Ezekiel 42

Chap. XLII. Ver. 1—20. Importanceof worship.—“ The public worship of God in his courts, the secret devotion of the clo-

Notes on the verses

Chap. XLIL Ver. 1. The posts.—{These were probably a sort of door-case on each side of the ehtrance; and the tabernacle perhaps was a kind of covering to the door, of the same dimensions.]—Bagsrer. |. Ver. 2. The door.—[This was the door out of the porch into the sanctuary which seems to have been wider than that from the Se to the porch. J—B, Ver. 3. Two cubits.—[This was the thickness of the partition wall between the sanctuary (ver. 2.) and holy of holies (ver. 4;) the breadth of the wall on each side of the gate being seven cubits, and the entrance into the holy place six cubits in width. ]—Bagster. x Ver. 6. And the side chambers, &c.—Newcome, ‘* And the chambers were one over another, three stories,”

(Heb. “chamber over chamber, thrice,’’) thirty in rows, &c.—[ We find by Josephus (Ant.) that around Solomon’s temple were chambers three stories high, each story consisting of thirty chambers, which are supposed to have been on the north, south, and east sules of the temple.—Had not hold in the wall—That is, the beams or supporters of the chambers were not let into the main wall of the temple; but rested on rojections of the outer wall, which became a cubit narrower at every story, eaving a ledge of one cubit to support the beams. ]—Bagster. Ver. 7. There was an enlarging.—Heb. ‘‘ It was broader, and went round;”” Neiocome, ‘* There was a widening and a winding about, still upward;” perhaps a winding stair-case.—{In the same proportion in which the thickness of the wall decreased, the chambers increased, so that the middle story was one cubit larger, and the upper story two cubits larger, than the lower rooms; and a winding stair-case, which widened in the same manner as the rooms, ascended from the bottom to the top.

|— Bagster. Ver. 9. Thickness of the wall.—{This seems to mean the outer wall which enclosed the side-chambers.— That which was left.—This appears to have been a walk, or gallery of communication between the chambers, five cubits broad, into which the doors opened, ver. 11.]—Bagster. Vor. to. The sr Tad the word rendered chambers is different from that used before, it is supposed there was another row of buildings, parallel with the side-chambers, with a passage of twenty cubits by tween. |—Bagster. Ver. 12. Wall of the building.—(This appears to have been a building erected at the west end of the temple. |—Bagster. ae Ver. 13. Measured the house.—|These verses (13—15.) seem to intimate, that all the buildings of the temple occupied an area of 100 square cubits.

]J—B Ver. 16. Cet/ed.—Newcome. * Overlaid with wood.”—— Windows covered —[Probably either by the jetting out of the main wall of the temple; or by lattice work, or curtains, or by both.]—Bagster. Ver. 17. Above the door—(That is, the windows were placed above the height of the door, at the east end of the temple, and thus continued, at the same height, and at measured distances, along both sides of the holy place, to the wall of the inner sanctuary, in which there were no windows. |—B. | Ver. 22. Altar of wood.—{This must signify the altar of incense; which, both in the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, was covered with — of gold. It is very remarkable, that in this temple described by Ezekiel, there is not the least mention of gold or silver, though there was such a profusion of these metals in the former; which may probably imply, that a glory of a more spiritual nature was intended under these emblems.

]—Bagster.— The length thereof.—These words, the second time of occurring, seem to be a mistake in copying. Nevwcome, following LXX. reads, “ the base thereof.” The letters ure very similar in Heb.——T he table.—[This is probably an intimation, that 1nder the New Testament dispensation a table would be substituted for an altar, in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. }—Ragster. Chap. XLIL Ver.1 Chamber.—{This seems to denote a row of cham-