Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Ezekiel 40:20 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Eze 40:20	Strong Concordance	And the gate [08179] of the outward [02435] court [02691] that looked [06440] toward [01870] the north [06828], he measured [04058] the length [0753] thereof, and the breadth [07341] thereof.
	King James	And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
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.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The gates both of the outer and of the inner court. Compare Plan II.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The North Gate and the South Gate of the Outer Court (1 Plate I A) The description of these two gate-buildings is very brief, only the principal portions being mentioned, coupled with the remark that they resembled those of the east gate. The following is the description of the north gate. - Eze 40:20. And the gate, whose direction was toward the north, touching the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth, Eze 40:21. And its guard-rooms, three on this side and three on that, and its pillars and its wall-projections. It was according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits its length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:22. And its windows and its wall-projections and its palms were according to the measure of the gate, whose direction was toward the east; and by seven steps they went up, and its wall-projections were in front of it. Eze 40:23. And a gate to the inner court was opposite the gate to the north and to the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits. - With the measuring of the breadth of the court the measuring man had reached the north gate, which he also proceeded to measure now. In Eze 40:20 the words והשּׁער to החיצונה are written absolutely; and in Eze 40:21 the verb היה does not belong to the objects previously enumerated, viz., guard-rooms, pillars, etc., but these objects are governed by ויּמד yb denrevog e, and היה points back to the principal subject of the two verses, השּׁער: it (the gate) was according to the measure... (cf. Eze 40:15 and Eze 40:13). For the use of ב in definitions of measurement, "25 בּאמּה" (by the cubit, sc. measured), as in Exo 27:18, etc., see Gesenius, 120. 4, Anm. 2. The "first gate" is the east gate, the one first measured and described. In Eze 40:23 the number of steps is given which the flight leading into the gateway had; and this of course applies to the flight of steps of the east gate also (Eze 40:6). In Eze 40:22, כּמדּת is not to be regarded as doubtful, as Hitzig supposes, or changed into כּ; for even if the windows of the east gate were not measured, they had at all events a definite measurement, so that it might be affirmed with regard to the windows of the north gate that their dimensions were the same. This also applies to the palm-decorations. With regard to the אלמּים (Eze 40:21), however, it is simply stated that they were measured; but the measurement is not given. לפּניהם (Eze 40:22, end) is not to be altered in an arbitrary and ungrammatical way into לפנימה, as Bttcher proposes. The suffix הם refers to the steps. Before the steps there were the אילמּים of the gate-building. This "before," however, is not equivalent to "outside the flight of steps," as Bttcher imagines; for the measuring man did not go out of the inside of the gate, or go down the steps into the court, but came from the court and ascended the steps, and as he was going up he saw in front (vis--vis) of the steps the אילמּים of the gate, i.e., the wall-projections on both sides of the threshold of the gate. In Eze 40:23 it is observed for the first time that there was a gate to the inner court opposite to the northern and the eastern gate of the outer court already described, so that the gates of the outer and inner court stood vis--vis. The distance between these outer and inner gates is then measured, viz., 100 cubits, in harmony with Eze 40:19. In Eze 40:24-27 the south gate is described with the same brevity. Eze 40:24. And he led me toward the south, and behold there was a gate toward the south, and he measured its pillars and its wall-projections according to the same measures. Eze 40:25. And there were windows in it and its wall-projections round about like those windows; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:26. And seven steps were its ascent and its wall-projections in the front of them, and it had palm-work, one upon this side and one upon that on its pillars. Eze 40:27. And there was a gate to the inner court toward the south, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits. - This gate also was built exactly like the two others. The description simply differs in form, and not in substance, from the description of the gate immediately preceding. כּמּדּות האלּ, "like those measures," is a concise expression for "like the measures of the pillars already described at the north and east gates." For Eze 40:25, compare Eze 40:16 and Eze 40:21; and for Eze 40:26, vid., Eze 40:22. Eze 40:26 is clearly explained from Eze 40:16, as compared with Eze 40:9. And lastly, Eze 40:27 answers to the 23rd verse, and completes the measuring of the breadth of the court, which was also a hundred cubits upon the south side, from the outer gate to the inner gate standing opposite, as was the case according to Eze 40:19 upon the eastern side. Hvernick has given a different explanation of Eze 40:27, and would take the measurement of a hundred cubits as referring to the distance between the gates of the inner court which stood opposite to each other, because in Eze 40:27 we have משּׁער in the text, and not מן השּׁער; so that we should have to render the passage thus, "he measured from a gate to the gate toward the south a hundred cubits," and not "from the gate (already described) of the outer court," but from another gate, which according to the context of the verse must also be a gate of the inner court. But it is precisely the context which speaks decidedly against this explanation. For since, according to Eze 40:18, the measuring man did not take the prophet into the inner court, for the purpose of measuring it before his eyes, till after he had measured from (a) gate to the south gate of the inner court, the distance which he had previously measured and found to be a hundred cubits is not to be sought for within the inner court, and therefore cannot give the distance between the gates of the inner court, which stood opposite to one another, but must be that from the south gate of the outer court to the south gate of the inner. This is the case not only here, but also in Eze 40:23, where the north gate is mentioned. We may see how little importance is to be attached to the omission of the article in משּׁער from the expression משּׁער אל שׁער in Eze 40:23, where neither the one gate nor the other is defined, because the context showed which gates were meant. Hvernick's explanation is therefore untenable, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Eze 40:47, the size of the inner court was a hundred cubits both in breadth and length. - From the distance between the gates of the outer court and the corresponding gates of the inner, as given in Eze 40:27, Eze 40:23, and Eze 40:19, we find that the outer court covered a space of two hundred cubits on every side, - namely, fifty cubits the distance which the outer court building projected into the court, and fifty cubits for the projection of the gate-building of the inner court into the outer court, and a hundred cubits from one gate-porch to the opposite one (50 + 50 + 100 = 200). Consequently the full size of the building enclosed by the wall (Eze 40:5), i.e., of the temple with its two courts, may also be calculated, as it has been by many of the expositors. If we proceed, for example, from the outer north gate to the outer south gate upon the ground plan (Plate I), we have, to quote the words of Kliefoth, "first the northern breadth of the outer court (D) with its two hundred cubits; then the inner court, which measured a hundred cubits square according to Eze 40:47 (E), with its hundred cubits; and lastly, the south side of the outer court with two hundred cubits more (D); so that the sanctuary was five hundred cubits broad from north to south. And if we start from the entrance of the east gate of the court (A), we have first of all the eastern breadth of the outer court, viz., two hundred cubits; then the inner court (e) with its hundred cubits; after that the temple-buildings, which also covered a space of a hundred cubits square according to Eze 41:13-14, including the open space around them (G), with another hundred cubits; and lastly, the גּזרה (J), which was situated to the west of the temple-buildings, and also covered a space of a hundred cubits square according to Eze 41:13-14, with another hundred cubits; so that the sanctuary was also five hundred cubits long from east to west, or, in other words, formed a square of five hundred cubits."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The North Gate and the South Gate of the Outer Court (1 Plate I A)

The description of these two gate-buildings is very brief, only the principal portions being mentioned, coupled with the remark that they resembled those of the east gate. The following is the description of the north gate. - Eze 40:20. And the gate, whose direction was toward the north, touching the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth, Eze 40:21. And its guard-rooms, three on this side and three on that, and its pillars and its wall-projections. It was according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits its length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:22. And its windows and its wall-projections and its palms were according to the measure of the gate, whose direction was toward the east; and by seven steps they went up, and its wall-projections were in front of it. Eze 40:23. And a gate to the inner court was opposite the gate to the north and to the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits. - With the measuring of the breadth of the court the measuring man had reached the north gate, which he also proceeded to measure now. In Eze 40:20 the words והשּׁער to החיצונה are written absolutely; and in Eze 40:21 the verb היה does not belong to the objects previously enumerated, viz., guard-rooms, pillars, etc., but these objects are governed by ויּמד yb denrevog e, and היה points back to the principal subject of the two verses, השּׁער: it (the gate) was according to the measure... (cf. Eze 40:15 and Eze 40:13). For the use of ב in definitions of measurement, "25 בּאמּה" (by the cubit, sc. measured), as in Exo 27:18, etc., see Gesenius, 120. 4, Anm. 2. The "first gate" is the east gate, the one first measured and described. In Eze 40:23 the number of steps is given which the flight leading into the gateway had; and this of course applies to the flight of steps of the east gate also (Eze 40:6). In Eze 40:22, כּמדּת is not to be regarded as doubtful, as Hitzig supposes, or changed into כּ; for even if the windows of the east gate were not measured, they had at all events a definite measurement, so that it might be affirmed with regard to the windows of the north gate that their dimensions were the same. This also applies to the palm-decorations. With regard to the אלמּים (Eze 40:21), however, it is simply stated that they were measured; but the measurement is not given. לפּניהם (Eze 40:22, end) is not to be altered in an arbitrary and ungrammatical way into לפנימה, as Bttcher proposes. The suffix הם refers to the steps. Before the steps there were the אילמּים of the gate-building. This "before," however, is not equivalent to "outside the flight of steps," as Bttcher imagines; for the measuring man did not go out of the inside of the gate, or go down the steps into the court, but came from the court and ascended the steps, and as he was going up he saw in front (vis--vis) of the steps the אילמּים of the gate, i.e., the wall-projections on both sides of the threshold of the gate. In Eze 40:23 it is observed for the first time that there was a gate to the inner court opposite to the northern and the eastern gate of the outer court already described, so that the gates of the outer and inner court stood vis--vis. The distance between these outer and inner gates is then measured, viz., 100 cubits, in harmony with Eze 40:19.

In Eze 40:24-27 the south gate is described with the same brevity. Eze 40:24. And he led me toward the south, and behold there was a gate toward the south, and he measured its pillars and its wall-projections according to the same measures. Eze 40:25. And there were windows in it and its wall-projections round about like those windows; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:26. And seven steps were its ascent and its wall-projections in the front of them, and it had palm-work, one upon this side and one upon that on its pillars. Eze 40:27. And there was a gate to the inner court toward the south, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits. - This gate also was built exactly like the two others. The description simply differs in form, and not in substance, from the description of the gate immediately preceding. כּמּדּות האלּ, "like those measures," is a concise expression for "like the measures of the pillars already described at the north and east gates." For Eze 40:25, compare Eze 40:16 and Eze 40:21; and for Eze 40:26, vid., Eze 40:22. Eze 40:26 is clearly explained from Eze 40:16, as compared with Eze 40:9. And lastly, Eze 40:27 answers to the 23rd verse, and completes the measuring of the breadth of the court, which was also a hundred cubits upon the south side, from the outer gate to the inner gate standing opposite, as was the case according to Eze 40:19 upon the eastern side. Hvernick has given a different explanation of Eze 40:27, and would take the measurement of a hundred cubits as referring to the distance between the gates of the inner court which stood opposite to each other, because in Eze 40:27 we have משּׁער in the text, and not מן השּׁער; so that we should have to render the passage thus, "he measured from a gate to the gate toward the south a hundred cubits," and not "from the gate (already described) of the outer court," but from another gate, which according to the context of the verse must also be a gate of the inner court. But it is precisely the context which speaks decidedly against this explanation. For since, according to Eze 40:18, the measuring man did not take the prophet into the inner court, for the purpose of measuring it before his eyes, till after he had measured from (a) gate to the south gate of the inner court, the distance which he had previously measured and found to be a hundred cubits is not to be sought for within the inner court, and therefore cannot give the distance between the gates of the inner court, which stood opposite to one another, but must be that from the south gate of the outer court to the south gate of the inner. This is the case not only here, but also in Eze 40:23, where the north gate is mentioned. We may see how little importance is to be attached to the omission of the article in משּׁער from the expression משּׁער אל שׁער in Eze 40:23, where neither the one gate nor the other is defined, because the context showed which gates were meant. Hvernick's explanation is therefore untenable, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Eze 40:47, the size of the inner court was a hundred cubits both in breadth and length. - From the distance between the gates of the outer court and the corresponding gates of the inner, as given in Eze 40:27, Eze 40:23, and Eze 40:19, we find that the outer court covered a space of two hundred cubits on every side, - namely, fifty cubits the distance which the outer court building projected into the court, and fifty cubits for the projection of the gate-building of the inner court into the outer court, and a hundred cubits from one gate-porch to the opposite one (50 + 50 + 100 = 200).

Consequently the full size of the building enclosed by the wall (Eze 40:5), i.e., of the temple with its two courts, may also be calculated, as it has been by many of the expositors. If we proceed, for example, from the outer north gate to the outer south gate upon the ground plan (Plate I), we have, to quote the words of Kliefoth, "first the northern breadth of the outer court (D) with its two hundred cubits; then the inner court, which measured a hundred cubits square according to Eze 40:47 (E), with its hundred cubits; and lastly, the south side of the outer court with two hundred cubits more (D); so that the sanctuary was five hundred cubits broad from north to south. And if we start from the entrance of the east gate of the court (A), we have first of all the eastern breadth of the outer court, viz., two hundred cubits; then the inner court (e) with its hundred cubits; after that the temple-buildings, which also covered a space of a hundred cubits square according to Eze 41:13-14, including the open space around them (G), with another hundred cubits; and lastly, the גּזרה (J), which was situated to the west of the temple-buildings, and also covered a space of a hundred cubits square according to Eze 41:13-14, with another hundred cubits; so that the sanctuary was also five hundred cubits long from east to west, or, in other words, formed a square of five hundred cubits."

Top

¹³ So he measured [04058] the house [01004], an hundred [03967] cubits [0520] long [0753]; and the separate place [01508], and the building [01140], with the walls [07023] thereof, an hundred [03967] cubits [0520] long [0753];
¹⁴ Also the breadth [07341] of the face [06440] of the house [01004], and of the separate place [01508] toward the east [06921], an hundred [03967] cubits [0520].

⁴⁷ So he measured [04058] the court [02691], an hundred [03967] cubits [0520] long [0753], and an hundred [03967] cubits [0520] broad [07341], foursquare [07251]; and the altar [04196] that was before [06440] the house [01004].

⁵ And behold a wall [02346] on the outside [02351] of the house [01004] round about [05439], and in the man's [0376] hand [03027] a measuring [04060] reed [07070] of six [08337] cubits [0520] long by the cubit [0520] and an hand breadth [02948]: so he measured [04058] the breadth [07341] of the building [01146], one [0259] reed [07070]; and the height [06967], one [0259] reed [07070].

¹⁹ Then he measured [04058] the breadth [07341] from the forefront [06440] of the lower [08481] gate [08179] unto the forefront [06440] of the inner [06442] court [02691] without [02351], an hundred [03967] cubits [0520] eastward [06921] and northward [06828].

²³ And the gate [08179] of the inner [06442] court [02691] was over against the gate [08179] toward the north [06828], and toward the east [06921]; and he measured [04058] from gate [08179] to gate [08179] an hundred [03967] cubits [0520].

²⁷ And there was a gate [08179] in the inner [06442] court [02691] toward [01870] the south [01864]: and he measured [04058] from gate [08179] to gate [08179] toward [01870] the south [01864] an hundred [03967] cubits [0520].

¹⁸ And the pavement [07531] by the side [03802] of the gates [08179] over against [05980] the length [0753] of the gates [08179] was the lower [08481] pavement [07531].

⁹ Then measured [04058] he the porch [0197] of the gate [08179], eight [08083] cubits [0520]; and the posts [0352] thereof, two [08147] cubits [0520]; and the porch [0197] of the gate [08179] was inward [01004].

¹⁶ And there were narrow [0331] windows [02474] to the little chambers [08372], and to their posts [0352] within [06441] the gate [08179] round about [05439], and likewise to the arches [0361]: and windows [02474] were round about [05439] inward [06441]: and upon each post [0352] were palm trees [08561].

²⁶ And there were seven [07651] steps [04609] to go up [05930] to it, and the arches [0361] thereof were before [06440] them: and it had palm trees [08561], one [0259] on this side, and another [0259] on that side, upon the posts [0352] thereof.

²² And their windows [02474], and their arches [0361], and their palm trees [08561], were after the measure [04060] of the gate [08179] that looketh [06440] toward [01870] the east [06921]; and they went up [05927] unto it by seven [07651] steps [04609]; and the arches [0361] thereof were before [06440] them.

²¹ And the little chambers [08372] thereof were three [07969] on this side and three [07969] on that side; and the posts [0352] thereof and the arches [0361] thereof were after the measure [04060] of the first [07223] gate [08179]: the length [0753] thereof was fifty [02572] cubits [0520], and the breadth [07341] five [02568] and twenty [06242] cubits [0520].

²⁵ And there were windows [02474] in it and in the arches [0361] thereof round about [05439], like those windows [02474]: the length [0753] was fifty [02572] cubits [0520], and the breadth [07341] five [02568] and twenty [06242] cubits [0520].

²⁴ After that he brought [03212] me toward [01870] the south [01864], and behold a gate [08179] toward [01870] the south [01864]: and he measured [04058] the posts [0352] thereof and the arches [0361] thereof according to these measures [04060].
²⁵ And there were windows [02474] in it and in the arches [0361] thereof round about [05439], like those windows [02474]: the length [0753] was fifty [02572] cubits [0520], and the breadth [07341] five [02568] and twenty [06242] cubits [0520].
²⁶ And there were seven [07651] steps [04609] to go up [05930] to it, and the arches [0361] thereof were before [06440] them: and it had palm trees [08561], one [0259] on this side, and another [0259] on that side, upon the posts [0352] thereof.
²⁷ And there was a gate [08179] in the inner [06442] court [02691] toward [01870] the south [01864]: and he measured [04058] from gate [08179] to gate [08179] toward [01870] the south [01864] an hundred [03967] cubits [0520].

⁶ Then came [0935] he unto the gate [08179] which looketh [06440] toward [01870] the east [06921], and went up [05927] the stairs [04609] thereof, and measured [04058] the threshold [05592] of the gate [08179], which was one [0259] reed [07070] broad [07341]; and the other [0259] threshold [05592] of the gate, which was one [0259] reed [07070] broad [07341].

¹⁸ The length [0753] of the court [02691] shall be an hundred [03967] cubits [0520], and the breadth [07341] fifty [02572] every where [02572], and the height [06967] five [02568] cubits [0520] of fine twined [07806] linen [08336], and their sockets [0134] of brass [05178].

¹³ He measured [04058] then the gate [08179] from the roof [01406] of one little chamber [08372] to the roof [01406] of another: the breadth [07341] was five [02568] and twenty [06242] cubits [0520], door [06607] against door [06607].

¹⁵ And from the face [06440] of the gate [08179] of the entrance [02978] unto the face [06440] of the porch [0197] of the inner [06442] gate [08179] were fifty [02572] cubits [0520].

²⁰ And the gate [08179] of the outward [02435] court [02691] that looked [06440] toward [01870] the north [06828], he measured [04058] the length [0753] thereof, and the breadth [07341] thereof.