New King James Version
Ezekiel 40:5
5Now 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.
Ezekiel 40:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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 in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.
- New Living Translation (NLT)I could see a wall completely surrounding the Temple area. The man took a measuring rod that was 10-1/2 feet long and measured the wall, and the wall was 10-1/2 feet thick and 10-1/2 feet high.
Context of Ezekiel 40:5
3He 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. 4And 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.” 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. 6Then 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. 7Each 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.
Read all of Ezekiel 40Ezekiel 40:5 word by word
וְהִנֵּ֥ה חוֹמָ֛ה מִח֥וּץ לַבַּ֖יִת סָבִ֣יב׀ סָבִ֑יב וּבְיַ֨ד הָאִ֜ישׁ קְנֵ֣ה הַמִּדָּ֗ה שֵׁשׁ־אַמּ֤וֹת בָּֽאַמָּה֙ וָטֹ֔פַח וַיָּ֜מָד אֶת־רֹ֤חַב הַבִּנְיָן֙ קָנֶ֣ה אֶחָ֔ד וְקוֹמָ֖ה קָנֶ֥ה אֶחָֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And behold a wallחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
- on the outsideחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
- of the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · aroundH5439
- and in the man’sאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
- handיָדyâd · handH3027
- a measuringמִדָּהmiddâh · measureH4060
- reedקָנֶהqâneh · branch: stemH7070
- of sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337
- cubitsאַמָּה'ammâh · cubitH520
- and an hand breadthטֹ֫פַחţôphach · handbreadthH2948
- so he measuredמָדַדmâdad · to measureH4058
- the breadthרֹ֫חַבrôchab · widthH7341
- of the buildingבִּנְיָןbinyân · buildingH1146
- oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
- and the heightקוֹמָהqômâh · heightH6967
Cross-references for Ezekiel 40:5
- Ezekiel 42:20He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.
- Psalms 125:2As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
- Isaiah 26:1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
- Isaiah 60:18Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But you shall call your walls Salvation, And your gates Praise.
- Zechariah 2:5For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”
- Revelation 21:12Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
- Deuteronomy 3:11“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 40:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5A measuring reed of six cubits long - The Hebrew cubit is supposed to be about twenty and a half inches; and a palm, about three inches more; the length of the rod about ten feet six inches. The breadth - one reed; and the height, one reed - As this wall was as broad as it was high, it must have been a kind of parapet, which was carried, of the same dimensions, all round the temple. See AAAA in the plan.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5The boundary wall of the temple-courts. See Plan II. A wall on the outside of the house - The wall enclosing the courts in which were the entrance gates. By the cubit and an hand breadth - The Jews first used a cubit of fifteen inches, applying it principally to the vessels and furniture of the temple; next a cubit of eighteen inches (“a hand-breadth” longer than the former cubit); and lastly, after the captivity, the Babylonian cubit of twenty-one inches…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5a wall surrounding the temple area: Walls create and define space, marking an "inside" and an "outside." This wall was important. Its function was to separate the "profane" [unholy] area outside the temple from the holy area inside. This ensured the important distinction would never again be forgotten (see Ezekiel 22:26).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Measures were mostly taken from the human body. The greater cubit, the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, a little more than two feet: exceeding the ordinary cubit (from the elbow to the wrist) by an hand-breadth, that is, twenty-one inches in all. Compare Eze 43:13, with Eze 40:5. The palm was the full breadth of the hand, three and a half inches. breadth of the building--that is, the boundary wall. The imperfections in the old…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 40:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries