Ezekiel 40:37 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 40:37
And 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.
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
trees
וְתִמֹרִ֥יםve.ti.mo.Rim
H8561
(architectural) a palm-like pilaster (i.e. umbellate) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
posts
אֵילָ֖יו'ei.lov
H352
properly · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up
מַעֲלָֽיוma.'a.lov
H4608
an elevation · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
eight
וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥הu.she.mo.Neh
H8083
a cardinal number · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
steps
מַעֲל֖וֹתma.'a.Lot
H4609
elevation · noun, common feminine plural absolute
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 40:34 And 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 go…
Ezekiel 40:31 And 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.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 40:27-38
In these verses we have a delineation of the inner court. The survey of the outer court ended with the south side of it. This of the inner court begins with the south side (Eze 40:27), proceeds to the east (Eze 40:32), and so to the north (Eze 40:35); for here is no gate either of the outer or inner court towards the west. It should seem that in Solomon's temple there were gates westward, for we find porters towards the west, Ch1 9:24; Ch1 26:8. But Josephus says that in the second temple there was no gate on the west side. Observe, 1. These gates into the inner court were exactly uniform with those into the outer court, the dimensions the same, the chambers adjoining the same, the galleries…
posts--the Septuagint and Vulgate read, "the porch," which answers better to Eze 40:31-34. "The arches" or "porch" [MAURER].
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 40:30
And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long - That the five cubits broad should be read twenty-five is evident from Eze 40:21, Eze 40:25, Eze 40:29, Eze 40:33, and Eze 40:36, The word ועשרים veesrim, twenty, has probably been lost out of the text. Indeed the whole verse is wanting in two of Kennicott's MSS., one of De Rossi's, and one of mine, (Cod. B.) It has been added in the margin of mine by a later hand. It is reported to have been anciently wanting in many MSS.
John Gill on Ezekiel 40:35
And he brought me to the north gate,.... That is, of the inner court, for he had measured before the north gate that led to the outward court, Ezekiel 40:20, and here the little chambers, posts, arches, and steps, in all things agree with those of the other gates: what were observed in it different from the rest, an account is given of it in the following verse.
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 40:28-37
The Church Fathers
"And its vestibule looked toward the outer court, and carved palm trees on its front on this side and on that, and its ascent was by eight steps." Behold, the ancient and new Fathers agree with one another in one spirit concerning the resurrection of the flesh. Behold, Truth itself first taught by word what it afterward demonstrated by deed concerning the resurrection of the flesh, and yet still the weakness of some does not have faith while standing in the house of faith. But they are accustomed to wonder how flesh can come back to life from dust. Let them wonder, therefore, at the height of heaven, the mass of the earth, the depths of the waters, all things that are in the world, and the angels themselves created from nothing. It is far less to make something from something than to have made all things from nothing. The elements themselves, the very forms of things, proclaim to us an image of the resurrection. For the sun dies daily to our eyes, and daily rises again. The stars set for us in the morning hours, and rise again in the evening. We see trees full of leaves, flowers, and fruits in summer times, which in winter time remain bare of leaves, flowers, and fruits, and as if dried up, but when the spring sun returns, when moisture has risen from the root, they are clothed again in their beauty. Why then is there distrust concerning human beings, when what is seen to happen in trees is observed? But often they look upon the dust of rotting flesh and say: Whence will bones and marrow, whence will flesh or hair be able to be restored in the resurrection? Therefore, let those who ask such things look at the small seeds of immense trees, and if they can, let them say: Where in them lies hidden such a mass of strength, such diversity of branches, such multitude and greenness of leaves, such beauty of flowers, such abundance, flavor, and fragrance of fruits? Do the seeds of trees have the fragrance or flavor which the trees themselves afterward bring forth in their fruits? If therefore from the seed of trees what cannot be seen can be produced, why is there distrust concerning the dust of human flesh, that from it a form which is not seen can be restored? But they are accustomed often to raise a vain little question, by which they say: A wolf ate the flesh of a man, a lion devoured the wolf, the lion dying returned to dust; when that dust is raised up, how…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
The Gates of the Inner Court
(Vid., Plate I B and Plate II II). - Eze 40:28. And he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and measured the south gate according to the same measures; Eze 40:29. And its guard-rooms, and its pillars, and its wall-projections, according to the same measures; and there were windows in it and in its wall-projections round about: fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:30. And wall-projections were round about, the length five and twenty cubits, and the breadth five cubits. Eze 40:31. And its wall-projections were toward the outer court; and there were palms on its pillars, and eight steps its ascendings. Eze 40…
There is no mention of a wall around the inner courtyard, perhaps because it was elevated from the outer court by another eight steps, perhaps a total of eight feet. If there were no wall around the inner court, there would be a free-standing archway that provided a clear view of activities in the inner area without any likelihood of accidental trespass into the realm of the sacred. Alternatively, reference to a wall around the inner court may simply have been omitted.
Rashi on Ezekiel 40:37
And its pillars were toward the Outer Court Et ses portiques in French, and its porticoes, and the hall of the gate is called אֵילִים here.
