A description of the courts, chambers, and other places belonging to the temple.
Description of the courtes, chambers, & other places pertening to the temple.
1And he brought me forth into the outward court by the way that leadeth to the north, and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate building, and over against the house toward the north.E mi condusse fuora nell'atrio esteriore per la strada, che mena a settentrione, e m'introdusse nelle camere, che erano dirimpetto all'edificio separato, e dirimpetto alla casa, dove ella guarda a settentrione.AND he brought me out into the vtter court by the way that leadeth to the North, and he brought me into the celle, that was against the seperated building, and against the house bending to the North.Et eduxit me in atrium exterius, per viam ducentem ad aquilonem, et introduxit me in gazophylacium quod erat contra separatum ædificium, et contra ædem vergentem ad aquilonem. 2In the face of the north door was the length of a hundred cubits, and the breadth of fifty cubits.In faccia (il gazofilacio) avea cento cubiti di lunghezza dalla porta di settentrione, e cinquanta cubiti di larghezza.In the face of the length, an hundred cubits of the North doore: and the bredth fiftie cubits,In facie longitudinis, centum cubitos ostii aquilonis, et latitudinis quinquaginta cubitos, 3Over against the twenty cubits of the inner court, and over against the pavement of the outward court that was paved with stone, where there was a gallery joined to a triple gallery.Dirimpetto all'atrio interiore di venti cubiti, e dirimpetto al pavimento lastricato dell'atrio esteriore, dove era il portico unito al triplice portico.against the twentie cubits of the inner court, & against the pauement paued with stone of the vtter court, where was a porche ioyned to a triple porche.contra viginti cubitos atrii interioris, et contra pavimentum stratum lapide atrii exterioris, ubi erat porticus juncta porticui triplici. 4And before the chambers was a walk ten cubits broad, looking to the inner parts of a way of one cubit. And their doors were toward the north.E dinanzi alle camere un passeggio di dieci cubiti di larghezza, il quale avea davanti una strada di un cubito: e le loro porte erano a settentrione,And before the celles a walke of ten cubits in bredth, looking to the inner partes of the way of one cubite. And their doores toward the North:Et ante gazophylacia deambulatio decem cubitorum latitudinis, ad interiora respiciens viæ cubiti unius. Et ostia eorum ad aquilonem: 5Where were the store chambers lower above: because they bore up the galleries, which appeared above out of them from he lower parts, and from the midst of the building.Dove erano le camere nel piano di sopra più basse, perchè ell'erano sostenute dai portici, i quali sporgevano più in fuora nella parte infima, e media dell'edificio:Where were chambers in the vpper partes more low: because they bare vp the porches, which appeared aboue out of them from the neather partes, and from the middes of the building.ubi erant gazophylacia in superioribus humiliora, quia supportabant porticus quæ ex illis eminebant de inferioribus, et de mediis ædificii.
6For they were of three stories, and had not pillars, as the pillars of the courts: therefore did they appear above out of the lower places, and out of the middle places, fifty cubits from the ground.Perocché erano tre piani, e quelle (camere) non aveano colonne, quali erano le colonne dei porticati, per questo si alzavano da terra cinquanta cubiti, compreso il piano infimo, e quel di mezzo.For they were triple loftes, and had not pillers, as the pillers of the courtes: therfore did they appeare aboue out of the neather places, and out of the midle places, from the ground fiftie cubits.Tristega enim erant, et non habebant columnas, sicut erant columnæ atriorum: propterea eminebant de inferioribus, et de mediis a terra cubitis quinquaginta. 7And the outward wall that went about by the chambers, which were towards the outward court on the forepart of the chambers, was fifty cubits long.E la cinta esteriore lungo le camere, le quali erano verso l'atrio esteriore, che stava ad esse davanti, avea di lunghezza cinquanta cubiti.And an vtter closure according to the celles, which were in the way of the vtter court before the celles: the length therof of fiftie cubits.Et peribolus exterior secundum gazophylacia, quæ erant in via atrii exterioris ante gazophylacia: longitudo ejus quinquaginta cubitorum: 8For the length of the chambers of the outward court was fifty cubits: and the length before the face of the temple, a hundred cubits.Perchè la lunghezza delle camere dell'atrio esteriore era di cinquanta cubiti, e la lunghezza dinanzi al tempio era di cento cubiti.Because the length of the celles of the vtter court was of fiftie cubits: and the length before the face of the temple, of an hundred cubits.quia longitudo erat gazophylaciorum atrii exterioris quinquaginta cubitorum, et longitudo ante faciem templi, centum cubitorum. 9And there was under these chambers, an entrance from the east, for them that went into them out of the outward court.Ed eravi sotto queste camere un ingresso da oriente per chi ad esse andava dall'atrio esteriore.And there was vnder these celles an entrance from the East, going into them out of the vtter court.Et erat subter gazophylacia hæc introitus ab oriente, ingredientium in ea de atrio exteriori. 10In the breadth of the outward wall of the court that was toward the east, over against the separate building, and there were chambers before the building.Nella larghezza della cinta dell'atrio, che era verso oriente, dirimpetto all'edificio separato, erano camere dinanzi a quest'edificio.In the bredth of the closure of the court, that was against the way of the East, toward the face of the seperated building, and there were celles before the building.In latitudine periboli atrii quod erat contra viam orientalem, in faciem ædificii separati, et erant ante ædificium gazophylacia.
11And the way before them was like the chambers which were toward the north: they were as long as they, and as broad as they: and all the going in to them, and their fashions, and their doors were alike.E il passaggio dinanzi ad esse simile a quello delle camere, che erano da settentrione, la lunghezza di queste, come la lunghezza di quelle, e la larghezza come la larghezza; e (così) i loro ingressi, le figure, le porte:And the way before the face of them according to the similitude of the celles, which were in the way of the North: according to the length of them, so also was their bredth: and al the entrance of them, and similitudes, and their doores.Et via ante faciem eorum, juxta similitudinem gazophylaciorum quæ erant in via aquilonis: secundum longitudinem eorum, sic et latitudo eorum, et omnis introitus eorum, et similitudines, et ostia eorum. 12According to the doors of the chambers that were towards the south: there was a door in the head of the way, which way was before the porch, separated towards the east as one entereth in.E quali erano le porte delle camere, che erano verso il mezzodì; una porta a capo della strada, la quale strada era dinanzi al vestibolo separato per chi veniva da oriente.According to the doores of the celles that were in the way looking to the South: a doore in the head of the way, which way was before the entrie seperated by the way of the East going in.Secundum ostia gazophylaciorum, quæ erant in via respiciente ad notum: ostium in capite viæ, quæ via erat ante vestibulum separatum per viam orientalem ingredientibus. 13And he said to me: The chambers of the north, and the chambers of the south, which are before the separate building: they are holy chambers, in which the priests shall eat, that approach to the Lord into the holy of holies: there they shall lay the most holy things, and the offering for sin, and for trespass: for it is a holy place.E disse a me: Le camere di settentrione, e le camere di mezzodì, che sono dinanzi all'edificio separato, elle sono camere sante, nelle quali si cibano i sacerdoti, i quali si accostano al Signore nel santuario: ivi metteranno le cose santissime, e l'obblazione per il peccato, e per il delitto: perocché santo è quel luogo.And he said to me: The celles of the North, and the celles of the South, which are before the seperated building: these are the holie celles, wherin the priests do eate, which approch to our Lord into Sancta Sanctorum, there shal they lay the holies of holies, and the oblation for sinne, and for offence: for it is a holie place.Et dixit ad me: Gazophylacia aquilonis, et gazophylacia austri, quæ sunt ante ædificium separatum, hæc sunt gazophylacia sancta, in quibus vescuntur sacerdotes qui appropinquant ad Dominum in Sancta sanctorum: ibi ponent Sancta sanctorum et oblationem pro peccato et pro delicto: locus enim sanctus est. 14And when the priests shall have entered in, they shall not go out of the holy places into the outward court: but there they shall lay their vestments, wherein they minister, for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and so they shall go forth to the people.E quando saranno entrati i sacerdoti, non usciranno dal santo nell'atrio esteriore; ma ivi riporranno le loro vestimenta, che portano nel loro ministero, e prenderanno altro vestito e così usciranno a trattare col popolo.And when the priests shal be entered, they shal not goe forth out of the holie places into the vtter court: and there they shal lay their vestiments, wherin they minister, because they are holie: and they shal be clothed with other vestments, & so they shal goe forth to the people.Cum autem ingressi fuerint sacerdotes, non egredientur de sanctis in atrium exterius: et ibi reponent vestimenta sua in quibus ministrant, quia sancta sunt, vestienturque vestimentis aliis: et sic procedent ad populum.
15Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate that looked toward the east: and he measured it on every side round about.E quando ebbe finito di misurare la casa interiore, mi condusse fuora per la porta, che guardava a oriente, e misuronne da tutte parti il circuito.And when he had accomplished the measures of the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate, that looked to the way of the East: & he measured it on euerie side round about.Cumque complesset mensuras domus interioris, eduxit me per viam portæ quæ respiciebat ad viam orientalem: et mensus est eam undique per circuitum. 16And he measured toward the east with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.E misurò dalla parte di oriente colla canna da misurare, cinquecento canne di misura all'intorno.And he measured against the East winde with the reede of measure, fiue hundred reedes in reede of measure round about.Mensus est autem contra ventum orientalem calamo mensuræ, quingentos calamos in calamo mensuræ per circuitum. 17And he measured toward the north five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.E da settentrione misurò colla canna da misurare, canne cinquecento all'intorno.And he measured against the North winde fiue hundred reedes in reede of measure round about.Et mensus est contra ventum aquilonis quingentos calamos in calamo mensuræ per gyrum. 18And towards the south he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.E da mezzodì misurò colla canna da misurare, canne cinquecento all'intorno.And to the South wind he measured fiue hundred reedes, in reede of measure round about.Et ad ventum australem mensus est quingentos calamos in calamo mensuræ per circuitum. 19And toward the west he measured five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.E da occidente misurò colla canna da misurare, canne cinquecento all'intorno.And to the West wind he measured fiue hundred reedes, in reede of measure.Et ad ventum occidentalem mensus est quingentos calamos in calamo mensuræ. 20By the four winds he measured the wall thereof on every side round about, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits broad, making a separation between the sanctuary and the place of the people.Da' quattro venti misurò il suo muro da tutte parti all'intorno, cinquecento cubiti di lunghezza, e cinque cento cubiti di larghezza; il qual (muro) fa la separazione tral santuario, e il luogo profano.By the foure windes he measured the wal therof on euery side round about, the length and bredth of fiue hundred reedes, diuiding betwen the sanctuarie and the place of the common people.Per quatuor ventos mensus est murum ejus undique per circuitum, longitudinem quingentorum cubitorum, et latitudinem quingentorum cubitorum, dividentem inter sanctuarium et vulgi locum.
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Worthington
And. St. Jerome finding the Septuagint and others varying in the explanations, gives his own; yet adopts the saying of Socrates, "I know that I am ignorant:" for this also is a part of science. (Worthington)
Outward, with respect to the temple. It is styled inner court, with reference to that of the people.
Separate. Ezechiel 41:9.
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Triple, one over another, (ver. 6.) or on a level with the priests' court.
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One cubit, projecting out perhaps for seats, or for the pilasters.
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Above. The higher stories are not so lofty.
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Calmet
Fifty cubits. We only allow thirty, as this is not in Hebrew, etc. The text, ver. 10., and 12., seems incorrect. (Calmet)
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Holies. Hebrew, "who are very holy," and (Haydock) on duty. See Leviticus 6:25.
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Kennicott
Five. Hebrew emoth should be meoth, "three hundred, as it is printed (yet not in the Protestant version. Haydock) thrice just after, and as it is written here in Manuscript 4. Camb. 1. 2." (Kennicott)
Reeds. Septuagint, "cubits," as Hebrew, St. Jerome, etc., insinuate. The mountain was only five hundred paces square, even when it was enlarged in the time of Josephus. (Jewish Wars 6:14.; Greek)
Calmet
We must therefore read cubits. (Calmet)
Haydock
If we retain reeds, (Haydock) the wall will be twelve thousand cubits, (Menochius) which seems improbable. (Tournemine) See Ezechiel 45. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Cubits. This confirms the former correction, ver. 16. (Haydock)
Menochius
Hebrew has only, "of five hundred." Maldonat and Cornelius a Lapide would understand reeds, to agree with what goes before. (Menochius)
Haydock
Separation. Josephus mentions a wall three cubits high, on the pillars of which was written in Greek and Latin, that such as entered the temple must be pure, (Calmet) and no stranger. (Haydock)
Calmet
Into this court all might come. (Philo) (Calmet)
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S. Ierom finding the Hebrevv text and the 70. interpreters, and others to differ not only in vvordes but also in the sense, explicating as semed to him most probable auoucheth vvithal that saying of Socrates: Sci• quodnescio. I knovv, that I do not knovv anie thing perfectly. For it is a part of knovvlege (saith he) to knovv that thou art ignorant.
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1. AND HE LED ME OUT INTO THE OUTER COURT. — The prophet, from the inner court, where he had contemplated its dimensions and ornament, was led by the Angel into the outer, namely into its porticoes, and small courts, and a passage extending to the West, enclosed on this side and that with treasuries, that is, with exedrae. For he calls a treasury the row of all the treasuries. Thus Villalpandus. Others understand by the outer court the women's court: for this was outer, in respect to the men's court, which was inner. Others, as Maldonatus, think the men's court is called outer. But I have already said in chapter XL that the outer court is called the court or temple of the laity; the inner truly is that of the priests, because it was near the temple, namely the Holy Place.
OPPOSITE THE SEPARATE BUILDING. OPPOSITE THE SEPARATE BUILDING. — In Hebrew opposite הגזר haggizra, that is, opposite the separate: it signifies the temple, of which in the preceding chapter, verse 12. AND OPPOSITE THE BUILDING FACING TOWARD THE NORTH, — that is opposite the treasury, or rather the treasuries adhering to the temple on the side of the North.
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2. IN THE FACE OF THE LENGTH, ONE HUNDRED CUBITS OF THE NORTHERN DOOR: AND OF THE WIDTH FIFTY CUBITS, — that is to say, This portico had one hundred cubits of length, and 50 of width. 3. OPPOSITE THE TWENTY CUBITS OF THE INNER COURT, — that is, a castle, or square portico, of which the following part of this same verse speaks, from which access lay open both to the passage and to the aforesaid exedrae, it looked out on the other side upon a space of twenty cubits, which was between the vestibule and the court of the priests, and which surrounded the whole house on all sides. Otherwise Maldonatus and others explain this. For various men form various ideas of this structure for themselves.
AND AGAINST THE PAVEMENT LAID WITH STONE OF THE OUTER COURT, — that is, it looked out on the other side to a portico, which was in the northern court on the western side. Note: He calls the pavement laid with stone the lower porticoes; for these were indeed laid with living stone, so that neither the dust of summer nor the mud of winter would soil the footsteps of the priests, says St. Jerome. Who explaining this mystically adds: "Whence also the Lord, about to ascend to the Father, washes the feet of the Apostles, so that, with their footsteps cleansed and purified, they might ascend the kingdoms of heaven; and he commands the Apostles that into whatsoever city they shall have entered, and they shall not have received them, they shake off the dust of their feet, namely that they suffer nothing of earthly gifts to remain with them."
WHERE THERE WAS A PORTICO JOINED TO A TRIPLE PORTICO. UBI ERAT PORTICUS JUNCTA PORTICUI TRIPLICI. — It was a castle, or square portico, which was in the middle of porticoes, namely three, the Western, Northern and Southern. 4. WAYS OF ONE CUBIT, — with a space of one cubit: Hebrew; but the Roman and others read, looking to the interior, ways of one cubit. The sense is, as if to say, The middle passage was ten cubits wide on each side, but beyond on both sides it still had a space of ways of one cubit, or it still projected one cubit. Thus Villalpandus. 5. WHERE THERE WERE TREASURIES IN THE UPPER STORIES LOWER. — The exedrae, or upper chambers were lower than the lower ones. For these ought to be diminished from them; as a tree, says Vitruvius lib. cap. I, the higher it grows, the more slender it always becomes. Thus tropologically, the more exalted anyone becomes, the more humble he ought to become, so that with Paul he might say: "For I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle," I Cor. cap. XV, 9. Thus St. Jerome.
BECAUSE THEY SUPPORTED THE PORTICOES, WHICH STOOD OUT FROM THEM FROM THE LOWER, AND FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE BUILDING, — that is, because the southern columns, which the lowest porticoes themselves supported and upheld, stood out from them, or before the posts of the porticoes themselves, that is they rose more contracted than the lower posts, and the highest columns were raised even more slender than the southern ones: such as one can see in the Roman College of the Society of Jesus built by Gregory XIII, in which there is a wonderful symmetry of the upper peristyles with the lower ones. Thus Villalpandus. For the lower ones were as it were the foundations of the upper ones: and foundations are accustomed to be wider; but those which are built upon them are contracted upward.
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6. TRISTEGA ENIM ERANT, — that is, they were as it were three stories by means of a triple order of columns: or there were three floors, beamworks and columnations from a triple series of columns, one placed under another, subordinated and substructed. AND THEY HAD NOT COLUMNS, — namely the upper chambers. THEREFORE THEY STOOD OUT. — Hebrew: Therefore it was determined for the highest, before the lower and middle ones from the ground, as if to say, It was necessary that the upper chambers be lower than the lower ones, because their columns, or pillars were more contracted than the lower columns; and therefore just as something was taken away from the upper ones from the thickness of the lower columns, so it was necessary to take away something from the height in the second order, and third. Thus therefore these three orders of columns appear to be arranged, so that although the lower order of columns had no treasuries, but was wholly devoted to posts and columns, and was open to the air on all sides: nevertheless the upper orders, namely the middle and the highest, had their fronts furnished with columnations, with the greatest symmetry and beauty, and with that proportion which Vitruvius, lib. V, cap. I, requires, "that the upper columns be made a fourth part smaller than the lower ones." Moreover, these appear to have been the "three orders of polished stones," of which III Kings VI, 36, or, as the Chaldean translates, "three orders of good stone," that is, precious, namely from the whitest Parian marble, sawn, most polished and most closely fitted, says Pineda, lib. V On the Affairs of Solomon, cap. V.
FIFTY CUBITS. CUBITIS QUINQUAGINTA. — This is not in the Hebrew nor in the Septuagint, but added by Our author paraphrastically. 7. And the outer enclosure. — "Enclosure" is called a wall, or fence, as if to say, The eastern wall of this building was fifty cubits long, just as the treasuries themselves were fifty cubits long, although Maldonatus denies this.
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8. And the length before the face of the temple — He passes from the northern exedrae to the southern ones. He measures therefore the width of the inner court from the northern building to the opposite southern one, one hundred cubits.
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9. THESE TREASURIES — southern. 10. IN THE WIDTH OF THE ENCLOSURE OF THE COURT, WHICH WAS AGAINST THE EASTERN WAY IN THE FACE OF THE SEPARATE BUILDING, AND THERE WERE TREASURIES BEFORE THE BUILDING. — He speaks of the enclosure, or wall of three cubits, as Josephus asserts, which surrounded the court of the priests, and distinguished it from the court of the laity. But he speaks of the southern wall, as if to say, The width of this portico, and of the southern wall surrounding the court of the priests, whose sanctuary and gate I said looked toward the East, proceeded toward the West before the side of the separate building, that is the temple, on the right; and before that side of the building or southern temple, there were treasuries, just as on the northern side.
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11. AND THE WAY BEFORE THE FACE OF THEM ACCORDING TO THE LIKENESS OF THE TREASURIES, WHICH WERE IN THE WAY OF THE NORTH, — that is to say, The middle passage and the side recesses on the south were constructed in the same manner and with the same measurement as those on the north, which I described above. ACCORDING TO THE LENGTH OF THEM, SO ALSO THE BREADTH OF THEM. — Not that the breadth was equal to the length, but, that is to say, The length of this southern building was equal to the length of the other northern one; and the breadth of this was equal to the breadth of that. It is a Hebraism. Every entrance. — The Septuagint translates it as exit. Note: Entrance and exit in Hebrew is the same as form, arrangement, disposition, measurement. AND THEIR LIKENESSES, — namely of the treasuries, which he had first measured on the north. Then connect these with the following verse, that is to say, As their likenesses and as their doors, so were the doors of the treasuries which were in the way facing the south, that is, the southern ones were similar to those on the north.
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12. WHICH WAY WAS BEFORE THE SEPARATE VESTIBULE BY THE WAY TOWARD THE EAST FOR THOSE ENTERING. — For vestibule in Hebrew is גדר geder, that is, an enclosure or wall separating priests from laypeople, that is to say, This southern building had an ascent at its eastern front, and its steps led into the middle upper passage, which ran toward the west according to the length of the elegant enclosure, and separating the people from the clergy.
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13. BEFORE THE SEPARATE BUILDING — Thus he calls the temple, or the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, because it was separated from the courtyards: for in Hebrew it is gizra, as I have said many times already. 14. THEY DRAW NEAR TO THE LORD IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES, — that is, in the courtyard and the most holy temple; because namely they enter the Holy Place, and thus draw near to the Holy of Holies. THERE THEY SHALL LAY THE MOST HOLY THINGS, — that is, the most holy flesh offered to God, namely those portions which by the law of God are appointed to priests consecrated and sanctified to God.
But When They Have Entered WHEN THEY SHALL HAVE ENTERED, — that is to say, Priests into the Holy of Holies, that is, their most holy courtyard, namely into their treasuries, they shall eat the flesh offered to God, and thus they shall complete the sacrifice, and then in the same place they shall lay aside their sacred vestments and put on their common ones, with which they shall go out to the people in the outer courtyard of Israel. Note how much God wished priests to be separated from the people in place and in religious observance and to be honored!
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16. AND HE MEASURED ON THE SIDE OF THE EAST WIND. — He measures the outer wall of the court of Israel four times, through four sides, beginning from any side, and asserts that each side had in length five hundred reeds. Thus St. Jerome, Lyra, Maldonatus and others. Vilalpandus holds the contrary opinion, namely that the Angel here does not measure individual sides separately, but all of them, or the entire circuit together, and that four times; because from any side in turn he begins to measure it. He therefore thinks that the entire circuit of the wall was only five hundred reeds. The last verse favors this, where the whole seems to be concluded with five hundred reeds. Moreover, he himself breaks down these reeds into parts on page 380. But the plain text of the letter itself requires something else, which measures individual sides in order by parts. And why, I ask, would the same thing be measured four times? Thus interpreters everywhere. Moreover, this wall divided the Holy from the profane, as is said in the last verse. For it made a precinct around the temple, which was itself also sacred, just as now cemeteries, which are attached to temples, as Maldonatus says. BY A REED OF MEASURE, — that is by the greatest reed, which had six cubits, whereas the common one had only five cubits: therefore this reed was sacred. FIVE HUNDRED REEDS, — that is, each side of the square had three thousand cubits; therefore the entire wall, or the entire square, had in its circuit two thousand reeds, that is twelve thousand cubits. Thus Maldonatus. Wherefore it appears that here another wall (more external) is described from the wall which surrounded the court of Israel in the temple of Solomon. For that court was only five hundred cubits: but here the precinct is said to have been five hundred reeds, and that on each side. But the sacred reed (of which we are speaking here) contains six cubits. This same thing appears to be clear from the following chapter, verse 12, where, concluding the entire circuit of the temple and of this structure, he says: "This is the law of the house in the top of the mountain: all the border thereof round about shall be most holy;" for which from the Hebrew the Septuagint translate: "Thus is the description of the house in the top of the mountain, and all the borders thereof round about are most holy." But Vatablus more clearly: "The law of this house is this, the entire border of it shall be on the top of the mountain, and things placed round about on every side are most sacred." Therefore this outermost precinct embraced not only the top of the mountain, but also the surrounding areas through the four quarters of the world. In a similar manner, chapter XLV, 3, he assigns a far greater precinct and circuit to the temple. For it has the place of the priests circumscribed by twenty-five thousand reeds; and in it the temple is to be built. For he says: "And by this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and the holy of holies."
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20. BY THE FOUR WINDS, ETC., A LENGTH OF FIVE HUNDRED CUBITS. — Note: Here in the Hebrew there is not "cubits," but it is understood from the preceding passages and "reeds" must be repeated. Thus St. Jerome, Lyra, Maldonatus and others; whence the text of the Bibles in the Glossa ordinaria, and in some other codices, omits "cubits," and reads only "five hundred," supply, "reeds," which preceded. Therefore "cubits" seems to be omitted, or "reeds" to be corrected. For this verse is a kind of general summary and conclusion of the four preceding dimensions, comprehended in the four preceding verses. Otherwise Vilalpandus, who here torments himself so that I may understand him. For he wishes to defend the commonly received reading of "cubits," which both the Septuagint have, and therefore verses 15 to 19, he thinks describe one wall of 500 reeds, but in this last verse another of 500 cubits, which to one examining the text seems scarcely probable. Thus also Pineda, book V On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter V, thinks that here the outer court of the Gentiles is measured, not the inner court of Israel. But let us hear St. Jerome, ingenuously and candidly professing thus: "That which, he says, through simplicity of interpretation (while we pay little attention in the haste of dictation) both the Septuagint have and our translation: His wall round about by circuit a length of five hundred cubits, and a breadth of five hundred cubits, the Hebrew language does not contain; but simply, a length of five hundred, and a breadth of five hundred: so that "reeds" is to be understood: just as the fourth mentioned above, to the eastern wind, and to the north, and to the south, and to the sea five hundred reeds, the individual parts of which were measured by him who held the reed." What could be clearer? Then mystically St. Jerome refers the number fifty to the remission of all sins, namely to Pentecost. Symbolically therefore, the five-hundredth number signifies the perfection of rest, because it is made from the fiftieth multiplied ten times. But the fiftieth signifies rest, the tenth perfection. Hear St. Gregory, book I of the Morals, chapter IV, on that passage of Job I, "Job had five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses:" "In the fiftieth number, he says, which is fulfilled by seven weeks with a unit added, rest is designated, but by the tenth the highest perfection. Because therefore to the faithful the perfection of rest is promised, as it were the fiftieth multiplied ten times, one arrives at the five-hundredth." Furthermore, that the five-hundredth holds the sacrament of remission and indulgence, not only ancient Scripture teaches, but also Christ, who, in Luke VII, when he was teaching a parable of remission and indulgence, introduces debtors, one of 50, the other of 500 denarii.
BETWEEN THE SANCTUARY AND THE PLACE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. — That is, between the court of Israel, which was holy, as being the temple of the people, "and the place of the common people," that is of the Gentiles, which was profane, or, as Maldonatus says, "the place of the common people," that is the city, so that namely this wall would divide the holy place from the Gentiles, and from the city. It declares the use of the wall, namely that it surrounded the temple on all sides for this purpose, so that it might distinguish and separate the holy place from the profane. For whatever was within that wall was holy: whence also the temple is sometimes called thus, as when Christ is said to have cast out those buying and selling from the temple, John II, 15: for he himself was not in the temple, that is in the Holy of Holies, but in this outer precinct, namely the court, not of priests, but of laypeople. Thus Maldonatus.
Mystical Exposition of the Entire Structure of Ezechiel from Lyra. Lyranus, at the end of his Commentary on Ezechiel, notes that St. Gregory in the mystical exposition of this temple, which I reviewed in chapter XL, takes the same thing in various and different ways. For both through the mountain upon which the Prophet was led, he understands Christ, and through the man measuring the building, likewise through the gate, and many other things he understands the same Christ. For more fittingly, says Lyranus, the vision will be expounded if diverse things are understood through diverse parts and likenesses. Wherefore he himself, applying diverse things to diverse things individually, explains the whole of this structure described from chapter XL hitherto in this manner: "In the Church, he says, which is the congregation of the faithful, there is a twofold kingdom. One as to spiritual things, and this is designated through the building of the temple; another however as to temporal things, and this is designated through the division of the land and the building of the city around the end of the book; yet both kingdoms are from God. Therefore I say with Blessed Gregory, as to this, that through the mountain upon which the Prophet is said to be sent or placed above, in chapter XL, Christ is understood, of whom it is written in Daniel II: The stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth: which is expounded of Christ by Hebrew and Latin doctors. Upon this mountain the Church is founded, as He Himself says in Matthew XVI: Upon this rock I will build My Church, that is upon Me, and this as to the twofold governance of the Church aforesaid. And as is evident from the preceding, first the spiritual building must be treated, because the temple itself is first described in the preceding: concerning whose building a threefold wall is described, namely the outer, the middle and the inner. Through the outer wall however which surrounds all the buildings, divine protection or custody comprehending all things is understood; concerning which wall it is said in Isaiah XXVI: The city of our strength Sion, the Saviour shall be placed in it as a wall, etc. Through the middle wall however is understood angelic custody or protection, which is included under the divine, whence it is said in Psalm CXXIV: Mountains in the circuit of it, that is Angels, as the Augustinian Gloss says, who are in the circuit of the Church in the manner of a wall. Through the inner wall however, which is of lesser compass, is understood human custody or protection through the prelates of the Church and their ministers, which is of less efficacy than the Angelic. Concerning this wall however against evil prelates it is said above in XIII: You have not stood up as a wall for the house of the Lord. Within these walls there is an entrance from three parts, through which are understood three parts of the habitable earth, Asia, Africa and Europe, from which many have entered the Church through the reception of Faith and Sacraments, and are entering at present, and shall enter in the future. Concerning these three parts of the earth it is said in Jeremiah XXII: Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Concerning which three parts of the earth many have heard the word of the Apostles and other disciples of Christ with the effect of believing. From each however of the three parts aforesaid there are three gates in the three walls opposite to each other: through which are signified three degrees or states of those coming to the faith, namely of beginners, who are designated through the outer or first gate; of those making progress, who are signified through the middle or second; of the perfect, who are designated through the third or inner. Concerning these gates it is said in Psalm LXXXVI: The Lord loves the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob. Through the tabernacles of Jacob is understood the state or degree of the faithful in the time of the Mosaic law, through the gates of Sion the state or degree of the faithful in the time of the Evangelical law, which is called the law of love, but the old law the law of fear: for which reason the gates of Sion are well said to be preferred. In the outer gates however there are not great buildings, but certain small houses built upon them, as was said above: through which is designated that the state of beginners is still notably imperfect. In the middle gates however and in the inner ones there are beautiful buildings, to designate that those making progress and the perfect have greater perfection; the perfect already in act, those making progress in potency near to act, to which to designate to the middle gates there is an ascent through seven steps only, to the inner or third however there is an ascent through eight steps." Now each of the six gates has a vestibule, a portico, two fronts, and six chambers. By the vestibule preceding the portico is understood preventing grace, of which it is said in Psalm LVIII: His mercy shall prevent me. For the mercy of God and His grace are the same. By the portico indeed is understood subsequent grace, of which it is said in Psalm XXII: His mercy shall follow me. Or otherwise it can be said that by the vestibule and portico are designated good will and holy operation, concerning which Augustine says upon John: The will shall precede, the perfecting shall follow. By the two fronts, which are for the adornment and strength of the gates (for which reason they were made in the manner of two little towers on either side of each gate), is designated patience in adversities, which establishes man lest through impatience he be broken: and modesty in prosperity, which holds man lest through pride he be lifted up. Concerning these two little towers it is said in Psalm CXXI: Let peace be in thy strength, and abundance in thy towers; for through patience in adversities, and through modesty in prosperity is acquired and preserved abundance of all divine benefits in us. By the chambers indeed, in which men sleep and rest, is understood peace. Whence Psalm IV: In peace in the selfsame I will sleep and take my rest. Now there is a twofold peace, namely internal and fraternal; therefore the chambers are said to be on this side and that side on either part of the gate, and three on one side, because three things make internal peace. The first is a clean conscience, Ecclesiasticus XLIV: Men rich in virtue, having the study of beauty, making peace in their houses, that is in their own consciences. The second is friendship with God. Augustine, book of Confessions: Restless is my heart, O Lord, until it rests in Thee. And Psalm CXVIII: Great peace have they that love thy law, which is the law of divine love. The third is modest sufficiency, by which someone is content with what he has, and thus is at peace within himself; concerning which can be expounded what is said in Matthew V: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. For such children of God are in a certain way assimilated to God, who needs nothing outside Himself, but is most sufficient to Himself. Similarly on the other side of the gate are three chambers, because three things make fraternal peace. The first is true humility, which is so peaceful that it makes one dwell peacefully with its contrary: and this is special in this virtue; for the chaste does not dwell peacefully with the lustful, nor the just with the unjust: but the humble dwells peacefully with the proud, because just as the proud wishes to dominate, so the truly humble wishes to be subject, and thus each has what he seeks, and consequently rests. Therefore it is said in Psalm CXIX: With them that hated peace, I was peaceable, that is with the proud, of whom it is said in Proverbs XIII: among the proud there are always contentions. The second is just equity, without which no society can be peaceful, as is evident from the society of robbers, who are adversaries of justice: for unless they justly divided the spoils among themselves, discord would immediately arise among them; therefore it is said in Isaiah XXXII: And the work of justice shall be peace. The third is due taciturnity, which keeps the mouth closed, lest it burst forth into words sowing discord. Whence by opposition it is said in Ecclesiasticus XXVIII: The whisperer and the double-tongued is accursed, for he hath troubled many that were at peace. Concerning any one of the said chambers it can be said what is written in Deuteronomy XXXIII: The beloved of the Lord shall dwell confidently in him, as in a chamber shall he abide all day: for he who truly loves God dwells continually in the said chambers. After the exposition of the gates, one must proceed to the exposition of the treasuries, which above are described as being around the eastern pavement, and are said to be thirty, by which is designated the fulfillment of the ten commandments necessary in three times, namely in the time of the law of nature, and in the time of the Mosaic law, and in the time of the Evangelical law. Now the number ten multiplied by the number three produces thirty. And the treasuries are well called from gaza and phylace, which is to keep: for through the fulfillment of the ten commandments are preserved the riches of virtues. After the exposition of the treasuries follows the exposition of the tables, which were mentioned above as eight: by which are designated the four parts of the Old Testament, and four of the New, from which as from spiritual tables the whole Christian people is refreshed, according to what is said in Deuteronomy VIII: Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. That the Old Testament is divided into four parts, I have said more fully at the beginning of Genesis. For it is divided into legal books, historical books, prophetical books and sapiential books. And in like manner the New Testament is divided. For to the legal books correspond the Gospels, to the historical books the Acts of the Apostles, to the sapiential books the Epistles of Paul and the canonical Epistles, and to the prophetical books the Apocalypse. Of any one of the said tables it can be said what is written in Proverbs IX: Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn out seven pillars, she hath slain her victims, she hath mingled her wine, and set forth her table. For sacred Scripture is the table of wisdom. After the exposition of the tables follows the exposition of the inner court, in which according to the Hebrews four are placed, namely the altar of holocausts, the treasuries of the priests of the weekly course, and the treasuries of the singers likewise of the weekly course, and the passage of waters from the side of the altar. And because the building of the spiritual Church consists not only in morals and refreshment from the table of Holy Scripture, but also in the Sacraments; therefore by the altar of holocausts is understood the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which daily is immolated the Lamb who taketh away sins, whence Augustine says in the book of the Sentences of Prosper: Christ was immolated once in himself, and yet daily is immolated in the Sacrament, inasmuch as by this Sacrament we are made daily partakers of the fruit of the Lord's passion. Whence also in a certain Sunday secret prayer it is said: As often as the commemoration of this victim is celebrated, the work of our redemption is carried out. Of this altar it is said in Hebrews XIII: We have an altar, of which they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle, that is, those who observe the ceremonies of the old law. And because the Sacrament of the Eucharist is to be confected with divine praises, therefore near the altar, namely in the inner court, are placed the treasuries of the priests of the weekly course, and likewise of the singers: by which are designated the merits of those celebrating, and ministering to them. By the waters going forth from the temple and running across to the side of the altar is signified the Sacrament of baptism, of which it is said in Joel III: A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the torrent of thorns. These waters going forth from the temple are said to go forth: by which temple are signified two principal articles of our faith, namely the article of the holy Trinity, and the article of the Incarnation, as shall be said more fully hereafter: because baptism according to the common form of the Church is conferred in the name of the holy Trinity, according to what is said in Matthew, last chapter: Going therefore teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And because in the primitive Church it was conferred in the name of Christ, as is found in the Acts of the Apostles in many places, which is the name of the supposit, in which the divine and human nature are united. Of these two Sacraments the prophet Ezechiel speaks specially, because they are in a special manner Sacraments of the new law, inasmuch as Christ instituted them by himself, and used them in himself, and this is evident of the Sacrament of baptism in the four Gospels, as to both, namely the institution and the use; and likewise of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as to its institution. As to its use, it is not found expressly in the Gospels, but this the common But the portico is an entrance to other parts, and therefore through it is understood the article of the unity of the divine essence, and the article of its providence as regards the rewarding of good and the punishment of evil. For faith in these articles has always been necessary for salvation, and is first for the credibility of others; whence it is said in Hebrews XI: For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarder to them that seek Him. By the Holy of Holies is understood the article of the holy Trinity according to three mansions, one above another existing there. Although indeed there is not there superiority nor inferiority properly; yet the Son is from the Father and the Holy Spirit from both: and according to this Hilary says, that authority is in the Father, and sub-authority in the Son. By that part of the temple which is called the Holy Place is understood the article of the blessed Incarnation, by which both natures in the supposition of the Son are united, namely the divine nature, the rational soul, and the most pure flesh of Christ: which is signified by three mansions one above another existing. For the divine nature is superior to the soul, and the soul to the flesh. Concerning these two parts of the temple it can be taken what is said in the Apocalypse XXI: And I saw no temple in it, namely material; because according to that last mode of expounding, by the vision of Ezekiel is not understood any material building, but only spiritual; therefore it follows there: For the Lord God Almighty, three in persons, is the temple thereof, as regards the Holy of Holies; and the Lamb, that is, the incarnate Son, as regards that part of the temple which is called the Holy Place. Thus Lyra. Otherwise I have explained these things with Ribera in Exodus XXVI, at the beginning, namely that the court signifies penitents; whence in it was the laver of penance and the altar of holocausts on which victims are slain, that is, the senses and desires are mortified: the Holy Place signifies the just: the Holy of Holies the blessed, etc.; and this seems more apt. Lyra continues: "By the pillars moreover of the temple are signified miracles of cold, on account of which the northern building signifies the gift of filial fear: for fear is the cause of chilling and trembling, as is evident to the senses. It was said moreover above that in these two buildings is the dwelling of priests, because priests ought to be in continual fear, lest they offend God, and in the fervor of charity, that they may devoutly serve Him. Concerning these northern and southern buildings it can be taken what is written in the Canticle IV: Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow. For by the spirit of fear and charity flow the aromas of charisms in the garden of the Church militant. By the four moreover small courts can be understood the four cardinal virtues, concerning which courts it is said in Psalm LXXXIII: One day in thy courts is better than a thousand. For to dwell in the exercise of the cardinal virtues is the best thing. By the kitchens moreover or cooking places can be understood the devoted doctors of Holy Scripture who in their meditations cook the food of Holy Scripture so that others may be refreshed from it, according to that in Psalm XXXVIII: My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire shall flame out. These kitchens moreover are situated in the small courts, because the sacred doctors of the word ought first to be pre-exercised in the four cardinal virtues. For it is said in the first book of the Ethics, that he is not a fitting hearer of moral philosophy who is a follower of passions; and much less is he a fitting hearer of theology; and still much less a fitting teacher of it, on which account in the doctors of Holy Scripture is pre-required exercise in the moral virtues: whence the Philosopher says in the seventh book of the Physics, that by sitting the soul becomes knowing and prudent; because by calming the disturbances of passions, and resting from their impulses, which is done through the exercise of the moral virtues, the knowledge of the holy Scriptures is acquired."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.