Ezekiel 40:2

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;)

Ezekiel 40:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 40:2

In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel,
&c.] Or by the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum again; that is, being under the impressions of the Spirit of God, it appeared to him, in a visionary way, as if he was really brought out of Chaldea, and set in the land of Israel; see ( Ezekiel 8:3 ) , as John was carried away in the spirit to see the New Jerusalem, ( Revelation 21:10 ) : and set me upon a very high mountain;
as John also was, that he might have a view of this large city and temple, which were to fill the whole world: thus Christ was taken up to an exceeding high mountain, to be shown the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, ( Matthew 4:8 ) , it is needless to inquire what this mountain was, whether Moriah, on which the temple was formerly built, or any other mountain near Jerusalem, since no material temple is exhibited to be built upon it; nor would such a mountain, especially Zion or Moriah, have been a proper place, if material temple at Jerusalem was here designed, which must have stood upon it; but this is visionary, as well as the city and temple; if it respects anything, it may the strength, the visibility, and exalted state of the church of Christ in the latter day; see ( Isaiah 2:2 ) : by, which was as the flame of a city on the south:
the prophet in the vision, and as to his view of things coming from Babylon, which lay north of Judea, has a prospect of the south of the city and temple; and, first, there appeared to him, to the south of the mountain on which he stood, the plan of a city; or which was as one, for the city is not described till last; the description is of the temple first; and which for its wall, gates, courts, and towers, looked more like a city than a temple; nothing is more common than for the church of Christ to be compared to a city, especially as in the latter day; see ( Psalms 87:3 ) .

Ezekiel 40:2 In-Context

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.)