Ezekiel 40:5

40:5 I saw ¹  a wall all around the outside of the temple. ²  In the man’s hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet ³  long. He measured the thickness of the wall ⁴  as 10½ feet, ⁵  and its height as 10½ feet.

Ezekiel 40:7

40:7 The alcoves were 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide; between the alcoves were 8¾ feet. ⁶  The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was 10½ feet.

[40:5]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[40:5]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[40:5]  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.

[40:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “building.”

[40:5]  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).

[40:7]  ⁶ 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.