and the row of rooms along the outer wall of the inner courtyard. This open area was 35 feet wide, and it went all the way around the Temple.
Parallel translations
- WEB Between the rooms was a width of twenty cubits around the house on every side.
- KJV And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
- BSB and the outer chambers was twenty cubits wide all around the temple.
- NKJV And between it and the wall chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side.
- NASB and the outer chambers was twenty cubits in width around the temple on every side.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A twenty-cubit space surrounded the temple, separating it from the priests' rooms. Open ground guarded the holiness of the central house.
Overview
The wide space encircling the temple kept the most sacred structure set apart even from the priestly chambers nearby. This buffer of holiness emphasizes reverent distance in approaching God. Such separation prepares us to appreciate the nearness now granted in Christ, who brings near those who once were far off (Ephesians 2:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Ezek 40:17Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 41:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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