Ezekiel 40:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 40:19
Then 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.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 40:23 And 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 hundre…
Ezekiel 40:27 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.
Ezekiel 46:1-2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 40:5-26
The measuring-reed which was in the hand of the surveyor-general was mentioned before, Eze 40:3. Here we are told (Eze 40:5) what was the exact length of it, which must be observed, because the house was measured by it. It was six cubits long, reckoning, not by the common cubit, but the cubit of the sanctuary, the sacred cubit, by which it was fit that this holy house should be measured, and that was a hand-breadth (that it, four inches) longer than the common cubit: the common cubit was eighteen inches, this twenty-two, see Eze 43:13. Yet some of the critics contend that this measuring-reed was but six common cubits in length, and one handbreadth added to the whole. The former seems more pr…
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 (Kg2 23:11-12; Ch1 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).
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 40:17
The outward court - This was the court of the people.
John Gill on Ezekiel 40:19
Then he measured the breadth from the fore front of the lower gate,.... That is, from the front of the inner eastern gate before mentioned, Ezekiel 40:7, called the lower gate, in respect of the gate opposite to it, which led into the inner court, to which there was an ascent of eight steps; and which the Targum calls the middle gate, because it lay between the eastern outward gate, and the gate of the inward court. Now there were from hence,
unto the fore front of the inner court without, an hundred cubits; to the outside of the gate was such a length, or fifty eight yards and one foot:
eastward and northward; as so it was from east to west, so from north to south, and from south to north…
The Church Fathers
In these words, if we understand the gate as the entrance by which we enter into the knowledge of the Lord, the lower gate is faith, while the inner court is contemplation. Moreover, the lower gate has width in its face, because clearly faith through the amplitude of its charity has that operation which is seen by neighbors. When we observe this being carried out strongly by those who are more perfect, we who are constrained in good actions receive through them examples of great operation. And each holy action becomes for us, as it were, a certain width of the journey, which previously was a narrowness of difficulty. The inner court also has a front, because the contemplative life through certain signs of desires and groans shows how much it sees within, which it loves so greatly. Moreover, the number ten multiplied by itself rises to one hundred. Hence rightly through one hundred great perfection is designated, just as the Truth says of the elect: Everyone who leaves house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess eternal life. For no holy person abandons earthly things in order to be able to possess them more abundantly in this world, because whoever leaves earth with earthly eagerness does not leave earth but seeks it. Nor will one who abandons one wife receive a hundred; but through the number one hundred perfection is designated, after which eternal life is also promised, because whoever despises temporal and earthly things for God's name both receives here perfection of mind, so that he no longer desires what he despises, and in the age to come arrives at the glory of eternal life. Therefore he receives a hundredfold what he gave, who receiving the spirit of perfection, does not need earthly things, even if he does not have them. For he is poor who lacks what he does not have. For he who not having does not desire to have, is rich. For poverty is in the want of the mind, not in the quantity of possession. For one who gets along well with poverty is not poor. Therefore the man measured the width from the face of the lower gate to the front of the inner court on the outside, one hundred cubits, because our Redeemer daily through masters and teachers measures the life of the faithful in the measure of perfection, either in the appearance of good work…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Window · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The Outer Court Described and Measured
Eze 40:17. And he led me into the outer court, and behold there were cells and pavement made round the court; thirty cells on the pavement. Eze 40:18. And the pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, (namely) the lower pavement. Eze 40:19. And he measured the breadth from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court, about a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side. - Ezekiel having been led through the eastern gate into the outer court, was able to survey it, not on the eastern side only, but also on the northern and southern sides; and there he perceived cells and רצפּה, pavimentum, m…
The outer courtyard provided a buffer zone around the holy things in the inner courtyard, and thirty rooms were built around the walls. The purpose of these rooms is not stated, nor are their dimensions precisely given, which heightens the contrast between the relatively less significant outer area of the Temple and the crucially important central holy space. These rooms were most likely to be used by the Levites for a variety of activities.
Rashi on Ezekiel 40:19
And he measured the width the area of the Women’s Court.
in front of the lower gate This is the gate delineated above.
in front of the Inner Court up to the Israelites’ Court.
to the east and to the north to two of its directions its space was one hundred cubits.
