Ezekiel 43:12 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The whole limit—shall be most holy— "From the beginning of its declivity to the very top, in all the circumference of the temple, there shall no more be erected any building; no burial shall be performed there, nor any garden or other thing made, which is applicable to the common use of men. It shall be entirely holy, sacred, separate from all other employment, but that of the worship of the Lord." We find in Josephus, Antiq. lib. 15: cap. 14 that this was very ill observed in future time. The Asmonaean princes built up close to the north side a tower, which became very famous toward the latter end of the Jewish republic, under the name of the Antonian tower. On the west side there were four gates, one of which led to the royal palace; though elsewhere he describes the mountain of the temple as surrounded with very high walls, from the foot to the summit, except on the east side. The Jews tell us, that so profound a veneration was paid not only to the inclosure of the temple, but also to the whole extent of the mountain where it was built, that no one was permitted to walk there with a staff in his hand, or shoes on his feet, or his feet soiled with dust. They never carried money there, bound in their girdles or handkerchiefs; nor ever spat upon the ground or pavement; never passed from one gate to another, in order to shorten the way; but whatever gate they entered, they were to walk gravely and composedly on, straight to the place they were to go to. The excommunicated, and those who were in mourning, never ascended the mountain in the ordinary way, but obliquely, the left side foremost: the priests, Levites, and all the Israelites in general, who retired from the presence of the temple, never turned their back upon it; but with their head and body inclined to one side, left it respectfully, walking backward, till they were entirely got from it. These rabbinical observations are the more suspicious, as the law enjoins nothing of the kind; and we read nothing either in the Old or New Testament, or in Josephus's History, which gives us any idea of these ceremonies; some indeed of which appear childish and ridiculous. The only prohibition hereafter given is, not to quit the temple by the same gate by which it was entered. See chap. Ezekiel 46:9.