Ezekiel 40:1-16

The Temple Area Restored

1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the LORD was on me and he took me there.
2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city.
3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.
4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

5 I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits,[a] each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.
6 Then he went to the east gate. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep.
7 The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits[b] thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.
8 Then he measured the portico of the gateway;
9 it[c] was eight cubits[d] deep and its jambs were two cubits[e] thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.
10 Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements.
11 Then he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits.[f]
12 In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square.
13 Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits[g] from one parapet opening to the opposite one.
14 He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway—sixty cubits.[h] The measurement was up to the portico[i] facing the courtyard.[j]
15 The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits.[k]
16 The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all around, as was the portico; the openings all around faced inward. The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.

Cross References 14

  • 1. S 2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 39:1-10; Jeremiah 52:4-11; Ezekiel 33:21
  • 2. S Ezekiel 1:3; S Ezekiel 29:17
  • 3. S Exodus 24:10; Daniel 7:1,7
  • 4. S Jeremiah 31:12; S Ezekiel 17:22; Revelation 21:10
  • 5. S Ezekiel 1:7; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 1:15
  • 6. Ezekiel 47:3; Zechariah 2:1-2; Revelation 11:1; Revelation 21:15
  • 7. S Deuteronomy 6:6
  • 8. Jeremiah 26:2
  • 9. Ezekiel 44:5
  • 10. Ezekiel 42:20
  • 11. S Ezekiel 8:16
  • 12. ver 36
  • 13. S Exodus 27:9
  • 14. ver 21-22; 2 Chronicles 3:5; Ezekiel 41:26

Footnotes 11

  • [a]. That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters; also in verse 12. The long cubit of about 21 inches or about 53 centimeters is the basic unit of measurement of length throughout chapters 40–48.
  • [b]. That is, about 8 3/4 feet or about 2.7 meters; also in verse 48
  • [c]. Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts "gateway facing the temple; it was one rod deep. " 9"Then he measured the portico of the gateway; it"
  • [d]. That is, about 14 feet or about 4.2 meters
  • [e]. That is, about 3 1/2 feet or about 1 meter
  • [f]. That is, about 18 feet wide and 23 feet long or about 5.3 meters wide and 6.9 meters long
  • [g]. That is, about 44 feet or about 13 meters; also in verses 21, 25, 29, 30, 33 and 36
  • [h]. That is, about 105 feet or about 32 meters
  • [i]. Septuagint; Hebrew "projecting wall"
  • [j]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
  • [k]. That is, about 88 feet or about 27 meters; also in verses 21, 25, 29, 33 and 36
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