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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XLI.

This chapter gives the measurements and describes the ornaments of the Temple itself and its various appurtenances.

(1) Six cubits broad.—These posts, as in other cases, are the parts of the wall at the sides of the entrance. There is an apparent discrepancy between this and the following verse, where “the sides of the door” are said to be “five cubits,” and the latter agrees with the whole width of the house (5 + 10 + 5 = 20.) It is necessary, therefore, to understand the measurement of this verse as taken the other way—as we should say, the side walls of the doors were of the same thickness with the other walls—viz., six cubits. The words which was are not in the original, and tend to give a false impression. Tabernacle or tent is the name by which the sanctuary was known before the erection of the Temple.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 41:1-2. Afterward he brought me to the temple — “After having described the courts and the porch, the prophet enters into the temple, properly so called, whereof he gives the dimensions and description.” And he measured the posts — By the posts are meant the door-cases on each side of the entrance. These were six cubits thick on the north and south sides; which was the breadth of the tabernacle — These walls, in their thickness, took up as much space as the whole breadth of Moses’s tabernacle, as appears from Exodus 26:16; Exodus 26:22-23; where the west side of the tabernacle consists of eight boards, each a cubit and a half broad. The breadth of the door was ten cubits, &c. — The entrance itself being ten cubits broad, and the wall on each side five cubits, makes the breadth of the house to be just twenty cubits, as it is expressed in the latter part of the verse, which was the same in Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings 6:2. And the length forty cubits — Namely, the length of the first sanctuary, or holy place, as distinct from the holy of holies, which was twenty cubits in length, Ezekiel 41:4, and made the whole structure sixty cubits long; wherein it agreed with Solomon’s temple.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

41:1-26 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Temple - Properly the holy place (a), as distinguished from the porch (G) and the holy of holies (B) 1 Kings 6:17; 1 Kings 7:50.

The posts - The outer wall of the temple was six cubits thick Ezekiel 41:5. The eastern posts of this wall forming part of the front of the temple were ornamented with pillars, six cubits on each side.

He measured the breadth - This breadth was twenty cubits Ezekiel 41:2. Omit "which was." "tabernacle" is here the interior (the covered portion) of the temple.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 41

Eze 41:1-26. The Chambers and Ornaments of the Temple.

1. 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.The measures, parts, chambers, and ornaments of the temple.

After the measuring of the courts, &c., now the prophet is brought to see the temple itself measured. The posts; the thickness of the walls (called posts here, as also Ezekiel 40:48) on the north side and on the south side of the gate. Six cubits broad; one whole reed in thickness. These walls in their thickness took up as much space as the whole breadth of Moses’s tabernacle, Exodus 26:22-25, where eight boards, each one cubit and half broad, make just the breadth of the tabernacle, twelve cubits.

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Afterward he brought me to the temple,.... Having measured the porch into it, its posts, and gate. This is the body of the building, which was the "frame" of a city first shown, the principal fabric; for hitherto he had been only measuring the outward and inner courts, and their gates, and what were in them; but now he is come to the house itself, called a temple; by which not only particular Gospel churches are called, 1 Corinthians 3:16, but the Gospel church state in general, Zechariah 6:12, and especially as in the latter day; so the Philadelphian church state, which represents the spiritual reign of Christ, or the glory of the latter day, is called the temple of my God, Revelation 3:12, which will be a holy temple to the Lord where he will dwell in a gracious manner, and be worshipped in spirit and in truth; and here his glory will be seen; it will be built up of precious and costly stones, even living and lively ones; a spiritual house to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise: and, as in the material temple or holy place stood the candlestick and table of shewbread; here the light of the Gospel will burn clearly; and Christ the bread of life be held forth in the ordinance of the supper; where, as at a table, saints shall have intimate fellowship with him:

and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side these were the posts of the door of the temple, and stood on each side of it, on the north and south; and this was the thickness, six cubits or a reed each, three yards and a half; this was the frontispiece of the door of the palace of the King of kings:

which was the breadth of the tabernacle; the tabernacle of Moses; that is, these posts, or this frontispiece, were as broad as the whole tabernacle of Moses was; which had eight boards in the breadth, each board being a cubit and a half, made twelve cubits, just the breadth of these two posts, Exodus 26:16, this shows how far superior the Gospel church is to the old synagogue; how larger is the one, and the entrance into it wider, than the other. Some understand by "the tabernacle" the upper lintel, of the same breadth with the posts; and was in a recurve, and as a covering to the door; so the Jewish commentators, and others that follow them.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ezekiel 41:1-2. Measurement of the “temple,” the holy place, Fig. 2, B

1. The “posts” or jambs of the entrance wall were 6 cubits thick, Fig. 2, cd.

breadth of the tabernacle] Heb. tent. The word does not occur in the prophet except in the compounds Oholah and Oholibah. Read: other side: the breadth of the posts.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - The temple. הַהֵיכָל frequently applied to the whole building (2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chronicles 3:17; Jeremiah 1:28; Haggai 2:15; Zechariah 6:14, 15), is here used of the nave of the temple, the holy place, as distinguished from the holy of holies (comp. 1 Kings 6:5, 17; 1 Kings 7:50). Schroder alone of commentators holds by the extended meaning. The measuring began from the east wall of the holy place. The posts (אֵילִים), as in Ezekiel 40:9, the corner pillars on each side of the entrance, measured six cubits broad, whereas those of the porch measured only five (Ezekiel 40:48). The phrase, The breadth of the tabernacle; or, the tent (הָאהֶל), has occasioned difficulty. Hitzig, Ewald, and Smend propose to substitute for הַאֹהָל the word הָאָיִל ("post"), which might in itself be unobjectionable, only no such device is required to render the clause intelligible. It is sufficient to understand the phrase as signifying that the measurements noted had a special relation to the entire breadth of the temple, here styled "tabernacle," or "tent," to indicate the covered portion of the edifice, which, in this respect, and in respect of its being the place of meeting between Jehovah and Israel, resembled the ancient sanctuary of the wilderness. Ezekiel 41:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Inner Space of the Temple (see Plate III B and C)

Ezekiel 41:1. And he led me into the temple, and measured the pillars, six cubits breadth on this side and six cubits breadth on that side, with regard to the breadth of the tent. Ezekiel 41:2. And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the shoulders of the door, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that: and he measured its length, forty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits. Ezekiel 41:3. And he went within the measured the pillar of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. Ezekiel 41:4. And he measured its length, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, toward the temple; and said to me, This is the holy of holies. - Ezekiel 41:1 and Ezekiel 41:2 give the measurements of the holy place. היכל is used here in the more restricted sense for the nave of the temple, the holy place (B), without the porch and the holy of holies (cf. 1 Kings 6:17). The measuring commences with the front (eastern) wall, in which there was the entrance door. This wall had pillars (e e) of six cubits breadth on either side (on the right hand and the left), and between the pillars a door (d) ten cubits broad, with door-shoulders (e e) of five cubits on this side and that (Ezekiel 41:2). These measurements (6 + 6 + 10 + 5 + 5) yield for the front wall a total breadth of thirty-two cubits. This agrees with the measurements which follow: twenty cubits, the (internal) breadth of the holy place, and six cubits the thickness of the wall (e) on either side (Ezekiel 41:5). The only remaining difficulty is in the very obscure words appended, רחב האהל, in which Ewald and Hitzig propose to alter האהל into האיל otni האהל re, because the lxx have substituted τοῦ αἰλάμ, but without making any improvement, as האיל is still more inexplicable. Kliefoth, after examining the various attempts to explain these words, comes to the conclusion that no other course is left than to take האהל as signifying the inner space of Ezekiel's temple, consisting of the holy place and the holy of holies, which was the same in the entire building as the tabernacle had been, - viz. the tent of God's meeting with His people, and which is designated as אהל to show the substantial identity of this space and the tabernacle. The clause רחב האהל is thus attached to the preceding double מפּה (i.e., to the measurement of the two pillars bounding the holy space), in an elliptical manner, in the following sense: "he measured the breadth of the pillars, on this side and that, which marked off the breadth of the tent, on the outside, that is to say, of the inner space of the holy place which resembled the tabernacle;" so that this clause formed a loose apposition, meaning, "with regard to the breath of the tent." כּתפות הפּתח are the walls on both sides of the door (e e), between the door and the boundary pillars. - The internal length and breadth of the holy place are the same as in the holy place of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:2, 1 Kings 6:17).

Ezekiel 41:3 and Ezekiel 41:4 refer to the holy of holies (c). "He went within." We have וּבא (for ויּבוא) and not ויביאני (Ezekiel 41:1), because the prophet was not allowed to tread the most holy place, and therefore the angel went in alone. פּנימה is defined in Ezekiel 41:4 as the holy of holies. The measurements in Ezekiel 41:3 refer to the partition wall between the holy place and the most holy (g). איל הפּתח, the pillar-work of the door, stands for the pillars on both sides of the door; and the measurement of two cubits no doubt applies to each pillar, denoting, not the thickness, but the breadth which it covered on the wall. There is a difficulty in the double measurement which follows: the door six cubits, and the breadth of the door seven cubits. As the latter is perfectly clear, and also apparently in accordance with the fact, and on measuring a door the height is the only thing which can come into consideration in addition to the breadth, we agree with Kliefoth in taking the six cubits as a statement of the height. The height of six cubits bears a fitting proportion to the breadth of seven cubits, if there were folding-doors; and the seven is significant in the case of the door to the holy of holies, the dwelling of God. The Seventy, however, did not know what to do with this text, and changed רחב הפּתח שׁבע אמּות into τὰς ἐπωμίδας τοῦ θυρώματος πηχῶν ἑπτὰ ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν, in which they have been followed by Bttcher, Hitzig, and others. But it is obvious at once that the Seventy have simply derived these data from the measurements of the front of the holy place (Ezekiel 41:2), and have overlooked the fact, that in the first place, beside the measure of the כּתפות הפּתח, i.e., ἐπωμίδες τοῦ πυλῶνος, the רחב הפּתח, or breadth of the door, is also expressly measured there, whereas here, on the contrary, it is preceded by הפּתח alone, without רחב; and secondly, as the measurement of the אילים given in Ezekiel 41:1 indicates their breadth (from south to north), in the present instance also the measure ascribed to the איל הפּתח can only refer to the breadth of the איל, and not to its thickness (from east to west). But if we explain the first clause of Ezekiel 41:3 in this manner, as both the language and the fact require, the reading of the lxx is proved to be a false correction, by the fact that it yields a breadth of twenty-two or twenty-four cubits (2 + 2 + 6 + 7 + 7), whereas the holy of holies, like the holy place, was only twenty cubits broad. The dimensions of the holy of holies also correspond to the space covered by the holy of holies in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:20). The expression אל־פּני ההיכל, "toward the holy place," is to be explained by the supposition that the measuring angel, after he had proceeded to the western end of the holy of holies for the purpose of measuring the length, turned round again to measure the breadth, so that this breadth lay "toward the holy place."