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Texts -- Ezekiel 40:1-46 (NET)

Context
Vision of the New Temple
40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile , at the beginning of the year , on the tenth day of the month , in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down , on this very day , the hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there . 40:2 By means of divine visions he brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain , and on it was a structure like a city , to the south . 40:3 When he brought me there , I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze , with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand . He was standing in the gateway . 40:4 The man said to me, “Son of man , watch closely , listen carefully , and pay attention to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. Tell the house of Israel everything you see .” 40:5 I saw a wall all around the outside of the temple . In the man’s hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet long . He measured the thickness of the wall as 10½ feet , and its height as 10½ feet . 40:6 Then he went to the gate facing east . He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate as 10½ feet deep . 40:7 The alcoves were 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide ; between the alcoves were 8¾ feet . The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was 10½ feet . 40:8 Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward as 10½ feet . 40:9 He measured the porch of the gate as 14 feet , and its jambs as 3½ feet ; the porch of the gate faced inward . 40:10 There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate ; the three had the same measurement , and the jambs on either side had the same measurement . 40:11 He measured the width of the entrance of the gateway as 17½ feet , and the length of the gateway as 22¾ feet . 40:12 There was a barrier in front of the alcoves , 1¾ feet on either side ; the alcoves were 10½ feet on either side . 40:13 He measured the gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the other, a width of 43¾ feet from one entrance to the opposite one . 40:14 He measured the porch at 105 feet high; the gateway went all around to the jamb of the courtyard . 40:15 From the front of the entrance gate to the porch of the inner gate was 87½ feet . 40:16 There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around , and likewise for the porches . There were windows all around the inside , and on each jamb were decorative palm trees . 40:17 Then he brought me to the outer court . I saw chambers there, and a pavement made for the court all around ; thirty chambers faced the pavement . 40:18 The pavement was beside the gates , corresponding to the length of the gates ; this was the lower pavement . 40:19 Then he measured the width from before the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court as 175 feet on the east and on the north . 40:20 He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces north . 40:21 Its alcoves , three on each side , and its jambs and porches had the same measurement as the first gate ; 87½ feet long and 43¾ feet wide . 40:22 Its windows , its porches , and its decorative palm trees had the same measurement as the gate which faced east . Seven steps led up to it, and its porch was in front of them. 40:23 Opposite the gate on the north and the east was a gate of the inner court ; he measured the distance from gate to gate at 175 feet . 40:24 Then he led me toward the south . I saw a gate on the south . He measured its jambs and its porches ; they had the same dimensions as the others . 40:25 There were windows all around it and its porches , like the windows of the others ; 87½ feet long and 43¾ feet wide . 40:26 There were seven steps going up to it; its porches were in front of them. It had decorative palm trees on its jambs , one on either side . 40:27 The inner court had a gate toward the south ; he measured it from gate to gate toward the south as 175 feet . 40:28 Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate . He measured the south gate ; it had the same dimensions as the others . 40:29 Its alcoves , its jambs , and its porches had the same dimensions as the others , and there were windows all around it and its porches ; its length was 87½ feet and its width 43¾ feet . 40:30 There were porches all around , 43¾ feet long and 8¾ feet wide . 40:31 Its porches faced the outer court , and decorative palm trees were on its jambs , and its stairway had eight steps . 40:32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side . He measured the gate ; it had the same dimensions as the others . 40:33 Its alcoves , its jambs , and its porches had the same dimensions as the others , and there were windows all around it and its porches ; its length was 87½ feet and its width 43¾ feet . 40:34 Its porches faced the outer court , it had decorative palm trees on its jambs , and its stairway had eight steps . 40:35 Then he brought me to the north gate , and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others – 40:36 its alcoves , its jambs , and its porches . It had windows all around it; its length was 87½ feet and its width 43¾ feet . 40:37 Its jambs faced the outer court , and it had decorative palm trees on its jambs , on either side , and its stairway had eight steps . 40:38 There was a chamber with its door by the porch of the gate ; there they washed the burnt offering . 40:39 In the porch of the gate were two tables on either side on which to slaughter the burnt offering , the sin offering , and the guilt offering . 40:40 On the outside of the porch as one goes up at the entrance of the north gate were two tables , and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables . 40:41 Four tables were on each side of the gate , eight tables on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered . 40:42 The four tables for the burnt offering were of carved stone , 32 inches long , 32 inches wide , and 21 inches high . They would put the instruments which they used to slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them. 40:43 There were hooks three inches long , fastened in the house all around , and on the tables was the flesh of the offering . 40:44 On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court , one at the side of the north gate facing south , and the other at the side of the south gate facing north . 40:45 He said to me, “This chamber which faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple , 40:46 and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar . These are the descendants of Zadok , from the descendants of Levi , who may approach the Lord to minister to him.”

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS

    [isbe] DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS - This phrase occurs only in Hag 2:7 (King James Version, the English Revised Version "desirable things," the American Revised Version, margin "things desired"), and is commonly applied to the Messiah. ...

  • PRIEST, HIGH

    [isbe] PRIEST, HIGH - (ha-kohen, ho hiereus; ha-kohen ha-mashiach, ho hiereus ho christos; ha-kohen ha-gadhol, ho hiereus ho megas; kohen ha-ro'sh, ho hiereus hegoumenos; New Testament archiereus): I. INSTITUTION OF THE HIGH-PRIEST...

  • Ezekiel

    [nave] EZEKIEL, a priest. Time of his prophecy, Ezek. 1:1-3. Persecution of, Ezek. 3:25. Visions of: of God's glory, Ezek. 1; 8; 10; 11:22; of Jews' abominations, Ezek. 8:5, 6; of their punishment, Ezek. 9:10; of the valley of dry...

  • EZEKIEL, 1

    [isbe] EZEKIEL, 1 - e-ze'-ki-el: I. THE PROPHET AND HIS BOOK 1. The Person of Ezekiel Name, Captivity and Trials 2. The Book (1) Its Genuineness (2) Its Structure (3) Relation to Jeremiah (4) Fate of the Book and Its Place in the C...

  • LEVITICUS, 2

    [isbe] LEVITICUS, 2 - III. Origin. 1. Against the Wellhausen Hypothesis: As in the article ATONEMENT, DAY OF, sec. I, 2, (2), we took a stand against the modern attempts at splitting up the text, and in III, 1 against theory of the...

  • EZEKIEL, 2

    [isbe] EZEKIEL, 2 - II. Significance of Ezekiel in Israel's Religious History. Under the first head we will consider the formal characteristics and significance of the book; and the examination of its contents will form the subject...

  • Temple

    [nave] TEMPLE. Solomon's Called also Temple of the Lord, 2 Kin. 11:10; Holy Temple, Psa. 79:1; Holy House, 1 Chr. 29:3; House of God, 1 Chr. 29:2; 2 Chr. 23:9; House of the Lord, 2 Chr. 23:5, 12; Jer. 28:5; Father's House, John 2...

  • CRITICISM

    [isbe] CRITICISM - (The Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis) I. PRELIMINARY 1. Thesis 2. Historical Perspective 3. Inspiration and Criticism II. THE LEGISLATION 1. Groups 2. Covenant Code 3. The Sanctuary 4. Kinds of Sacrifice 5. Sacrifice ...

  • Vision

    [nave] VISION, a mode of revelation, Num. 12:6; 1 Sam. 3:1; 2 Chr. 26:5; Psa. 89:19; Prov. 29:18; Jer. 14:14; 23:16; Dan. 1:17; Hos. 12:10; Joel 2:28; Obad. 1; Hab. 2:2; Acts 2:17. Of Abraham, concerning his descendants, Gen. 15:1-...

  • ATONEMENT, DAY OF

    [isbe] ATONEMENT, DAY OF - a-ton'-ment: I. THE LEGAL ENACTMENTS 1. Named 2. Leviticus 16 (1) Contents, Structure and Position (a) Leviticus 16:1-10 (b) Leviticus 16:11-24 (c) Leviticus 16:25-28 (d) Leviticus 16:29-34 Use of Number ...

  • ARCHITECTURE

    [isbe] ARCHITECTURE - ar'-ki-tek-tur: I. GENERAL HISTORY 1. Plans, Estimates and Measuring 2. Old Testament References II. TEMPLE AND PALACE OF SOLOMON 1. Construction and Materials 2. Style 3. Facts 4. Phoenician Designers III. CO...

  • TEMPLE, A2

    [isbe] TEMPLE, A2 - II. EZEKIEL'S PROPHETIC SKETCH I. Introductory. 1. Relation to History of Temple: Wellhausen has said that Ezekiel 40 through 48 "are the most important in his book, and have been, not incorrectly, called the ke...

  • Window

    [nave] WINDOW, Gen. 6:16; 26:8; Josh. 2:15, 21; 1 Kin. 6:4; Ezek. 40:16-36; Acts 20:9.

  • Reed

    [isbe] REED - red: (1) achu, translated "reed-grass" (Gen 41:2,18; Job 8:11 margin). See FLAG. (2) 'ebheh, translated "swift," margin "reed" (Job 9:26). The "ships of reed" are the light skiffs made of plaited reeds used on the Nil...
    [nave] REED A water plant, Isa. 19:6, 7; 35:7; Jer. 51:32. Used as a measuring device of six cubits, Ezek. 40:3-8; 41:8; 42:16-19; 45:1; Rev. 11:1; 21:15, 16. Mockingly given to Jesus as a symbol of royalty, Matt. 27:29. Jesus s...

  • ARCH

    [ebd] an architectural term found only in Ezek. 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 e...
    [isbe] ARCH - arch ('ayil; Septuagint ta ailam, in sense of "posts" or "colonnade"): Referred to repeatedly in Ezek 40:16 ff, but translation is an error for "porch" or "portico." the Revised Version (British and American) gives in...

  • WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

    [isbe] WEIGHTS AND MEASURES - wats me'-zhur : The system of weights and measures in use among the Hebrews was derived from Babylonia and Egypt, especially from the former. The influence of these countries upon Palestine has long be...
    [smith] A. WEIGHTS. --The general principle of the present inquiry is to give the evidence of the monuments the preference on all doubtful points. All ancient Greek systems of weight were derived, either directly or indirectly, from ...

  • GUARD

    [isbe] GUARD - gard: (1) sar ha-Tabbachim, "captain of the guard," literally, "slaughterers" (Gen 37:36; 39:1; 40:3,1; 41:10,12); rabh Tabbachim (2 Ki 25:8,11,20; Jer 39:9, etc.); rabh tabbachayyah (Dan 2:14); ratsim, "guard," the ...

  • Handbreadth

    [isbe] HANDBREADTH - hand'-bredth (Tephach, Tophach, 1 Ki 7:26; 2 Ch 4:5; Ps 39:5; Ex 25:25; 37:12; Ezek 40:5,43; 43:13): A Hebrew linear measure containing 4 fingers, or digits, and equal to about 3 inches. See WEIGHTS AND MEASURE...
    [nave] HANDBREADTH, a measure, about four inches, Ex. 25:25; 1 Kin. 7:26; 2 Chr. 4:5; Psa. 39:5; Isa. 48:13; Ezek. 40:5, 43; Jer. 52:21. See: Span; Fingerbreadth.

  • ASCENT

    [isbe] ASCENT - a-sent': (1) The rendering in the King James Version twice, the Revised Version (British and American) 14 times correctly, of Hebrew ma`aleh, "ascent," "pass," as a geographical term (the King James Version Nu 34:4;...

  • Measure

    [nave] MEASURE The following modern equivalents of ancient measurements are based upon the latest researches, and are probably as nearly correct as is possible at this time: Dry 1. Bushel, about a peck, Matt. 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luk...
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Arts

Questions

  • According to the directions in Genesis 6:15, the Ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad and 30 cubits high. Bible students have been greatly puzzled over the length of the cubit, which seems to have varied greatly in ancien...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 2:1a The presence of another superscription to the following prophecies (cf. 1:1), the only other one in Isaiah, bears witness to the composite nature of the book; it consists of several different prophecies. Probably one app...
  • Light would dawn on Israel, and as a result the Gentiles would seek her out.60:1 God had called Israel to be a light to the nations (43:10), but presently she was darkness (56:9-57:13; 59:1-15a). The Lord had promised that He...
  • 31:38-39 In the future, Jerusalem would undergo rebuilding for the Lord. It would be built larger than it had been before its destruction by the Babylonians. The tower of Hananel was at the northeast corner of the city (Neh. ...
  • Ezekiel ministered to the Jews in exile. He probably wrote this book for the benefit of the exiles and the other Jewish communities of his day and beyond his day. In some of his visions (e.g. chs. 8 and 11) the Lord carried t...
  • There are two major structural peculiarities that set Ezekiel off as distinctive.First, the book is a collection of prophecies arranged in almost consistent chronological order. No other prophetical book is as consistently ch...
  • Ezekiel contains a combination of several types of literature. These include proverbs, visions, parables, symbolic acts, allegories, rhetorical questions, dreams, drama, funeral dirges, history, and apocalyptic revelations."T...
  • Ezekiel began prophesying when he was 30 years old, and he had gone into captivity five years before that. Thus Ezekiel was familiar with Jeremiah's preaching and ministry. Ezekiel shows quite a bit of similarity to Jeremiah ...
  • I. Ezekiel's calling and commission chs. 1-3A. The vision of God's glory ch. 11. The setting of the vision 1:1-32. The vision proper 1:4-28B. The Lord's charge to Ezekiel chs. 2-31. The recipients of Ezekiel's ministry 2:1-52...
  • "The setting of the Mesopotamian dream-visions--which occurred in both the Assyrian period and the Babylonian period . . . --consisted of four elements: (1) the date, (2) the place of reception, (3) the recipient, and (4) the...
  • 20:39 For now the Israelites to whom Ezekiel spoke could continue to practice idolatry, not with the Lord's blessing of course, but in the future they would listen to and obey the Lord. Then they would make His name common no...
  • 24:25-26 Evidently Ezekiel was not to deliver any more prophetic messages to his fellow exiles after he made the explanation in verses 20-24 until he received word of the destruction of the temple and the capture of the remai...
  • It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
  • "This last major division of the book focuses on the restoration of Israel's blessing. Israel would be judged for her sin (chaps. 1-24) as would the surrounding nations (chaps. 25-32). But Israel will not remain under judgmen...
  • Since this message is undated, it may have come to Ezekiel about the same time as the previous two in chapter 32, namely, in the last month of 585 B.C. If so, Ezekiel received it about two months after God gave him the six me...
  • "The themes of regathering as sheep and of covenant merge in Ezekiel 34:25-31. The Lord promises to make a covenant of peace with His regathered sheep."44434:25 The Lord also promised to make a covenant of peace (i.e., result...
  • This well-known apocalyptic vision of the valley of dry bones pictures the manner in which Yahweh would restore His people.473This may be the best known section of the Book of Ezekiel."Few other passages have suffered more fr...
  • 37:15-17 The Lord also commanded Ezekiel to take two sticks (cf. Zech. 11:7-14). He was to write on one of them "For Judah and for the sons of Israel, Judah's companions."He was to write on the other stick "For Joseph and for...
  • This is the sixth and last message that Ezekiel received from the Lord the night before the refugees reached the exiles with the message that Jerusalem had fallen (cf. 33:21-22). It too deals with God's plans for Israel in th...
  • The Book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of God's glory (ch. 1), records the departure of God's glory (chs. 8-11), and ends with another vision of God's glory (chs. 40-48). This is the longest vision outside the Book of Revel...
  • 40:1 Ezekiel dated the vision that comprises the final portion of the book as coming to him in 573 B.C., more than 12 years after his immediately preceding messages (cf. 33:21-22).512He located it in time using two points of ...
  • The amount of detail devoted to the descriptions of the gate complexes, both outer and inner, emphasizes that access into the temple will be strictly controlled.40:6 Ezekiel's guide next measured the gate of the city that fac...
  • 40:17-19 The passageway in the eastern gate complex led into a courtyard. This was the outer court that contained an inner court within it. Around the perimeter of this outer court were 30 rooms. It is not clear if they were ...
  • 40:28-31 Ezekiel discovered that the south inner gate complex was the same as the outer gate complexes. All the vestibules of the three gate complexes totaled 25 cubits across and each of them was five cubits deep (rather tha...
  • 40:38-41 Ezekiel also saw a room outside each of the three inner gate complexes close to its doorway. There priests would rinse animals brought as burnt offerings.519Within each inner gate complex, in the vestibules, there we...
  • 41:1-2 Beyond the vestibule was the nave, the holy place. It had a doorway 6 cubits deep and 10 cubits wide. The projecting wall on either side of this entrance, which also formed part of the wall of the vestibule and the hol...
  • Some scholars view this section as the central one in chapters 40-48.536The altar was at the very center of the whole temple complex, and it was the centerpiece of the system of worship represented in the new temple complex.4...
  • 43:18 The Lord told Ezekiel what to do when the construction of the altar was complete.538The purpose of this altar was to receive the burnt offerings that people would bring to the Lord and to receive the blood of those anim...
  • 44:1-2 Ezekiel's guide next took him back to the east outer gate (cf. 40:6-16). The gate itself, on the east side of the gate complex, was shut and was to remain shut. The Lord told the prophet that this gate was shut because...
  • The emphasis on the holiness of God that has marked this vision continues strong in this pericope and the next. God's holiness will determine who serves as priests and how they serve.44:4 The guide proceeded to take Ezekiel t...
  • 44:15-16 The Levites from Zadok's branch of the priestly family, however, would have special privileges since Zadok and his sons had served the Lord faithfully in the past (cf. 40:46; 1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 8:17; 15:24-29; 1 Kin...
  • 46:1 The Lord specified that the gate in the inner east gate complex should be open only on sabbath days and on the new moon days (i.e., the first of each month). All other days it was to remain closed. An exception to this r...
  • 46:19-20 The Lord, or Ezekiel's guide, then took him into the structure that housed the priests' rooms that were beside the south inner gate complex that faced north (cf. 40:44, 46). This was evidently one of the two three-st...
  • God promised Abraham that He would give a particular piece of real estate to his descendants (Gen. 12:7). Later He reiterated this promise and became more specific about its boundaries (Gen. 15:7, 18-21; 17:8; Num. 34:1-12). ...
  • 47:1 Ezekiel's guide, who appears to have been his original guide in this vision (v. 3), brought him back to the main entrance to the temple proper. Ezekiel saw water flowing to the east from under the temple threshold.565It ...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. Exile and Restoration. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968.Alexander, Ralph H. Ezekiel. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976._____. "Ezekiel."In Isaiah-Ezekiel. Vol. 6 of The Expo...
  • Daniel is a book of prophecy."Among the great prophetic books of Scripture, none provides a more comprehensive and chronological prophetic view of the broad movement of history than the book of Daniel. Of the three prophetic ...
  • 8:2 Evidently Daniel was in Babylon when he had this vision, but what he saw, including himself, was in Susa (Shushan, AV; cf. Ezek. 8:3; 40:1).293Daniel probably knew where he was in his vision because he had visited Susa. I...
  • 9:1 In the final vision that Amos recorded, he saw Yahweh standing beside an altar. The altar at Bethel is probably in view since Bethel was the worship site in view in most of this book and since Amos' encounter with Amaziah...
  • 4:1 Reference to "the last days"often points to the eschatological future in the Prophets, and it does here (e.g., Deut. 4:30; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5). This phrase usually refers to the Tribulation and or the...
  • 1:1 Yahweh sent a message to Zerubbabel and Joshua through the prophet Haggai, though it went to all the Israelites too (vv. 2, 4). Zerubbabel was the political governor (overseer) of the Persian province of Judah who had led...
  • 2:1-2 In the next scene of his vision, Zechariah saw a man (i.e., an angel who looked like a man) with a measuring line in his hand (cf. 1:11; 6:12; Ezek. 40:2-3). When the prophet asked him where he was going, he replied tha...
  • The visions ended and Zechariah awoke from his dream-like state. What follows is a symbolic act that took place in Jerusalem at the Lord's command."The position of this actual ceremony after the eight visions is significant. ...
  • 14:16 The remaining former enemies of Israel who would not die would bow to the sovereignty of Yahweh (cf. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-4; 45:21-24; 60:4-14; Ezek. 40-48; Phil. 2:10). They would be expected to make annual pilgrimages to...
  • That another oracle is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Verse 17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in 3:1-6. The Israelites' cha...
  • There was an even more serious dimension to this problem. The Corinthians were sinning against the Lord as well as one another.11:23 What Paul taught here came ultimately from the Lord Jesus Himself. This reminder stresses th...
  • Adams, Jay. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980.Andrews, J. N. "May Women Speak in Meeting?"Review and Herald. January 2, 1879. Reprinted in Advent...
  • 11:1 "And"(Gr. kai) ties this chapter closely to the previous one. John's first prophetic assignment after receiving his fresh commission was to provide this information.Again John became an active participant in his vision (...
  • The next scenes in John's visions proved to be of conditions that will exist after the Millennium. He recorded this insight to reveal the final home of believers. There are many allusions to Isaiah 60 and 65 and Ezekiel 40-48...
  • 21:9 One of the angels with the seven bowls of judgment served as John's guide in this part of his vision (cf. 17:1). The fact that one of these particular angels helped John understand both the mystery of Babylon and that of...
  • 21:11 This city obviously appeared extremely impressive to John. The first and most important characteristic that John noted was its radiant glow. It shone with the splendor of God Himself because He was in it (cf. Exod. 40:3...
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