Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 40:20
And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof.
20. The dimensions of the N. gate were as those of the E. gate.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The gates both of the outer and of the inner court. Compare Plan II.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Now is this measurer giving account of the north gate of this outward court, in which is a most exact harmony with the measures, fashion, and ornaments of the east gate, so that nothing needs be here repeated; who would know all particulars of this gate may find them in the east gate.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20-27. The different approachescorresponded in plan. In the case of these two other gates, however,no mention is made of a building with thirty chambers such as wasfound on the east side. Only one was needed, and it was assigned tothe east as being the sacred quarter, and that most convenientlysituated for the officiating priests.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north,…. Or the north gate of this building: having finished the dimensions of the eastern gate, those of the north gate are taken:
he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof; as he had the eastern gate, and which were the same; and so of the south gate,
Eze 40:24, which denotes the uniformity in religion in the latter day, in the way of entrance into the churches, and in doctrine, discipline, worship, and ordinances.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The North Gate and the South Gate of the Outer Court (1 Plate I A)
The description of these two gate-buildings is very brief, only the principal portions being mentioned, coupled with the remark that they resembled those of the east gate. The following is the description of the north gate. – Eze 40:20. And the gate, whose direction was toward the north, touching the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth, Eze 40:21. And its guard-rooms, three on this side and three on that, and its pillars and its wall-projections. It was according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits its length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:22. And its windows and its wall-projections and its palms were according to the measure of the gate, whose direction was toward the east; and by seven steps they went up, and its wall-projections were in front of it. Eze 40:23. And a gate to the inner court was opposite the gate to the north and to the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits. – With the measuring of the breadth of the court the measuring man had reached the north gate, which he also proceeded to measure now. In Eze 40:20 the words to are written absolutely; and in Eze 40:21 the verb does not belong to the objects previously enumerated, viz., guard-rooms, pillars, etc., but these objects are governed by yb denrevog e , and points back to the principal subject of the two verses, : it (the gate) was according to the measure… (cf. Eze 40:15 and Eze 40:13). For the use of in definitions of measurement, “25 ” ( by the cubit, sc. measured), as in Exo 27:18, etc., see Gesenius, 120. 4, Anm. 2. The “first gate” is the east gate, the one first measured and described. In Eze 40:23 the number of steps is given which the flight leading into the gateway had; and this of course applies to the flight of steps of the east gate also (Eze 40:6). In Eze 40:22, is not to be regarded as doubtful, as Hitzig supposes, or changed into ; for even if the windows of the east gate were not measured, they had at all events a definite measurement, so that it might be affirmed with regard to the windows of the north gate that their dimensions were the same. This also applies to the palm-decorations. With regard to the (Eze 40:21), however, it is simply stated that they were measured; but the measurement is not given. (Eze 40:22, end) is not to be altered in an arbitrary and ungrammatical way into , as Bttcher proposes. The suffix refers to the steps. Before the steps there were the of the gate-building. This “before,” however, is not equivalent to “outside the flight of steps,” as Bttcher imagines; for the measuring man did not go out of the inside of the gate, or go down the steps into the court, but came from the court and ascended the steps, and as he was going up he saw in front ( vis–vis) of the steps the of the gate, i.e., the wall-projections on both sides of the threshold of the gate. In Eze 40:23 it is observed for the first time that there was a gate to the inner court opposite to the northern and the eastern gate of the outer court already described, so that the gates of the outer and inner court stood vis–vis. The distance between these outer and inner gates is then measured, viz., 100 cubits, in harmony with Eze 40:19.
In Eze 40:24-27 the south gate is described with the same brevity. Eze 40:24. And he led me toward the south, and behold there was a gate toward the south, and he measured its pillars and its wall-projections according to the same measures. Eze 40:25. And there were windows in it and its wall-projections round about like those windows; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. Eze 40:26. And seven steps were its ascent and its wall-projections in the front of them, and it had palm-work, one upon this side and one upon that on its pillars. Eze 40:27. And there was a gate to the inner court toward the south, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits. – This gate also was built exactly like the two others. The description simply differs in form, and not in substance, from the description of the gate immediately preceding. , “like those measures,” is a concise expression for “like the measures of the pillars already described at the north and east gates.” For Eze 40:25, compare Eze 40:16 and Eze 40:21; and for Eze 40:26, vid., Eze 40:22. Eze 40:26 is clearly explained from Eze 40:16, as compared with Eze 40:9. And lastly, Eze 40:27 answers to the 23rd verse, and completes the measuring of the breadth of the court, which was also a hundred cubits upon the south side, from the outer gate to the inner gate standing opposite, as was the case according to Eze 40:19 upon the eastern side. Hvernick has given a different explanation of Eze 40:27, and would take the measurement of a hundred cubits as referring to the distance between the gates of the inner court which stood opposite to each other, because in Eze 40:27 we have in the text, and not ; so that we should have to render the passage thus, “he measured from a gate to the gate toward the south a hundred cubits,” and not “from the gate (already described) of the outer court,” but from another gate, which according to the context of the verse must also be a gate of the inner court. But it is precisely the context which speaks decidedly against this explanation. For since, according to Eze 40:18, the measuring man did not take the prophet into the inner court, for the purpose of measuring it before his eyes, till after he had measured from (a) gate to the south gate of the inner court, the distance which he had previously measured and found to be a hundred cubits is not to be sought for within the inner court, and therefore cannot give the distance between the gates of the inner court, which stood opposite to one another, but must be that from the south gate of the outer court to the south gate of the inner. This is the case not only here, but also in Eze 40:23, where the north gate is mentioned. We may see how little importance is to be attached to the omission of the article in from the expression in Eze 40:23, where neither the one gate nor the other is defined, because the context showed which gates were meant. Hvernick’s explanation is therefore untenable, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Eze 40:47, the size of the inner court was a hundred cubits both in breadth and length. – From the distance between the gates of the outer court and the corresponding gates of the inner, as given in Eze 40:27, Eze 40:23, and Eze 40:19, we find that the outer court covered a space of two hundred cubits on every side, – namely, fifty cubits the distance which the outer court building projected into the court, and fifty cubits for the projection of the gate-building of the inner court into the outer court, and a hundred cubits from one gate-porch to the opposite one (50 + 50 + 100 = 200).
Consequently the full size of the building enclosed by the wall (Eze 40:5), i.e., of the temple with its two courts, may also be calculated, as it has been by many of the expositors. If we proceed, for example, from the outer north gate to the outer south gate upon the ground plan (Plate I), we have, to quote the words of Kliefoth, “first the northern breadth of the outer court ( D) with its two hundred cubits; then the inner court, which measured a hundred cubits square according to Eze 40:47 ( E), with its hundred cubits; and lastly, the south side of the outer court with two hundred cubits more ( D); so that the sanctuary was five hundred cubits broad from north to south. And if we start from the entrance of the east gate of the court ( A), we have first of all the eastern breadth of the outer court, viz., two hundred cubits; then the inner court ( e) with its hundred cubits; after that the temple-buildings, which also covered a space of a hundred cubits square according to Eze 41:13-14, including the open space around them ( G), with another hundred cubits; and lastly, the ( J), which was situated to the west of the temple-buildings, and also covered a space of a hundred cubits square according to Eze 41:13-14, with another hundred cubits; so that the sanctuary was also five hundred cubits long from east to west, or, in other words, formed a square of five hundred cubits.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
20. The northern and southern gates are here seen to correspond exactly in dimensions, surroundings, and distance from the gate of the inner court, with the eastern or main entrance, which has been previously described.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the gate of the outer court whose prospect is towards the north, he measured its length and breadth. And its side rooms were three on this side and three on that side. And its posts and its colonnades were of the same measurements as the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits and its breadth twenty five cubits. And its windows and colonnades, and its palm trees were of the same measurements as the gate whose prospect is towards the east. And they went up to it by seven steps. And its colonnades were before them. And there was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east, and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits. And he led me towards the south, and behold, a gate towards the south. And he measured its posts and its colonnades, and there were windows in it and in its colonnades round about, like those windows. The length was fifty cubits and the breadth twenty five cubits. And there were seven steps to go up to it, and its colonnades were before them. And it had palm trees, one on this side and one on that side, on its posts. And there was a gate to the inner court towards the south, and he measured from gate to gate towards the south one hundred cubits.’
So all three gateways to the outer court were identical representing complete access and complete protection from profanity. Entry was available for those within the covenant, whose hearts were right, for this was a heavenly temple and entry was by seven steps. These can be compared with the seven gates leading into the underworld in Sumerian and Babylonian myths. The difference being that these led up to God. They were for His people. All others were excluded.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 40:20-23
20As for the gate of the outer court which faced the north, he measured its length and its width. 21It had three guardrooms on each side; and its side pillars and its porches had the same measurement as the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. 22Its windows and its porches and its palm tree ornaments had the same measurements as the gate which faced toward the east; and it was reached by seven steps, and its porch was in front of them. 23The inner court had a gate opposite the gate on the north as well as the gate on the east; and he measured a hundred cubits from gate to gate.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the gate: Eze 40:6
that looked: Heb. whose face was
Reciprocal: Exo 27:9 – the court Eze 40:24 – and behold Eze 42:1 – the utter court Eze 44:4 – the way
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
These courts all were inclosed by some kind of wall and they were provided with gates. All of these gates were measured in order to he checking on them to see how they compared with the standard adopted of a cubit or multiple of it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
There was a gate complex on the north side of the wall that was identical to the one on the east (Eze 40:6-16). It too was 50 cubits (83 feet 4 inches) long and 25 cubits (41 feet 8 inches) wide, excluding its stairway. Seven steps led into the gate complex from the outside up to its threshold (Eze 40:6). Looking straight through the north gate or through the east gate one could see, 100 cubits (166 feet 8 inches) beyond (cf. Eze 40:19), another inner gate complex. Ezekiel saw two of these inner gate complexes, one on the north side of the inner courtyard and one on the east side.