Ezekiel 41:16

16 lintels, and windows narrow withoutforth and broad within; buttresses in compass by three parts, against the lintel of each, and arrayed with wood by compass all about; soothly from the earth till to the windows, and the windows were closed (the lintels, and the windows narrow outside and broad within, and the galleries all around on three stories, over against the lintel of each, were arrayed with wood all around, from the ground, or the floor, up to the windows; and the windows were covered.)

Ezekiel 41:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 41:16

The door posts and the narrow windows
Of the inner temple or holy of holies; for this is what is last mentioned; of the door posts of it, see ( Ezekiel 41:3 ) , in the holy of holies, both in Moses's tabernacle, and Solomon's temple, were no windows; Jehovah dwelt in thick darkness, ( 1 Kings 8:12 ) , but in this inner temple, or the more perfect state of the church on earth, there will be much light: these windows are said to be "narrow", that is, without, but broad within; and let in a great deal of light, which, though not discerned by those without, yet comfortably enjoyed by those within; and will be so great, that there will be no need of the sun or moon; Christ the Lamb will be the light of this state; and the nations of the saved and their kings will walk in the light of it, ( Revelation 21:23-25 ) : and the galleries round about on their three stories;
these seem to be the same with the side chambers, which were three storey high, and were on the three sides of the house, west, north, and south; see ( Ezekiel 41:6 ) : over against the door, cieled with wood round about:
with cedar wood, as the Targum: or, "answerable were the doors cieled with wood" ^F12; door, for doors; that is, the doors of these side chambers, which answered to one another, were lined with cedar wood; all which doors, door posts, windows, and galleries, were severally measured: and from the ground up to the windows;
from the bottom of the floor of the most holy place up to the windows, which were above the third storey of the side chambers, he measured also: and the windows were covered;
either by the jetting out of the side chambers, so that they could not well be seen in the courts below; or they were lattice windows with such small holes as at a distance were scarcely discernible; or were covered with curtains within; or being very narrow on the outside, though broad within, looked as if they were covered; denoting how impenetrable the glories of this state are to those that are without, ( Revelation 22:15 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (bybo Ue Pyxv Poh dgn) "contra uniuscujusque limen, stratumque ligno per gyrum in circuitu", V. L. Capellus.

Ezekiel 41:16 In-Context

14 Forsooth the breadth of the street before the face of the house (of the Lord), and of that (place) that was separated against the east, was of an hundred cubits. (And the breadth of the street before the front of the Temple, and of the open space facing east, was also a hundred cubits.)

15 And he meted the length of the building (over) against the face of that (place) that was separated at the back; he meted the buttresses on ever either side, of an hundred cubits. And he meted the inner temple, and the porches of the foreyard, (And he measured the length of the building at the far end of the open space, that was facing west, and its galleries on either side, and it was a hundred cubits. And the sanctuary, the inner temple, and the porch of the courtyard,)

16 lintels, and windows narrow withoutforth and broad within; buttresses in compass by three parts, against the lintel of each, and arrayed with wood by compass all about; soothly from the earth till to the windows, and the windows were closed (the lintels, and the windows narrow outside and broad within, and the galleries all around on three stories, over against the lintel of each, were arrayed with wood all around, from the ground, or the floor, up to the windows; and the windows were covered.)

17 on the doors, and till to the inner house, and withoutforth by all the wall(s) in compass, within and withoutforth at measure. (And above the door, inside and outside, and on all the walls all around, inside and outside, with the same measurements,)

18 And cherubims and palm trees were made craftily, and (there was) a palm tree betwixt cherub and cherub; and (each) cherub had two faces, (were cherubim and palm trees, carved with craftsmanship, that is, made with precision, with a palm tree between one cherub and another cherub; and each cherub had two faces,)