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I saw[a] a wall all around the outside of the temple.[b] In the man’s hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet[c] long. He measured the thickness of the wall[d] as 10½ feet,[e] and its height as 10½ feet. Then he went to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate as 10½ feet deep.[f] The alcoves were 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide; between the alcoves were 8¾ feet.[g] The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was 10½ feet. Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward as 10½ feet. He measured the porch of the gate as 14 feet,[h] and its jambs as 3½ feet;[i] the porch of the gate faced inward. 10 There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate; the three had the same measurement, and the jambs on either side had the same measurement.[j] 11 He measured the width of the entrance of the gateway as 17½ feet,[k] and the length of the gateway as 22¾ feet.[l] 12 There was a barrier in front of the alcoves, 1¾ feet[m] on either side; the alcoves were 10½ feet[n] on either side. 13 He measured the gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the other, a width of 43¾ feet[o] from one entrance to the opposite one. 14 He measured[p] the porch[q] at 105 feet[r] high;[s] the gateway went all around to the jamb of the courtyard. 15 From the front of the entrance gate to the porch of the inner gate was 87½ feet.[t] 16 There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. There were windows all around the inside, and on each jamb were decorative palm trees.[u]

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 40:5 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  2. Ezekiel 40:5 tn Heb “house.”
  3. Ezekiel 40:5 tn Heb “a measuring stick of 6 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.
  4. Ezekiel 40:5 tn Heb “building.”
  5. Ezekiel 40:5 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).
  6. Ezekiel 40:6 tn The Hebrew text adds “the one threshold 10½ feet deep.” This is probably an accidental duplication of what precedes. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:517.
  7. Ezekiel 40:7 tn Heb “5 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.
  8. Ezekiel 40:9 tn Heb “8 cubits” (i.e., 4.2 meters).
  9. Ezekiel 40:9 tn Heb “2 cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).
  10. Ezekiel 40:10 sn The three alcoves are parallel to the city gates found at Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer.
  11. Ezekiel 40:11 tn Heb “10 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 meters).
  12. Ezekiel 40:11 tn Heb “13 cubits” (i.e., 6.825 meters).
  13. Ezekiel 40:12 tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
  14. Ezekiel 40:12 tn Heb “6 cubits” (i.e., 3.15 meters).
  15. Ezekiel 40:13 tn Heb “25 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 meters).
  16. Ezekiel 40:14 tn Heb “made.”
  17. Ezekiel 40:14 tc The MT reads “jambs,” which does not make sense in context. Supposing a confusion of י (yod) for ו (vav), the text may be emended to read “porch.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:518.
  18. Ezekiel 40:14 tn Heb “60 cubits” (i.e., 31.5 meters).
  19. Ezekiel 40:14 tn The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied for sense.
  20. Ezekiel 40:15 tn Heb “50 cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
  21. Ezekiel 40:16 sn Decorative palm trees were also a part of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 6:29, 32, 35).

Measurements Relating to the Temple

And behold, there was a wall all around the outside [area] of the temple (house) [of the Lord], and in the man’s hand a measuring rod six cubits long (10.2 ft.), [a]each [b]cubit being longer than the [c]standard one by a hand width. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod. Then he went to the gate which faced the east and went up its [seven] steps and measured the threshold of the gate, one rod in width; and the other threshold [of the gate inside the thick wall] was one rod in width. The guardroom was one rod long and one rod wide, and [the space] between the guardrooms was five cubits. And the threshold of the gate by the porch (portico) of the gate facing inward was one rod. He also measured the porch of the gate facing inward [toward the temple of the Lord], one rod. Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits, and its side pillars, two cubits. The porch of the gate faced inward [toward the temple of the Lord]. 10 There were three guardrooms on each side of the gate toward the east; the three were the same size, and the side pillars on each side measured the same. 11 And he measured the width of the [d]gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 On each side a border (barrier wall) one cubit wide stood in front of the guardrooms on each side; and the guardrooms were six cubits square on each side. 13 He measured the gate from the roof of one guardroom to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from one door to the opposite door. 14 He made [the measurement of] the side pillars sixty cubits high; the gate extended all around to the side pillar of the courtyard. 15 From the front of the entrance gate [on the outside] to the front of the inner porch (portico) of the gate [the distance] was fifty cubits. 16 There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And windows were all around inside; and palm tree decorations were on each side pillar.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 40:5 Lit by a cubit and a handbreadth.
  2. Ezekiel 40:5 20.4 inches in length or longer.
  3. Ezekiel 40:5 The “standard” Hebrew cubit was about 18 inches in length.
  4. Ezekiel 40:11 Lit entrance of the gate.