Ezekiel 41:25

And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple,.... Both of the holy, and the most holy place: cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; the doors of both places had the same decorations as the walls of each; See Gill on Ezekiel 41:18; See Gill on Ezekiel 41:19; See Gill on Ezekiel 41:20; and so it was in Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 6:32, a cherub and a palm tree on each leaf, or on each folding of a leaf, according as it would admit of: and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without; on the outward front of the porch were some thick wainscot boards, which projected as a cover to the entrance into it; or, as it may be rendered, also on the thick piece of wood in the front of the porch without (r); which, as Starckius thinks, was a large wooden bar, which shut and held in the folding leaves of the door; and on this, or these thick planks, were cherubim and palm trees. (r) "etiam denso ligno in fronte vestibuli extrinsecus", Junius & Tremellius; "et trabs lignea ante vestibulum erat foris", Starckius.

(25) Thick planks.— After stating that the doors just described were ornamented like the walls, the prophet speaks of something that was on the outer front of the porch. What this was, is extremely doubtful, as the word is elsewhere used only in 1Kings 7:6 , of something in front of Solomon’s cloisters or “porch of pillars.” Perhaps the best suggestion is that it may have been a moulding of wood. The word in the original is in the singular.

25 . The doors of the holy place were carved with cherubs and palm trees just as the walls ( Ezekiel 41:17 seq .). thick planks upon the face ] The word rendered “thick planks” ( ‘ab ) occurs again 1 Kings 7:6 in connexion with a porch, but is of uncertain meaning. Here it is said to lie outside the porch and in front of it, and might be the “landing” at the top of the flight of steps. Others think of an overhanging on the front of the roof, to protect the entrance. But in 1 Kings 7:7 the ‘ab fronts the pillars, as here it faces the porch. Therefore perhaps: “and a landing of wood in front of the porch on the outside.” No doubt “without” might describe the lie of the porch in reference to the house and not the lie of the ‘ab in reference to the porch; in which case the ‘ab would be something between the holy place and the porch, and in fact the description in Ezekiel 41:26 refers to the inside of the porch. Still this is less probable. Ezekiel 41:25

Narrow windows: see Ezekiel 41:16 . Palm trees: see Ezekiel 41:18 . On the one side and on the other side; on the north and on the south side, as you enter in from east toward the west; thus the sides of the porch outward were garnished. Upon the side chambers; which were thirty in a row, and three stories high: see Ezekiel 41:6 . Thick planks; alike carved and beautified, and alike strengthening and defending the places where they were used.

The Altar of Burnt-Offering in the holy place (see Plate III n). "The abrupt style of writing is still continued." The altar wood for the altar was of wood three cubits high; its length, i.e., the expanse of the wall from one corner to the other, was two cubits; the breadth (thickness), which is not expressly mentioned, was the same, because the square form is presupposed from the shape of this altar in the tabernacle and Solomon's temple. Under the term מקצעותיו, its corner-pieces, the horns projecting at the corners, or the horn-shaped points, are probably included, as the simple mention of the corners appears superfluous, and the horns, which were symbolically significant features in the altar, would certainly not have been wanting. There is something strange in the occurrence of וארכוּ before and along with קירות, as the length is already included in the walls, and it would not be appropriately said of the length that it was of wood. ארכוּ is therefore certainly a copyist's error for אדנוּ, ἡ βάσις αὐτοῦ (lxx), its stand or pedestal. The angel describes this altar as the "table which stands before Jehovah" - in perfect harmony with the epithet already applied to the sacrifices in the Pentateuch, the "bread (לחם) of God," though not "because the altar table was intended to combine the old table of shewbread and the altar of incense" (Bttcher).

The table of shewbread is not mentioned any more than the candlestick and other portions of the temple furniture. - The altar of burnt-offering stood before Jehovah, i.e., before the entrance into the holy of holies. This leads in Ezekiel 41:23 . to the notice of the doors of the sanctuary, the character of which is also described as simply openings (פּתח), since the doorway had been mentioned before. delet דּלת signifies a moveable door, and the plural דּלתות, doors, whether they consist of one leaf or two, i.e., whether they are single or folding doors. Here the דּלתות in Ezekiel 41:23 and Ezekiel 41:24 (לדלתות) are folding doors; on the other hand, the first דּלתות in Ezekiel 41:24 and דּלת ibid. are used for the wings of the door, and מוּסבּות for the swinging portions (leaves) of the separate wings. The meaning is this: the holy place (היכל) and the holy of holies (הקּדשׁ) had two folding doors (i.e., each of these rooms had one). These doors had two wings, and each of these wings, in the one door and in the other, had two reversible door-leaves, so that when going in and out there was no necessity to throw open on every occasion the whole of the wing, which was at least three or four cubits broad.