Reference: Arch
Easton
an architectural term found only in Eze 40:16,21-22,26,29. There is no absolute proof that the Israelites employed arches in their buildings. The arch was employed in the building of the pyramids of Egypt. The oldest existing arch is at Thebes, and bears the date B.C. 1350. There are also still found the remains of an arch, known as Robinson's Arch, of the bridge connecting Zion and Moriah. (See Tyropoeon Valley.)
Illustration: Robinson's Arch
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Hastings
It is usually stated that the Hebrews were unacquainted with the architectural principle of the arch, but in view of the extreme antiquity of the arch in Babylonian mason work, as e.g. at Nippur, of the discovery of early arches by recent explorers, and of the vaulted roofs of later Jewish tombs, this view is now seen to be erroneous, although the arch is not mentioned in Scripture. The word 'arch' does, indeed, occur in the English Version of Eze 40:16 ff., but this is a mistake for 'porch,' 'porches.' See Temple.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Morish
The word elam occurs only in Eze 40:21-36, and in the A.V. is translated 'arch;' but this is judged not to be its meaning, though it is not at all certain as to what it really refers. In the margin it reads, 'galleries' or 'porches,' elsewhere 'vestibule,' and again 'projection.'