Ezekiel 40:48

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Ezekiel 40:48 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
Ezekiel 40:48 — American Standard Version

Context — Ezekiel 40

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
48Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And he brought me to the porch of the house, &c.] Having passed through the inner court, and measured that, he came to the body of the fabric, the principal part of it, the house or temple; to the porch that led into it. Here of right a new chapter should begin, for this and the next verse more properly “belong” to the following chapter. This porch was a large roof, and was a covering both from cold winds and storms, and from the scorching heat of the sun; and was an emblem of Christ, the hiding place from the wind, and the covert from the tempest of divine justice and vengeance, and the wrath of God; and from the heat of a fiery law, of Satan’s fiery darts or temptations, and of the…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“These two verses belong to the forty-first chapter, which treats of the temple itself.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The Porch of the House. The front of the temple-porch (see G, Plan I) consisted of a central opening with two columns on either side. Two columns with the space between them were called “a post of the gate.” “The breadth of the gate” on either side was a side opening, that is, the opening between two columns. The columns having bases of a cubit square, two columns and the “breadth of the gate,” which we are told was three cubits, made up the “five cubits” on either side the central entrance, which, like the entrance into the temple itself, was ten cubits. Thus we have twenty cubits for the porch-front. Ezekiel 40:49 The porch of Solomon’s Temple was twenty cubits broad and ten deep 1 Kings…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“The breadth - The whole breadth was eleven cubits, but the breadth of each leaf of this folding - gate was three cubits, and they met, or shut on an upright post, set in the middle of the gate space, and this was one cubit broad. And each leaf hung on posts two cubits thick, which amount to eleven cubits. Next: Ezekiel Chapter 41”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“40:48–41:3 The Temple was at the protected center of the Temple complex, adjacent to the inner court. It was located at the highest point of the complex, a further ten steps up from the inner court, which was itself eight steps above the outer court. Like Solomon’s Temple before it, this Temple was made up of three areas: the entry room, the sanctuary, and the Most Holy Place.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the porch: The length of the porch was twenty cubits, the same as the breadth of the temple, and the breadth eleven cubits, that is, one cubit more than in Solomon's temple. Two bivalve, or folding doors, each leaf of them being three cubits wide, seem to have formed the entrance; which, with five cubits, perhaps of brick or stone work, one each side, called "the post of the porch," amount to sixteen cubits; and the other four cubits may be supposed to have been the distance from these posts to the outside walls of the temple. Kg1 6:3; Ch2 3:4 Ezekiel 40:49”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“The Temple-Porch (see Plate III A). The measuring angel conducts the prophet still farther to the porch of the temple, and measures its breadth and length. - Eze 40:48. And he led me to the porch of the house, and measured the pillar of the porch, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side; and the breadth of the gate, three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. Eze 40:49. The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, and that by the steps by which one went up; and columns were by the pillars, one on this side and one on that side. - הבּית is the temple in the more restricted sense of the word, the temple-house, as in Kg1 6:2, etc.; and…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification