For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits.

EZEKIEL 42:8KJV
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Ezekiel 42:8 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 42:8 mean?

Ezekiel 42:8 describes the measurements of rooms in a temple that Ezekiel sees in a vision. The verse places the rooms in the outer court and gives their length as fifty cubits, while mentioning a hundred-cubit measurement in front of the temple.

The KJV’s “utter court” means the outer courtyard. A cubit was a measure based roughly on the length of a forearm. The two measurements help the reader picture the scale and layout of the buildings.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 42:8

  • “chambers” — לִשְׁכּוֹת (lishkot): The word means rooms or chambers. These were spaces within the temple grounds, distinct from the temple building itself.
  • “temple” — הֵיכָל (hekhal): The word can mean a palace or a temple building. Here it points to the main temple structure, rather than the whole area enclosed by its courts.

Why Ezekiel 42:8 matters

  • The verse helps locate the rooms within a larger plan. The phrase “in the utter court” places them in the outer courtyard, while “before the temple” relates the other measurement to the temple building.
  • The rooms had a particular purpose. Ezekiel 42:13 identifies the chambers as places where priests were to eat and keep holy offerings.

Where else these words appear

“utter” Hebrew H2435 · used in 24 verses

  • 1 Kings 6:29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
  • Ezekiel 10:5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
  • Ezekiel 42:3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.

“chambers” Hebrew H3957 · used in 41 verses

  • 1 Samuel 9:22 And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons.
  • Nehemiah 13:5 And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.
  • Ezekiel 40:46 And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto him.

“temple” Hebrew H1964 · used in 76 verses

  • 1 Samuel 1:9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.
  • Nehemiah 6:10 Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.
  • Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

“length” Hebrew H753 · used in 90 verses

  • Genesis 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
  • 1 Kings 6:3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
  • Ezekiel 40:33 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.