Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 41:16
The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows [were] covered;
16. over against the door ] the threshold. It looks as if some words had fallen out of the text here. LXX. reads: and the house and the adjoining parts were wainscotted with wood round about (and the floor). The present Heb. text, even if read, and over against the threshold was a wainscotting of wood, is too short to give the necessary sense “over against the threshold” would be rather obscure as an expression for the whole interior of the house. The words “over against the threshold” can hardly be regarded as a definition of the locality of the “galleries,” as if these were borders or gangs (dado) going round the foot of the walls (Sm.).
Eze 41:16 b seq. The ornamentation of the interior. Here also there is some obscurity: and from the floor unto the windows (and the windows were covered), 17 and unto above the door, and unto the inner house and without, and on all the walls round about in the inner (house) and the outer [were measures and], 18 there were made cherubs and palm-trees, so that, &c. The words in parenthesis “and the windows,” &c., may not be original. The phrase “and without” hardly refers to the porch, rather to the outer house or holy place; because it does not appear that cherubs were carved on the wall of the porch. The word “measures” is wanting in LXX. If genuine the term “measures” might possibly imply that the wall was panelled into compartments, and that in each of these was carved a cherub and palm. The term is used once of garments (Psa 133:2) from the meaning to spread out or cover, but could hardly be used of a casing or wainscotting of wood. Boettcher suggested “carvings,” a sense which would add nothing to the general meaning. Eze 41:20 is rather in favour of the omission of the word.
Eze 41:18-19 . Only the two chief faces of the cherub were represented, that of a man and of a lion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Galleries – The upper story of the side-chambers was probably built in the form of an open gallery.
Over against the door – The rows of the side-chambers extended to the front of the temple, so that they were over against the opening, but did not extend so far as the porch.
Cieled – Overlaid. Pillars, galleries, narrow windows were overlaid with wood 1Ki 6:15-16.
Were covered – With wood.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
What are here recounted were all measured by the angel, and with the same reed or measure.
The door posts: see Eze 40:48,49. It is likely he means the door posts of every gate, or porch in every court.
Windows: see Eze 40:16.
Galleries: see Eze 41:5,15.
Three stories; see Eze 40:6,7; or parts, or buildings; temple, separate place, and on the court walls.
The door; the singular for the plural number; the doors, which were
ceiled with wood, were measured; this ceiling was with choicest wood.
From the ground up to the windows; the height of these windows were taken too.
Were covered; had lids or curtains to cover them, and lattices too, say some.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. coveredbeing the highestwindows they were “covered” from the view below. Or else”covered with lattice-work.“
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The door posts and the narrow windows,…. Of the inner temple or holy of holies; for this is what is last mentioned; of the door posts of it, see Eze 41:3, in the holy of holies, both in Moses’s tabernacle, and Solomon’s temple, were no windows; Jehovah dwelt in thick darkness, 1Ki 8:12, but in this inner temple, or the more perfect state of the church on earth, there will be much light: these windows are said to be “narrow”, that is, without, but broad within; and let in a great deal of light, which, though not discerned by those without, yet comfortably enjoyed by those within; and will be so great, that there will be no need of the sun or moon; Christ the Lamb will be the light of this state; and the nations of the saved and their kings will walk in the light of it, Re 21:23:
and the galleries round about on their three stories; these seem to be the same with the side chambers, which were three storey high, and were on the three sides of the house, west, north, and south; see Eze 41:6:
over against the door, cieled with wood round about: with cedar wood, as the Targum: or, “answerable were the doors cieled with wood” l; door, for doors; that is, the doors of these side chambers, which answered to one another, were lined with cedar wood; all which doors, door posts, windows, and galleries, were severally measured:
and from the ground up to the windows; from the bottom of the floor of the most holy place up to the windows, which were above the third storey of the side chambers, he measured also:
and the windows were covered; either by the jetting out of the side chambers, so that they could not well be seen in the courts below; or they were lattice windows with such small holes as at a distance were scarcely discernible; or were covered with curtains within; or being very narrow on the outside, though broad within, looked as if they were covered; denoting how impenetrable the glories of this state are to those that are without, Re 22:15.
l “contra uniuscujusque limen, stratumque ligno per gyrum in circuitu”, V. L. Capellus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) The door posts.This is the same word as in Eze. 40:6-7, &c., and means thresholds. The various particulars mentionedthe thresholds, the windows, and the galleriesare all to be taken in connection with the he measured of Eze. 41:15, and are details of the three buildings there spoken of, yet they did not all of them necessarily belong to each building.
Narrow windows.Rather, closed windows. (See Note on Eze. 40:16.)
On their three stories.Stories is not in the original, and introduces a wrong idea. He measured the three buildings (Eze. 41:15), and various details about their three (constructions) (Eze. 41:16).
Over against the door, cieled with wood round about.This is really a parenthesis, although scarcely intelligible as it stands. Translate, Opposite the thresholds (was) a ceiling of wood round about. The part strictly opposite the threshold was the lintel; but the expression is here broad enough to include also the sides of the doorway. The doorways in the various buildings were all ceiled with wood, and it is afterwards said that this was carved.
And from the ground.After the parenthesic, the construction dependent upon he measured is resumed. As everything else was measured, so also the space between the ground and the windows; then, again, it is mentioned parenthetically that the windows were covered, viz., as in Eze. 40:16, by lattices fastened so as not to be opened.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE EXACT INTERIOR MEASUREMENTS OF THE TEMPLE ARE GIVEN AND ITS ORNAMENTS DESCRIBED, WHICH WERE LIKE THOSE IN SOLOMON’S TEMPLE (1Ki 6:29), Eze 41:16-26.
16. The doorposts R.V., “threshold” and “galleries.” Probably both inner and outer temples and porch were thus wainscoted with wood. It is difficult to tell what is meant by the “closed windows.” It may mean that they were protected by a latticework, or that they also were wainscoted as well as the space from the ground up to them (Eze 41:16). Toy renders, “The nave and the inner room and the porch were paneled, and all three had latticed windows round about.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 41:16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows [were] covered;
Ver. 16. And the narrow windows and the windows were covered.] Here Jerome cries out, “Oh the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Here be windows, but narrow and covered, which shows that we see not yet, nor can see, into heavenly things but obscurely and obliquely. How little a thing doth man understand of God. Job 26:14 The holy place was without windows, only there burned lights perpetually; but in the most holy place there was no light at all.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
door posts = thresholds.
narrow = latticed. See note on Eze 40:15.
cieled = overlaid, panelled, or wainscoted.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 41:16-20
The Decorated Temple Walls (Eze 41:16-20)
the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the threshold, ceiled with wood round about, and [from] the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered), to the space above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. And it was made with cherubim and palm-trees; and a palm-tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces; so that there was the face of a man toward the palm -tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm-tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house round about: from the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm-trees made: thus was the wall of the temple (Eze 41:16-20).
A description of the decorated temple walls is revealed in Eze 41:16-20. The Cherubs with two faces (the face of a man and a lion) along with palm trees were engraved upon the walls, thresholds, and windows.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
narrow: Eze 41:26, Eze 40:16, Eze 40:25, 1Ki 6:4, 1Co 13:12
ceiled with wood: Heb. ceiling of wood, 1Ki 6:15, 2Ch 3:5, Hag 1:4
from the ground up to the windows: or, the ground unto the windows
covered: Probably either by jutting out of the main wall of the temple; or by lattice work, or curtains, or by both.
Reciprocal: Gen 6:16 – with Son 1:17 – rafters Eze 41:25 – cherubims Eze 42:3 – gallery against
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 41:16. Transparent glass was not known in those times, hence the narrow windows or latticed loopholes were provided to serve these arcades. There were three stories to these arcades and all of them were ceiled with wood. This ceiling not only covered the top as is usually done, but the walls also were ceiled from the ground up as far as the windows, and some kind of covering was made for the windows.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The interior furnishings of the temple 41:16-26
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The whole interior of the temple structure, including the side rooms, was paneled with wood. Solomon’s temple was also paneled with wood but then overlaid with gold. The wood was carved with alternating cherubs and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces, the face of a man and the face of a lion, one looking left and the other right (cf. Eze 1:5-25; Eze 10:9-17). Cherubim (the Hebrew plural of "cherub") elsewhere in Scripture guarded the holiness of God (cf. Gen 3:22-24; Exo 25:18-22; Exo 26:31).
"In these figures aspirations of life and prosperity (palm) and security (cherubim) coalesce. In Israelite thought, the divine resident of this house was the source of both." [Note: Block, The Book . . . 48, p. 558.]