Ezekiel 46:19 - Exposition

After (or, and) he — i.e. the measuring man, who had hitherto acted as the prophet's conductor— brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate. This was the inner north gate, from which the prophet had been conducted to the front of the house in order to receive the sacrificial Torah ( Ezekiel 44:4 ), and to which, when this was finished, he had been seemingly led back. From this gate, then, he was taken by his guide along the entry or passage ( Ezekiel 42:9 ), which ran towards and extended in front of the holy chambers of (or, for) the priests, which looked toward the north , and which had already been described ( Ezekiel 42:1-14 ). Arrived at the western corner of the chambers, he perceived a place on the two sides —or, on the hinder part (Revised Version)— westward . The translation in the Authorized Version was obviously suggested by the dual form יַדְכָּתַיִם , which properly signifies "on both sides" but when applied to the tabernacle ( Exodus 26:23 ) or temple ( 1 Kings 6:16 ), always describes the back part or rear. That a similar "place" existed on the south side is more than probable; though Smend thinks there was not a "place" on the south. The LXX . omits the words after "place," and supplies κεχωρισμένος , "separated." Keil finds in the description here given of the passage towards the holy chambers a proof that this section could not have steed originally after Ezekiel 42:14 , as in that ease no such description would have been needed. Nor would the language in Ezekiel 47:1 , "and he brought me back," have been required or appropriate had the prophet not in the mean while changed his place, which he does to visit the holy chambers.