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Ezekiel 40:5-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area. The length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length, so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one reed. 6 Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.[a] There were(A) 7 recesses, and each recess was one reed wide and one reed deep, and the space between the recesses, five cubits, and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end was one reed deep.(B) 8 Then he measured the inner vestibule of the gateway, one reed. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits, and its posts, two cubits, and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. 10 There were three recesses on either side of the east gate; the three were of the same size, and the posts on either side were of the same size.(C) 11 Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits, and the width of the gateway, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a barrier before the recesses, one cubit on either side, and each recess was six cubits square. 13 Then he measured the gate from the back[b] of the one recess to the back[c] of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from wall to wall.[d] 14 He measured[e] the vestibule (sixty cubits) and the gate next to the post on every side of the court.[f](D) 15 From the front of the gate at the entrance to the end of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. 16 The recesses and their posts had windows, with shutters[g] on the inside of the gateway all around, and the vestibules also had windows on the inside all around, and on the posts were palm trees.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 40.6 Heb deep, and one threshold, one reed deep
  2. 40.13 Gk: Heb roof
  3. 40.13 Gk: Heb roof
  4. 40.13 Heb opening facing opening
  5. 40.14 Heb made
  6. 40.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  7. 40.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
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Ezekiel 40:5-16
Evangelical Heritage Version

The Wall and Outer Gates
The Wall

5 I saw a wall[a] all the way around the temple compound. In the man’s hand was the measuring rod, six cubits long (using the long cubit).[b] When he measured the thickness of the structure, it was one rod thick, and its height was one rod.

The East Gatehouse

6 Then he approached the gatehouse[c] that was on the east side of the temple compound and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate. It was one rod deep.[d] 7 Each guardroom[e] was one rod wide and one rod deep. Between the guardrooms, the walls were five cubits thick,[f] and the threshold of the gate of the vestibule[g] on the inner side of the gatehouse was one rod deep. 8 ⎣He measured the vestibule on the inner side of the gatehouse. It was one rod.⎦[h]

9 He measured the vestibule of the gatehouse, which was eight cubits,[i] and its gateposts were two cubits. The vestibule of the gatehouse was located at the inner end of the gateway. 10 Inside the east gatehouse, there were three guardrooms on either side of the entry. All three were the same size, and the gateposts on either side were also the same size. 11 Then he measured the width of the entry into the gateway. It was ten cubits, and the length of the gateway was thirteen cubits.[j] 12 There was a barrier in front of the guardrooms, one cubit wide, on both sides of the passage. Each guardroom was six cubits square.[k]

13 Next he measured the passageway through the gatehouse, from the outside edge of the ceiling of one guardroom to the outside edge of the ceiling opposite it. The total width was twenty-five cubits.[l] The doorways to the guardrooms were facing each other on each side of the passageway. 14 He determined that the measurement of the gateposts was sixty cubits,[m] and the courtyard all around the gateway reached to the gateposts.[n] 15 From the front of the outer entrance of the gateway to the outside edge of the vestibule on the inner side of the gateway was fifty cubits.[o] 16 The guardrooms and their doorposts had openings on all sides. The openings were slits that were narrower toward the inside of the gate, and likewise, the vestibule had openings that narrowed toward the inside all the way around.[p] The doorposts had decorations like palm trees.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 40:5 Feature A on the diagram of the temple
  2. Ezekiel 40:5 A long cubit is about 21 inches long instead of the standard 18 inches. A long cubit consists of the regular cubit (18 inches) plus a handbreadth (3 inches). The measuring rod is therefore about 10½ feet long. Because some of the numbers in the descriptions of the land and the temple have symbolic value, the translation (contrary to our normal practice) will retain the measurements in cubits. Footnotes converting some of the measurements to feet will help readers visualize the size of the temple and its objects. All conversions are rounded off.
  3. Ezekiel 40:6 The “gates” (Hebrew sha’ar) in the temple compound are not simply doored entryways. They are complex structures. The EHV generally uses gatehouse as the name for the structure and gateway for the passageway through the gatehouse, but it is not always possible to identify such distinctions with certainty. This gatehouse is structure B on the diagram.
  4. Ezekiel 40:6 The Hebrew reads measured the threshold of the gate, one rod deep, ⎣and one threshold, one rod deep.⎦ The words marked here by half-brackets are not included in the Greek text, and they do not appear in the translation above.
  5. Ezekiel 40:7 Or alcove
  6. Ezekiel 40:7 Almost 9 feet
  7. Ezekiel 40:7 Or porch or portico or antechamber. The presence of slits in the walls of the “porches” indicates that they were enclosed rooms.
  8. Ezekiel 40:8 Some manuscripts and versions omit the words marked by half-brackets in verse 8. These words seem to disagree with the measurement of the vestibule given in verse 9. There may have been some accidental duplication in the Hebrew text, but the two statements may be giving measurements of different parts of the vestibule and gatehouse. If the words in half-brackets, which are not included in the Greek text, are omitted, the text still reads smoothly.
  9. Ezekiel 40:9 About 14 feet
  10. Ezekiel 40:11 The passageway through the gatehouse was thus about 18 feet wide and 23 feet long.
  11. Ezekiel 40:12 About 10 feet
  12. Ezekiel 40:13 About 44 feet. The verse is difficult. It appears that this measurement is the total width of the gatehouse, including the passageway and the guardrooms on each side of it.
  13. Ezekiel 40:14 More than 100 feet
  14. Ezekiel 40:14 The meaning of this verse is uncertain, and translations vary widely. Some believe the measurement is the height of the gatehouse, but the measurement seems too large for that. Some translations therefore change the number from sixty to twenty cubits. Others believe the measurement is the perimeter of the gatehouse, but the measurement seems too small for that. In light of the uncertainty, the EHV retains a fairly literal translation, which does not alter the text.
  15. Ezekiel 40:15 About 90 feet
  16. Ezekiel 40:16 These were slots through which the defenders could shoot. They also let light into the gatehouse.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.