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Ezekiel 41:7

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Ezekiel 41:7 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed [the house] higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house [continued] upward; and so one went up [from] the lowest [chamber] to the highest by the middle [chamber].” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed [the house] higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house [continued] upward; and so one went up [from] the lowest [chamber] to the highest by the middle [chamber].
Ezekiel 41:7 — American Standard Version

Context — Ezekiel 41

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
4And he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
5Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
6And the side-chambers were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side-chambers round about, that they might have hold [therein], and not have hold in the wall of the house.
7And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed [the house] higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house [continued] upward; and so one went up [from] the lowest [chamber] to the highest by the middle [chamber].
8I saw also that the house had a raised basement round about: the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.
9The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chambers, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that belonged to the house.
10And between the chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
← Ezekiel 41:6Ezekiel 41:8 →
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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 there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers, &c.] These chambers, as they rose up in stories one above another, were larger and larger; those in the middlemost storey were larger than those in the lower storey by a cubit; so much being taken out of the thickness of the wall, to make the rests or rebatements for the beams of the floor to rest upon, by which so much was gained in breadth for the chambers; and those in the upper storey, for the same reason, were a cubit broader than those in the middle, and two cubits broader than the lowermost; the floor of the first and lower storey was four cubits broad, (<264105>Ezekiel 41:5) the floor of the second…”
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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
“the breadth . . . so increased from the lowest . . . to the highest--that is, the breadth of the interior space above was greater than that below.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“An enlarging - The “wall for the side-chambers” had for the ground story its full thickness of five cubits Ezekiel 41:9 - then it was diminished one cubit, so as to form a ledge whereon to rest the beams of the floor of the second story, and again was further diminished one cubit for the floor of the third story. Thus there was an “enlarging” of the second story of the chambers by one cubit, and of the third story by two cubits beyond the breadth of the chambers on the ground-floor. A winding about still upward - Winding stairs led “upward” from one story to another. The winding about of the house - A collective expression for the various winding staircases to the side-chambers which…”
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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
“An enlarging - Of the side chambers, so much of breadth added to the chamber, as was taken from the thickness of the wall; that is, two cubits in the uppermost, and one cubit in the middle - most, more than in the lowest chambers. A winding about - Winding stairs, which enlarged as the rooms did, and these run up between each two chambers from the bottom to the top; so there were two doors at the head of each pair of stairs, one door opening into one chamber, and the other into the opposite chamber. For the winding about - These stairs, as they rose in height, enlarged themselves too. Round about - On all sides of the house where these chambers were. The breadth - Of each chamber. Increased…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“there was: Heb. it was, made broader, and went round, Kg1 6:8; Mat 13:32; Heb 6:1 an enlarging: In the same proportion in which the thickness of the wall decreased, the chambers increased, so that the middle story was one cubit larger, and the upper story two cubits larger, than the lower rooms; and a winding staircase, which widened in the same manner as the rooms, ascended from the bottom to the top. Ezekiel 41:8”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification