14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD. 21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. CHAP. XXXIX. [Gog and Magog. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. 23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; 26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; 28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen; but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. 29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. (S) EXPOSITION. (S) The defeat and utter destruction of Gog's immense army.-The Prophet goes on to denounce the judgments of God against those formidable enemies of his church and people. He describes the NOTES. Heb. Ver. 14. Men of continual employment "Men of continuance (or perseverance) in the employment. Ver. 16. Hamonah--that is, the multitude. Ver. 17. Every feathered fowl-Heb. "Fowl (or birds) of every wing."— To my sacrifice.-See Isa, xxxiv. 6. Ver. 20. Filled at my table." The table of God is the field covered with dead bodies, the place of the slaughter of Magog. It is impossible to couceive how unbelievers could quote this verse to prove that A vision of] CHAP. XL. EZEKIEL. IN the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the self-same day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither. 2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. [the new temple. 3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. 4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. (T) EXPOSITION. awful slaughter and burial of the combined forces, in such lofty and comprehensive language, as must certainly imply one of the greatest and happiest revolutions that the world has ever witnessed. And to make the subject more impressive, the Prophet delays summoning the birds and beasts of prey to feast on the slain (in allusion to the custom of feasting on the remains of sacrifices) till after the greater multitudes are buried; to intimate that even these remains would be more thau enough to satisfy the appetites of these rapacious creatures. He then concludes as usual with a reference to the return of his people from their then captivity, and promises a final restoration to all Israel. From a short view of this remarkable section of prophecy, it will appear, that it must refer to some event of extraordinary interest. The writer, full of his subject, sets it in all the variety of lights it will bear, and leaves no room for any one that shall come after him either to add or to improve; except, indeed, the inspired author of the Apocalypse, who in one sublime passage must be admitted to have excelled his model. (Sce Rev. xix. 17, 18.) CHAP. XL. (T) Ver. 1—4. The Vision of a New Temple on a grand scale.-There is no doubt that this whole scene was visionary. There neither then was, nor had been, any temple in existence, which could fully answer to the description. Ezekiel repre sents himself as stationed upon a high mountain, on the south of which he saw "the frame (or building) of a city"-probably, the buildings in their unfinished state. Here appeared to him a celestial agent in the character of a surveyor, with a measuring rod in his hand; aud as he measured, he gave the dimensions to the Prophet, that he might report them to his people. Notwithstanding the apparent inagnitude of the dimensions, Villalpandus aud Vitringa, both deeply versed in such studies, contend that the ground-plan of the temple here laid down did not exceed that of Solomon, and therefore might well be proposed as a pattern of the new temple to be erected on their return from the captivity, and which might probably have been more nearly followed, had all the tribes been equally anxious to return. Abp. Secker (who has written a dissertation on this vision) thinks the whole should be literally understood except only the vision of waters &c. in chap. xlvii, which will be there considered. There is, however, so little calculated to interest families, and especially young persons, in graphical descriptions of this nature, that we have thrown the greater part of the following chapters into our smaller type; selecting for practical remarks those passages only which will bear it without the aid of a whimsical imagination. To the whole, however, we shall, as usual, append Notes, critical and elucidatory. NOTES. CHAP. XL. Ver. 1. In the fire, &c. -"The 11th year of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was taken, was also the 11th year of Jehoiachin's captivity, from which the prophet dates; and therefore the 25th year of Jehoiachin's captivity was the 14th year after the taking of Jerusalem." Newcome. - Ibid. By which Marg. " Upon which." So Newcome. Ver.3. Brass-that is, bright and sparkling. See Rev. i. 15.-A reed-viz. of six cubits, (ver. 51 which, according to the tables affixed to the d Testament by our transintors, were somewhat mare than 11 feet, but, according to Michaelis, nire teet only. So Newcome. To compare the size of this Temple with Solomon's, see Exposition of 1 Kings, chaps. vi, vii. and Notes. Ver. 6. Which looketh, &c.-Heb. "Whose free was toward the east." A description of] [Omit, and pass to chap. xliii.] CHAP. XL. 5 And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand breadth : so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. 6 Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad. 7 And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed. 8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed. 9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward. 10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. 11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. 13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door. 14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even nto the post of the court round about the gate. 15 And from the face of the gate of the entrauce unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits. 16. And there were narrow windows to the ittle chambers, and to their posts within he gate round about, and likewise to the arches and windows were round about nward: and upon each post were palm rees. 17 Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were champers, and a pavement made for the court ound about: thirty chambers were upon he pavement. 18 And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the ength of the gates was the lower pave nent. 19 Then he measured the breadth rom the forefront of the lower gate unto he forefront of the inner court without, an undred cubits eastward and northward. ary. [its various parts. 20 And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. 21 And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. 22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. 23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits. : 24 After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. 25 And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. 26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them and it had palm trees, oue on this side, aud another on that side, upon the posts thereof. 27 And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits. 28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures; 29 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, aud the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it, and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. 30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. 31 And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. 32 And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. 33 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. 34 Aud the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side and on that NOTES. Ver. 12. Space-Heb. "Limit," bound, or boun. Some understand this of a projecting rail, or -alustrade. Newcome. Ver. 16. Narrow-Heb. "Closed." See 1 Kings i. 4. Arches - Marg. " Porches;" So New. come. Windows inward--Marg. &c. "Within." Ver. 20. That looked-Heb. "Whose face was." Ver. 21. Arches-or" porches." See ver. 16. Ver. 30. Long-Villalpandus and others explain this of height; but query? side and the going up to it had eight steps. 35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures; 36 The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. 37 And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts [of the building, porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. 49 The length of the po.ch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side. CHAP. XLI. thereof, on this side, and on that side: and AFTERWARD he brought me to the the going up to it had eight steps. 38 And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering. 39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offer ing. 40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables. 41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. 42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. 43 And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. 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. 45 And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. 46 And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sous of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto him. 47 So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house. 48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. 2 And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. 3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. 4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place. 5 After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. 6 And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they en tered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. 7 And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. 8 I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six greit cubits. 9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within. : 10 And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the NOTES. Ver. 41. Whereupon they slew, &c.-this shews that they were intended for Jewish worshippers, and therefore this part, at least, can refer to no Christian temple. Ver. 43. Hooks-Newcome, " Edges." So most of the ancient versions. CHAP. XLI. Ver. 2. The door trance," or door-way. Ver. 6. And the side chambers, &c. - Newcome, "And the chambers were one over another, tree stories, (Heb. "chamber over chamber, hice thirty in rows, &c. - Have hold-Heb. "Bebelden." Ver. 7. There was an enlarging-Heb. ** It was broader, and went round; New come," There a widening and a winding about, sull upward, perhaps a winding stair case. Ver. 15. Galleries-Newcome," Building", * north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about. 12 Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was se venty cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. 13 So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits loug; 14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. 15 And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court; 16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, ceiled with wood round about, aud from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; 17 To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. 18 And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; 19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about. 20 From the ground unto above he door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. The posts of the temple were squared, And the face of the sanctuary; the appear. ance of the one as the appearance of the #her. 22 The altar of wood was three ubits high, and the length thereof two ubits; and the corners thereof, and the ngth thereof, and the walls thereof, were wood and he said unto me, This is the ble that is before the LORD. 23 And e temple and the sanctuary had two ors. r. 24 And the doors had two leaves iece, two turning leaves; two leaves for one door, and two leaves for the other 25 And there were made on them, the doors of the temple, cherubims and m trees, like as were made upon the Is; and there were thick planks upon face of the porch without. 26 And re were narrow windows and palm trees he one side and on the other side, on [and chambers. the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks. CHAP. XLII, THEN he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north. 2 Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits. 3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories, 4 And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north. 5 Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building. 6 For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground. 7 And the wall that was without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thercof was fifty cubits. 8 For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits. 9 And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court. 10 The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building. Il And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. 12 And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them. 13 Theu said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. 14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of NOTES. =.16. Ceiled-Newcome," Overlaid with wood." -.22. Altar of wood-the altar of incense is meant. Exod. xxx. 1, 2.—The length thereof-these the second time of occurring, seem to be a miscopying. Newcome, following ixx, reads "the base thereof." The letters are very similar in Heb. CHAP. XLII. Ver. 1. The utter-that is, the outer court, for the people of Israel. So ver. 14, &c. Ver. 5. The upper chambers were shorter-that is, the building narrowed as it rose. |