50 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 42:1–20"
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date = "2023-07-05"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel42.1-20)
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Having measured the temple and its contents, Ezekiel is guided back to the
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outer court, this time on the north side. There, he and his guide inspect the
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chambers in the wall separating the two courts. Unlike the rooms against the
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temple, these chambers get narrower as you go higher, because the gallery
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connecting them gets wider. They don't have pillars supporting the upper
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stories, and thus look more like a stepped pyramid. I believe verse 8 is saying
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that these chambers only take about half as much room as those against the
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temple. The temple chambers ran the whole length of the building, but these
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don't go around the entire court's wall. Additionally, they were only on the
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north and south sides of the court. As might be expected, the southern chambers
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are identical to the northern ones.
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In verses 13 and 14, the angel explains for us the purpose of these chambers.
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After the various sacrifices were offered to the Lord, the priests would be
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able to eat portions of them in these chambers. Additionally, they would use
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these chambers to change into and out of the holy vestements, a practice dating
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back to when the priesthood was established for Aaron and his sons. When
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ministering before the Lord they were to wear the holy garments made to an
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exact standard and for this purpose, and when they left, they would wear
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different clothes so as not to defile the ones for religious work.
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After this the angel takes Ezekiel outside the temple complex through the east
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gate and starts to measure the outer walls. And now I have a problem. I
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happened to look at a different translation than I usually do, and it didn't
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say "500 cubits" the way the ESV does. So I started comparing multiple
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translations together, and of the ones I checked, most of them don't say "500
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cubits". Instead, they say "500 reeds by the measuring reed", or something to
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that effect. So which is it? According to chapter 40, the reed the angel is
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using measures 6 long cubits, which is pretty close to 10 feet long. The
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standard cubit was about 18 inches long. Helpfully, the CSB actually puts the
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translated measurement of 875 feet into the text, instead of something like
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5,000 feet. Considering there are only 100 cubits between the gates of the
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inner and outer courts, on each of the three sides that have gates, it seems
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fair to conclude that the real measurement is 500 cubits and not 500 lengths of
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the reed doing the measuring. Looking up "Temple Mount" on [Open Street
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Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/5862584#map=17/31.77799/35.23563)
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also fits this measument better. Maybe there was some other meaning for "reed",
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but it's not obvious from an English translation.
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* * *
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You provide for Your people and care for them with eternal love.
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