Ezechiël 41:7

7 En het was voor de zijkameren opwaarts naar boven al wijder, en gaf zich rondom; want het huis was omsingeld opwaarts naar boven, rondom het huis henen; daarom was de breedte des huizes naar boven; en alzo ging het onderste op naar het bovenste door het middelste.

Ezechiël 41:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 41:7

And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to
the side chambers
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, ( Ezekiel 41:5 ) the floor of the second five cubits; and the floor of the third or uppermost six cubits. The wall of the temple at the bottom was six cubits thick, ( Ezekiel 41:5 ) , at the middlemost storey five cubits; and at the uppermost four: and all this may denote the enlargement of the church of Christ, as it comes nearer the heavenly state; the present state of the church may be signified by the lower storey, where the chambers are narrowest; the state of the church in the latter day glory, or spiritual reign of Christ, by the middlemost, when it will be enlarged; its converts being very numerous, ( Isaiah 49:19 Isaiah 49:20 ) ( Isaiah 60:4 Isaiah 60:5 ) and the New Jerusalem church state by the uppermost storey; which city or state will be very large, and next to heaven, or the ultimate glory; see ( Revelation 21:16 ) . The "winding" that went upwards to the side chambers were winding stairs, which went up from one storey to another, higher and higher; see ( 1 Kings 6:8 ) . The Misnic doctors say ^F3, that in the second temple these winding stairs went from one side of the temple to the other, from the north east to the northwest; by which they went up to the roofs of these chambers and to the upper room over the sanctuary. These may signify the various afflictions and tribulations, trials and exercises, in which the Lord leads his people, and by which the churches of Christ pass from one state to another: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the
house:
not on the outside, but within; properly round about the chambers, which are here called the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward;
became broader and broader, as it rose up higher and higher: and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst;
from being only four cubits broad in the lowest storey, it became five cubits in the middlemost, and from thence six cubits in the highest.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F3 Misn. Middot, c. 4. sect. 5.

Ezechiël 41:7 In-Context

5 En hij mat den wand des huizes zes ellen; en de breedte van elke zijkamer, vier ellen, rondom het huis henen rondom.

6 De zijkameren nu waren zijkamer boven zijkamer, drie, en dat dertig malen, en zij kwamen in den wand, die aan het huis was, tot die zijkamers rondom henen, opdat zij vastgehouden mochten worden; want zij werden niet vastgehouden in den wand des huizes.

7 En het was voor de zijkameren opwaarts naar boven al wijder, en gaf zich rondom; want het huis was omsingeld opwaarts naar boven, rondom het huis henen; daarom was de breedte des huizes naar boven; en alzo ging het onderste op naar het bovenste door het middelste.

8 En ik zag de hoogte des huizes rondom henen. De fondamenten der zijkameren waren van een vol riet, zes ellen, de el tot den oksel toe genomen.

9 De breedte van den wand, die tot de zijkameren was naar buiten, was vijf ellen; en dat ledig gelaten was, was de plaats der zijkameren, die aan het huis waren.