Ezekiel 40:47

So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house. THE COURT, AN HUNDRED CUBITS LONG, AND ... BROAD FOUR-SQUARE - not to be confounded with the inner court, or court of Israel, which was open to all who had sacrifices to bring, and which went round the three sides of the sacred territory, 100 cubits broad. This court was 100 cubits square, and had the altar in it, in front of the temple. It was the court of the priests, and hence, is connected with those who had charge of the altar and the music. The description here is brief, as the things connected with this portion were from the first divinely regulated....

Verse Ezekiel 40:47. _HE MEASURED THE COURT_] This was the court of the priests. See FFF in the plan. Ezekiel 48:35, Ezekiel 48:35....

THE COURT - The inner court (B) where was the brass altar Ezekiel 43:13. The new chapter would begin better at Ezekiel 40:48....

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,...

SO HE MEASURED THE COURT,.... The inward court, where the prophet and his guide now were; and the gates leading to which he had been measuring, with the chambers, arches, and tables belonging thereunto: AN HUNDRED CUBITS LONG, AND AN HUNDRED CUBITS BROAD, FOURSQUARE; the floor, or area of this court, which was a hundred cubits in length and breadth; so that it was a perfect square, equilateral, east, west, north, and south, and above fifty yards each way; such a court as never was in any temple whatever: hence Kimchi observes, there was no such court in the second temple; no, nor in the first neither: in the second temple, the length of the court of Israel, according to Abarbinel, was a hundred and thirty five cubits, and the breadth eleven, but this was a hundred by a hundred; these things, says Lipman u, are wonderful in my eyes: this denotes the large increase of the church, and of s...

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.)...

FOURSQUARE. Compare Ezekiel 48:20 and Revelation 21:16....

Measurements of the inner court. Lines drawn along the inner fronts of the inner gates, and along the front of the house, gave a square of 100 cubits. In this space stood the altar in front of the house, and being high it could be seen through the gates. The place between the temple and the altar was especially sacred. On altar cf. Ezekiel 43:13-17. The square, Fig. 3, _iklm_; the altar, Fig. 3, F....

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...