Ezekiel 40:1-11

1 In the five and twentieth year of our passing over, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in this same day the hand of the Lord was made on me, and he brought me thither (In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, or of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, on this same day the hand of the Lord was made upon me, and he brought me there)

2 in the revelations of God. And he brought me into the land of Israel, and he let me down on a full high hill, on which was as the building of a city going to the south; (in a vision from God. And he brought me into the land of Israel, and he let me down on a very high hill, on which were like the buildings of a city going towards the south/on which were like the buildings of a city in front of me;)

3 and he led me in thither. And lo! a man, whose likeness was as the likeness of brass, and a cord of flax was in his hand, and a reed of measure in his hand; forsooth he stood in the gate. (and he led me in there. And lo! a man, whose form was like bronze, and a cord of flax was in his hand, and a measuring reed, or a measuring rod, was in his hand; and he stood by the gate.)

4 And the same man spake to me, (saying,) Thou, son of man, see with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart on all things which I shall show to thee, for thou art brought hither that those be showed to thee (for thou hast been brought there so that they could be shown to thee); tell thou all things which thou seest to the house of Israel.

5 And lo! a wall withoutforth, in the compass of the house (of the Lord) on each side; and in the hand of the man was a reed of measure of six cubits and a span, that is, an handbreadth; and he meted the breadth of the building with one reed, and the highness by one reed. (And lo! a wall outside, all around the House of the Lord, or the Temple, on every side; and in the man's hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, reckoning by the long cubit, that is, a cubit and a hand's breadth; and he measured the breadth of the wall, one rod, and its height, one rod.)

6 And he came to the gate that beheld the way of the east, and he ascended by [the] degrees of it; and he meted the lintel of the gate, by one reed the breadth, that is, one lintel by one reed in breadth; (And he came to the gate that faced east, and he went up by its steps; and he measured the lintel of the gateway, one rod in breadth, that is, one lintel was one rod in breadth;)

7 and he meted one (little) chamber by one reed in length, and by one reed in breadth, and five cubits betwixt (the little) chambers; and he meted the lintel of the gate beside the porch of the gate within, by one reed. (and he measured one little chamber, one rod in length, and one rod in breadth, and five cubits between the little chambers; and he measured the lintel of the gateway beside the porch of the gateway within, one rod.)

8 (This verse omitted in the original text.)

9 And he meted the porch of the gate of eight cubits, and the post(s) thereof by two cubits; soothly the porch of the gate was within. (And he measured the porch of the gateway, eight cubits, and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gateway was within.)

10 Certainly the (little) chambers of the gate at the way of the east were three on this side, and three on that side; one measure of three, and one measure of the posts on ever either side. (And the little chambers of the gateway, facing east, were three on this side, and three on that side; one measurement was of the three, and one measurement was of the posts on both sides.)

11 And he meted the breadth of the lintel of the gate of ten cubits, and the length of the gate of thirteen cubits. (And he measured the breadth of the lintel of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.)

Ezekiel 40:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 40

This and the eight following chapters contain a vision of a city and temple herein described, and are thought to be the most difficult part of the whole Bible. The Jews forbid the reading of it till a man is arrived to thirty years of age; and then he must expect to meet with things in it he does not understand, and which must be left until Elijah comes to explain them. Many Christian commentators have omitted the exposition of these chapters; and all acknowledge the difficulties in them. Something however may be got out of them, relating to the Gospel, and Gospel church state, which I am fully persuaded is intended by the city and temple; for that no material building can be designed is clear from this one observation; that not only the whole land of Israel would not be capable of having such a city as is here described built upon it, but even all Europe would not be sufficient; nor the whole world, according to the account of the dimensions which some give of it. The circumference of the city is said to be about eighteen thousand measures, Eze 48:35; but what they are is not certain. Luther makes them to be thirty six thousand German miles; and a German mile being three of ours, the circuit of this city must be above a hundred thousand English miles; and this is sufficient to set aside all hypotheses of a material building, either of city or temple, the one being in proportion to the other. The Jews dream of a third temple to be built, by their vainly expected Messiah; but nothing is more clear than that the true Messiah was to come into the second temple, and by that give it a greater glory than the former ever had; as is evident from Hag 2:6-9 and, according to Malachi, he was to come suddenly into his temple, which could be no other than the then present one, Mal 3:1, and into which Jesus came, and where he often appeared and taught, as well as entered into it with power and authority, as the Lord and proprietor of it; by which he appeared to be the true Messiah, as by many other characters; see \Lu 2:22,46 21:37 Mt 21:12,13\. There are some who think that Solomon's temple, as it was before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and as it was rebuilt by Zerubbabel, is here described; and that partly to let the Jews know what a glory to their nation they lost by their sins; and partly that they might have a complete pattern for the rebuilding of it, as well as to comfort them under its present ruins; but there is no agreement between them. This temple was to be built at a distance from the city, several miles; according to some ten, others twenty, and by the best account twenty seven miles; see Eze 45:1-5, whereas Solomon's temple, and that built by Zerubbabel, were in the city of Jerusalem: nor from either of these flowed waters, which rose up to a river, on the bank of which were many trees for food and medicine, and whose waters were healing, and quickened wherever they came, as from this, Eze 47:1-12, nor do we ever read of the east gate of these temples always shut, as this, Eze 44:2, and besides, both these temples were profaned and destroyed; whereas this shall never be, but God will dwell in it forever, Eze 43:7, neither place, structure, nor worship, agree. Nor is this city here the same with the New Jerusalem John had a vision of; for though he borrows some of his expressions to describe it from hence; and in some things there is an appearance of agreement, as of the river of water of life, and the tree of life on both sides of the river, Re 22:1,2, yet the description agrees not, either with respect to its gates, or its compass; and though there was no temple in that John saw, as there was none in this, it being without the city; yet here is a temple in this vision, and the greatest part of it is taken up in the description of it. It remains that this must be understood mystically and figuratively of the Gospel church, which is often spoken of as a city and temple, Heb 12:22, Re 3:12 and which began to have its accomplishment in the first times of the Gospel, immediately after the death and resurrection of Christ; when his disciples had a commission to preach the Gospel to all nations; and who accordingly did, even before the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the material temple, so that Gospel churches were planted in all parts of the world; and especially this was the case, when the Roman empire, called the whole world, became Christian: though the further and greater accomplishment of this vision will be in the latter day; when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; when Jews and Gentiles will be converted, and Gospel churches be set up everywhere; so that the Gospel church state, or kingdom of Christ, signified by the great mountain in Da 2:35, and by this large city here, will fill the whole earth: and the rather this may be thought to be the design of this vision to represent it, as it follows the prophecies of the Jews' settlement in their own land; and of the destruction of Gog, or the Turk, attempting to dispossess them; of which in chapters 37-39. In this chapter are first an account of the vision in general, the time, manner, and place of it, Eze 40:1,2, a description of the person, the builder and owner of the house; and by whom the prophet is shown each of the parts and dimensions of it, whom he calls to him for that purpose, Eze 40:3,4, and then a particular account is given, which begins with the outward wall around the house, Eze 40:5, then the east gate, with its posts, porch, and chambers, and the outward court with its chambers, Eze 40:6-19, then the gate of the outward court to the north, with its chambers, and the gate of the inner court over against that, Eze 40:20-23, then the gate to the south, with its posts, arches, and chambers, Eze 40:24-31, then the inner court to the east, its gate, chambers, and arches, Eze 40:32-34, then the north gate, with its posts, chambers, and arches, Eze 40:35-38, in the porch of which are the tables, on which the sacrifices are slain, Eze 40:39-43, after which are described the chambers for the singers and the priests, Eze 40:44-46, then the inner court and altar in it; and the chapter is concluded with the dimensions of the porch of the house, Eze 40:48,49.