Ezekiel 42:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 42:13
Then 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.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
north
הַצָּפ֜וֹןha.tza.Fon
H6828
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
chambers
לִֽשְׁכ֨וֹתlish.Khot
H3957
a room in a building (whether for storage · noun, common feminine plural construct
south
הַדָּרוֹם֮ha.da.rOm
H1864
the south · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
chambers
לִֽשְׁכ֣וֹתlish.Khot
H3957
a room in a building (whether for storage · noun, common feminine plural construct
before
פְּנֵ֣יpe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct
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
Leviticus 7:6 Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.
Leviticus 10:17 Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of th…
Ezekiel 40:46 And 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 a…
Exodus 29:31 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place.
Leviticus 6:29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
Leviticus 14:13 And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offer…
Numbers 18:9-10 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin…
Leviticus 6:25-26 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 42:1-14
The prophet has taken a very exact view of the temple and the buildings belonging to it, and is now brought again into the outer court, to observe the chambers that were in that square.
I. Here is a description of these chambers, which (as that which went before) seems to us very perplexed and intricate, through our unacquaintedness with the Hebrew language and the rules of architecture at that time. We shall only observe, in general, 1. That about the temple, which was the place of public worship, there were private chambers, to teach us that our attendance upon God in solemn ordinances will not excuse us from the duties of the closet. We must not only worship in the courts of God's house,…
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 Luk 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.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 42:4
A walk of ten cubits' breadth inward - This seems to have been a sort of parapet.
John Gill on Ezekiel 42:13
Then said he unto me,.... The divine Person that measured and described these chambers, and brought the prophet to take a view of them, said to him, as follows:
the north chambers, and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers; these are the two rows of chambers before described, which were southward and northward to each other, though both in the northern part of the outward court; these were for holy persons to dwell in, and for holy things to be done in, as the churches of Christ are; they consist of holy persons, men called with a holy calling, and in them the holy word of God is preached, and holy ordinances administered:
where the priests that app…
(Verse 13, 14.) And he said to me: The treasuries of the North and the treasuries of the South, which are before the separated building, these are the holy treasuries in which the priests who approach the Lord in the Most Holy Place eat. There they shall put the Most Holy Place, and the offering for sin and for guilt. For it is a holy place. But when the priests enter, they shall not go out from the holy place to the outer court, and there they shall put on their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. And they shall put on other garments and then go out to the people. That man, who was a leader and prophet, after he led him into the outer courtyard and showed him all that the previous conversation had mentioned, also the treasuries and the rooms in which he stayed for a long time, said to him: These are the treasuries, or rooms, and chambers to the north and south, which are in front of the separate building, and are called the holy treasuries, in which the priests who approach the Lord in the holy of holies partake. From these things we learn that there are many diversities in foods, which are allowed or not allowed for priests to eat, and of those very things that are allowed to be taken as food, they are not taken in all places, nor by all people, nor at all times. I think that the Gazophylacia Aquilonis Austri is, either those things that contain the simplicity of history, or the sacraments of spiritual understanding, so that through Aquilon we may come to the South. For the letter should not be read in such a way, and the foundations of history should be laid, so that we may not come to the heights; and the roof of the most beautiful building should not be placed in such a way that the foundations are not solid. But the priests who live in the cellars, in which many riches are contained, are the ones who approach the Lord: Scripture testifies of them (Exodus 24) that Moses approached the Lord, and the others could not come near. In the building of the mystical temple, and in the sacrament of the Church, there are many priests and apostolic men who approach the Lord, and not in any place, but in the holy of holies. And as it is said in the Septuagint: Sons of Zadok, which means just, is not found in Hebrew. There, he says, the priests shall place the holy of holies, and the offering, that is, the burnt offering, and for sin, and for…
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
Meat Offerings · Laid up in a chamber of the temple — Laid up in a chamber of the temple
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).
place
הַגִּזְרָה֒ha.giz.Rah
H1508
the figure or person (as if cut out) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
holy
הַקֹּ֗דֶשׁha.Ko.desh
H6944
a sacred place or thing · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
chambers
לִֽשְׁכ֣וֹתlish.Khot
H3957
a room in a building (whether for storage · noun, common feminine plural construct
priests
הַכֹּהֲנִ֛יםha.ko.ha.Nim
H3548
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
approach
קְרוֹבִ֥יםke.ro.Vim
H7138
near (in place · adjective, masculine plural absolute
LORD
לַֽיהוָ֖הla.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
eat
יֹאכְלוּyo.khe.lu-
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
most
קָדְשֵׁ֣יka.de.Shei
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine plural construct
things
הַקֳּדָשִׁ֑יםha.ko.da.Shim
H6944
a sacred place or thing · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
lay
יָנַחyânach
H3240
to deposit
most
קָדְשֵׁ֣יka.de.Shei
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine plural construct
things
הַקֳּדָשִׁ֗יםha.ko.da.Shim
H6944
a sacred place or thing · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
offering
וְהַמִּנְחָה֙ve.ha.min.Chah
H4503
a donation · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
offering
וְהַחַטָּ֣אתve.ha.cha.Tat
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
holy
קָדֹֽשׁka.Dosh
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 42:1-14
The Cell-Building in the Outer Court for Holy Use
Eze 42:1. And he brought me out into the outer court by the way toward the north, and brought me to the cell-building, which was opposite to the separate place, and opposite to the building toward the north, Eze 42:2. Before the long side of a hundred cubits, with the door toward the north, and the breadth fifty cubits, Eze 42:3. Opposite to the twenty of the inner court and opposite to the stone pavement of the outer-court; gallery against gallery was in the third storey. Eze 42:4. And before the cells a walk, ten cubits broad; to the inner a way of a hundred cubits; and their doors went to the north. Eze 42:5. And the upper cells were short…
The priests would store the sacred offerings and eat the most holy offerings in these rooms. The clothes that the priests wore while ministering in the Lord’s presence would be stored there, and the priests would put on other clothes because these clothes were holy. All of these regulations represent a significant increase in the care taken to separate the holy from the profane, as compared to the similar laws in Leviticus (cp. Lev 6).
Rashi on Ezekiel 42:12
And as the entrances of the chambers that are toward the way of the south the eastern entrances of the chambers. For in the south, too, there were chambers separated from the southern cells by twenty cubits (as it is written) above (41:10): “And between the chambers was a [space] twenty cubits wide surrounding the House, round about.”
an entrance at the beginning of the pathway The eastern chambers had an entrance at the beginning of the pathway, and the pathway was before the wall of the musicians. Jonathan renders: the platform of the Levites. The expression הַגְּדֶרֶת הֲגִינָה means a stone wall structure made like steps upon which the musicians and the choristers stood.
the way of the…
