Ezekiel 42

Ezekiel’s guide shows him the priests’ chambers beside the temple and explains what they are for: holy meals and holy storage. The guide then measures the whole temple area, a perfect square with a wall around it. The chapter ends on its purpose: to separate the holy from the common.

Ezekiel 42:1-2

The guide leads Ezekiel out through the north side of the outer court to a long block of rooms. It stands against the temple courtyard and the outer wall. Its measurements are given as 100 cubits long and 50 wide. God’s house is ordered down to its smallest part.

BSA: chambers (“rooms, cells”): These are small, separate rooms set aside for the priests’ use.

See also: Ezekiel 40:17.

Ezekiel 42:3

The rooms rise in three levels of galleries. They face two places: the 20-cubit space of the inner court on one side, and the paved floor of the outer court on the other. The building stands between the sacred inner area and the more public outer area.

BSA: pavement (“a decorative floor, a stone or tile surface”): The outer court had a finished stone floor, marking it as a prepared place for worship.

Ezekiel 42:4

In front of the rooms ran a walkway ten cubits wide and a hundred long, with the doors on the north. The priests could move along it from room to room, under cover and in an orderly way.

BSA: walkway (“path, passage”): It was a defined passage that gave the priests access to every room.

Ezekiel 42:5-6

The building has three stories, but it has no pillars like those in the courts. So the upper floors are cut back to make room for the galleries, and they end up smaller than the floors below. This is plain building description. The design is practical and exact.

BSA: pillars (“columns, supports”): Without supports like those of the courts, the upper floors had to be stepped back.

Ezekiel 42:7-8

An outer wall runs fifty cubits alongside the rooms that face the outer court. The row facing the temple is a hundred cubits long, twice as long. The measurements keep the two sides distinct, with the sacred side given the greater length.

BSA: parallel (“in the same direction, side by side”): The wall runs level with the rooms, keeping the whole block orderly and enclosed.

Ezekiel 42:9

Beneath these rooms, at the lower level, an entrance lies on the east. People coming from the outer court enter there. The priests had a regular way in, and the design leaves no confusion about it.

BSA: entrance (“entry point, gateway”): It is a set way in, so entry to the sacred rooms is ordered and not casual.

Ezekiel 42:10-12

A matching block of rooms stands on the south, with the same length, width, exits and design as the north block. Its doors match those of the rooms, and an entrance opens at the walkway toward the east. The two blocks mirror each other. God’s order is balanced and complete.

BSA: passageway (“a walkway, road”): As on the north, a path ran in front of the rooms to serve them.

Ezekiel 42:13

Now the purpose is told. These are holy rooms where the priests who draw near to the LORD eat the most holy offerings and keep them. Grain, sin and guilt offerings are all kept there. Those who serve God are fed from what is given to God, in a place made holy for it.

BSA: approach (“draw near, come close to”): The priests’ special task is nearness to God, and that nearness calls for care. most holy (“extremely sacred, consecrated”): These offerings belonged to God in a special way and were not for ordinary use.

Hebrew: קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, H6944) — “holiness, set-apartness.” The root idea is being cut off from common use and given wholly to God. It is a matter of belonging, not only of purity.

See also: Leviticus 6:16-18; Leviticus 7:6.

Ezekiel 42:14

When priests leave the holy area, they must first take off the garments in which they served. Those garments are holy, and the priests put on other clothes before going near the people. The holy is not to be carried carelessly into everyday life.

BSA: garments (“clothing, robes”): The clothes themselves are made holy by the service done in them.

See also: Ezekiel 44:19; Leviticus 16:23.

Ezekiel 42:15

When the inner measuring is done, the guide takes Ezekiel out through the east gate. He then begins to measure the whole area around the temple. The vision moves from the rooms to the boundary of the entire holy ground.

BSA: all around (“encompassing, surrounding on every side”): The measuring takes in the whole enclosure, leaving no side unchecked.

See also: Ezekiel 43:1.

Ezekiel 42:16-19

With the measuring rod, the guide measures each side in turn: east, north, south and west. Each comes to five hundred cubits. The repeated figure makes the point: the holy ground is a perfect square, even and complete.

BSA: measuring rod (“the measuring reed, a branch used for measurement”): It is a simple reed, the same tool the guide used throughout the vision.

Hebrew: קָנֶה (qaneh, H7070) — “reed, measuring rod.” The word means a reed and became the name for the measuring rod. A plain reed is the tool in the hands of God’s guide.

See also: Ezekiel 40:3; Revelation 21:15-16.

Ezekiel 42:20

A wall runs all around the square, five hundred cubits each way. Its purpose is stated plainly: to separate the holy from the common. God is near his people, yet he is not to be treated lightly. The chapter closes with holiness, the heart of the temple.

BSA: separate (“divide, set apart”): The wall makes a clear difference between what belongs to God and what is ordinary. common (“unholy, profane”): Common does not mean evil; it means not set apart for sacred use.

Hebrew: לְהַבְדִּיל (lehavdil, H914) — “to divide, to distinguish.” This is the same word used for God dividing light from darkness. God’s holiness is about making a plain difference between things.

See also: Ezekiel 44:23; Leviticus 10:10.