401 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."
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,[1] 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[2] 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[3] was eight cubits[4] deep and its jambs were two cubits[5] 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.[6] 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[7] 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.[8] The measurement was up to the portico[9] facing the courtyard.[10] 15 The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits.[11] 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. 17 Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all around the court; there were thirty rooms along the pavement. 18 It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits[12] on the east side as well as on the north. 20 Then he measured the length and width of the north gate, leading into the outer court. 21 Its alcoves-three on each side-its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22 Its openings, its portico and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them. 23 There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits. 24 Then he led me to the south side and I saw the south gate. He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. 25 The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all around, like the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 26 Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side.
27 The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits. 28 Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others.
401 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. 2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame
5 And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. 6 Then came he unto the gate which looketh
27 And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits. 28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;
401 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.
5 And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth
27 And there was a gate on the south of the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits. 28 Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others.
401 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month - it was the fourteenth year after the city fell - God touched me and brought me here. 2 He brought me in divine vision to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain. To the south there were buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there and I met a man deeply tanned, like bronze. He stood at the entrance holding a linen cord and a measuring stick. 4 The man said to me, "Son of man, look and listen carefully. Pay close attention to everything I'm going to show you. That's why you've been brought here. And then tell Israel everything you see."
5 First I saw a wall around the outside of the Temple complex. The measuring stick in the man's hand was about ten feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall: about ten feet. The height was also about ten feet. 6 He went into the gate complex that faced the east and went up the seven steps. 7 He measured the depth of the outside threshold of the gate complex: ten feet. There were alcoves flanking the gate corridor, each ten feet square, each separated by a wall seven and a half feet thick. The inside threshold of the gate complex that led to the porch facing into the Temple courtyard was ten feet deep. 8 He measured the inside porch of the gate complex: 9 twelve feet deep, flanked by pillars three feet thick. The porch opened onto the Temple courtyard. 10 Inside this east gate complex were three alcoves on each side. Each room was the same size and the separating walls were identical. 11 He measured the outside entrance to the gate complex: fifteen feet wide and nineteen and a half feet deep. 12 In front of each alcove was a low wall eighteen inches high. The alcoves were ten feet square. 13 He measured the width of the gate complex from the outside edge of the alcove roof on one side to the outside edge of the alcove roof on the other: thirty-seven and a half feet from one top edge to the other. 14 He measured the inside walls of the gate complex: ninety feet to the porch leading into the courtyard. 15 The distance from the entrance of the gate complex to the far end of the porch was seventy-five feet. 16 The alcoves and their connecting walls inside the gate complex were topped by narrow windows all the way around. The porch also. All the windows faced inward. The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees. 17 The man then led me to the outside courtyard and all its rooms. A paved walkway had been built connecting the courtyard gates. Thirty rooms lined the courtyard. 18 The walkway was the same length as the gateways. It flanked them and ran their entire length. This was the walkway for the outside courtyard. 19 He measured the distance from the front of the entrance gateway across to the entrance of the inner court: one hundred fifty feet. 20 Here was another gate complex facing north, exiting the outside courtyard. He measured its length and width. 21 It had three alcoves on each side. Its gateposts and porch were the same as in the first gate: eighty-seven and a half feet by forty-three and three-quarters feet. 22 The windows and palm trees were identical to the east gateway. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch faced inward. 23 Opposite this gate complex was a gate complex to the inside courtyard, on the north as on the east. The distance between the two was one hundred seventy-five feet. 24 Then he took me to the south side, to the south gate complex. He measured its gateposts and its porch. It was the same size as the others. 25 The porch with its windows was the same size as those previously mentioned. 26 It also had seven steps up to it. Its porch opened onto the outside courtyard, with palm trees decorating its gateposts on both sides.
27 Opposite to it, the gate complex for the inner court faced south. He measured the distance across the courtyard from gate to gate: one hundred seventy-five feet. 28 He led me into the inside courtyard through the south gate complex. He measured it and found it the same as the outside ones.
401 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me; and He took me there. 2 In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. 3 He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. 4 And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see."
5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod. 6 Then he went to the gateway which faced east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gateway, which was one rod wide, and the other threshold was one rod wide. 7 Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide; between the gate chambers was a space of five cubits; and the threshold of the gateway by the vestibule of the inside gate was one rod. 8 He also measured the vestibule of the inside gate, one rod. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and the gateposts, two cubits. The vestibule of the gate was on the inside. 10 In the eastern gateway were three gate chambers on one side and three on the other; the three were all the same size; also the gateposts were of the same size on this side and that side. 11 He measured the width of the entrance to the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a space in front of the gate chambers, one cubit on this side and one cubit on that side; the gate chambers were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side. 13 Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the other; the width was twenty-five cubits, as door faces door. 14 He measured the gateposts, sixty cubits high, and the court all around the gateway extended to the gatepost. 15 From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits. 16 There were beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were palm trees. 17 Then he brought me into the outer court; and there were chambers and a pavement made all around the court; thirty chambers faced the pavement. 18 The pavement was by the side of the gateways, corresponding to the length of the gateways; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gateway to the front of the inner court exterior, one hundred cubits toward the east and the north. 20 On the outer court was also a gateway facing north, and he measured its length and its width. 21 Its gate chambers, three on this side and three on that side, its gateposts and its archways, had the same measurements as the first gate; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. 22 Its windows and those of its archways, and also its palm trees, had the same measurements as the gateway facing east; it was ascended by seven steps, and its archway was in front of it. 23 A gate of the inner court was opposite the northern gateway, just as the eastern gateway; and he measured from gateway to gateway, one hundred cubits. 24 After that he brought me toward the south, and there a gateway was facing south; and he measured its gateposts and archways according to these same measurements. 25 There were windows in it and in its archways all around like those windows; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its archway was in front of them; and it had palm trees on its gateposts, one on this side and one on that side.
27 There was also a gateway on the inner court, facing south; and he measured from gateway to gateway toward the south, one hundred cubits. 28 Then he brought me to the inner court through the southern gateway; he measured the southern gateway according to these same measurements.
401 On April 28, during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity-fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem-the Lord took hold of me. 2 In a vision from God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city. 3 As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod. 4 He said to me, "Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen."
5 I could see a wall completely surrounding the Temple area. The man took a measuring rod that was 10 feet long and measured the wall, and the wall was 10 feet thick and 10 feet high. 6 Then he went over to the eastern gateway. He climbed the steps and measured the threshold of the gateway; it was 10 feet front to back. 7 There were guard alcoves on each side built into the gateway passage. Each of these alcoves was 10 feet square, with a distance between them of 8 feet along the passage wall. The gateway's inner threshold, which led to the entry room at the inner end of the gateway passage, was 10 feet front to back. 8 He also measured the entry room of the gateway. 9 It was 14Â feet across, with supporting columns 3 feet thick. This entry room was at the inner end of the gateway structure, facing toward the Temple. 10 There were three guard alcoves on each side of the gateway passage. Each had the same measurements, and the dividing walls separating them were also identical. 11 The man measured the gateway entrance, which was 17 feet wide at the opening and 22 feet wide in the gateway passage. 12 In front of each of the guard alcoves was a 21-inch curb. The alcoves themselves were 10 feet on each side. 13 Then he measured the entire width of the gateway, measuring the distance between the back walls of facing guard alcoves; this distance was 43 feet. 14 He measured the dividing walls all along the inside of the gateway up to the entry room of the gateway; this distance was 105Â feet. 15 The full length of the gateway passage was 87 feet from one end to the other. 16 There were recessed windows that narrowed inward through the walls of the guard alcoves and their dividing walls. There were also windows in the entry room. The surfaces of the dividing walls were decorated with carved palm trees. 17 Then the man brought me through the gateway into the outer courtyard of the Temple. A stone pavement ran along the walls of the courtyard, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto the pavement. 18 This pavement flanked the gates and extended out from the walls into the courtyard the same distance as the gateway entrance. This was the lower pavement. 19 Then the man measured across the Temple's outer courtyard between the outer and inner gateways; the distance was 175Â feet. 20 The man measured the gateway on the north just like the one on the east. 21 Here, too, there were three guard alcoves on each side, with dividing walls and an entry room. All the measurements matched those of the east gateway. The gateway passage was 87 feet long and 43 feet wide between the back walls of facing guard alcoves. 22 The windows, the entry room, and the palm tree decorations were identical to those in the east gateway. There were seven steps leading up to the gateway entrance, and the entry room was at the inner end of the gateway passage. 23 Here on the north side, just as on the east, there was another gateway leading to the Temple's inner courtyard directly opposite this outer gateway. The distance between the two gateways was 175Â feet. 24 Then the man took me around to the south gateway and measured its various parts, and they were exactly the same as in the others. 25 It had windows along the walls as the others did, and there was an entry room where the gateway passage opened into the outer courtyard. And like the others, the gateway passage was 87 feet long and 43 feet wide between the back walls of facing guard alcoves. 26 This gateway also had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and an entry room at the inner end, and palm tree decorations along the dividing walls.
27 And here again, directly opposite the outer gateway, was another gateway that led into the inner courtyard. The distance between the two gateways was 175Â feet. 28 Then the man took me to the south gateway leading into the inner courtyard. He measured it, and it had the same measurements as the other gateways.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 40:1-28
Chapter Contents
The Vision of the Temple.
Here is a vision, beginning at ch. 40, and continued to the end of the book, ch. 48, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God. When we despair to be satisfied as to any difficulty we meet with, let us bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough; and let us wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. This chapter describes two outward courts of the temple. Whether the personage here mentioned was the Son of God, or a created angel, is not clear. But Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice, to whom we must look with faith in all approaches to God; and he is Salvation in the midst of the earth, Psalm 74:12, to be looked unto from all quarters.