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Ezekiel 40:15

in Ezekiel 40

And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And from the forefront of the gate at the entrance unto the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.

KJV

And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.

This verse in Ezekiel 40

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

climbed its steps

on Ezekiel 40:6-16

At the gate facing east, threshold, gate chambers, portico, jambs and gateposts are measured in order, with palm trees on every side pillar. The tour starts in the east, the direction by which the glory left at 11:23 and returns through the eastern gate at 43:4.

This site's exposition

fifty cubits

Fifty cubits, about eighty-five feet, is the gate's length from outer threshold to inner porch. Every gate of both courts has this length and a width of twenty-five, a ratio of two to one. The repeated figures give the plan its order.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

And after seven full weeks of festivity and joy, the first day of the Octave begins, which is the Day of Resurrection, and it brings us close to the temple. For when we have done all things, repenting for our previous errors, then we become neighbors and close to God, so that in the outer atrium, the order of creatures teaches us knowledge of the Creator with constancy, and in the inner atrium true jubilation, in which all our debts are forgiven, instructs us in the theology, and introduces us to the Holy of Holies.

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 14 and following) He made fronts for sixty cubits, and the courtyard of the gate had a surrounding circuit. And before the face of the gate, which reached up to the face of the interior vestibule gate, there were fifty cubits, and oblique windows in the chambers, and in their fronts which were inside the gate all around. Similarly, there were windows in the vestibules all around inside: and before the fronts, there was a depiction of palms.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 2, Homily 5 · Written before 604.

proposed

And before the face of the gate which extended to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate, fifty cubits. That which is said in this place, "Before the face of the gate," describes not the exterior, but the interior place before the gate, since it is reported to extend up to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate. Hence that same place is said to have been measured at fifty cubits. For by the number fifty, eternal rest is signified. For the number seven has its own perfection, because on that day the number of days was completed. And through the law the Sabbath was given for rest. Moreover, that same number seven multiplied by itself yields forty-nine, and if a monad is added to it, one arrives at fifty, because all our perfection will be in the contemplation of that One, in whose vision there will no longer be anything lacking of salvation and joy for us. Hence also the jubilee, that is, the fiftieth year, was given for rest, because whoever has arrived at the eternal joys of almighty God will no longer have labor and groaning. It should be noted that the place which is described as extending for fifty cubits is said to reach to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate. Therefore in this place the prophet is not describing the vestibule of the inner gate itself, but the place within which extends to the vestibule of the inner gate. By which place, of course, as we have said, our hope is signified, which while it seeks eternal rest, leads the mind to the vestibule of the inner gate. For in this very fact that we desire heavenly things, that we sigh for the promised joys, that we seek the rest of eternal life, we are already approaching the face of the inner vestibule. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And from the face of the gate of the entrance,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Fifty cubits - The length of the building. See MMMMM in the plan.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And he made the pillars sixty cubits The height of the pillars of the posts of the hall was sixty cubits.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 40:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְעַ֗לand on

    vealH5921 →5755 times

  • פְּנֵי֙[the] face of

    peneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַשַּׁ֣עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • הָֽאִית֔וֹןthe entrance

    haiyotonH2978 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • לִפְנֵ֕י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • אֻלָ֥ם[the] porch of

    ʾulamH197 →34 times

  • הַשַּׁ֖עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • הַפְּנִימִ֑י<the> inner

    hapenimiH6442 →32 times

  • חֲמִשִּׁ֖יםfifty

    chamishimH2572 →163 times

  • אַמָּֽה׃cubit[s]

    ʾamahH520 →247 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 2, Homily 5; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.