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Saturday, June 7th, 2025
Eve of Pentacost
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New Living Translation

Ezekiel 40:5

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.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Cubit;   Handbreadth;   Measure;   Reed;   Thompson Chain Reference - Handbreadth;   Reed;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Sciences;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Reed;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Balance;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Reed;   Weights and Measures;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Handbreadth;   Measuring Reed;   Weights and Measures;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Fasting;   Moses;   Nations;   Priests and Levites;   Reed;   Tabernacle;   Temple;   Weights and Measures;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Reed ;   Weights and Measures;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Cubit;   Weights and Measures;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Gareb;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Tables of measures weights and money in the bible;   Temple;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Weights and Measures;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Architecture;   Cubit;   Ezekiel;   Handbreadth;   Measuring Reed;   Temple;   Weights and Measures;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Flood, the;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now there was a wall surrounding the outside of the temple. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was six units of twenty-one inches; each unit was the standard length plus three inches. He measured the thickness of the wall structure; it was 10½ feet, and its height was the same.
Hebrew Names Version
Behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
King James Version
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.
English Standard Version
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 American Standard Bible
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around, and in the man's hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a hand width. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.
New Century Version
I saw a wall that surrounded the Temple area. The measuring stick in the man's hand was ten and one-half feet long. So the man measured the wall, which was ten and one-half feet thick and ten and one-half feet high.
Amplified Bible
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.), each cubit being longer than the standard one by a hand width. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And beholde, I sawe a wall on the outside of the house round about: and in the mans hand was a reede to measure with, of sixe cubites long, by the cubite, and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the buylding with one reede, and the height with one reede.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around, and in the man's hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.
Legacy Standard Bible
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house of Yahweh all around, and in the man's hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.
Berean Standard Bible
And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man's hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.
Contemporary English Version
The first thing I saw was an outer wall that completely surrounded the temple area. The man took his measuring stick, which was ten feet long, and measured the wall; it was ten feet high and ten feet thick.
Complete Jewish Bible
There was a wall surrounding the house. The man had in his hand a measuring rod six cubits long [ten-and-a-half feet], each cubit [twenty-one inches] being a normal cubit [eighteen inches] plus a handbreadth [three inches]. He measured the wall's width at ten-and-a-half feet and its height ten-and-a-half feet.
Darby Translation
And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring-reed of six cubits, [each] of one cubit and a hand breadth. And he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Easy-to-Read Version
I saw a wall that went all the way around the outside of the Temple. In the man's hand there was a ruler for measuring things. It was 6 cubits long using the long measurement, so the man measured the thickness of the wall. It was one ruler thick. He measured the height of the wall. It was one ruler tall.
George Lamsa Translation
And behold, a wall round about the house, and in the mans hand a measuring reed six cubits and a hand breadth long; so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Good News Translation
What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick.
Lexham English Bible
And there was a wall on the outside of the temple all the way around it, and in the hand of the man the reed for measurement was six long cubits, according to the cubit and a handbreadth, and he measured the width of the outer wall as one reed, and the height as one reed.
Literal Translation
And, behold, a wall on the outside of the house all around. And a measuring reed was in the man's hand, six cubits, with a cubit and a span. So he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, there was a wall on the outsyde rounde aboute the house: the meterodde that he had in his honde, was six cubites longe & a spanne. So he measured the bredth of the buyldinge, which was a meterodde, and the heyth also a meterodde.
American Standard Version
And, behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Bible in Basic English
And there was a wall on the outside of the house all round, and in the man's hand there was a measuring rod six cubits long by a cubit and a hand's measure: so he took the measure of the building from side to side, one rod; and from base to top, one rod.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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, of a cubit and a hand-breadth each; so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height, one reed.
King James Version (1611)
And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about: and in the mans hand a measuring reed of sixe cubites long, by the cubite, and an hand breadth: so hee measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height one reed.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house, rounde about: the cane to measure with that he had in his hande, was sixe cubites long by the cubite & a hande breadth: So he measured the breadth of the building with one cane, and the heyght with one cane.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And behold a wall round about the house without, and in the man’s hand a reed, the measure of it was six cubits by the cubit, and a span: and he measured across the front wall; the breadth was equal to the reed, and the length of it equal to the reed.
English Revised Version
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, of a cubit and an handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
World English Bible
Behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And lo! a wal withouteforth, in the cumpas of the hous on ech side; and in the hond of the man was a rehed of mesure of sixe cubitis and a spanne, that is, an handibreede; and he mat the breede of the bildyng with o rehed, and the hiynesse bi o rehed.
Update Bible Version
And, look, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
Webster's Bible Translation
And behold a wall on the outside of the house around, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits [long] by the cubit and a hand-breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed: and the hight, one reed.
New English Translation
I saw a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall as 10½ feet, and its height as 10½ feet.
New King James Version
Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple. [fn] 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.
New Life Bible
I saw a wall all around the outside of the house of the Lord. The stick in the man's hand was six cubits long (with the width of a hand being added to the length of each arm). And with it he showed that the wall was one stick wide and one stick high.
New Revised Standard
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.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And lo a wall on the outside of the house round about on every side, - and in the hand of the man, was the measuring reed six cubits by the cubit, and a handbreadth, so he measured the breadth of the enclosing-wall, one reed, and the height one reed.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And behold there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six cubits and a handbreadth: and he measured the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed.
Revised Standard Version
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.
Young's Literal Translation
And lo, a wall on the outside of the house all round about, and in the hand of the man a measuring-reed, six cubits by a cubit and a handbreadth, and he measureth the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed.
THE MESSAGE
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.

Contextual Overview

5 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. 6 Then he went over to the eastern gateway. He climbed the steps and measured the threshold of the gateway; it was 10 1⁄2 feet front to back. 7 There were guard alcoves on each side built into the gateway passage. Each of these alcoves was 10 1⁄2 feet square, with a distance between them of 8 3⁄4 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 1⁄2 feet front to back. 8 He also measured the entry room of the gateway. 9 It was 14 feet across, with supporting columns 3 1⁄2 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 1⁄2 feet wide at the opening and 22 3⁄4 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 1⁄2 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 3⁄4 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 105 feet.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a wall: Ezekiel 42:20, Psalms 125:2, Isaiah 26:1, Isaiah 60:18, Zechariah 2:5, Revelation 21:12

by: Deuteronomy 3:11

so he: Ezekiel 42:20

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 40:6 - one reed Ezekiel 40:10 - they three Ezekiel 41:8 - a full Ezekiel 43:13 - The cubits Zechariah 2:1 - a man

Cross-References

Genesis 20:3
But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, "You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!"
Genesis 40:1
Some time later, Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master.
Genesis 40:3
and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard.
Genesis 40:5
While they were in prison, Pharaoh's cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning.
Genesis 40:7
"Why do you look so worried today?" he asked them.
Genesis 40:8
And they replied, "We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean." "Interpreting dreams is God's business," Joseph replied. "Go ahead and tell me your dreams."
Genesis 40:10
The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes.
Genesis 40:13
Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer.
Genesis 40:14
And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.
Genesis 40:15
For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I'm here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about,.... The first thing that presents itself to the view of the prophet, after the sight of the architect or chief builder, is a wall encompassing this strange and wondrous building; which was like the frame of a city, as before observed: this wall was five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad; see Ezekiel 42:20, now this wall was both for separation and protection; that it was for separation is certain from Ezekiel 42:20, it was to separate between the sanctuary land the profane place; that is, between the church and the world: the people of God were always a distinct and separate people; they were so from eternity, are so in time, and will be so to all eternity; they were distinguished from others by the everlasting love, of God; by his eternal choice of them, and taking them into the covenant of his grace, in consequence of it; and by the redeeming grace of Christ, who has redeemed them out of every kindred, people, and nation; and by the efficacious grace of God, in the effectual calling, by which they are separated from the world, and become a distinct people from them; and so they will be in the resurrection morn, and in the day of judgment, and in heaven for evermore: and what separates and distinguishes them is not any native goodness in them, nor any good thing done by them; but the purpose and grace of God, like a wall built firm and sure; not upon the works of men, but the will of God; and is unalterable and eternal; a wall that can never be battered down: it is this by which the church is enclosed as a vineyard and garden, to which it is sometimes compared, because separate and distinct from the waste, common, and field of the world; as here to a building encompassed by a wall, and divided from it: the church of Christ in all ages does or should consist of persons gathered out of the world, separated from it by the grace of God; but in the latter day it will more visibly appear to consist of such: it will be openly distinguished from the world, by the purity of its doctrines; by the faithful administration of ordinances; strictness of its discipline, and by the holy lives of the members of it; these, by the grace of God, will be a wall of separation round about it, to keep out profane persons and things; moreover, a wail is for protection, preservation, and safety; and such a wall the Lord himself will be to his people; he will be round about them, on their side, and on every side of them: yea, a wall of fire to enlighten, warm, and comfort them, and to consume their enemies, Zechariah 2:5 he will be a wall about his church in his love to them, with which he encompasses them; and which is built, not on their loveliness, love, or obedience, but upon his sovereign will and pleasure; and the dimensions of which, its length, breadth, height, and depth, are unmeasurable: it is a wall impregnable; it can never be broken down, and secures from all enemies whatever; and so he will be in his power, by which his saints are kept as persons in a garrison, or any fortified place well walled about, and which is invincible; to which may be added salvation by Jesus Christ, which will be for the walls and bulwarks of the city and church of God in the latter day, to which belong the prophecies in Isaiah 26:1, which salvation flows from the love of God; is secured by his purpose; established in his covenant; wrought out by Christ, and is an everlasting one; and is the firm security and safety of his church and people now, hereafter, and to all eternity:

and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit, and an hand breadth; as in Ezekiel 40:3 and this being the measure used in taking the dimensions of the whole building, it was proper it should be explained what it was, before they are taken, and the account given: it consisted of six cubits; but then as these differ, there being a common cubit, and a sacred or royal one, it was necessary it should be clearly pointed at, as it is; by observing that these cubits were to be understood of a cubit and a hand's breadth; the common cubit were eighteen inches, a foot and a half, or half a yard; and a hand's breadth were three inches; so that this measure consisted of three yards and a half. Some indeed are of opinion that the hand's breadth is to be added only to the six cubits, and not to each of them; but the text is clear and express that these cubits were by or according to a cubit and a hand's breadth. So the Targum paraphrases it,

"and in the man's hand measuring reeds, one of which was six cubits by a cubit, which is a cubit and a hand's breadth;''

and this is confirmed by what is said in Ezekiel 43:13,

the cubit is a cubit and a hand's breadth; to which may be added, that such was the royal cubit at Babylon, where Ezekiel now was, according to Herodotus q; who says,

"the royal cubit is larger by three fingers than that which was usually measured with, or the common cubit;''

in this way Jarchi and Kimchi understand it; though they make the common cubit to be but five hands' breadth, or fifteen inches, and this six hands' breadth, or eighteen inches: what this mystically signifies,

Ezekiel 43:13- :,

so he measured the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed; not of the whole building of the house or temple, but of the wall before mentioned; the breadth or thickness of which was one reed, or three yards and a half; and the height of it was the same; denoting the great security, safe protection, and strong defence of the church of God.

q Clio, sive l. 1. c. 178.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The 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 (a “hand-breadth” more). In the temple measurements they used only the cubit of eighteen inches; hence, the “cubit and hand-breadth” is the cubit of eighteen inches.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 40:5. A 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. Ezekiel 48:35


 
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