Ezekiel

Ezekiel 40

49 verses · Major Prophets · Old Testament

1In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me there. 2In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was something like the frame of a city to the south. 3He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. 4The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

5Behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a hand width each. So he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.

6Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide; and the other threshold, one reed wide. 7Every lodge was one reed long and one reed wide. Between the lodges was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.

8He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed. 9Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.

10The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side. The three of them were of one measure. The posts had one measure on this side and on that side. 11He measured the width of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits; 12and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. 13He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits, door against door. 14He also made posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate. 15From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits. 16There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches. Windows were around inward. Palm trees were on each post.

17Then he brought me into the outer court. Behold, there were rooms and a pavement made for the court all around. Thirty rooms were on the pavement. 18The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement. 19Then he measured the width from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.

20He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces toward the north. 21The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side. Its posts and its arches were the same as the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. 22Its windows, its arches, and its palm trees were the same as the measure of the gate which faces toward the east. They went up to it by seven steps. Its arches were before them. 23There was a gate to the inner court facing the other gate, on the north and on the east. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate.

24He led me toward the south; and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its posts and its arches according to these measurements. 25There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. 26There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them. It had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts. 27There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate toward the south.

28Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate according to these measurements; 29with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. 30There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits wide. 31Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts. The ascent to it had eight steps.

32He brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured the gate according to these measurements; 33with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. 34Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps.

35He brought me to the north gate, and he measured it according to these measurements; 36its lodges, its posts, and its arches. There were windows in it all around. The length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. 37Its posts were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps.

38A room with its door was by the posts at the gates. They washed the burnt offering there. 39In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, on which to kill the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. 40On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables. 41Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate: eight tables, on which they killed the sacrifices. 42There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. They laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them. 43The hooks, a hand width long, were fastened within all around. The meat of the offering was on the tables.

44Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate. They faced toward the south. One at the side of the east gate faced toward the north. 45He said to me, “This room, which faces toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house. 46The room which faces toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to him.” 47He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits wide, square. The altar was before the house.

48Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side. The width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. 49The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it. There were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.


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What others are saying

5 commentators · 101 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17145

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–4

Here is, 1. The date of this vision. It was in the twenty-fifth year of Ezekiel's captivity (Eze 40:1), which some compute to be the thirty-third year of the first captivity, and is here said to be the fourteenth year after the city was smitten. See how…

v. 1–49

We have here a very short and ready way taken for the dividing of the land among the twelve tribes, not so tedious and so far about as the way that was taken in Joshua's time; for in the distribution of spiritual and heavenly blessings there is not that…

v. 5–26

The measuring-reed which was in the hand of the surveyor-general was mentioned before, Eze 40:3. Here we are told (Eze 40:5) what was the exact length of it, which must be observed, because the house was measured by it. It was six cubits long, reckoning, not…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176347

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

In the five and twentieth year of our captivity,.... That is, from Jeconiah's captivity, from whence this prophet begins his dates: he calls it our captivity, because he himself was then carried captive; and this was twenty years after his first vision; see…

v. 2

In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel,.... Or by the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum again; that is, being under the impressions of the Spirit of God, it appeared to him, in a visionary way, as if he was really brought out of Chaldea…

v. 3

And he brought me thither,.... Being brought into the land of Israel in vision, and to a high mountain in it, by which were as the frame of a city; he was from thence brought to the city or temple itself, which looked like one: and, behold, a note of…

Adam ClarkeMethodist / Wesleyan-Arminian · 1810–182618

The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.

Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.

v. 1

In the five and twentieth year of our captivity - According to the date here given, this prophecy was delivered on Tuesday, April 20, A.M. 3430, in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity of Jeconiah, and fourteen years after the taking of Jerusalem. The…

v. 2

Set me upon a very high mountain - Mount Moriah, the mount on which Solomon's temple was built, Ch2 3:1.

v. 3

A man, whose appearance was like - brass - Like bright polished brass, which strongly reflected the rays of light. Probably he had what we would term a nimbus or glory round his head. This was either an angel; or, as some think, a personal appearance of our…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–18758

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1–4

Introduction Eze 40:1. In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten, on this same day the hand of Jehovah came upon me, and He brought me thither…

v. 5

The Surrounding Wall And, behold, a wall (ran) on the outside round the house; and in the man's hand was the measuring rod of six cubits, each a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the breadth of the building a rod, and the height a rod. - The…

v. 6–16

The Buildings of the East Gate (See Plate II 1). - Eze 40:6. And he went to the gate, the direction of which was toward the east, and ascended the steps thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate one rod broad, namely, the first threshold one rod broad…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187123

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

visions of God--divinely sent visions. very high mountain--Moriah, very high, as compared with the plains of Babylon, still more so as to its moral elevation (Eze 17:22; Eze 20:40). by which--Ezekiel coming from the north is set down at (as the Hebrew for…

v. 3–4

man--The Old Testament manifestations of heavenly beings as men prepared men's minds for the coming incarnation. brass--resplendent. line--used for longer measurements (Zac 2:1). reed--used in measuring houses (Rev 21:15). It marked the straightness of the…

v. 5

Measures were mostly taken from the human body. The greater cubit, the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, a little more than two feet: exceeding the ordinary cubit (from the elbow to the wrist) by an hand-breadth, that is, twenty-one…

World English Bible — Public domain