a man, whose appearance [was] like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
4And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew [them] unto thee [art] thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
5¶ And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits [long] by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
6Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, [which was] one reed broad; and the other threshold [of the gate, which was] one reed broad.
7And [every] little chamber [was] one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers [were] five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within [was] one reed.
8He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed.
9Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate [was] inward.
10And the little chambers of the gate eastward [were] three on this side, and three on that side; they three [were] of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
11And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; [and] the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
12The space also before the little chambers [was] one cubit [on this side], and the space [was] one cubit on that side: and the little chambers [were] six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
13He measured then the gate from the roof of [one] little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth [was] five and twenty cubits, door against door.
14He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate.
15And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate [were] fifty cubits.
16And [there were] narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows [were] round about inward: and upon [each] post [were] palm trees.
17Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, [there were] chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers [were] upon the pavement.
18And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates [was] the lower pavement.
19Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward.
20And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof.
21And the little chambers thereof [were] three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof [was] fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
22And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, [were] after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof [were] before them.
23And the gate of the inner court [was] over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits.
24After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures.
25And [there were] windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length [was] fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
26And [there were] seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof [were] before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.
27¶ And [there was] a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits.
28And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;
29And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and [there were] windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: [it was] fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
30And the arches round about [were] five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad.
31And the arches thereof [were] toward the utter court; and palm trees [were] upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it [had] eight steps.
32And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures.
33And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, [were] according to these measures: and [there were] windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: [it was] fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
34And the arches thereof [were] toward the outward court; and palm trees [were] upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it [had] eight steps.
35And he brought me to the north gate, and measured [it] according to these measures;
36The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length [was] fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
37And the posts thereof [were] toward the utter court; and palm trees [were] upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it [had] eight steps.
38And the chambers and the entries thereof [were] by the posts of the gates, where they washed 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.
40And at the side without, as one goeth up 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.
41Four tables [were] on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew [their sacrifices].
42And the four tables [were] of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
43And within [were] hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables [was] the flesh of the offering.
44And without the inner gate [were] the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which [was] at the side of the north gate; and their prospect [was] toward the south: one at the side of the east gate [having] the prospect toward the north.
45And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect [is] toward the south, [is] for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.
46And the chamber whose prospect [is] toward the north [is] for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these [are] the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto him.
47So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar [that was] before the house.
48And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured [each] post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate [was] three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
49The length of the porch [was] twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and [he brought me] by the steps whereby they went up to it: and [there were] pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.
Ezekiel 41
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.
2And 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.
3Then 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.
4So 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].
5After 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.
6And 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.
7And [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.
8I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers [were] a full reed of six great cubits.
9The 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.
10And between the chambers [was] the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
11And 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¶ 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.
13So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long;
14Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits.
15And 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;
16The 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;
17To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.
18And [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;
19So that the face of a man [was] toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: [it was] made through all the house round about.
20From the ground unto above the door [were] cherubims and palm trees made, and [on] the wall of the temple.
21The posts of the temple [were] squared, [and] the face of the sanctuary; the appearance [of the one] as the appearance [of the other].
22The 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.
23And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
24And the doors had two leaves [apiece], two turning leaves; two [leaves] for the one door, and two leaves for the other [door].
25And [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.
26And [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.
Ezekiel 42
1¶ Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that [was] over against the separate place, and which [was] before the building toward the north.
2Before the length of an hundred cubits [was] the north door, and the breadth [was] fifty cubits.
3Over against the twenty [cubits] which [were] for the inner court, and over against the pavement which [was] for the utter court, [was] gallery against gallery in three [stories].
4And before the chambers [was] a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north.
5Now the upper chambers [were] shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building.
6For they [were] in three [stories], but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore [the building] was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.
7And the wall that [was] without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof [was] fifty cubits.
8For the length of the chambers that [were] in the utter court [was] fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple [were] an hundred cubits.
9And from under these chambers [was] the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court.
10The chambers [were] in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building.
11And the way before them [was] like the appearance of the chambers which [were] toward the north, as long as they, [and] as broad as they: and all their goings out [were] both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.
12And according to the doors of the chambers that [were] toward the south [was] a door in the head of the way, [even] the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.
13Then said he unto me, The north chambers [and] the south chambers, which [are] before the separate place, they [be] holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place [is] holy.
14When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy [place] into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they [are] holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to [those things] which [are] for the people.
15¶ Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect [is] toward the east, and measured it round about.
16He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
17He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
18He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.
19He turned about to the west side, [and] measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
20He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred [reeds] long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
Ezekiel 43
1¶ Afterward he brought me to the gate, [even] the gate that looketh toward the east:
2And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice [was] like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
3And [it was] according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, [even] according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions [were] like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
4And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect [is] toward the east.
5So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
6And I heard [him] speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.
7¶ And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, [neither] they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
8In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.
9Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
10Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.
11And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write [it] in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
12This [is] the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about [shall be] most holy. Behold, this [is] the law of the house.
13¶ And these [are] the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit [is] a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom [shall be] a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about [shall be] a span: and this [shall be] the higher place of the altar.
14And from the bottom [upon] the ground [even] to the lower settle [shall be] two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle [even] to the greater settle [shall be] four cubits, and the breadth [one] cubit.
15So the altar [shall be] four cubits; and from the altar and upward [shall be] four horns.
16And the altar [shall be] twelve [cubits] long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.
17And the settle [shall be] fourteen [cubits] long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it [shall be] half a cubit; and the bottom thereof [shall be] a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east.
18And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These [are] the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.
19And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.
20And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put [it] on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.
21Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.
22And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse [it] with the bullock.
23When thou hast made an end of cleansing [it], thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
24And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up [for] a burnt offering unto the LORD.
25Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat [for] a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.
26Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.
27And when these days are expired, it shall be, [that] upon the eighth day, and [so] forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 44
1¶ Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it [was] shut.
2Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
3[It is] for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of [that] gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
4¶ Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.
5And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.
6And thou shalt say to the rebellious, [even] to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,
7In that ye have brought [into my sanctuary] strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, [even] my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.
8And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
9Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that [is] among the children of Israel.
10¶ And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.
11Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, [having] charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
12Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.
13And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy [place]: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
14But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
15But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
16They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
17¶ And it shall come to pass, [that] when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
18They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird [themselves] with any thing that causeth sweat.
19And when they go forth into the utter court, [even] into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
20Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
21Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
22Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.
23And they shall teach my people [the difference] between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; [and] they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
25And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
26And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
27And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD.
28And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I [am] their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I [am] their possession.
29They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30And the first of all the firstfruits of all [things], and every oblation of all, of every [sort] of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.
31The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.
Study This Passage
Key Words and Topics
These study connections are drawn from the internal BSB concordance and topical index imported into Daily Bread Intake.
Key Words in This Passage
Select a word to open the full concordance search.
Related Topics
Alliance and Society with the Enemies of God: Israel Ezekiel 44:7
In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
Altar in Solomon's Temple: Ezekiel's Vision of Ezekiel 43:13–27
These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar: / The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. / The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth.
Altar in the Tabernacle: See Ezekiel 43:18–27
Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it: / You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD. / You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it.
Altar: See Ezekiel 43:13
These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:
Blood: Sacrificial: Sprinkled on Altar and People Ezekiel 43:18, 20
Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it: / You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it.
Bonnet: Worn by Priests Ezekiel 44:18
They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.
Breeches for the Priests Ezekiel 44:18
They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.
Chebar: A River of Mesopotamia Ezekiel 43:3
The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,
Cherubim in Ezekiel's Vision of the Temple Ezekiel 41:18–20, 25
were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces: / the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple. / Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance.
Christian Minister: Duties of Ezekiel 44:23
They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.
Christian Minister: Emoluments (Benefits) of Ezekiel 44:28
In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
Christian Minister: False and Corrupt Ezekiel 44:8, 10
And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’ / Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.
Church of Israel: Persons Excluded From Ezekiel 44:7, 9
In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant. / This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.
Church: Holy Place Ezekiel 41:4
Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
Church: House of the Lord Ezekiel 44:4
Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown.
Church: Membership In Ezekiel 44:6, 7, 9
Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. / In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant. / This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.
Church: Place of God's Throne Ezekiel 43:7
and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths.
Church: Sanctuary Ezekiel 42:20
So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.
Circumcision: Necessary to Enjoying the Privileges of the Jewish State Ezekiel 44:7
In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
Courts of Justice: Judges of To Decide According to the Law Ezekiel 44:24
In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.
Cubit: A Measure of Distance Ezekiel 40:5
And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.
Dedication: Things Dedicated to God for Support of Priests Ezekiel 44:29
They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.
Defilement of Priests Ezekiel 44:25, 26
A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so, / and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself.
Dough: Part of, for Priest Ezekiel 44:30
The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.
Select a topic to open the full topical search.
Bible Dictionary
Related Dictionary Terms
Explore people, places, themes, and biblical terms connected to this passage.
Commentary Insights
Study and Reflection
Explore devotional and study commentary connected to this passage.
Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
Pastoral and devotional reflections focused on spiritual formation and application.
Ezekiel 40:1-999 Chapter 40
The Vision of the Temple. Here is a vision, beginning at Ezek. 40, and continued to the end of the book, Ezek. 48, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God. When we despair to be satisfied as to any difficulty we meet with, let us bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough; and let us wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. This chapter describes two outward courts of the temple. Whether the personage here mentioned was the Son of God, or a created angel, is not clear. But Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice, to whom we must look with faith in all approaches to God; and he is Salvation in the midst of the earth, Ps. 74:12, to be looked unto from all quarters.
Ezekiel 41:1-999 Chapter 41
After the prophet had observed the courts, he was brought to the temple. If we attend to instructions in the plainer parts of religion, and profit by them, we shall be led further into an acquaintance with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
Ezekiel 42:1-999 Chapter 42
In this chapter are described the priests' chambers, their use, and the dimensions of the holy mount on which the temple stood. These chambers were many. Jesus said, In my Father's house are many mansions: in his house on earth there are many; multitudes, by faith, are lodging in his sanctuary, and yet there is room. These chambers, though private, were near the temple. Our religious services in our chambers, must prepare for public devotions, and further us in improving them, as our opportunities are.
Ezekiel 43:1-999 Chapter 43
After Ezekiel had surveyed the temple of God, he had a vision of the glory of God. When Christ crucified, and the things freely given to us of God, through Him, are shown to us by the Holy Ghost, they make us ashamed for our sins. This frame of mind prepares us for fuller discoveries of the mysteries of redeeming love; and the whole of the Scriptures should be opened and applied, that men may see their sins, and repent of them. We are not now to offer any atoning sacrifices, for by one offering Christ has perfected for ever those that are sanctified, Heb. 10:14; but the sprinkling of his blood is needful in all our approaches to God the Father. Our best services can be accepted only as sprinkled with the blood which cleanses from all sin.
Ezekiel 44:1-999 Chapter 44
This chapter contains ordinances relative to the true priests. The prince evidently means Christ, and the words in Ezek. 44:2, may remind us that no other can enter heaven, the true sanctuary, as Christ did; namely, by virtue of his own excellency, and his personal holiness, righteousness, and strength. He who is the Brightness of Jehovah's glory entered by his own holiness; but that way is shut to the whole human race, and we all must enter as sinners, by faith in his blood, and by the power of his grace.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary
Historical, contextual, and verse-level study notes for deeper biblical exploration.
Ezekiel 40:1 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
beginning of the year--the ecclesiastical year, the first month of which was Nisan. the city ... thither--Jerusalem, the center to which all the prophet's thoughts tended.
Ezekiel 40:1-49 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
Give an Ideal Picture of the Restored Jewish Temple. The arrangements as to the land and the temple are, in many particulars, different from those subsisting before the captivity. There are things in it so improbable physically as to preclude a purely literal interpretation. The general truth seems to hold good that, as Israel served the nations for his rejection of Messiah, so shall they serve him in the person of Messiah, when he shall acknowledge Messiah (Isa 60:12; Zec 14:17-19; compare Ps 72:11). The ideal temple exhibits, under Old Testament forms (used as being those then familiar to the men whom Ezekiel, a priest himself, and one who delighted in sacrificial images, addresses), not the precise literal outline, but the essential character of the worship of Messiah as it shall be when He shall exercise sway in Jerusalem among His own people, the Jews, and thence to the ends of the earth. The very fact that the whole is a vision (Eze 40:2), not an oral face-to-face communication such as that granted to Moses (Nu 12:6-8), implies that the directions are not to be understood so precisely literally as those given to the Jewish lawgiver. The description involves things which, taken literally, almost involve natural impossibilities. The square of the temple, in Eze 42:20, is six times as large as the circuit of the wall enclosing the old temple, and larger than all the earthly Jerusalem. Ezekiel gives three and a half miles and one hundred forty yards to his temple square. The boundaries of the ancient city were about two and a half miles. Again, the city in Ezekiel has an area between three or four thousand square miles, including the holy ground set apart for the prince, priests, and Levites. This is nearly as large as the whole of Judea west of the Jordan. As Zion lay in the center of the ideal city, the one-half of the sacred portion extended to nearly thirty miles south of Jerusalem, that is, covered nearly the whole southern territory, which reached only to the Dead Sea (Eze 47:19), and yet five tribes were to have their inheritance on that side of Jerusalem, beyond the sacred portion (Eze 48:23-28). Where was land to be found for them there? A breadth of but four or five miles apiece would be left. As the boundaries of the land are given the same as under Moses, these incongruities cannot be explained away by supposing physical changes about to be effected in the land such as will meet the difficulties of the purely literal interpretation. The distribution of the land is in equal portions among the twelve tribes, without respect to their relative numbers, and the parallel sections running from east to west. There is a difficulty also in the supposed separate existence of the twelve tribes, such separate tribeships no longer existing, and it being hard to imagine how they could be restored as distinct tribes, mingled as they now are. So the stream that issued from the east threshold of the temple and flowed into the Dead Sea, in the rapidity of its increase and the quality of its waters, is unlike anything ever known in Judea or elsewhere in the world. Lastly, the catholicity of the Christian dispensation, and the spirituality of its worship, seem incompatible with a return to the local narrowness and "beggarly elements" of the Jewish ritual and carnal ordinances, disannulled "because of the unprofitableness thereof" [Fairbairn], (Ga 4:3, 9; 5:1; Heb 9:10; 10:18). "A temple with sacrifices now would be a denial of the all-sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ. He who sacrificed before confessed the Messiah. He who should sacrifice now would solemnly deny Him" [Douglas]. These difficulties, however, may be all seeming, not real. Faith accepts God's Word as it is, waits for the event, sure that it will clear up all such difficulties. Perhaps, as some think, the beau ideal of a sacred commonwealth is given according to the then existing pattern of temple services, which would be the imagery most familiar to the prophet and his hearers at the time. The minute particularizing of details is in accordance with Ezekiel's style, even in describing purely ideal scenes. The old temple embodied in visible forms and rites spiritual truths affecting the people even when absent from it. So this ideal temple is made in the absence of the outward temple to serve by description the same purpose of symbolical instruction as the old literal temple did by forms and acts. As in the beginning God promised to be a "sanctuary" (Eze 11:16) to the captives at the Chebar, so now at the close is promised a complete restoration and realization of the theocratic worship and polity under Messiah in its noblest ideal (compare Jer 31:38-40). In Re 21:22 "no temple" is seen, as in the perfection of the new dispensation the accidents of place and form are no longer needed to realize to Christians what Ezekiel imparts to Jewish minds by the imagery familiar to them. In Ezekiel's temple holiness stretches over the entire temple, so that in this there is no longer a distinction between the different parts, as in the old temple: parts left undeterminate in the latter obtain now a divine sanction, so that all arbitrariness is excluded. So that it is be a perfect manifestation of the love of God to His covenant-people (Eze 40:1-43:12); and from it, as from a new center of religious life, there gushes forth the fulness of blessings to them, and so to all people (Eze 47:1-23) [Fairbairn and Havernick]. The temple built at the return from Babylon can only very partially have realized the model here given. The law is seemingly opposed to the gospel (Mt 5:21, 22, 27, 28, 33, 34). It is not really so (compare Mt 5:17, 18; Ro 3:31; Ga 3:21, 22). It is true Christ's sacrifice superseded the law sacrifices (Heb 10:12-18). Israel's province may hereafter be to show the essential identity, even in the minute details of the temple sacrifices, between the law and gospel (Ro 10:8). The ideal of the theocratic temple will then first be realized.
Ezekiel 40:2 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
visions of God--divinely sent visions. very high mountain--Moriah, very high, as compared with the plains of Babylon, still more so as to its moral elevation (Eze 17:22; 20:40). by which--Ezekiel coming from the north is set down at (as the Hebrew for "upon" may be translated) Mount Moriah, and sees the city-like frame of the temple stretching southward. In Eze 40:3, "God brings him thither," that is, close up to it, so as to inspect it minutely (compare Re 21:10). In this closing vision, as in the opening one of the book, the divine hand is laid on the prophet, and he is borne away in the visions of God. But the scene there was by the Chebar, Jehovah having forsaken Jerusalem; now it is the mountain of God, Jehovah having returned thither; there, the vision was calculated to inspire terror; here, hope and assurance.
Ezekiel 40:3 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
man--The Old Testament manifestations of heavenly beings as men prepared men's minds for the coming incarnation. brass--resplendent. line--used for longer measurements (Zec 2:1). reed--used in measuring houses (Re 21:15). It marked the straightness of the walls.
Ezekiel 40:5 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
Measures were mostly taken from the human body. The greater cubit, the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, a little more than two feet: exceeding the ordinary cubit (from the elbow to the wrist) by an hand-breadth, that is, twenty-one inches in all. Compare Eze 43:13, with Eze 40:5. The palm was the full breadth of the hand, three and a half inches. breadth of the building--that is, the boundary wall. The imperfections in the old temple's boundary wall were to have no place here. The buildings attached to it had been sometimes turned to common uses; for example, Jeremiah was imprisoned in one (Jer 20:2; 29:26). But now all these were to be holy to the Lord. The gates and doorways to the city of God were to be imprinted in their architecture with the idea of the exclusion of everything defiled (Re 21:27). The east gate was to be especially sacred, as it was through it the glory of God had departed (Eze 11:23), and through it the glory was to return (Eze 43:1, 2; 44:2, 3).
Ezekiel 40:6 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
the stairs--seven in number (Eze 40:26). threshold--the sill [Fairbairn]. other threshold--Fairbairn considers there is but one threshold, and translates, "even the one threshold, one rod broad." But there is another threshold mentioned in Eze 40:7. The two thresholds here seem to be the upper and the lower.
Ezekiel 40:7 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
chamber--These chambers were for the use of the Levites who watched at the temple gates; guard-chambers (2Ki 22:4; 1Ch 9:26, 27); also used for storing utensils and musical instruments.
Ezekiel 40:9 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
posts--projecting column-faced fronts of the sides of the doorway, opposite to one another.
Ezekiel 40:12 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
space--rather, "the boundary."
Ezekiel 40:16 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
narrow--latticed [Henderson]. The ancients had no glass, so they had them latticed, narrow in the interior of the walls, and widening at the exterior. "Made fast," or "firmly fixed in the chambers" [Maurer]. arches--rather, "porches."
Ezekiel 40:17 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
pavement--tesselated mosaic (Es 1:6). chambers--serving as lodgings for the priests on duty in the temple, and as receptacles of the tithes of salt, wine, and oil.
Ezekiel 40:18 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
The higher pavement was level with the entrance of the gates, the lower was on either side of the raised pavement thus formed. Whereas Solomon's temple had an outer court open to alterations and even idolatrous innovations (2Ki 23:11, 12; 1Ch 20:5), in this there was to be no room for human corruptions. Its compass was exactly defined, one hundred cubits; and the fine pavement implied it was to be trodden only by clean feet (compare Isa 35:8). 20-27. The different approaches corresponded in plan. In the case of these two other gates, however, no mention is made of a building with thirty chambers such as was found on the east side. Only one was needed, and it was assigned to the east as being the sacred quarter, and that most conveniently situated for the officiating priests.
Ezekiel 40:23 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
and toward the east--an elliptical expression for "The gate of the inner court was over against the (outer) gate toward the north (just as the inner gate was over against the outer gate) toward the east." 28-37. The inner court and its gates. according to these measures--namely, the measures of the outer gate. The figure and proportions of the inner answered to the outer.
Ezekiel 40:30 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
This verse is omitted in the Septuagint, the Vatican manuscript, and others. The dimensions here of the inner gate do not correspond to the outer, though Eze 40:28 asserts that they do. Havernick, retaining the verse, understands it of another porch looking inwards toward the temple. arches--the porch [Fairbairn]; the columns on which the arches rest [Henderson].
Ezekiel 40:31 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
eight steps--The outer porch had only seven (Eze 40:26).
Ezekiel 40:37 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
posts--the Septuagint and Vulgate read, "the porch," which answers better to Eze 40:31-34. "The arches" or "porch" [Maurer].
Ezekiel 40:38 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
chambers ... entries--literally, "a chamber and its door." by the posts--that is, at or close by the posts or columns. where they washed the burnt offering--This does not apply to all the gates but only to the north gate. For Le 1:11 directs the sacrifices to be killed north of the altar; and Eze 8:5 calls the north gate, "the gate of the altar." And Eze 40:40 particularly mentions the north gate.
Ezekiel 40:43 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
hooks--cooking apparatus for cooking the flesh of the sacrifices that fell to the priests. The hooks were "fastened" in the walls within the apartment, to hang the meat from, so as to roast it. The Hebrew comes from a root "fixed" or "placed."
Ezekiel 40:44 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
the chambers of the singers--two in number, as proved by what follows: "and their prospect (that is, the prospect of one) was toward the south, (and) one toward the north." So the Septuagint.
Ezekiel 40:46 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
Zadok--lineally descended from Aaron. He had the high priesthood conferred on him by Solomon, who had set aside the family of Ithamar because of the part which Abiathar had taken in the rebellion of Adonijah (1Ki 1:7; 2:26, 27).
Ezekiel 40:47 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
court, an hundred cubits ... foursquare--not to be confounded with the inner court, or court of Israel, which was open to all who had sacrifices to bring, and went round the three sides of the sacred territory, one hundred cubits broad. This court was one hundred cubits square, and had the altar in it, in front of the temple. It was the court of the priests, and hence is connected with those who had charge of the altar and the music. The description here is brief, as the things connected with this portion were from the first divinely regulated.
Ezekiel 40:48-49 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
These two verses belong to the forty-first chapter, which treats of the temple itself.
Ezekiel 40:49 The Remaining Chapters, the Fortieth through Forty-eighth,
twenty ... eleven cubits--in Solomon's temple (1Ki 6:3) "twenty ... ten cubits." The breadth perhaps was ten and a half; 1Ki 6:3 designates the number by the lesser next round number, "ten"; Ezekiel here, by the larger number, "eleven" [Menochius]. The Septuagint reads "twelve." he brought me by the steps--They were ten in number [Septuagint].
Ezekiel 41:1 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
tabernacle--As in the measurement of the outer porch he had pointed to Solomon's temple, so here in the edifice itself, he points to the old tabernacle, which being eight boards in breadth (each one and a half cubits broad) would make in all twelve cubits, as here. On the interior it was only ten cubits.
Ezekiel 41:2 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
length thereof--namely, of the holy place [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:3 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
inward--towards the most holy place.
Ezekiel 41:4 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
thereof--of the holy of holies. before the temple--that is, before, or in front of the most holy place (so "temple" is used in 1Ki 6:3). The angel went in and measured it, while Ezekiel stood in front, in the only part of the temple accessible to him. The dimensions of the two apartments are the same as in Solomon's temple, since being fixed originally by God, they are regarded as finally determined.
Ezekiel 41:5 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
side chamber--the singular used collectively for the plural. These chambers were appendages attached to the outside of the temple, on the west, north, and south; for on the east side, the principal entrance, there were no chambers. The narrowness of the chambers was in order that the beams could be supported without needing pillars. The plan is similar to that of the hall at Koyunjik, a large central hall, called the oracle, with smaller rooms built round it.
Ezekiel 41:6 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
might ... hold, but ... not hold in ... wall of the house--1Ki 6:6 tells us there were rests made in the walls of the temple for supports to the side chambers; but the temple walls did not thereby become part of this side building; they stood separate from it. "They entered," namely, the beams of the chambers, which were three-storied and thirty in consecutive order, entered into the wall, that is, were made to lean on rests projecting from the wall.
Ezekiel 41:7 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
the breadth ... so increased from the lowest ... to the highest--that is, the breadth of the interior space above was greater than that below.
Ezekiel 41:8 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
foundations ... six ... cubits--the substructure, on which the foundations rested, was a full reed of six cubits. great--literally, "to the extremity" or root, namely, of the hand [Henderson]. "To the joining," or point, where the foundation of one chamber ceased and another began [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:9 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
that which was left--There was an unoccupied place within chambers that belonged to the house. The buildings in this unoccupied place, west of the temple, and so much resembling it in size, imply that no place was to be left which was to be held, as of old, not sacred. Manasseh (2Ki 23:11) had abused these "suburbs of the temple" to keeping horses sacred to the sun. All excuse for such abominations was henceforth to be taken away, the Lord claiming every space, and filling up this also with sacred erections [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:10 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
the chambers--that is, of the priests in the court: between these and the side chambers was the wideness, &c. While long details are given as to the chambers, &c., no mention is made of the ark of the covenant. Fairbairn thus interprets this: In future there was to be a perfect conformity to the divine idea, such as there had not been before. The dwellings of His people should all become true sanctuaries of piety. Jehovah Himself, in the full display of the divine Shekinah, shall come in the room of the ark of the covenant (Jer 3:16, 17). The interior of the temple stands empty, waiting for His entrance to fill it with His glory (Eze 43:1-12). It is the same temple, but the courts of it have become different to accommodate a more numerous people. The entire compass of the temple mount has become a holy of holies (Eze 43:12). 12-15. Sum of the measures of the temple, and of the buildings behind and on the side of it.
Ezekiel 41:15 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
galleries--terrace buildings. On the west or back of the temple, there was a separate place occupied by buildings of the same external dimensions as the temple, that is, one hundred cubits square in the entire compass [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:16 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
covered--being the highest windows they were "covered" from the view below. Or else "covered with lattice-work."
Ezekiel 41:17 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
by measure--Measurements were taken [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 41:21 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
appearance of the one as the appearance of the other--The appearance of the sanctuary or holy of holies was similar to that of the temple. They differed only in magnitude.
Ezekiel 41:22 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
table ... before the Lord--the altar of incense (Eze 44:16). At it, not at the table of showbread, the priests daily ministered. It stood in front of the veil, and is therefore said to be "before the Lord." It is called a table, as being that at which the Lord will take delight in His people, as at a feast. Hence its dimensions are larger than that of old--three cubits high, two broad, instead of two and one.
Ezekiel 41:25 The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.
thick planks--a thick-plank work at the threshold.
Ezekiel 42:2 Chambers of the Priests: Measurements of the Temple.
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.
Ezekiel 42:5 Chambers of the Priests: Measurements of the Temple.
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.
Ezekiel 42:16 Chambers of the Priests: Measurements of the Temple.
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).
Ezekiel 42:20 Chambers of the Priests: Measurements of the Temple.
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.
Ezekiel 43:1-27 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
Everything was now ready for His reception. As the Shekinah glory was the peculiar distinction of the old temple, so it was to be in the new in a degree as much more transcendent as the proportions of the new exceeded those of the old. The fact that the Shekinah glory was not in the second temple proves that it cannot be that temple which is meant in the prophecy.
Ezekiel 43:2 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
the way of the east--the way whereby the glory had departed (Eze 11:22, 23), and rested on Mount Olivet (compare Zec 14:4). his voice ... like ... many waters--So English Version rightly, as in Eze 1:24, "voice of the Almighty"; Re 1:15; 14:2, prove this. Not as Fairbairn translates, "its noise." earth his glory--(Re 18:1).
Ezekiel 43:3 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
when I came to destroy the city--that is, to pronounce God's word for its destruction. So completely did the prophets identify themselves with Him in whose name they spake.
Ezekiel 43:6 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
the man--who had been measuring the buildings (Eze 40:3).
Ezekiel 43:7 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
the place--that is, "behold the place of My throne"--the place on which your thoughts have so much dwelt (Isa 2:1-3; Jer 3:17; Zec 14:16-20; Mal 3:1). God from the first claimed to be their King politically as well as religiously: and He had resisted their wish to have a human king, as implying a rejection of Him as the proper Head of the state. Even when He yielded to their wish, it was with a protest against their king ruling except as His vicegerent. When Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, He shall then first realize the original idea of the theocracy, with its at once divine and human king reigning in righteousness over a people all righteous (Eze 43:12; Isa 52:1; 54:13; 60:21).
Ezekiel 43:9 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
carcasses of their kings--It is supposed that some of their idolatrous kings were buried within the bounds of Solomon's temple [Henderson]. Rather, "the carcasses of their idols," here called "kings," as having had lordship over them in past times (Isa 26:13); but henceforth Jehovah, alone their rightful lord, shall be their king, and the idols that had been their "king" would appear but as "carcasses." Hence these defunct kings are associated with the "high places" in Eze 43:7 [Fairbairn]. Le 26:30 and Jer 16:18, confirm this. Manasseh had built altars in the courts of the temple to the host of heaven (2Ki 21:5; 23:6). I will dwell in the midst ... for ever--(Re 21:3).
Ezekiel 43:10 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
show the house ... that they may be ashamed of their iniquities--When the spirituality of the Christian scheme is shown to men by the Holy Ghost, it makes them "ashamed of their iniquities."
Ezekiel 43:12 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
whole ... most holy--This superlative, which had been used exclusively of the holy of holies (Ex 26:34), was now to characterize the entire building. This all-pervading sanctity was to be "the law of the (whole) house," as distinguished from the Levitical law, which confined the peculiar sanctity to a single apartment of it. 13-27. As to the altar of burnt offering, which was the appointed means of access to God.
Ezekiel 43:15 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
altar--Hebrew, Harel, that is, "mount of God"; denoting the high security to be imparted by it to the restored Israel. It was a high place, but a high place of God, not of idols. from the altar--literally, "the lion of God," Ariel (in Isa 29:1, "Ariel" is applied to Jerusalem). Menochius supposes that on it four animals were carved; the lion perhaps was the uppermost, whence the horns were made to issue. Gesenius regards the two words as expressing the "hearth" or fireplace of the altar.
Ezekiel 43:16 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
square in the four squares--square on the four sides of its squares [Fairbairn].
Ezekiel 43:17 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
settle--ledge [Fairbairn]. stairs--rather, "the ascent," as "steps" up to God's altar were forbidden in Ex 20:26. 18-27. The sacrifices here are not mere commemorative, but propitiatory ones. The expressions, "blood" (Eze 43:18), and "for a sin offering" (Eze 43:19, 21, 22), prove this. In the literal sense they can only apply to the second temple. Under the Christian dispensation they would directly oppose the doctrine taught in Heb 10:1-18, namely, that Christ has by one offering for ever atoned for sin. However, it is possible that they might exist with a retrospective reference to Christ's sufferings, as the Levitical sacrifices had a prospective reference to them; not propitiatory in themselves, but memorials to keep up the remembrance of His propitiatory sufferings, which form the foundation of His kingdom, lest they should be lost sight of in the glory of that kingdom [De Burgh]. The particularity of the directions make it unlikely that they are to be understood in a merely vague spiritual sense.
Ezekiel 43:20 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
cleanse--literally, "make expiation for."
Ezekiel 43:21 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
burn it ... without the sanctuary--(Heb 13:11).
Ezekiel 43:26 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
Seven days--referring to the original directions of Moses for seven days' purification services of the altar (Ex 29:37). consecrate themselves--literally, "fill their hands," namely, with offerings; referring to the mode of consecrating a priest (Ex 29:24, 35).
Ezekiel 43:27 Jehovah's Return to the Temple.
I will accept you--(Eze 20:40, 41; Ro 12:1; 1Pe 2:5).
Ezekiel 44:2 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
shut ... not be opened--(Job 12:14; Isa 22:22; Re 3:7). "Shut" to the people (Ex 19:21, 22), but open to "the prince" (Eze 44:3), he holding the place of God in political concerns, as the priests do in spiritual. As a mark of respect to an Eastern monarch, the gate by which he enters is thenceforth shut to all other persons (compare Ex 19:24).
Ezekiel 44:3 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
the prince--not King Messiah, as He never would offer a burnt offering for Himself, as the prince is to do (Eze 46:4). The prince must mean the civil ruler under Messiah. His connection with the east gate (by which the Lord had returned to His temple) implies, that, as ruling under God, he is to stand in a place of peculiar nearness to God. He represents Messiah, who entered heaven, the true sanctuary, by a way that none other could, namely, by His own holiness; all others must enter as sinners by faith in His blood, through grace. eat bread before the Lord--a custom connected with sacrifices (Ge 31:54; Ex 18:12; 24:11; 1Co 10:18). 4-6. Directions as to the priests. Their acts of desecration are attributed to "the house of Israel" (Eze 44:6, 7), as the sins of the priesthood and of the people acted and reacted on one another; "like people, like priest" (Jer 5:31; Ho 4:9).
Ezekiel 44:7 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
uncircumcised in heart--Israelites circumcised outwardly, but wanting the true circumcision of the heart (De 10:16; Ac 7:51). uncircumcised in flesh--not having even the outward badge of the covenant-people.
Ezekiel 44:8 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
keepers ... for yourselves--such as you yourselves thought fit, not such as I approve of. Or else, "Ye have not yourselves kept the charge of My holy things, but have set others as keepers of My charge in My sanctuary for yourselves" [Maurer].
Ezekiel 44:10-11 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
Levites ... shall ... bear--namely, the punishment of their iniquity ... Yet they shall be ministers--So Mark, a Levite, nephew of Barnabas (Ac 4:36), was punished by Paul for losing an opportunity of bearing the cross of Christ, and yet was afterwards admitted into his friendship again, and showed his zeal (Ac 13:13; 15:37; Col 4:10; 2Ti 4:11). One may be a believer, and that too in a distinguished place, and yet lose some special honor--be acknowledged as pious, yet be excluded from some dignity [Bengel]. charge at the gates--Better to be "a doorkeeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Ps 84:10). Though standing as a mere doorkeeper, it is in the house of God, which hath foundations: whereas he who dwells with the wicked, dwells in but shifting tents.
Ezekiel 44:15 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
Zadok--The priests of the line of Ithamar were to be discharged from ministrations in the temple, because of their corruptions, following in the steps of Eli's sons, against whom the same denunciation was uttered (1Sa 2:32, 35). Zadok, according to his name (which means "righteous") and his line, were to succeed (1Ki 2:35; 1Ch 24:3), as they did not take part in the general apostasy to the same degree, and perhaps [Fairbairn] the prophet, referring to their original state, speaks of them as they appeared when first chosen to the office.
Ezekiel 44:17 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
linen--symbolical of purity. Wool soon induces perspiration in the sultry East and so becomes uncleanly.
Ezekiel 44:18 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
bonnets--turbans.
Ezekiel 44:19 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
not sanctify the people with their garments--namely, those peculiarly priestly vestments in which they ministered in the sanctuary.
Ezekiel 44:20 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
Neither ... shave ... heads--as mourners do (Le 21:1-5). The worshippers of the Egyptian idols Serapis and Isis shaved their heads; another reason why Jehovah's priests are not to do so. nor suffer ... locks to grow long--as the luxurious, barbarians, and soldiers in warfare did [Jerome].
Ezekiel 44:21 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
Neither ... wine--lest the holy enthusiasm of their devotion should be mistaken for inebriation, as in Peter's case (Ac 2:13, 15, 18).
Ezekiel 44:28 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
I am their inheritance--(Nu 18:20; De 10:9; 18:1; Jos 13:14, 32).
Ezekiel 44:30 Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
give ... priest the first ... that he may cause the blessing to rest--(Pr 3:9, 10; Mal 3:10).