Zechariah 1:16

The Oracle of Response

1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ¹  toward Jerusalem ²  and will rebuild my temple ³  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

Ezekiel 40:3

40:3 When he brought me there, I saw ⁴  a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.

Ezekiel 40:5

40:5 I saw ⁵  a wall all around the outside of the temple. ⁶  In the man’s hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet ⁷  long. He measured the thickness of the wall ⁸  as 10½ feet, ⁹  and its height as 10½ feet.

Ezekiel 47:4

47:4 Again he measured 1,750 feet and led me through the water, which was now knee deep. Once more he measured 1,750 feet and led me through the water, which was waist deep.

Revelation 11:1

The Fate of the Two Witnesses

11:1 Then ¹⁰  a measuring rod ¹¹  like a staff was given to me, and I was told, ¹²  “Get up and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and the ones who worship there.

Revelation 21:15

21:15 The angel ¹³  who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall.

¹ tn Heb “I have turned.” This suggests that the Lord has responded to the “turning” (i.e., repentance) of the people (v. 6) and now, with great love and forgiveness, allows construction of the temple to proceed.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Heb “house.”

⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

⁶ tn Heb “house.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Heb “building.”

⁹ 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).

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

¹¹ tn Grk “a reed” (but these were used for measuring). Cf. Ezek 40:3ff.

¹² tn Grk “saying.”

¹³ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (the angel of v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.