Ezekiel 41:7

Eze 41:7 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.

Ver. 7. And there was an enlarging and a winding about still upward.] This might inmind God’s people of heavenly mindedness, whereby their hearts will be enlarged when got once above the world, as birds sing sweetly when got aloft into the air.

Went still upward.] Let there be continual ascensions in our hearts: Sursum corda.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze_41:7

And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward.

Enlargement upwards

As the temple ascended in height, so it still was wider and wider; even from the lowest chambers to the top. And this was to show us that Gods true Gospel temple, which is His Church, should have its enlargedness of heart still upward, or most for spiritual and eternal things (Isa_55:5; Col_3:1). Indeed it is the nature of grace to enlarge itself still upward, and to make the heart widest for the things that are above. The temple, therefore, was narrowest downwards, to show that a little of earth or this world should serve the Church of God. One may say of the fashion of the temple, as some say of a lively picture, it speaks. I say, its form and fashion speaks; it says to all saints, to all the Churches of Christ, Open your hearts for heaven, be ye enlarged upward. I read not in Scripture of any house, but this that was enlarged upwards, nor is there anywhere, save only in the Church of God, that which doth answer this similitude. All others are widest downward, and have the largest heart for earthly things. The Church only has its greatest enlargements towards heaven. (John Bunyan.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 41:7-8. And there was an enlarging — Namely, of the side-chambers; so much of breadth added to the chambers as was taken from the thickness of the wall: see the preceding note; and a winding about still upward — Winding stairs, which enlarged as the rooms did, went up between each two chambers from the bottom to the top; and there were two doors at the top of each pair of stairs, one door opening into one chamber, and the other into the opposite one. For the winding about, &c. — The stairs, as they rose in height, enlarged themselves too; round about the house — On all sides of the house, where these chambers were. Therefore the breadth was still upward — It became broader by one cubit in every upper chamber. I saw also the height of the house — Of the chambers which rose to three stories high. The foundations, &c., were a full reed of six great cubits — The lowest chamber had properly a foundation laid on the earth, but the floor of the middle and the highest story must be accounted here a foundation; so from the ground to the ceiling of the first room were six great cubits; from the first to the second, six great cubits; and from the third floor to the roof of the chamber, a like number; to which if we add one cubit for the thickness of each of the three floors, you have twenty-one cubits, or ten yards and a half for height.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the breadth . . . so increased from the lowest . . . to the highest--that is, the breadth of the interior space above was greater than that below.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. An enlarging, and a winding about] Perhaps a winding staircase that-widened upward as the inner wall decreased in thickness; this wall being six cubits thick; as high as the first story, five from the floor of the second story to that of the third, and four from the floor to the ceiling of the third story: and thus there was a rest of one cubit in breadth to support the stories.-Newcome.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) And there was an enlarging.—The description in this verse is difficult to understand, and has called out much variety of opinion. The main facts are clear: that there was an increase in the width of each storey of the side chambers by the distance which the wall receded, as is expressly said in 1Ki_6:6; but whether there was a corresponding recession in the thickness of the outer wall of the chambers is not stated. It is also plain that the side chambers surrounded the house; and that the two upper storeys were reached by a winding staircase (w [Eze_40:44-49]). It is impossible to enter into more detail without a careful discussion of the words in the original, the meaning of some of which is disputed.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. What the verse means to say is that the side-chambers widened in the second and third stories through the retreating of the wall of the house. The present text being assumed it might read: “and there was a widening of the side-chambers and an encompassing (by them) ever upwards; for the encompassing of the house was (the more) ever upwards, round about the house”—the meaning being that the higher the three story building rose the broader it grew and the closer it encompassed the house, i.e. appeared to encroach upon the house owing to the retreat of the wall. Another sense of the present reading would be got if the word rendered “encompass” could be supposed to be something which the house did, viz. “turn,” turn in, retreat. The sense would remain the same. LXX. omits “encompassing” after “widening” and instead of “for the encompassing” &c. it reads: according to the appendage (projection, i.e. the ledge) out of the wall—giving the same general meaning.

the breadth of the house] The words mean: the house became broader upwards—an impossible sense. Either “house” must be omitted with LXX., or the clause read: and it broadened toward the house (or, inwards) ever upward. Subject is the side building.

and so increased] The words state how the various stories communicated with one another, according to the clear statement, 1Ki_6:8. Read: and from the lowest one went up to the highest and to the middle story, or possibly with R.V., by the middle story. LXX. perspicuously: that they might go up from the chambers below to the upper chambers, and from the middle chambers to the third story. Syr. is equally distinct.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers,.... These chambers, as they rose up in stories one above another, were larger and larger; those in the middlemost storey were larger than those in the lower storey by a cubit; so much being taken out of the thickness of the wall, to make the rests or rebatements for the beams of the floor to rest upon, by which so much was gained in breadth for the chambers; and those in the upper storey, for the same reason, were a cubit broader than those in the middle, and two cubits broader than the lowermost; the floor of the first and lower storey was four cubits broad, Eze 41:5 the floor of the second five cubits; and the floor of the third or uppermost six cubits. The wall of the temple at the bottom was six cubits thick, Eze 41:5, at the middlemost storey five cubits; and at the uppermost four: and all this may denote the enlargement of the church of Christ, as it comes nearer the heavenly state; the present state of the church may be signified by the lower storey, where the chambers are narrowest; the state of the church in the latter day glory, or spiritual reign of Christ, by the middlemost, when it will be enlarged; its converts being very numerous, Isa 49:19 and the New Jerusalem church state by the uppermost storey; which city or state will be very large, and next to heaven, or the ultimate glory; see Rev 21:16. The "winding" that went upwards to the side chambers were winding stairs, which went up from one storey to another, higher and higher; see Kg1 6:8. The Misnic doctors say (c), that in the second temple these winding stairs went from one side of the temple to the other, from the north east to the northwest; by which they went up to the roofs of these chambers and to the upper room over the sanctuary. These may signify the various afflictions and tribulations, trials and exercises, in which the Lord leads his people, and by which the churches of Christ pass from one state to another:

for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: not on the outside, but within; properly round about the chambers, which are here called the house:

therefore the breadth of the house was still upward; became broader and broader, as it rose up higher and higher:

and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst; from being only four cubits broad in the lowest storey, it became five cubits in the middlemost, and from thence six cubits in the highest.

(c) Misn. Middot, c. 4. sect. 5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

An enlarging - The “wall for the side-chambers” had for the ground story its full thickness of five cubits Eze 41:9 - then it was diminished one cubit, so as to form a ledge whereon to rest the beams of the floor of the second story, and again was further diminished one cubit for the floor of the third story. Thus there was an “enlarging” of the second story of the chambers by one cubit, and of the third story by two cubits beyond the breadth of the chambers on the ground-floor.

A winding about still upward - Winding stairs led “upward” from one story to another.

The winding about of the house - A collective expression for the various winding staircases to the side-chambers which extended on the north, west, and south sides.

And so increased ... - Rather, “and the lowest story was such that one went by the middle story up to the highest.” The winding stairs were not visible outside, so that one could not go to the upper story without passing through the middle story.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Broader, as the wall was not so thick. (Haydock) --- Midst. The two staircases were round in the hollow of the wall, (Menochius) at the eastern end of the chambers. (Josephus) See 3 Kings. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

An enlarging, viz. of the side chambers, so much of breadth added to the chamber as was taken from the thickness of the wall; that is, two cubits in the uppermost, and one cubit in the middlemost, more than in the lowest chambers.

A winding about; winding stairs which enlarged as the rooms did, and these run up between each two chambers, from the bottom to the top; so there were two doors at the head of each pair of stairs, one door opening into one chamber, and the other into the opposite chamber: or else you must make the chambers thoroughfares, and suppose passages through all. These stairs, as they rose in height, enlarged themselves too.

Round about, i.e. on all sides of the house where these chambers were, which, as observed, was on three sides of the house.

The breadth of the house; of each chamber.

Increased; grew broader by one cubit in every upper room or chamber; from five in the lowest to six in the middle, and to seven in the highest chamber.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In the side chambers an enlarging took place as they went up, i.e. the floorage of the second story exceeded that of the first, and the floorage of the third that of the second; though how this was effected can only be conjectured. If the chambers were built against the temple wall, then probably the wall at each story went in, say a cubit or a cubit and a half from the outside, so as to admit the beams; or, if the chambers were built against an outside wall, a similar recession of the wall from the inside may have taken place. In either ease, the (interior) breadth of the house, i.e. of the side chambers, would be upward, and would increase from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. Plumptre, after Kliefoth, suggests that the increasing size of the chambers in the three stories may have been due to projecting galleries. Ewald, taking "house" as "the temple," supposes that it gradually became bigger. i.e. broader, as it rose, which could be the case only if the side chambers were built against the temple wall, and the increased width of the stories was scoured By projecting galleries or corridors. Greater obscurity attaches to the second clause, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers, which the Authorized Version and some expositors regard as an indication that Ezekiel"s temple had a spiral staircase like that in Solomon"s temple; (see 1Ki_6:8) and probably some such mode of passing from story to story did exist in Ezekiel"s temple; yet the clause, when properly rendered, does not refer to this. The Revised Version reads, "And the side chambers were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house; therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up (most likely by a spiral stair) from the lowest chamber to the highest by the middle chamber."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

An enlarging - Of the side chambers, so much of breadth added to the chamber, as was taken from the thickness of the wall; that is, two cubits in the uppermost, and one cubit in the middle-most, more than in the lowest chambers. A winding about - Winding stairs, which enlarged as the rooms did, and these run up between each two chambers from the bottom to the top; so there were two doors at the head of each pair of stairs, one door opening into one chamber, and the other into the opposite chamber. For the winding about - These stairs, as they rose in height, enlarged themselves too. Round about - On all sides of the house where these chambers were. The breadth - Of each chamber. Increased - Grew broader by one cubit in every upper chamber. From five in the lowest to six in the middle, and to seven in the highest chamber.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And it became wider And the cells constantly widened as they went upward, as I explained: the middle one was a cubit wider than the lowest one, and the uppermost [one] was a cubit [wider] than the middle one.

and it wound higher and higher [Heb. וְנָסְבָה,] and it was surrounded by a spiral staircase, fiz in Old French. This is a stone structure similar to a pillar, with steps winding around it. It seems to the person who is ascending upon it that he is encircling a stone pillar. In German it is called a wendelstein. This is what is [meant when it is] stated regarding Solomon’s Temple (I Kings 6:8): “and upon winding stairs (לוּלִים) they went up into the middle [chamber].” That too is translated [into Aramaic] as וּבִמְסִיבָתָא, like וְנָסְבָה לְמַעְלָה לְמַעְלָה and it wound higher and higher. The spiral staircase continued to wind higher and higher up to the roof of the uppermost cell, as he proceeds to explain, [so] that the spiral staircase ascended from the nethermost cell to the middle one and from the middle one to the uppermost one.

for the encompassing of the House to the cells.

went upward round about the House: therefore, the widest part of the House was above Therefore, we said, “And it became wider and it wound higher and higher.” The widest part of the House within the cells was above. The uppermost [cell] was wider than all of them.

and so, [from] the nethermost Jonathan rendered: “And so, with the spiral staircase they would ascend from the nethermost to the uppermost through the middle one.” And so they would ascend with the spiral staircase from the nethermost one to the uppermost one by way of the middle one.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.