Ezekiel 40:38

And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering. THE CHAMBERS, AND THE ENTRIES - literally, a chamber and its door. BY THE POSTS - i:e., at or close by the posts or columns. WHERE THEY WASHED THE BURNT OFFERING. This does not apply to all the gates, but only to the north gate; for directs the sacrifices to be killed north of the altar; and calls the north gate "the gate of the altar." And particularly mentions the north gate....

THE CHAMBERS - Render it: and chambers, not yet described. They were north of the altar, by the “posts” or pillars in front and along the sides of the gate-building. There were several gates in the gate-building....

EXPOSITION The magnificent temple-vision, as it is usually styled, a description of which forms the closing section of this book (Ezekiel 40-48.), was the last extended" word" communicated to the prophet, and was given him in the five and twentieth year of the Captivity, _i.e. _about B.C. 575. Two years later he received a brief revelation concerning Egypt, which, in compiling his volume, he incorporated with the other prophecies relating to the same subject (Ezekiel 29:17). Of the present oracle as a whole the significance will be best understood when its several parts have been examined in detail. Meanwhile it may suffice to note that it manifestly connects itself with the promise in Ezekiel 37:27,...

AND THE CHAMBERS, AND THE ENTRIES THEREOF, WERE BY THE POSTS OF THE GATES,.... Of the north gate; the plural for the singular; for not at the other gates, only at the north gate, were the sacrifices slain and washed; as under the law, only on the north side of the altar, Leviticus 1:11, now, by the posts of this gate, or at the entrance of it on one side, STOOD A CELL OR CHAMBER, AND A DOOR INTO IT o, as the words may be rendered; for they are singular in the text: WHERE THEY WASHED THE BURNT OFFERING; its legs and inwards, Leviticus 1:9, according to the law, there were lavers in Solomon's temple, to wash the sacrifices in, 2 Chronicles 4:6, but there was no such cell or cham

Chapter s 40-48. The final nine Chapter s of this book form the climax of the great prophecies of Ezekiel; they belong to the most difficult in the entire prophetic Word. Once more the hand of the Lord rests upon the seer and in the visions of God he is brought into the land of Israel. In the very beginning of this grand finale we learn therefore that the visions concern the land of Israel. Let us remember, that after the fall of Jerusalem had been announced to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:21), his prophetic utterances and visions concern the future when Israel is to be regathered and restored to the land. The previous two Chapter s dealt with the last invasion of the land of Israel and the complete overthrow of Gog and its hordes. The vision contained in this last section follows after Israel's final deliverance. So much is clear as to the time when the prophecies of these eight Chapter s will b...

By the (eastern?) gate (and possibly also the northern and southern) of this inner court was a chamber in which the burnt offering was washed. There were also tables on which the animals were slain and other tables on which the instruments of slaughter were placed. At the south there was a chamber for the Levitical priests who had the general charge of the Temple, and at the north another for the Zadokite priests who had more particularly charge of the altar which stood in the middle of the inner court and in front of the entrance to the Temple proper. (In Ezekiel 40:44 for chambers for the singers read, with LXX, two chambers.)...

WASHED. Or, took out, the entrails of. BURNT OFFERING. Sec App-43. See note on "ordinances", Ezekiel 43:18....

Read: AND A CHAMBER, AND THE ENTRY THEREOF (was) IN THE PORCH OF THE GATE. The plur. _gates_can hardly be right. It is not probable that slaughtering took place at more than one gate. LXX. reads _gate_(sing.) and also _porch_for posts, cf. Ezekiel 40:37. The chamber whose entry was from the porch must have been contiguous to the porch, but is not further described. _where they washed_ Not the usual word Leviticus 1:9. Both words Isaiah 4:4; 2 Chronicles 4:6. LXX. thinks here of a drain or runnel for carrying off the sacrificial blood....

C. The Inner Court and Its Gateways 40:28-47 TRANSLATION (28) Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures; (29) and the lodges thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad. (30) And there were arches round about, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits broad. (31) And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the ascent to it had eight steps. (32) And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures; (33) and the lodges thereof and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about; it...

40:38 rinsed (a-17) 'Thoroughly washed.' see 2 Chronicles 4:6 ; as 'scoured out,' Isaiah 4:4 ....