NOTES for Eze 40:1-49
1 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 of a city on the south. |
3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. |
4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. |
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 toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad. |
7 And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed. |
8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed. |
9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward. |
10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. |
11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. |
12 The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. |
13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door. |
14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate. |
15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits. |
16 And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees. |
17 Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement. |
18 And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement. |
19 Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward. |
20 And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. |
21 And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. |
22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. |
23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits. |
24 After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. |
25 And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. |
26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. |
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; |
29 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. |
30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. |
31 And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. |
32 And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. |
33 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. |
34 And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. |
35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures; |
36 The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. |
37 And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. |
38 And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering. |
39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. |
40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables. |
41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. |
42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. |
43 And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. |
44 And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north. |
45 And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. |
46 And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto him. |
47 So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house. |
48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. |
49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side. |
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It is hard to say how much time elapsed between Ezekiel’s prophecy of God’s victory in the battle against evil, when the prophet announced to the people their coming return, and the next prophecy. Probably several years, during which his listeners were most likely waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. But, as the Lord Jesus Christ tells His disciples, it is not for us to know the times and seasons that God has fixed by His own authority. Ezekiel says not a word about this, nor does he even hint at it. Even on the sorrowful anniversary marking twenty-five years of exile, when the question of timing naturally arises, this is not what occupies the prophet’s attention. In those days, his heart turns to the Lord, and the Lord grants him his last great vision.
As at the beginning of the book, the prophet tries to describe what has been revealed to him, and his words amount to an almost visible picture. In this vision the Lord reveals to the prophet the coming Kingdom of God, and at its centre is what matters most, what fills the heart of the prophet himself and of all his listeners and readers with awe: a new Temple. From a high mountain, almost from a bird’s-eye view, the prophet sees this wonder. It is characteristic that the vast majority of people in every generation are convinced that this is precisely God’s ‘point of view’ on our world: from an unreachable height, the Almighty gazes upon the work of His hands. Now Ezekiel is, as it were, placed at this vantage point and can survey from it the future hidden from mortals. Just as a lookout, spotting the longed-for land on the horizon, raises his voice to announce it to the whole ship, so the prophet describes with delight the Temple he has seen.
What awaits us is an agonising question, and the course of history makes it neither easier nor clearer. Where is the world going, disfigured as it is by human cruelty and self-interest? Is there hope for a perishing humanity? Like most of the prophets, Ezekiel apprehends the answer in spirit, and the very promise of God’s victory and of the Kingdom of the age to come bears witness to its divine origin: such optimism does not arise from human experience. Thus the very fact that there will be a new Temple becomes a momentous event in the spiritual life of the Israelite captives. From this moment, all life in captivity acquires meaning: the exiles have something to await and something to hope for. Without this prophecy of Ezekiel, even the call to return that Second Isaiah would proclaim a few years later would have been impossible.
In the description of the new Temple itself, which occupies three chapters, several aspects are worth noting. A mysterious man, gleaming like bronze, measures every detail of the Temple. In his hands are a linen cord and a measuring reed — ordinary builders’ tools in antiquity, which lend the account a profound meaning. In the Bible, they are above all symbols of God’s Wisdom, which sets the measure of the earth. Addressing Job, the Lord cries out from the storm: ‘Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you know. Who determined its measurements, if you know? Or who stretched a line upon it?’ (Job 38:4–5). The same measure and cord are present in Ezekiel’s vision. Unlike Solomon’s Temple, built after the pattern of ancient Canaanite sanctuaries, unlike even the Second Temple, which Ezra and later Herod sought to arrange according to the measure indicated by Ezekiel, the future Temple that the prophet himself sees is built according to the measure of Divine Wisdom. It is not human efforts but the Creator’s Wisdom that builds it for people. This detail is precisely what makes the prophet’s vision more than a foreseeing of the near future: it is a revelation about the end of time and the goal of history. It is therefore no surprise that the future Temple is more harmonious than Solomon’s Temple and that many features of its design are imbued with profound symbolism.
The reader is also struck by the close link between Ezekiel’s vision and two vitally important biblical texts, the beginning and the end of Sacred History. Ezekiel’s description of the Temple vividly recalls the description of the Tabernacle in which God dwelt among His people in the wilderness. This description, which takes up a considerable part of the Pentateuch, is striking in its abundance of detail and forms an essential part of the Mosaic covenant. Just as God’s presence in the Tabernacle was the meaning of the Sinai covenant, so the meaning of Ezekiel’s new Temple lies in God’s presence among people. Both the Tabernacle in the Pentateuch and the new Temple in the book of Ezekiel become signs of the Covenant with God. And, of course, we cannot help recalling that another prophet and seer, John the Evangelist and Theologian, describes the New Jerusalem. At the very end of Revelation, John speaks of the city and of the Angel who measures it with a reed, exactly as in Ezekiel’s vision. Significantly, whereas Ezekiel sees, in essence, only a drawing — one is tempted to say a black-and-white one — John’s description sparkles with the brightest colours of every precious stone. Knowing Ezekiel’s text very well, John the Evangelist says of the New Jerusalem: ‘I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple.’ These words express the central meaning of both visions.
Other notes
For Eze 40:1-49
1 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 of a city on the south. |
3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. |
4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. |
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 toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad. |
7 And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed. |
8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed. |
9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward. |
10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. |
11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. |
12 The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. |
13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door. |
14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate. |
15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits. |
16 And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees. |
17 Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement. |
18 And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement. |
19 Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward. |
20 And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. |
21 And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. |
22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. |
23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits. |
24 After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. |
25 And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. |
26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. |
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; |
29 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. |
30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. |
31 And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. |
32 And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. |
33 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. |
34 And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. |
35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures; |
36 The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. |
37 And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. |
38 And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering. |
39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. |
40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables. |
41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. |
42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. |
43 And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. |
44 And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north. |
45 And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. |
46 And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto him. |
47 So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house. |
48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. |
49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side. |
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