Ezekiel41
New American Standard
1 Then he brought me to the sanctuary, and he measured the side pillars: six cubits wide on each side was the width of the side pillar.
2 The width of the entrance was ten cubits and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. He also measured the length of the sanctuary, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.
3 Then he went inside and measured each side pillar of the doorway, two cubits, and the doorway, six cubits high; and the width of the doorway, seven cubits.
4 And he measured its length, twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, before the sanctuary; and he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits; and the width of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the house on every side.
6 The side chambers were in three stories, one above another, and thirty in each story; and the side chambers extended to the wall which stood on their inward side all around, so that they could be attached, but not be attached to the wall of the temple itself.
7 And the side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story. Because the structure surrounding the temple went upward by stages on all sides of the temple, for that reason the width of the temple increased as it went higher; and so one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the second story.
8 I saw also that the house had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full rod of six long cubits in height.
9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. But the free space between the side chambers belonging to the temple
10 and the outer chambers was twenty cubits in width around the temple on every side.
11 The doorways of the side chambers toward the free space consisted of one doorway toward the north, and another doorway toward the south; and the width of the free space was five cubits all around.
12 The building that was in front of the separate area at the side toward the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.
13 Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; the separate area with the building and its walls were also a hundred cubits long.
14 Also the width of the front of the temple and that of the separate areas along the east side totaled a hundred cubits.
15 And he measured the length of the building along the front of the separate area behind it, with a gallery on each side, a hundred cubits; he also measured the inner sanctuary and the porches of the courtyard.
16 The thresholds, the latticed windows, and the galleries all around their three stories, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, and from the ground to the windows (but the windows were covered),
17 over the entrance, and to the inner house, and on the outside, and on all the wall all around inside and outside, by measurement.
18 It was carved with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces:
19 a human face toward the palm tree on one side and a young lion’s face toward the palm tree on the other side; they were carved on all the house all around.
20 From the ground to above the entrance cherubim and palm trees were carved, as well as on the wall of the sanctuary.
21 The doorposts of the sanctuary were square; as for the front of the inner sanctuary, the appearance of one doorpost was like that of the other.
22 The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; its corners, its base, and its sides were of wood. And he said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”
23 The sanctuary and the inner sanctuary each had a double door.
24 Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other.
25 Also there were carved on them, on the doors of the main room, cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the front of the porch outside.
26 And there were latticed windows and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch; the same were on the side chambers of the house and the thresholds.
Study
Ezekiel 41Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 41. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Vision of the Temple. (1-26).
vv1-26
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.
Key Words
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
הֵיכָל: a large public building, such as a palace or temple
מָדַד: properly, to stretch; by implication, to measure (as if by stretching a line); figuratively, to be extended
אַיִל: properly, strength; hence, anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree
פֹּה: this place (French ici), i.e. here or hence
שֵׁשׁ: six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand); as ord. sixth
אַמָּה: properly, a mother (i.e. unit of measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a bond of the entrance)
רֹחַב: width (literally or figuratively)
אֹהֶל: a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)
פֶּתַח: an opening (literally), i.e. door (gate) or entrance way
Cross References
Ezekiel 41The dimensions of the temple house correspond directly with Solomon's temple measurements.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The Holy of Holies is a perfect square of twenty cubits, as in Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Matches the structural design of side chambers resting on ledges without entering the main temple wall.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Describes the winding stairs or passages ascending upward through the stories of side chambers.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The measuring reed of six great cubits defines the foundations of the side chambers.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Carvings of cherubim and palm trees decorated the walls and doors of Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies the wooden altar as the table where priests minister directly before the Lord.
Supported by JFB
The dimensions of the wooden altar of incense are compared with the tabernacle's golden altar.
Supported by JFB
Establishes the boundary dividing the holy place from the most holy place in the tabernacle.
Solomon built side chambers against the walls of the temple round about both sanctuary and oracle.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explains how the upper chambers were wider as the walls of the house receded.
The two faces of the cherubim (man and lion) link back to the four-faced living creatures.
The squared posts of the temple entrance parallel the square posts in Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The theological significance of the Holy of Holies and access into the divine presence.
The narrow windows and palm tree decorations echo the design elements of the outer gates.
Solomon's temple likewise featured narrow, latticed windows for light and ventilation.
The altar is functionally called the 'table of the Lord' in sacrificial vocabulary.
The two folding leaves for each of the two doors matches the entrance pattern.