Ezekiel 40:7

The guardrooms. Fig. 1 bb.

every little chamberwas] And the guardroom was sing used collectively. These chambers were used as sentry-boxes or guard-rooms (1 Kings 14:28), where the temple officers were stationed to preserve order and keep the house. Of these guardrooms there were three on each side of the gateway (Ezekiel 40:10). They were without doors towards the gateway inside, being merely protected on that side by a barrier or fence (Ezekiel 40:12), this allowing the keepers full view of the gateway. They were provided with windows (Ezekiel 40:16), and possibly at the back with doors leading into the outer court (cf. Ezekiel 40:13). The measurements 6 cubits long and broad refer to the inner area.

between the little chambers Between the guardrooms was five cubits. Between two guardrooms a wall-front of five cubits faced the gateway. Of these wall-fronts there were only two, because the guardrooms were but three. Fig. 1, gh, ik.

threshold of the gate Beyond the three guardrooms and the two intervening wall-fronts there was another space called a threshold, of the same dimensions as the first (Ezekiel 40:6), leading into the large apartment called the porch (Ezekiel 40:9). Fig. 1, c.

porch of the gate within Or, toward the insideR.V., toward the house, though the correction is hardly necessary in syntax (Ezekiel 41:25). The sense is the same in either case: the porch, fig. 1, d, of the outer gate lay at the inner end of the building, looking into the court, while the porch of the inner gates lay at the outer end of the gate-building.