Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices.

EZEKIEL 40:41KJV
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Ezekiel 40:41 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 40:41 mean?

Ezekiel 40:41 describes a place set aside for preparing animal sacrifices in the temple Ezekiel sees in a vision. The tables show that the gateway area has a practical role: animals are killed there as part of the temple’s sacrificial work.

Ezekiel describes the tables in a balanced arrangement, with four on each side of the gate. After the preceding description of their positions, this verse gives their total and identifies their purpose.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 40:41

  • “side” — כָּתֵף (katēf): This word can mean “shoulder” as well as “side.” Here it helps picture the tables along the sides of the gateway.
  • “slew” — שָׁחַט (shaḥat): This word means to slaughter. It identifies the tables with the killing of the animals, rather than merely with holding offerings.

Why Ezekiel 40:41 matters

  • The tables belong to a working area, not just a decorative plan. The phrase “whereupon they slew their sacrifices” connects the furnishings to a specific task.
  • The offerings in view include several kinds of animal sacrifice. Ezekiel 40:39 names burnt offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings near these tables.
  • The gateway is part of a larger arrangement for handling sacrifices. Ezekiel 40:42 goes on to mention stone tables and implements used for the work.

Where else these words appear

“side” Hebrew H3802 · used in 58 verses

  • Exodus 27:14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
  • Joshua 18:13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron.
  • Isaiah 46:7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

“tables” Hebrew H7979 · used in 62 verses

  • Exodus 25:23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
  • 1 Samuel 20:29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table.
  • Nehemiah 5:17 Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.

“slew” Hebrew H7819 · used in 70 verses

  • Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
  • Leviticus 9:8 Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
  • 2 Kings 10:7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.

“eight” Hebrew H8083 · used in 105 verses

  • Genesis 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
  • 1 Kings 7:10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
  • 2 Chronicles 34:8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.