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Ezekiel 40:21

in Ezekiel 40

Its three gate chambers on each side, its side pillars, and its portico all had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the lodges thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

KJV

And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

This verse in Ezekiel 40

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The different approaches corresponded in plan. In the case of these two other gates, however, no mention is made of a building with thirty chambers such as was found on the east side. Only one was needed, and it was assigned to the east as being the sacred quarter, and that most conveniently situated for the officiating priests.

This site's exposition

the outer court facing north

on Ezekiel 40:20-23

The north gate repeats the east gate: three gate chambers on each side, fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide, seven steps, and palm trees. A gate to the inner court faces this north gate, and the guide measures a hundred cubits between them.

This site's exposition

the same measurements as the first gate

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe the north and south gates match the east gate in plan, yet a building is mentioned only on the east. They explain that the east was the sacred quarter, nearest the officiating priests. Gates stand on only three sides, east, north and south.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 20, 21.) He also measured the gate of the outer court that faced north, both in length and width. It had three rooms on each side, and its front and vestibule were the same size as those of the gate that faced east. The gate was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide, and its windows, vestibule, and carvings were all the same size as those of the gate that faced east. There were seven steps in its ascent, and a vestibule before it.

A commentator

Jerome

COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 12:40.20-23 · Written before 420.

proposed

And it had, it says, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five in width, so that eternal rest might be demonstrated after fifty weeks following seven weeks: extending during the day of resurrection to the kingdoms of heaven, in which true rest is found.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 2, Homily 7 · Written before 604.

proposed

And because in the knowledge of the Holy Trinity hearers advance from the word of preaching in love of the same Trinity, this same gate has three chambers on one side and three on the other, because everything that the Creator speaks concerning the Trinity through the New Testament, He also shows from the Old Testament. And the heart of hearers advances in love of the heavenly fatherland, so that the soul clinging to God may sit as a bride with the bridegroom in a certain chamber already, and turn itself completely away from earthly desires. Or certainly, as was said far above, because there are three orders of those living well, namely of the good married, the continent, and the preachers, and because some even placed in marriages long for the heavenly fatherland with love, while others through hope of eternal joy even mortify the flesh, and flee all earthly activities, and scorn to be entangled in the care of this world, while others both despise earthly goods and preach the heavenly joys which they have come to know, what are these if not chambers in the spiritual building, in whose thought and meditation the soul is joined to the heavenly spouse? Because the Church from the Gentiles not only has these three orders of the good, but also the Synagogue once had them, while a great multitude of spiritual persons ardently awaited the grace of the Redeemer, the gate of the heavenly building has three chambers on this side and three on that side, because every preacher, when he summons his hearer to the heavenly fatherland, demonstrates that both new and old fathers longed with heavenly desire. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the little chambers thereof were three on this side, and three on that side,.... As in the eastern gate, and the measures the same, Eze 40:

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But the description is repeated very particularly. And thus largely was the structure of the tabernacle related in Exodus, and of the temple in the books of Kings and Chronicles, to signify the special notice God does take, and his ministers should take, of all that belong to his church. His delight is in them; his eye is upon them.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And the little chambers thereof were three, etc. - See the plan. Arches - Porch. The arch was not known at this period.

The words behind it

18 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.

  • וְתָאָ֗יוand chambers its

    vetaovH8372 →13 times

  • שְׁלוֹשָׁ֤הthree

    sheloshahH7969 →432 times

  • מִפּוֹ֙from here

    mipoH6311 →82 times

  • וּשְׁלֹשָׁ֣הand three

    usheloshahH7969 →432 times

  • מִפּ֔וֹfrom here

    mipoH6311 →82 times

  • וְאֵילָ֤יוand pillars its

    veeilovH352 →187 times

  • וְאֵֽלַמָּיו֙and porches its

    veelamovH361 →15 times

  • הָיָ֔הit was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • כְּמִדַּ֖תlike [the] measurement of

    kemidatH4060 →55 times

  • הַשַּׁ֣עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • הָרִאשׁ֑וֹן<the> first

    harishonH7223 →182 times

  • חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים[was] fifty

    chamishimH2572 →163 times

  • אַמָּה֙cubit[s]

    ʾamahH520 →247 times

  • אָרְכּ֔וֹlength its

    ʾarekoH753 →95 times

  • וְרֹ֕חַבand [the] breadth

    verochavH7341 →101 times

  • חָמֵ֥שׁ[was] five

    chameshH2568 →343 times

  • וְעֶשְׂרִ֖יםand twenty

    veesrimH6242 →315 times

  • בָּאַמָּֽה׃by the cubit

    baamahH520 →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 7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 12:40.20-23; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.