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Ezekiel 43:17

in Ezekiel 43

The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad in the four sides thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit round about; and the steps thereof shall look toward the east.

KJV

And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east.

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This verse in Ezekiel 43

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
The settle - The “lower settle” (L), projecting beyond the “upper settle” (M) one cubit on every side. His stairs - Jewish tradition says that the approach to the altar was by an inclined plane, because to go up “by steps” was forbidden Exo 20:26. The number “twelve” was symbolic of the twelve tribes, “four,” of the earth; “sixteen” is the square of “four,” and “fourteen” the double of “seven,” the number of the covenant, as being composed of “three,” the number of God, and of “four,” the number of the world.

This site's exposition

the measurements of the altar in long cubits

on Ezekiel 43:13-17

The altar is measured “in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth),” rising by ledges to a hearth “twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide”. Commentators read the stepped ledges as an altar approached in stages, the restraint that governed the earlier altar of earth or unhewn stone (Exodus 20:24-25).

This site's exposition

The steps of the altar shall face east

Altar steps were forbidden in Exodus 20:26, and Albert Barnes reports the Jewish tradition that a ramp was used instead. A priest climbing them faces west, toward the house. In 8:16 men had turned their backs on the temple to worship the sun in the east.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Vers. 13 seqq.) These are the measurements of the altar: in the true cubit, which is a cubit and a handbreadth (or παλαιστὴν) in his bosom, the cubit was in length, and its width was measured from its lip to the surrounding palm of one hand. This was also the trench of the altar. From the bosom of the earth to the outermost base, it was two cubits in height, and the width of one cubit. And from the smaller base to the larger base, it was four cubits, and the width of one cubit.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof,.... Here Kimchi confesses his ignorance.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And the settle - The ledge on which the priests walked round the altar, see Eze 43:14. By these settles or ledges the altar was narrowed towards the top. “The ascent shall look toward the east;” this ascent was an inclined plane. But these settles, or more properly ledges, as Bp. Newcome translates, may be thus computed. The altar itself was ten feet high and twenty broad; the same as that of Solomon, 2Ch 4:1. Height Cubits For the base, Eze 43:13, is in height 1 From the surface of the base to the first ledge, Eze 43:14 1 From the lower ledge to the upper, Eze 43:14 4 From the upper ledge to the ariel or hearth, Eze 43:15 4 In all 10 Breadth Cubits And as to the breadth, the upper ledge, Eze 43:17, was 14 Add a cubit on each side for the higher ledge, Eze 43:14, latter part 2 Add a cubit on each side for the lower ledge, Eze 43:14, former part 2 Add a cubit on each side for the base, Eze 43:13 2 In all 20 The altar of burnt-offerings, described Exo 27:1; Exo 38:1, was smaller than this, because it was to be removed from place to place with the tabernacle. This was designed for a permanent temple. See Bp. Newcome on this chapter.

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וְהָעֲזָרָ֞הand the ledge

    vehaazarahH5835 →9 times

  • אַרְבַּ֧ע[is] four-

    ʾarba'H702 →318 times

  • עֶשְׂרֵ֣הteen [cubits]

    ʾesrehH6240 →338 times

  • אֹ֗רֶךְ[the] length

    ʾorekhH753 →95 times

  • בְּאַרְבַּ֤עby four-

    bearba'H702 →318 times

  • עֶשְׂרֵה֙teen [cubits]

    ʾesrehH6240 →338 times

  • רֹ֔חַב[the] breadth

    rochavH7341 →101 times

  • אֶ֖לto

    ʾelH413 →5510 times

  • אַרְבַּ֣עַת[the] four

    ʾarbaatH702 →318 times

  • רְבָעֶ֑יהָsides its

    revaeihaH7253 →7 times

  • וְהַגְּבוּלand the border

    vehagevulH1366 →240 times

  • סָבִ֨יבaround

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • אוֹתָ֜הּ<obj.> it

    ʾotahH853 →10935 times

  • חֲצִ֣י[is] [the] half of

    chatziH2677 →125 times

  • הָאַמָּ֗ה<the> cubit

    haamahH520 →247 times

  • וְהַֽחֵיק־and the gutter

    vehacheik-H2436 →38 times

  • לָ֤הּof it

    lah

  • אַמָּה֙[is] a cubit

    ʾamahH520 →247 times

  • סָבִ֔יבall around

    savivH5439 →336 times

  • וּמַעֲלֹתֵ֖הוּand steps its

    umaalotehuH4609 →32 times

  • פְּנ֥וֹתto face

    penotH6437 →135 times

  • קָדִֽים׃east

    kadimH6921 →69 times

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

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 20:26And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’5 worksEzekiel 40:6Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep.3 worksExodus 30:3Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it.2 worksEzekiel 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.2 worksNehemiah 9:4And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.2 works1 Kings 6:8The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Kings 18:32And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.2 worksExodus 25:25And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.2 worksEzekiel 45:19And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 8:16

    So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 4:19

      When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to…

    • Deuteronomy 17:3

      and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—

    • Jeremiah 32:33

      They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.

    • Jeremiah 2:27

      say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…

    • Ezekiel 11:1

      Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them…

  • Through

    Exodus 20:26

    And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 1:16

      for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

    • Ecclesiastes 5:1

      Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

    • Leviticus 10:3

      Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I…

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.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 43 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Ezekiel 43 →