Text -- Ezekiel 40:1-18 (NET)

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.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Eze 40:1

¹ sn That is, Jerusalem.

² tn April 19, 573 b.c.

³ tn Or “power.”

sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).

⁴ sn That is, to the land of Israel (see v. 2).

NET Notes: Eze 40:2

¹ tn The expression introduces the three major visions of Ezekiel (1:1; 8:3; 40:2).

² tn The reference to a very high mountain is harmonious with Isa 2:2.

NET Notes: Eze 40:3

¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

NET Notes: Eze 40:4

¹ tn Heb “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your mind on.”

² tn Heb “in order to show (it) to you.”

NET Notes: Eze 40:5

¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “a measuring stick of six cubits, [each] a cubit and a handbreadth.” The measuring units here and in the remainder of this section are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Therefore the measuring stick in the man’s hand was 10.5 feet (3.15 meters) long. Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard feet and inches, with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes.

⁴ tn Heb “building.”

⁵ tn Heb “one rod [or “reed”]” (also a second time in this verse, twice in v. 6, three times in v. 7, and once in v. 8).

NET Notes: Eze 40:6

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “the one threshold 10½ feet deep.” This is probably an accidental duplication of what precedes. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:517.

NET Notes: Eze 40:7

¹ tn Heb “five cubits” (i.e., 2.625 meters) according to the “long” cubit. See the note on the first occurrence of the phrase “10½ feet” in v. 5.

NET Notes: Eze 40:9

¹ tn Heb “eight cubits” (i.e., 4.2 meters).

² tn Heb “two cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).

NET Notes: Eze 40:10

¹ sn The three alcoves are parallel to the city gates found at Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer.

NET Notes: Eze 40:11

¹ tn Heb “ten cubits” (i.e., 5.25 meters).

² tn Heb “thirteen cubits” (i.e., 6.825 meters).

NET Notes: Eze 40:12

¹ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

² tn Heb “six cubits” (i.e., 3.15 meters).

NET Notes: Eze 40:13

¹ tn Heb “twenty-five cubits” (i.e., 13.125 meters).

NET Notes: Eze 40:14

¹ tn Heb “made.”

² tc The MT reads “jambs” which does not make sense in context. Supposing a confusion of yod for vav, the text may be emended to read “porch.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:518.

³ tn Heb “sixty cubits” (i.e., 31.5 meters).

⁴ tn The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied for sense.

NET Notes: Eze 40:15

¹ tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

NET Notes: Eze 40:16

¹ sn Decorative palm trees were also a part of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 6:29, 32, 35).

NET Notes: Eze 40:17

¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.