Ezekiel 40:44

And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(44) Without the inner gate.—Without must here be understood in a different sense from the without of Ezekiel 40:40, because this is expressly said to be “in the inner court;” it means, therefore, only outside the gateway.

Chambers of the singers.—The description of the chambers in Ezekiel 40:44-46 is not very clear, and has caused very great difference of opinion, and even a disposition to modify the text. But the text as it stands is supported by the ancient versions, Greek, Chaldee, and Syriac, as well as by the Masoretic punctuation. There seem to have been three or more chambers altogether, two at least at the side of the north gate opening to the south, i.e., towards the altar, and one at the east gate opening toward the north. The purpose of the chamber at the east gate is perfectly clear; it was “for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar,” i.e., for those priests who were on duty at the time in connection with the sacrifices. It is not mentioned on which side of the gate it was placed, nor how large it was, but it is drawn on the plan on the north (Plan II., O). The chambers at the north gate (N), however, are called (Ezekiel 40:44) “chambers of the singers,” and yet in Ezekiel 40:45 one of them is said to be for the priests “in charge of the house.” The difficulty arises simply from the very common use of the plural in connection with only one of several persons or things, the other being separately specified. To make it entirely clear, we should say, “the chambers, one for the singers, and one for the priests.” The singers were particular families of the Levites (1Chronicles 6:31-37; 1Chronicles 9:33; 1 Chronicles 25; 2Chronicles 5:12), and were not of the priestly order. The general arrangement appears to have been as follows: the offerer brings his victim into the outer court (C) near to the north gate leading into the inner court; there the Levites slay it (at x) and prepare it for the altar upon the tables provided, and then hang its flesh upon the hooks within the porch of the gate; the priests “in charge of the house” in the chamber near the inner end of the gate (N) now notify the singers in the other chamber and also the priests on duty at the altar in the chamber at the east gate (O), that both may enter upon their functions.

A, Altar.

B B B, Outer gate.

B′ B′ B′ Inner gates.

C C, Outer court.

C′, Inner court.

D D, Chambers in outer court.

E E, People’s cooking-places.

F F, Priests’ cooking-places.

G, Building in separate place.

H H, Priests’ chambers.

I, Space in separate place.

J, Chambers adjoining Temple.

K K, Walk.

L L, Screen walls.

M M, Wall of outer court.

N, Chambers in inner court for priests and singers.

O, Chamber for officiating priests.

P P, Pavement.

R R, Wall of inner court.

S S, Steps.

T, Temple.

T′, Holy of Holies.

V V, Columns.

W W, Winding staircases.

X X, Places for killing sacrifices.

Y Y, Platform around chambers.

Z, Porch of Temple.

(46) The sons of Zadok.—By the law all sons of Aaron were entitled to become priests, but in Ezekiel the offering of sacrifice appears to be confined to the sons of Zadok (comp. Ezekiel 43:19; Ezekiel 44:15; Ezekiel 48:11). The reason for this is obscure. According to 1Samuel 2:30-36 the high-priesthood was to be transferred from the house of Eli, and this was accomplished by Solomon in deposing Abiathar and putting Zadok into his place (1Kings 2:26-27); but there must have been many other priests descended from Ithamar and Eleazar besides the families of Eli and Zadok, and it is hardly possible that all these could have perished in the slaughter of the eighty-five priests by Saul at Nob (1Samuel 22:17-19). But the body of the priests must have been thereby much reduced, and it is very possible that in the subsequent disorders of the times so few were left who, outside of the family of Zadok, had not fallen into idolatry, that all who were allowed to officiate at the altar came to be called by his name.

(47) He measured the court.—This is the inner court (C′), in front of the Temple building itself, and was just 100 cubits square. In this stood the brazen altar (A), the measurements of which are given in Ezekiel 43:13-17.

(48) The porch of the house.—Ezekiel 40:48-49 describe the porch of the Temple itself (Z) and may be considered as belonging more properly to the next chapter; still, as this porch projected into the inner court, they are not inappropriate here. The first point to be determined in regard to the construction of this porch is the direction in which its length is measured. The porch in front of Solomon’s Temple equalled in length the interior breadth of the house (1Kings 6:3; 2Chronicles 3:4), the thickness of the walls and the chambers at the sides projecting beyond the ends of the porch. The same thing is true here, even if the length should be measured from north to south; the exterior front of the house (independently of the side chambers) was thirty-two cubits, each of the side walls being six cubits thick (Ezekiel 41:5). But writers who adopt this supposition find it necessary to alter the text in order to harmonise the measurements of both verses. It is better to understand the measurements as taken the other way, like those of all the gates of both the outer and inner court. The exterior width of the porch will then be sixteen cubits or just half the exterior width of the house; and the projection into the court will be twenty cubits added to the thickness of the exterior wall and diminished by the thickness of the wall of the house, i.e., 16½ cubits (20 + 2½ – 6), the exterior being thus almost exactly square.

Each post of the porch.—The front wall, on which the gates were hung, was five cubits on each side, and each leaf of the gate was three cubits, giving sixteen cubits (5 × 2 + 3 × 2) for the whole exterior breadth of the porch.

(49) The breadth eleven cubits.—This interior measure subtracted from the exterior gives 2½ cubits for each wall—a fair proportion between the thickness of the wall and the size of the porch.

The steps.—The number is not stated, but is given in the Greek as ten. It shows that the house itself stood upon a still higher elevation than the inner court.

Pillars by the posts.—On either side of the steps, and near the front wall of the porch, was a pillar corresponding to those in front of the porches of the gates. They answered to the pillars Jachin and Boaz of Solomon’s Temple (1Kings 7:15-22), and appear to have been placed there for the same general purposes as the obelisks in front of the Egyptian temples.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 40:44-47. And without the inner gate, &c. — Houbigant, following the LXX., translates this verse thus: And he brought me to the inner gate, where there were two chambers in the inner court; one at the northern side of the gate which looked to the south; the other at the southern side of the gate which looked to the north. And he said, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests — The word chamber may stand for chambers in the plural, (as side-chamber doth, Ezekiel 41:5-9,) and signify a row of buildings on the north side of the inner court, distinct from the chambers of the singers, Ezekiel 40:44, and designed for the use of the priests, who were in constant attendance, according to their courses, upon the service of the temple: see the margin. The keepers of the charge of the house — They took care of the holy vessels, and kept constant watch and ward about the temple. The word priests may include Levites under it, as Levites elsewhere comprehends priests. And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north, &c. — Another row of chambers on the south side of the inner court, is for the descendants of Aaron, whose office it is to attend upon the service of the altar, and keep the fire burning thereon perpetually. These are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi — The family of Zadok is only taken notice of in this vision; it may be for this reason, because they kept close to the worship of God, when the priests of Ithamar’s line forsook it, and fell into idolatry. The altar that was before the house — Or rather, The altar was before the house; that is, stood in the inner court, just before the porch that opened into the temple. The altar was not now measured, the measure of it being described afterward.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

40:1-49 The Vision of the Temple. - Here is a vision, beginning at ch. 40, and continued to the end of the book, ch. 48, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God. When we despair to be satisfied as to any difficulty we meet with, let us bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough; and let us wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. This chapter describes two outward courts of the temple. Whether the personage here mentioned was the Son of God, or a created angel, is not clear. But Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice, to whom we must look with faith in all approaches to God; and he is Salvation in the midst of the earth, Ps 74:12, to be looked unto from all quarters.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Without - Outside of the gate in the inner court. See N, Plan II.

Singers - These were Levites of particular families, those of Heman, Asaph, and Merari, whose genealogy is carefully traced up to Levi (see marginal reference). These chambers (N, Plan II) may have been for the "singers and priests" who were for the time being engaged in the services of the temple. Other chambers (Ezekiel 42:1 ff) were for the use of the "priests" at other times; and the Levites and singers, when "not" on duty, would find accommodation in the thirty chambers of the outer court. If there is a departure here from the symmetry elsewhere observed, it may be accounted for by the fact that as the sacrifices were to be made on the "north" side of the altar, and therefore the "tables" for the sacrifices were on that side only, so those who had charge of the house and its singers might have rooms near. Others correct the Hebrew text by the Septuagint, and read the passage thus: And without the "inner gate" two chambers (i. e., rows of chambers) "in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate, and their prospect toward the south, one at the side of the south gate, and the prospect toward the north."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

44. the chambers of the singers—two in number, as proved by what follows: "and their prospect (that is, the prospect of one) was toward the south, (and) one toward the north." So the Septuagint.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Without; when he was got though the gate of the inner court.

Were the chambers, several in a row, of the singers; where they lodged both their instruments and themselves during the time of their attendance. In the inner court; next to the temple. The back parts of these lodgings were toward the north wall of the inner court, and their lights and prospects to the south, and stood both on the north-east side and on the north-west side.

One; one row of chambers. This row in length was from east to west, and however this row butted, it is certain the position of their lights was to the north; so these chambers must have their back parts on some building that run out from the east gate into the body of the court westward.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers,.... These singers are true believers in Christ, members of Gospel churches; whose duty and privilege it is to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; which is a part of internal, spiritual, and evangelical worship, Ephesians 5:19, these are the spiritual harpers, that have harps in their hands, and make melody in their hearts, and are able to sing the songs of electing, redeeming, calling, pardoning, justifying, and adopting grace; these deservedly have a place in the churches of Christ, in the inward court, being inward court worshippers, even all such who sing with the spirit and the understanding; for these chambers were in the inward court: the prophet being brought through the inner northern gate, into the open space between the inward court, saw these chambers; for it follows,

in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; in that part of the court which lay near the north gate, where now the prophet and his guide were:

and their prospect was toward the south; that is, some of these chambers, one row of them, were by the side of the north gate, and these faced the south; north and south being opposite to each other:

one at the side of the east gate, having the prospect toward the north: another row of chambers for the singers was in that part of the inner court which was on the side of the east gate, on the north side of it, and so faced the north part of the court. The Septuagint version, if admitted, makes the sense of it more clear, but different,

"and he brought me into the inner court, and behold two chambers in the inner court; one at the back of the gate that looks to the north, bearing to the south; and one at the back of the gate to the south, looking to the north.''

Geneva Study Bible

And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

44. This v. must be corrected according to Ezekiel 40:45-46 as follows: and without the inner gate were two chambers in the inner court, one at the side of the N. gate, and its prospect was toward the S.; and one at the side of the S. gate, having its prospect towards the N. So LXX. The phrase “without the inner gate” means that the chambers were in the inner court, not in the gateway itself.

44–46. Chambers for the priests who keep the house and serve the altar. Fig. 3, D.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 44-46. - The chambers of the ringers According to ver. 44, these, of which the number is not recorded, were situated in the inner court, outside of the inner gate, at the side of the north gate, and looked towards the south, one only being located at the side of the east gate with a prospect towards the north. Interpreted in this way, they cannot have been the same as the "priests' chambers" mentioned in vers. 45, 46, though these also looked in the same direction. The language, however, seems to indicate that they were the same, and on this hypothesis it is difficult to understand how they should be called "the chambers of the singers," and at the same time be assigned to the priests, "the keepers of the charge of the house" and "the keepers of the charge of the altar." Hengstenberg. Kliefoth, Schroder, and others hold that Ezekiel purposed to suggest that in the vision-temple before him the choral service was no longer to be left exclusively in the hands of the Levites as it had been in the Solomonic temple (1 Chronicles 6:33-47; 1 Chronicles 15:17; 2 Chronicles 20:19), but that the priests were to participate therein. Dr. Currey imagines the chambers may have been occupied in common by the singers and the priests when engaged on duty at the temple. The LXX. text reads, "And he led me unto the inner court, and behold two chambers in the inner court, one at the back of the gate which looks towards the north, and bearing towards the south, and one at the back of the gate which looks towards the south, and bearing towards the north;" and in accordance with this Rosenmüller, Hitzig, Ewald, Keil, and Smend propose sundry emendations on the Hebrew text. Since, however, it cannot be certified that the LXX. did not paraphrase or mistranslate the present rather than follow a different text, it is safer to abide by the renderings of the Authorized and Revised Versions. Yet one cannot help feeling that the LXX. translation has the merit of clearness and simplicity. Ezekiel 40:44

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Cells and Arrangements for the Sacrificial Worship by and in the Inner Court

Ezekiel 40:38. And a cell with its door was by the pillars at the gates; there they had to wash the burnt-offering. Ezekiel 40:39. And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that, to slay thereon the burnt-offering, the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering. Ezekiel 40:40. And at the shoulder outside, to one going up to the opening of the gate toward the north, stood two tables; and at the other shoulder, by the porch of the gate, two tables. Ezekiel 40:41. Four tables on this side and four tables on that side, at the shoulder of the gate; eight tables on which they were to slaughter. Ezekiel 40:42. And four tables by the steps, hewn stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and a cubit high; upon these they were to lay the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt-offerings and other sacrifices. Ezekiel 40:43. And the double pegs, a span long, were fastened round about the house; but the flesh of the sacrifice was placed upon the tables. Ezekiel 40:44. And outside the inner gate were two cells in the inner court, one at the shoulder of the north gate, with its front side toward the south; one at the shoulder of the south gate, with the front toward the north. Ezekiel 40:45. And he said to me, This cell, whose front is toward the south, is for the priests who attend to the keeping of the house; Ezekiel 40:46. And the cell whose front is toward the north is for the priests who attend to the keeping of the altar. They are the sons of Zadok, who draw near to Jehovah of the sons of Levi, to serve Him. Ezekiel 40:47. And he measured the court, the length a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits in the square, and the altar stood before the house. - The opinions of modern commentators differ greatly as to the situation of the cells mentioned in Ezekiel 40:38, since Bttcher and Hitzig had adjusted a text to suit their own liking, founded upon the Septuagint and upon decidedly erroneous suppositions. The dispute, whether בּאילים is to be rendered in or by the אילים, may be easily set at rest by the simple consideration that the אילים in front of the porch of the gate were pillars of two cubits long and the same broad (Ezekiel 40:9), in which it was impossible that a room could be constructed. Hence the לשׁכּה could only be by (near) the pillars of the gate. To בּאילים there is also added השּׁערים (by the gates)in loose coordination (vid., Ewald, 293e), not for the purpose of describing the position of the pillars more minutely, which would be quite superfluous after Ezekiel 40:9, but to explain the plural אילים, and extend it to the pillars of all the three inner gates, so that we have to assume that there was a לשׁכּה by the pillars of all these gates (Plate I O). This is also demanded by the purpose of these cells, viz., "for the cleansing or washing of the burnt-offering." As the sacrifices were not taken through one gate alone, but through all the gates, the Sabbath-offering of the prince being carried, according to Ezekiel 46:1-2, through the east gate, which was closed during the week, and only opened on the Sabbath, there must have been a cell, not by the north gate alone (Bttcher, Hvernick), or by the east gate only (Ewald, Hitzig), but by every gate, for the cleansing of the burnt-offering. Hvernick, Hitzig, and others are wrong in supposing that העולה is a synecdochical designation applied to every kind of animal sacrifice. This is precluded not only by the express mention of the burnt-offerings, sin-offerings, and trespass-offerings (Ezekiel 40:39), and by the use of the word קרבּן in this sense in Ezekiel 40:43, but chiefly by the circumstance that neither the Old Testament nor the Talmud makes any allusion to the washing of every kind of flesh offered in sacrifice, but that they merely speak of the washing of the entrails and legs of the animals sacrificed as burnt-offerings (Leviticus 1:9), for which purpose the basins upon the mechonoth in Solomon's temple were used (2 Chronicles 4:6, where the term רחץ used in Leviticus 1:9 is interpreted by the apposition את־מעשׂה העולה י). A room at every gate (not by every pillar) was sufficient for this purpose. If there had been a לשׁכּה of this kind on each side of the gate, as many have assumed on symmetrical grounds, this would have been mentioned, just as in the case of the slaughtering-tables (Ezekiel 40:39-42). The text furnishes no information as to the side of the doorway on which it stood, whether by the right or the left pillars. On the ground plan we have placed the one at the east gate, on the right side, and those by the north and south gates on the western side (Plate I O O O).

Moreover, according to Ezekiel 40:39-41, there were twice two tables on each side, eight therefore in all, which served for slaughtering. Two pairs stood "in the porch of the gate," i.e., in the inner space of the porch, one pair on this side, the other pair on that, i.e., on the right and left sides to a person entering the porch, probably near the wall (see Plate II II f f). The expression לשׁחוט אליהם, to slaughter at the tables (Ezekiel 40:39 and Ezekiel 40:40), stands for "to use when slaughtering" - that is, for the purpose of laying the slaughtered flesh upon. This is apparent from the fact itself in Ezekiel 40:39. For the slaughtering was not performed within the front porch, but outside, and somewhere near it. The front porch of the gate-building was not a slaughter-house, but the place where those who entered the gate could assemble. The only purpose, therefore, for which the tables standing here could be used was to place the sacrificial flesh upon when it was prepared for the altar, that the priests might take it thence and lay it upon the altar. בּאלם השּׁער is to be understood as signifying the inner space of the porch; this is required by the antithesis in Ezekiel 40:40, where two pair of tables outside the porch are mentioned. Two of these stood "by the shoulder outside to one going up to the gate opening, the northern" (Plate II II d d). The meaning of these not very intelligible words is apparent from the second half of the verse, which adds the correlative statement as to the two opposite tables. When it is said of these tables that they stood by the other shoulder (אל־הכּתף ) which the porch of the gate had, not only is לפּתח השּׁער of the first hemistich more precisely defined hereby as the gate-porch, but החּפונה is also rendered intelligible, namely, that as it corresponds to האחרת, it is an adjective belonging to אל הכּתף, "at the northern shoulder outside to a person going up the steps to the opening of the gate" (מחוּצה, the outer side, in contrast to the inside of the porch, בּאלּם, Ezekiel 40:39). The shoulder of the gate, or rather of the porch of the gate, is the side of it, and that the outer side. Consequently these four tables stood by the outer sides of the porch, two by the right wall and two by the left. In Ezekiel 40:41, what has already been stated concerning the position of the tables mentioned in Ezekiel 40:39 and Ezekiel 40:40 is summed up: Four tables stood on each side of the porch, two inside, and two against the outer wall, eight tables in all, which were used for slaughtering purposes. There is nothing strange in לכתף as an abbreviated expression for לכּתף אשׁר לאלם השּׁער in Ezekiel 40:40, as want of clearness was not to be feared after Ezekiel 40:40. In addition to these there were four other tables (וארבּעה, and four, Ezekiel 40:42) of stone, from which it may be inferred that the four already mentioned were of wood. The four stone tables stood לעולה, i.e., at (near) the flight of steps (cf. לפי קרת, at the entrance to the city, Proverbs 8:3), and were of hewn square stones, as no doubt the steps also were (see Plate II II e e). It yields no sense whatever to render לעולה "for the burnt-offering" (lxx and others); and the expression עלות in Ezekiel 40:26 thoroughly warrants our translating עולה, a flight of steps or staircase). These stone tables served as flesh-benches, on which the slaughtering tools were laid. אליהם וינּיחוּ belong together, the ו being inserted "as if at the commencement of a new sentence after a pause in the thought" (cf. Proverbs 23:24; Proverbs 30:28; Genesis 50:9, Bttcher). It is not expressly stated, indeed, that these four tables were distributed on the two sides of the steps; but this may be inferred with certainty from the position of the other tables. Moreover, the twelve tables mentioned were not merely to be found at one of the gate-porches, but by all three of the inner fates, as was the case with the washing-cells (Ezekiel 40:38), for sacrificial animals were taken to the altar and slaughtered at every gate; so that what is stated in Ezekiel 40:39-42 with reference to one porch, namely, the porch of the east gate, to judge from הצּפונה in Ezekiel 40:40, is applicable to the porches of the south and north gates also.

In Ezekiel 40:43 another provision for the slaughtering of the sacrificial animals is mentioned, concerning which the opinions of the older translators and commentators are greatly divided. but the only explanation that can be sustained, so far as both the usage of the language and the facts are concerned, is that adopted by the Chaldee, viz., וענקלין נפקין פשׁך חד קביעין בעמּוּדי בּית , et uncini egrediebantur (longitudine) unius palmi defixi in columnis domus macelli, to which not only Bצttcher, but Roediger (Ges. Thes. p. 1470) and Dietrich (Lex.) have given their adhesion. For שׁפתּים, from שׁפת, to set or stand (act.), signifies stakes or pegs (in Psalm 68:14, the folds constructed of stakes), here pegs a span long on the wall, into which they were inserted, and from which they projected to the length of a span. In the dual it stands for double pegs, forked pegs, upon which the carcases of the beasts were hung of the purpose of flaying, as Dav. Kimchi has interpreted the words of the Chaldee. The article indicates the kind, viz., the pegs required for the process of slaughtering. This explanation is also in harmony with the verb מוּכנים, Hophal of כוּן, fastened, which by no means suits the rendering originated by the lxx, viz., ledges round the edge or the rim of the table. The only remaining difficulty is the word בּבּית, which Bttcher interprets as signifying "in the interior of the gate-porch and pillars" (Roediger, in interiore parte, nempe in ea atrii parte, ubi hostiae mactandae essent), on the just ground that the interior of the front porch could not be the place for slaughtering, but that this could only be done outside, either in front of or near the porch. But even in interiore parte atrii is not really suitable, and at all events is too indefinite for מוּכנים. It would therefore be probably more correct to render it "fastened against the house," i.e., to the outer walls of the gate-porch buildings, so that בּית would stand for buildings in the sense of בּניה, although I cannot cite any passage as a certain proof of the correctness of this rendering. But this does not render the explanation itself a doubtful one, as it would be still more difficult to interpret בּבּית if שׁפתּים were explained in any other way. סביב סביב refers to the three outer sides of the porch. The description of the slaughtering apparatus closes in Ezekiel 40:43 with the words, "and upon the tables (mentioned in Ezekiel 40:39-42) came the flesh of the offering." קרבּן, the general word for sacrificial offerings, as in Leviticus 1:2 ff.

In Ezekiel 40:44-46 we have a description of cells for the officiating priests, and in Ezekiel 40:45 and Ezekiel 40:46 two such cells are plainly mentioned according to their situation and purpose (vid., Plate I F F). But it is impossible to bring the Masoretic text of Ezekiel 40:44 into harmony with this, without explaining it in an arbitrary manner. For, in the first place, the reference there is to לשׁכות שׁרים, cells of the singers; whereas these cells, according to Ezekiel 40:45 and Ezekiel 40:46, were intended for the priests who performed the service in the temple-house and at the altar of burnt-offering. The attempt of both the earlier and the more recent supporters of the Masoretic text to set aside this discrepancy, by arguing that the priests who had to attend to the service in the temple and at the altar, according to Ezekiel 40:45 and Ezekiel 40:46, were singers, is overturned by the fact that in the Old Testament worship a sharp distinction is made between the Levitical singers and the priests, i.e., the Aaronites who administered the priesthood; and Ezekiel does not abolish this distinction in the vision of the temple, but sharpens it still further by the command, that none but the sons of Zadok are to attend to the priestly service at the sanctuary, while the other descendants of Aaron, i.e., the Aaronites who sprang from Ithamar, are only to be employed in watching at the gate of the house, and other non-priestly occupations (Ezekiel 44:10 ff.). Consequently Ezekiel could not identify the priests with the singers, or call the cells intended for the officiating priests singers' cells. Moreover, only two cells, or cell-buildings, are mentioned in Ezekiel 40:45 and Ezekiel 40:46, and their position is described in the same words as that of the cells mentioned in Ezekiel 40:44, so that there can be no doubt as to the identity of the former and the latter cells. In Ezekiel 40:44 the supposed singers' cells are placed at the north gate, with the front toward the south, which only applies, according to Ezekiel 40:45, to the one cell intended for the priests who attended to the service in the holy place; and again, in Ezekiel 40:44, another cell is mentioned at the east gate, with the front toward the north, which was set apart, according to Ezekiel 40:46, for the priests who attended to the altar service. Consequently, according to our Masoretic text of the 44th verse, there would be first singers' cells (in the plural), and then one cell, at least three cells therefore; whereas, according to Ezekiel 40:45 and Ezekiel 40:46, there were only two. And lastly, the אחד in Ezekiel 40:44 can only be understood by our taking it in the sense of "another," in opposition to the usage of the language. For these reasons we are compelled to alter שׁרים into שׁתים, and אשׁר into אחת, after the lxx, and probably also הקּדים into הדּרום, and in consequence of this to adopt the pointing לשׁכות, and to read פּניה instead of פּניהם. Further alterations are not requisite or indicated by the lxx, as the rest of the deviations in their text are to be explained from their free handling of the original.

According to the text with these alterations, even in Ezekiel 40:44 there are only two cells mentioned. They were situated "outside the inner gate." This definition is ambiguous, for you are outside the inner gate not only before entering the gate, i.e., while in the outer court, but also after having passed through it and entered the inner court. Hence there follows the more precise definition, "in the inner court." If, then, we read אחת for אשׁר, there follows, in prefect accordance with the fact, a more precise statement as to the situation of both the one and the other of these cells, אחת and אחד corresponding to one another. The second אחד, instead of אחת, which is grammatically the more correct, is to be attributed to a constructio ad sensum, as the לשׁכות were not separate rooms, but buildings with several chambers. One cell stood by the shoulder (side) of the north gate, with the front (פנים) toward the south; the other at the shoulder of the south gate, with the front toward the north. They stood opposite to one another, therefore, with their fronts facing each other. Instead of the south gate, however, the Masoretic text has שׁער הקּדים, the east gate; and Ezekiel 40:46 contains nothing that would be expressly at variance with this, so that הקּדים could be defended in case of need. But only in case of need - that is to say, if we follow Kliefoth in assuming that it stood on the left of the gateway to persons entering through the east gate, and explaining the fact that its front turned toward the north, on the ground that the priests who resided in it were charged with the duty of inspecting the sacrifices brought through the east gate, or watching the bringing in of the sacrifices, so that this cell was simply a watchman's cell after all. But this assumption is founded upon a misinterpretation of the formula שׁמר משׁמרת , to keep the keeping of the altar. This formula does not mean to watch and see that nothing unlawful was taken to the altar, but refers to the altar service itself, the observance of everything devolving upon the servants of the altar in the performance of the sacrificial worship, or the offering of the sacrifices upon the altar according to the precepts of the law. If, then, this duty was binding upon the priests who resided in this cell, it would have been very unsuitable for the front of the cell to be turned toward the north, in which case it would have been absolutely impossible to see the altar from the front of the cell. This unsuitability can only be removed by the supposition that the cell was built at the south gate, with the front toward the north, i.e., looking directly toward the altar. For this reason we must also regard הקּדים as a corruption of הדּרום, and look for this second cell at the south gate, so that it stood opposite to the one built at the north gate. - All that remains doubtful is, whether these two cells were on the east or the west side of the south and north gates, a point concerning which we have no information given in the text. In our sketch we have placed them on the west side (vid., Plate I f), so that they stood in front of the altar and the porch-steps. The concluding words of Ezekiel 40:46, in which המּה refers to the priests mentioned in Ezekiel 40:45 and Ezekiel 40:46, state that in the new sanctuary only priests of the sons of Zadok were to take charge of the service at the altar and in the holy place; and this is still further expanded in Ezekiel 44:10 ff. - Finally, in Ezekiel 40:47 the description of the courts is concluded with the account of the measure of the inner court, a hundred cubits long and the same in breadth, according to which it formed a perfect square surrounded by a wall, according to Ezekiel 42:10. The only other observation made is, that it was within this space that the altar of burnt-offering stood, the description of which is given afterwards in Ezekiel 43:13 ff. (see Plate I H).