Ezekiel 12

their worshippers applied to them as such, and because evil spirits, who were worshipped in and by them, were pjeas^d with the devotions in that manner paid to them. / will recompense their way \ipon their own heads.] See ver..9, 10. and the notes upon xx. 38. - Ezekiel being commanded to remove his household-stuff, and to take his sustenance with quaking and trembling, is a type of the captivity. both of king and people, and of the consternation which their calamities will bring upon them; he afterward reproves the infidelity of those.who disbelieved his prophecies. This chapter contains a description of the measures, parts, chambers, and ornaments, of the temple itself. the side-posts; compare 1 Kings vi. 33. where the margin translates the word rebingim, four-square.

Ezekiel 12:1

AFTERWARD he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which teas the breadth of the tabernacle. By the posts arc meant the piers or door-cases on each side of the entrance: (see xl. 9. 48.) these were six cubits thick on the north and south sides. Rochob, translated breadth, sometimes signifies thickness: (see ver. 0. 12. of this chapter, and xl. 5.) the same thickness had the upper lintel over the door; for so Villalpandus rightly explains the Hebrew word oliel, which we render tabernacle. That word sometimes signifies a covering, and so it is rendered by our translators, Exod. xxvi. 7. and is to be understood in the same sense, Exod. xxxvi. 14. where our English reads, For a tent over the tabernacle; but it should be translated, For a covering over the tabernacle; to which sense the LXX. translate it in both places. In this signification it may not be unfitly applied to the upper lintel, which is a kind of covering to the door; and thus it is generally understood by the rabbins upon this place.;

Ezekiel 12:2

SON of man. See ii. 1. Tlioit dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house.] See ii. 3. 6,7. The prophet applies himself to those of the captivity among whom he dwelt. They saw Jerusalem still inhabited, and under the government of its own.king. And as they that were left at home insulted over the exiles; (see xi. 15.) so these repined at their own ill fortune, and thought those who dwelt at Jerusalem in a much better condition than themselves. Therefore the following parables arc designed to shew, that they who arc left behind to endure the miseries of a siege, and the insults of a conqueror, will be in the worse condition of the two. St. Jerome, in his preface to Ezekiel, observes, this was the temper of those captives to whom Ezekiel prophesied; " Iis> qui cum co captivi fucrant, prophctavit, poenitcutibus quod ad Jcremise vaticinium sc ultro.adversariis tradidisscnt, ct vidcrent adhuc urbem Hicrosolymam stare, quam ille casuram esse pracdixcrat." Which have eyes, and see not, &c.J Who will not make use of that sense and understanding that God hath given them. (See Isa. vi. 9. Jcr. v. 21.)*, And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on this side, and five cubits on the other side.] The entrance itself being ten cubits broad, and the wall on each side five cubits, makes the breadth of the house itself to be just twenty cubits, as it is expressed in the latter part of the verse, which was the same in Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings vi. 2. And he measured the length thereof forty cubits.] The length of the first sanctuary, as distinct from the inward, or the holiest of all, which was twenty cubits in length, (ver. 4.) and made the whole structure sixty cubits long; wherein it agreed with Solomon’s temple, lKingsvi.2.17.

Ezekiel 12:3

Prepare thee stuff for removing, &c. Get all thy goods together, and pack them up as those do that move from one house to another. Do this openly and at noonday, that they may.all sec and take notice of it. • The prophets often prophesied by signs, as being of greater force and efficacy than words. (See iv. 1.) Tlxen he went inward, and measured the posts of the door two cubits, &c] From the outward sanctuary he went “forward towards the holiest of all, and measured the thickness of the partitionwall, called the veil of the temple, Matt, xxvii. 51. to be two. cubits, the entrance itself six cubits, and the breadth of the wall on each side of the door seven cubits: compare xl. 48. where the breadth of the gate is taken in the same sense: the breadth of the wall, thus computed, making up fourteen cubits, and being added to the breadth of the entrance itself, makes up twenty cubits; the breadth of the inner sanctuary, as it is set down in the following verse. — And measured the post of the door two cubits.] Maimonides,in Beth-Habbekirah, saith, That in the first temple there was a wall between the sanctuary and most holy place of the thickness of a cubit: but in the second temple, instead of a wall there were two veils made, one towards the most holy place, and the other towards the outward sanctuary, leaving a space between them of the thickness of a cubit, where the wall was supposed to stand in Solomon’s temple.

Ezekiel 12:4

Thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. As men do that would go off by stealth: to signify also that Zedekiah and his retinue should escape out of the city by night, (& Kings xxv. 4.) So he measured the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.] It was an exact cube of the same dimensions in length, breadth, and height. (See 1 Kings vi. 20.) Before the temple.] The words should rather be rendered, According to the [breadth of] the temple. The Hebrew word el-pene, before, is promiscuously used with nal-pene, which signifies of the same size, or proportion; (see the note on xl. 23.) arid so it is used 2 Chron. iii. 8. where the text, speaking of this subject, runs thus in the Hebrew, He made the most holy house, the length thereof before the face of the breadth of the house; where our translation very properly expresses the same sense, According to the breadth of the house. In the same sense the phrase is used, I Kings vi. 3. So the sense here is, that the breadth of the inner sanctuary was equal to the breadth of the outer part of the temple, which is said to be twenty cubits, ver. 2.

Ezekiel 12:5

Dig thou through the wall in their sight. To shew that the king shall make his escape by the same means. (See ver. 12.) ^ Ibid, and Ver. G. And carry put thereby. In their sight thou shalt bear it upon thy shoulders— in the twilight.] This which the prophet was commanded to carry out in the twiUght,;\vas something different frprn the goods he removed in the day-time; (see ver*. 4. 7.) and therefore must mean necessary provision for his present subsistence. Thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground.] As Zedekiah shall do; that he^night not be discovered. I have^ set thee for a sign to the house of Israel.] See.yer. 12. and iv. 3. t. Yer. 9. Hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to thee, What doest thou?] They inquire, by way of dprision and contempt, what these signs mean. (Compare ii. 5. xvii.12. xx. 49. xxiv. 19.), Ver. J.0. Tfiis burden concerneth jthe prince in Jerusalem^ King Zedekiah. (See yii. 27.) After he measured the wall of the house six cubits.] The thickness of the wall from the foundation, the first story of the side-chambers. (Sec ver. 8.) And the breadth of every side-chamber four cubits.] The side-chambers upon the lowermost floor were five cubits in breadth, (1 Kings vi. 6.) Therefore Villalpandus understands these words of the thickness of the buttresses, which supported those side-chambers. Ver. G. And the side-chambers were three, one over another.] They were three stories high. (See 1 Kings vi. 6.) And thirty in order.] As in Solomon’s temple, according to Josephus’s description of it, (Antiq. lib. viii. cap. 3. sect. 2.) and built round about the house on every side: as it is expressed in the foregoing verse; to which the text in the first book of Kings agrees, vi. 5. The Talmudists increase the number to eight-and-thirty, placing fifteen on the north side, fifteen on the south, and eight on the west side of the temple. (See Cod. Middoth. cap. 4.) The supernumerary chambers being probably added in latter times. And they entered into the wall which was for the sidechambers round about.] At five cubits’ height from, the ground, the wall or the buttresses which supported these outward chambers (see ver. 5.) abated of their thickness one cubit, and there was a rest or ledge of one cubit’s breadth, on which the ends of each story were fastened. (See 1 Kings vi. G. 10.) But they had not hold in the wall of the house.] They were not fastened into the main wall of the house, but rested on the outside of the wall, where it grew narrower; which is meant by migrenoth, the narrowest rests, or rebatements, which we read 1 Kings vi. G. *

Ezekiel 12:7

For there was an enlarging and a winding about.still upward to the side-chambers, &c. So much^of breadth w r as added to the side-chambers, as was taken out of the thickness of the wall; so that the middle story was one cubit larger, and the uppermost story two cubits larger, than the lower rooms. And winding stairs, which enlarged as the rooms did, went up between each two chambers from the bottom to the top; and there were two doors at the top of each pair of stairs, one door opening into one room, the other into that over against ir. (See 1 Kings vi. 8.) The Talmudists add, that these winding stairs wctc continued from one side of the.temple to the other, beginning at the north-east side, and by these they went into the upper room which was over the sanctuary. (See Cod. Middoth. cap. 4. sect 5.)

Ezekiel 12:8

Isaiv also the height of the house round about. By the house is meant these chambers three stories high; in which sense the word beth, house, is used ver. 9.. The foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.’] By the foundations of the side-chambers, Villalpandus understands those rests or buttresses which supported them, which were at six cubits’ distance from each other. Bernard I/Amy supposes this verse to contain a description of the second story of these side-chambers, which were six cubits broad, being one cubit wider than the lower rooms. (See the note on ver. 7.) Concerning the size of these cubits,.see the note upon xl. 5. They are called great cubits, because they are larger than the cubit used in Chaldea, as was there observed.

Ezekiel 12:9

The thickness of the wall, that was for the sidechamber without, was five cubits. This is to be understood, not of the veil of the temple, which was six cubits thick,, (ver; 5.) but of the outward wall that enclosed these sidechambers. Side-chamber in the singular number is used for the plural, as in ver. 5. and xlii. 1. So door is used for doors, ver. 16. 20. post for posfc, ver. 21. chamber xlii. 1. for chambers, ver. 4. And that which was left [or the void space] was the place of the side-chambers that were within.] Or, that belonged to the house, or temple. This void space was of the same measure; viz. five cubits. (Compare ver. 11.) So the sense is supplied by Villalpandus and Noldius, n. 889. (Coinpare xl. 14.) The space of five cubits was allowed for the lower chambers, though the upper stories were wider by reason of the rcbatement of the wall. (See ver. 7. and 1 Kings vi. 6.) Others understand this space of five cubits to be allowed for a walk before the chambers, or a passage from one chamber to another. (Sec ver. 11.)

Ezekiel 12:10

And between the chambers was the tvideness of twenty cubits round about the house. The chambers, called leshacoth in the Hebrew, are to be distinguished from the side-chambers mentioned in the foregoing verses; they mean, probably, the chambers of the inner court, described xl. 44, 45. Between these and the temple was left a space of twenty cubits. The temple stood in an area of a hundred cubits square, (ver. 14.) and was seventy cubits wide; (ver; 12.) to whichadding the five cubits on cither side, mentioned ver. 9. and the twenty cubits in this verse, makes up just a hundred cubits.

Ezekiel 12:11

And the doors of the side-chambers were towards the place that was left, &c. Or, towards the void space: the doors of the lower rooms opened into this void space before the chambers, (ver. 9.) Or it may be understood of the two doors on the north and south sides, which opened on the top of the staircase into the upper rooms. (See ver. 7.) And the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.] See ver. 9.

Ezekiel 12:12

And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight. He shall be glad to carry what he can with him in the dnsk of the evening, and his retinue shall make a private way to get out of the city, that they may not be discovered. (See Jer. xxxix. 4.) He shall cover his face, &c] That nobody may know or discover him, till he is got beydnd his enemies’ camp. Now the building that was before the separate place, at the end towards the west, was seventy cubits broad.] Bernard I/Amy seems to give the clearest account of this difficult place, (lib. vi. cap. 11. n. 2.) He understands this word binian, translated building, of a wall or enclosure, as it is used, xl. 5. which ran along the outside of the priest’s court, commensurate with the breadth of the western side of the temple, which was seventy cubits from north to south, and extended in length, from east to west, ninety cubits; ten cubits shorter than the whole area itself (sec the following verse), and enclosing a void space of five, cubits’ breadth, which lay between the side-chambers and the enclosure; so. he.explains those words,. The wall of the building was five cubits thick round about. (Compare * xlii. 10.) Which void space he understands by the separate place, in this verse, and the place which was left, ver. 11. Seventy cubits broad.] This was the breadth of the tem-. pie at the west end, and the buildings adjoining to it, which the aboyementioned author thus computes: the breadth of the oracle twenty cubits; the thickness of the side-walls six cubits on each side; the side-chambers six cubits on. each side; (see the note upon vcr.8.) thickness of the out-walls of those chambers five cubits on each side; a walk or gallery of five cubits before those chambers, (see the note on ver. 9.) and the utmost wall, enclosing the whole building, five cubits. Those that differ from him, as to some of those particulars, make up the sum of seventy cubits, by making an allowance for the stairs, and for conveyances, to carry off the water.

Ezekiel 12:13

My net alsoivill I spread upon him, &c. Though he thinks to escape, yct’I will bring.his. enemies upon him, who. shall encompass him,.aiui stop his.flight, as when, a.wild beast is entangled. in a net.. (2 Kings xxv. 5— 7. and compare xvii. 20.;xix.,S. ^xxii. 3. of this prophecy.) Yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there*] Having his eyes put out before he came thither. (Ibid.);Josephus tells us, (Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 10.) that Zedekiah thought this prophecy inconsistent.with that of Jeremiah, (xxxiv. 3.) That Zedekiah 9 s eyes should see the eyes of the king of Babylon^ and therefore believed neither. But they both actually came to pass, as the sacred story assures us: the king of Babylon passing sentence upon him at Riblah, as one that had broke the oath and covenant he, had made with him, and then putting put his eyes, and carrying him to Babylon. So he measured the house, a hundred cubits long;, and the separate place, &c] The whole.temple, with the. porch and walls, was in length a hundred cubits, from east to west, which may be. thus computed: the thickness. of the wall of the east porch five cubits; the passage through the porch eleven cubits; the wall between the porch and the temple six cubits; the outward sanctuary forty cubits; the partition-wall two cubits; the holiest of all twenty cubits; the thickness of the west wall six cubits; the sidechambers at the west end of the holy place five cubits; and outer wall of those chambers five cubits.

Ezekiel 12:14

A: ndl’vqill scatter towards every wind all that are about him to help him. See 2 i Kings xxv. 4, 5. And I will draw out the sword after them.] See the note upon v. 12. Ver. 1G. But I will leave a few men of them, that they may declare their abominations among the heathen.’] And there justify my proceedings against them. (See vi. 8—10.), * Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place towards the east, a hundred cubits,] The whole front of the house eastward was a hundred cubits, which some expositors thus compute:. the breadth of. the temple twenty cubits; the thickness of the outward walls twelve cubits; the side-chambers eight cubits (of these dimensions they explain the latter part of the fifth verse of this chapter); the walls of those chambers five cubits on each, side; the breadth of the void space five cubits on each side; and the twenty cubits round about the house, (ver. 10.) Others compute the sum a different way, by making difier,- ent allowances for the outward buildings, and the several passages from one part of the temple to the other.

Ezekiel 12:15

And he measured the length of the building over against the ^separate place which was behind it. Noldius translates this sentence more clearly thus: And he measured the length of the building which was before the separate place, [and] that which was behind it, or opposite to it; by which he understands the north and south porches; the east £).nd west sides having been measured before, ver. 12. 14. (See his Concordance, p. 104.) The phrase el-pene, translated here over against, is rendered before in pur English version, xliv. 4. And the galleries thereof on one side, and on the other side, a hundred cubits, with [or and] the inner temple, qnd the porches thereof] As the temple, and the area wherein it stood, made a square of a hundred cubits; so the courts and buildings thereto belonging were of the same dimensions. (See xl. 19. 47.) By the galleries are meant the side-chambers, described ver. G, 7. (Compare the following verse.) With the inner temple.] Called the inner house, ver. 17. Microsoft® [chap. xli« and xlii. 15. to distinguish it froih the^ courts and buildings which were about it. Vcr. 16. The door-posts, and the narrow windmvs, and the galleries round about in their three stories.’] He mcar sured likewise the thickness of the walls on each sido of the porch, (see xl. 48.) and the thickness of the doorcases, at the entrance into the temple, (xli. 1.) as also the narrow windows belonging to the three stories of chambers, which were placed on the outside of the temple. (See ver. G. and xl. 16.) Over against the door, ceiled with wood round about J] Or, answerable to which was the door ceiled ivith toood. The doors of the little chambers exactly answered one another, as those belonging to the porch did, xl. 13. The word neged, over against, signifies likewise ansioerable, or proportionable. (Seo the note on xl. 23.) Door signifies every door. (See the note upon ver. 9.) And from the ground up to the windows.]* He measured from the ground up to the windows of the temple, which were placed above the side-chambers. And the windows were covered.] Either because the sidechambers jetting out beyond the main wall of the temple, hindered their being seen in the inner court; or else they were covered on the inside with curtains drawn before them.

Ezekiel 12:17

To that above the door, even to the inner house and without, &e. This verse may best be explained by joining it to what went before to this sense: that the windows were made in exact proportion, both over the porch and through every part of the temple, and the buildings adjoining to it. The inner house may mean only the first or outward sanctuary in this verse, as it is distinguished from the porch and outer buildings, expressed by the word without:- (compare ver. 15.) for it is generally supposed that there were no windows in the inner sanctuary. But Villalpandus explains the words even unto the inner house, in an exclusive sense, as if he had said, As far as the inner house; and by the walls round about, understands the north arid south walls of the temple. (Par. ii. lib. iv. cap. 34.) *

Ezekiel 12:18

Eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and carefulness. Shew all the signs of anxiety and consternation whenever thou takest thy common sustenance.., - And it was wade with cherubims and with palmtrees, &c] On the inside of the house the walls were adorned with carved work of cherubims and palm-trees, as Solomon’s temple was, 1 Kings vi. 29. The cherubims and palm-trees were placed alternately; and, according to the different way of counting them, you might reckon a palm-tree placed between two cherubims, or a cherubim placed between two palm-trees. Ibid.andVer. 19. And every cherub had two faces; so that the face of a man was towards the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion towards the palm-tree on the other side.] The cherubims had four faces or appearances: (see 1. 10.) but only two of these appeared in the carved work; the two other faces, viz. that of an ox and an eagle, being supposed to be hid in the plain or surface of the wall.

Ezekiel 12:19

Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel. This was designed to inform the captives, that they 5 were, not in a worse condi-

Ezekiel 12:20

From the ground up to above the door. Up to the windows, as it is expressed ver. 16. up to the ceiling, as the Septuagint explain it.

Ezekiel 12:21

Hie posts of the temple were squared, and (he face of the sanctuary. L e. The entrance into the inner sanctuary. (Compare xl. 15,) The lintels, or door-posts, both of the temple and inner sanctuary, were not arched; but square, with a fiat beam or upper lintel laid upon the top of

Ezekiel 12:22

] See.i.19. 26. x. 19. TJie altar of wood was three ctibits high, and the length thereof two cubits. The- Septuagint add by way of explication, And the breadth thereof two cubits; that it might be four-square, as Moses’s altar of incense was, Exod. xxx. 2. The altar here described is a cubit higher, and double the breadth to that of Moses, which is supposed to be agreeable to the dimensions of the altar made by Solomon, who did not exactly observe,the proportions prescribed to Moses, in making the cherubims and the other furniture of the temple: God having given a new model to David of all tho parts and ornaments of the temple. (See 1 Chron. xxviii. 12. 19.) This altar was made of wood, but overlaid with gold, (Exod. xxx. 3.) and therefore is called tho golden altar, 1 Kings vii. 48. Rev. viii. 3. And the corners thereof, the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of toood.] The corners are the same with the horns mentioned Exod. xxx. 2. being made out of the four posts which supported each corner of the altar. The surface or top of it is called the length, and the sides the walls. Tliis is the table that is before, the Lord.] Compare xliv. 16. The words altar and table are used promiscuously, as hath been observed upon xxiii. 41. Incense was an emblem of the prayers of saints; (see Psal. cxii. 2. Rev. viii. 3,4.) which are the spiritual sacrifices of those that worship God in spirit and in truth. (See Hos. xiv. 2.) This table or altar is said to be before the Lord, i. e. in the place of his peculiar presence. (Compare Exod. xxx. 8.) In the same sense the burnt-offering is said to be made at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, i. e. in the place dedicated to his worship, Exod. xxix. 42. and tho lamp is said to burn before the Lord, xxvii. 21. though the candlestick stood in the outward sanctuary.,

Ezekiel 12:23

And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city. God’s presence was before departed from the temple, (x. 19.) and now it quite left the city, to signify that he would acknowledge no longer his relation to either, but deliver them up to be profaned by heathens. And stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.] That is, the Mount of Olives; from whence it is described returning, when God shall again make the city and temple the seat of his presence. (See xliii. 2. Zech. xiv. 4.) And the temple and the sanctuary hadtwo doors.] Each of them had a double or a folding door. (See 1 Kings vi. 31, 34.)

Ezekiel 12:24

Afterward the [spirit took me up, &c. See the notes on viii. 3.’ And brought me in vision by the Spirit of God into Chal-. dea.] Returned me back into Chaldea, in the same manner.as it carried me away from thence, being still under the power of a Divine ecstacy, and the immediate influences of God’s Spirit. And the doors had two leaves a-piece.] The two doors being exceeding large, that of the outward sanctuary ten cubits broad, and that of the inner six, (see ver. 2, 3.) and of a height proportionable; each of them had two leaves, that they might be more easily opened, and eaclfleaf had a wicket in it. (Compare 1 Kings vi. 34.)

Ezekiel 12:25

Then I spake to them of the captivity, Sec. See the note on viii. 2. And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm-trees.] On the doors both of the outward and inward sanctuary. (Compare 1 Kings vi. And there were thick planks vpon the face of the porch without.] There was a wainscotwork of hoards fastened to the end of the great beams, which came out beyobd the wall of the porch: these were laid -so as to make a friezework over the entrance into the eastern porch.

Ezekiel 12:26

And there were narrow windows and palm-trees on the sides of the porch, and vpon the side-chambers of the house. Compare xl. 16. And thick planks?] The sense would be plainer, if we translate it, And [upon] the thick planks; i. e. the figures of palm-trees were carved upon that wainscot, which was described in the foregoing verse. CHAP. XLII-] UPON EZEKIEL.