Bible Strands
Ezekiel 40:17
Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel receives a visionary tour of a restored temple complex from a divine guide. The vision places him inside the outer court as the architectural survey begins.
The words — The Hebrew לְשָׁכוֹת (le.sha.khOt) denotes enclosed rooms or chambers, while רִֽצְפָ֔ה (ve./ritz.Fah) refers to a paved stone surface. These terms describe the structural components lining the court.
The thread — The outer court and its chambers reappear in Ezekiel 42:1 and are typologically recalled in Revelation 11:2 regarding the temple courtyard. Administrative oversight of such rooms is also noted in 1 Chronicles 9:26.
Why it lands — The text states that thirty chambers faced the pavement in a measured, orderly arrangement. It requires the reader to recognize that sacred space is defined by precise boundaries rather than open access.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 42:1 Then the man led me out northward into the outer court, and he brought me to the group of chambers opposite the temple courtyard and the outer wall on the north side.
- Revelation 11:2 But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
- 1 Chronicles 9:26 But the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the rooms and the treasuries of the house of God.
- 1 Chronicles 23:28 but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,
- 2 Chronicles 31:11 Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare storerooms in the house of the LORD, and they did so.
- Ezekiel 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.
- Ezekiel 45:5 An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live.
- Ezekiel 46:21 Then he brought me into the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw a separate court in each of its corners.
- 1 Kings 6:5 Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.
- 2 Kings 23:11 And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.