Ezekiel 41:8

I saw also the height of the house round about,.... Not of the temple itself, but of the chambers, and the three stories of them, which went round about it; and particularly the height of the highest storey, which yet is not given: it could not be so high as the temple itself; for then there would have been no room for windows to let in light into it: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits; not of the lowest storey of them, for that was but four cubits broad, Ezekiel 41:5, nor of the middlemost, which was five; but of the uppermost, which was six; and these were cubits of the largest size, a hand's breadth larger than the common cubit, and made one full reed, or three yards and a half; see Ezekiel 40:5, these foundations signify the same as the twelve foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem; and which are no other than the one foundation Christ, ministerially laid by his twelve apostles; and who is the only foundation of his church and people, and is a sure one, Revelation 21:14.

(8) I saw also the height of the house.— This does not mean the height of the house itself, which is nowhere stated. The words are, literally, I saw for the house a height ( i.e., an elevation) round about, and the meaning of this is explained in what follows. The Temple, as has been already said ( Ezekiel 40:49 ), was entered by a flight of steps leading up to the porch, and was therefore on a higher level than the court. We are now told that the side chambers had a foundation of six cubits. Whether this “foundation” of the Temple and the side chambers was built of masonry, or, as is more probable, was a sort of basement to contain cisterns and storage rooms, we are not told; but it probably extended, under the name of “the place that was left” ( Ezekiel 41:9 ; Ezekiel 41:11 ), five cubits beyond the outer wall of the chambers, forming a platform from which they were entered. Six great cubits.—Literally, six cubits to the joint, or to the armpit, for the word has both significations. It is plain that a cubit of a different length, measured to the armpit, cannot be intended, both because no such cubit is known to have been in use at any time, and because Ezekiel in Ezekiel 40:5 has already fixed the length of the cubit he uses.

Verse 8 explains that "the house" did not stand upon the level ground, but, like many temple buildings in antiquity (see Schurer, in Riehm's 'Handworterbuch,' art. "Tern. pel Salerno"), upon a height - or, raised basement (Revised Version) - round about , which agrees with the statement in Ezekiel 40:49 that the temple was approached by means of a stair. In consequence of this, the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits ; or, of six cubits to the joining (Revised Version); "six cubits to the story" (Ewald); literally, six cubits to the armpit . This can hardly mean six cubits each equal to the distance from the elbow to the wrist, which would be a new definition of the length of the reed; but as Havernick and Kliefoth propose, must be taken as an architectural term indicative of the point where one portion of the building joined on to another. Accordingly, by most interpreters the six cubits are considered to be a statement of the height of the ceiling above the floor in each story, which would give an elevation of eighteen cubits for the three stories; but probably they mark only the height of the temple and side chamber basis above the ground. Kliefoth includes both views, and obtains an altitude of twenty-four cubits from the ground to the temple roof. Ezekiel 41:8

8 . I saw also ] An uncommon form; usually it is said, and there appeared , which LXX. probably read here[13]. For “height” (gobah) probably “raised pavement” (gabbah, Gabbatha, John 19:13 ) should be read (cf. footnote)— and the house appeared as having a raised pavement round about , lit. there appeared (belonging) to the house &c., cf. ch. Ezekiel 10:8 . All that was seen of the platform was the passage of 5 cubits round about the building ( Ezekiel 41:11 ). “House” includes both the temple proper and the side-chambers. This is supplemented by saying that the foundations of the side-chambers were 6 cubits high—of course house and side-chambers were on the same level. [13] The curious word in LXX. καὶ τὸ θραὲλ appears a transliteration of this reading with following prep. l attached, ותרא ל (fem. apoc. Impf. niph.); cf. for form and construction ch. Ezekiel 10:8 ; and for short final vowel the spelling Abimael, Genesis 10:28 . Therefore a fem. noun should be read as subj. (gabbah). six great cubits ] as R.V., marg., six cubits to the joint , or angle, i.e. probably to the point where the vertical line of the height of the platform cut the level of the court. The words cannot be a description of the kind of cubit, nor, since the foundations are being described, can there be any reference to the height within of the side-chambers or to the point of junction of one story with another. 8–11 .

The raised platform upon which the house and the side-chambers stood The house and the annexe stood on a platform raised a full reed, or 6 cubits above the level of the inner court ( Ezekiel 41:8 ). The platform was reached in front of the house by a flight of so steps ( Ezekiel 40:49 ) from the court. The outside wall of the annexe was 5 cubits thick ( Ezekiel 41:9 ). A space of 5 cubits of the platform remained unoccupied by the buildings ( Ezekiel 41:11 ), Fig. 2, E. Then came a free space of 20 cubits running round the platform ( Ezekiel 41:10 ), Fig. 3, H. Finally came other buildings in the inner court, one behind the house on the W. ( Ezekiel 41:15 ), Fig. 3, K; and others on both sides of it, N. and S. ( Ezekiel 42:1 seq .), Fig. 3, GG´.

The foundations of the side chambers - Therefore the height of the side-chambers from the floor was six cubits there being three stories, which corresponds sufficiently with the twenty cubits which was the height of the temple. "A great cubit" is probably an architectural term to denote the line of junction between two stories, which would be that of the ceiling of the lower and the floor of the upper story.

Of the house; of the chambers, or the three stories of them; it is not the temple. The lowest chamber had properly a foundation laid on the earth, but the floor of the middle and highest story must be accounted here a foundation; so from the ground to the ceiling of the first room was six great cubits; from the first beams, joists, and boards to the second; six great cubits; and from the third floor to the roof of the chamber, a like number: to which if we add one cubit for thickness of each of the three roofs or floors, you have twenty-one cubits for height, ten yards and half high.

8. foundations … six … cubits—the substructure, on which the foundations rested, was a full reed of six cubits. great—literally, "to the extremity" or root, namely, of the hand [Henderson]. "To the joining," or point, where the foundation of one chamber ceased and another began [Fairbairn].

The Wall and the Side-Building Ezekiel 41:5. And he measured the wall of the house six cubits, and the breadth of the side storey four cubits round the house round about. Ezekiel 41:6. And of the side-rooms there were room upon room three, and that thirty times, and they came upon the wall, which the house had by the side-rooms round about, so that they were held, and yet they were not held in the wall of the house. Ezekiel 41:7. And it spread out, and was surrounded upwards more and more to the side-rooms, for the enclosure of the house went upwards more and more round about the house; therefore the house received breadth upwards; and so the lower ascended to the upper after the proportion of the central one. Ezekiel 41:8. And I saw in the house a height round about, with regard to the foundations of the side-rooms a full rod, six cubits to the joint. Ezekiel 41:9. The breadth of the wall, which the side storey had on the outside, was five cubits, and so also what was left free was by the side-chamber building of the house. Ezekiel 41:10. And between the cells was a breadth of twenty cubits round the house round about. Ezekiel 41:11.