Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 40:19
Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, a hundred cubits eastward and northward.
19. The “lower” gate is the outer gate (on Eze 40:18). From the inner front of this gate to the outer front of the gate of the inner court facing it was 100 cubits.
east ward and north ward] Or, on the east and on the north. The words are loosely appended, the points being stated from which the measurements were taken, viz. E. and N. ( Eze 40:23).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He measured the breadth of the whole ground between the inner front of one gate and porch, to the outer front of the next gate more inward to the temple.
The lower gate; called so in respect to the next gate, which was on the higher ground, and into which the entrance was by stairs or steps. So the first of the fabric was the lowest, the last was the highest, and the middle gates were the one higher than the other, as in all buildings that stand upon such ascents.
Unto the forefront; to the outside front of the gate of the priests court, which was next to this gate now measured; that is, from the west front of the lower to the east front of the upper gate. This court was one hundred cubits in length from the west front of the lower gate to the east front of the gate of the inner court; and so was the space from the south front of the court to the north front: so the court was exactly square.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then he measured the breadth from the fore front of the lower gate,…. That is, from the front of the inner eastern gate before mentioned, Eze 40:7, called the lower gate, in respect of the gate opposite to it, which led into the inner court, to which there was an ascent of eight steps; and which the Targum calls the middle gate, because it lay between the eastern outward gate, and the gate of the inward court. Now there were from hence,
unto the fore front of the inner court without, an hundred cubits; to the outside of the gate was such a length, or fifty eight yards and one foot:
eastward and northward; as so it was from east to west, so from north to south, and from south to north; there was just the same distance from the gate that led into the outward court to that which led into the inward court, on all sides; see Eze 40:23 a man may be a long while an outward court worshipper before he is an inward court worshipper; the passage through the one to the other is long.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(19) An hundred cubits eastward.As the prophet is taken through the outer court its width is measured from the eastern gate, which he had already examined, and from the northern gate, to which he is next taken (Eze. 40:20). Afterwards (Eze. 40:27) the same measurement is made to the southern gate, and these all agree as 100 cubits each. The starting-point of the measurement is clearly defined as from the forefront of the lower gate, i.e., from the western or innermost extremity of the outer gate-building; but the final point, as given in this verse, the forefront of the inner court, leaves the question open, whether this was to the wall of the inner court itself, or only to the outer extremity of its gate. This doubt is removed in Eze. 40:23; Eze. 40:27, which expressly say that the measurement was from gate to gate, i.e., between the nearest points of the gate-buildings.
Eze. 40:20-23 describe the north gate, which was exactly like the east, already described. In Eze. 40:22 is the first mention of the number of steps leading up to the gates (see also Eze. 40:26), and in Eze. 40:23 the first mention of the gates of the inner court (see also Eze. 40:27).
Eze. 40:24-27 describe the south gate, exactly like the other two and with the same dimensions. The space between the outer and inner gates has now been measured on the east (Eze. 40:19), on the north (Eze. 40:23), and on the south (Eze. 40:27), each being 100 cubits.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the outside of the inner court, a hundred cubits both on the east and on the north.”
Thus the outer court was one hundred cubits, from the inmost part of the gateway to the inner court, all round on three sides.
The Measurement of the North and South Gates (Eze 40:20-27).
These two gates were an identical reproduction of the east gate, the ‘three’ gates representing ‘complete’ access. This time the number of steps leading up to them is given. It is seven, the number of divine perfection. The temple was raised above the earth by a divinely perfect amount, and accessed in a divinely perfect way. The number seven had huge significance to the ancients throughout the Ancient Near East. It was the ‘perfect’ number and often indicated divine activity and perfection.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 40:19-20. An hundred cubits, &c. An hundred cubits eastward. Eze 40:20. And he brought me northward; and there was a gate in the outward court, which looked towards the north, &c. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 40:19 Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward.
Ver. 19. An hundred cubits. ] Square.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
without = from without.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
unto the: Eze 40:23, Eze 40:27, Eze 46:1, Eze 46:2
without: or, from without
Reciprocal: Eze 40:47 – an hundred cubits long
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 40:19. The lower gate was one that corresponded in elevation to the lower pavement of the preceding verse. The distance from this lower gate to the wall of the inner court was 100 cubits or more than 16 reeds.Eze 40:20
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 40:19. Then he measured the breadth, &c., a hundred cubits eastward and northward He measured the whole space of ground between the west front of the lower gate, (namely, the gate at the east end of the outer court,) and the east front of the upper gate, which led into the inner court, and found it a hundred cubits; the same was the space between the south front and the north front: so the court was exactly square. The expression is elliptical; as if he had said, There were a hundred cubits from west to east, and from north to south. It must be observed, the gate at the east end of the outer court is called the lower gate, for the same reason as the pavement is called the lower pavement, Eze 40:18; because there was still an ascent, as a person went from one court to the other.