Handbreadth

How Nave’s arranged it

• A measure (about four inches)Exodus 25:251 Kings 7:262 Chronicles 4:5Psalms 39:5Isaiah 48:13Ezekiel 40:5Ezekiel 40:43Jeremiah 52:21
• See Span, Fingerbreadth

The passages, in Bible order (8)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 8 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Exodus 25:25

   And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 25:251 voice

   “And thou shalt make unto it a border of art hand's breadth round about,....

   Everything gathered on Exodus 25:25→

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2. 1 Kings 7:26

   It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 7:262 voices

   “For by the brim of a cup is expressed the taste of the Lord's passion, and by the leaf of a crisped lily the glory of his resurrection is openly revealed. For that the chalice of his passion is indicated in the cup is attested …

   “And it was an hand breadth thick,....

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 7:26→

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3. 2 Chronicles 4:5

   It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.

   ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 4:51 voice

   “Three thousand baths - See 1Ki 7:23 note. It is quite possible that either here or in Kings the text may have been accidentally corrupted.

   Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 4:5→

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4. Psalms 39:5

   You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

   ›Commentary on Psalms 39:52 voices

   “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth,....

   “God, who knows precisely the allotted days of each one of us, regards nothing as immeasurable. His knowledge embraces the measure of all things. To him nothing is beyond his understanding, nothing is unweighed, nothing is unmeasured, nothing is unnumbered. He says, "The very hairs of your head have been numbered." … We know that God is said to have measured the heavens with the palm of his hand22—the palm, from thumb to little finger, being the span by which a thing is measured and its length ascertained.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 39:5→

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5. Isaiah 48:13

   Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 48:132 voices

   “(Verse 12, 13 and following) Hear me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. I am the first and the last. My hand also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand measures the heavens: I have called them, and they will stand together. Gather yourselves and listen: who among them has declared these things? The Lord loved him: he will fulfill his will in Babylon and his arm in the Chaldeans. I, I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made straight.

   Now the hand and the right arm is what God the Father calls his Son. And we often find him so called throughout Scripture. The divine Moses said, "Your right hand has been glorified in might, your right hand has shattered the enemies," and David the blessed said, "May your hand be strengthened, may your right arm be lifted up."

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 48:13→

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6. Jeremiah 52:21

   Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 52:212 voices

   “And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits,.... As in 1Ki 7:15; said to be thirty five, 2Ch 3:15; of the reconciliation of which; see Gill on 2Ch 3:15, and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; a thread or line of that measure encompassed each of the pillars, 1Ki 7:15; and the thickness thereof was four fingers; either of the pillar, or the fillet about it; that is, the brass of it was four fingers thick: it was hollow; that is, the pillar was hollow.

   “The fillet means a measuring line; the pillars were 12 cubits, i. e., 18 feet, in circumference, and thus the diameter would be 5 feet 9 inches. As the brass was four fingers, i. e., scarcely four inches thick, the hollow center would be more than five feet in diameter.

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 52:21→

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7. Ezekiel 40:5

   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.

   ›Commentary on Ezekiel 40:52 voices

   “While reading the description of the mystical temple (which the Jews believe should be built literally upon the coming of their own Christ, whom we believe to be the Antichrist, but we refer to the Church of Christ, which we see being built daily in his saints), whenever the eye of the heart opens, it happens to me that I think I see and possess the bridegroom and joyfully say: 'I have found him whom my soul loves; I will hold him, and not let him go.' (Song of Solomon 3:4).

   “And behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about,....

   Everything gathered on Ezekiel 40:5→

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8. Ezekiel 40:43

   The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables.

   ›Commentary on Ezekiel 40:432 voices

   “Hooks - The alternative renderings given in the margin indicate the doubtfulness of the translation of the original word. The form is dual, and indicates that it is some object usually found in pairs. Some suggest that they were borders or ledges set, on either side of the tables, a handbreadth from the edges, to prevent the instruments placed on them from falling off.

   Turned inward all around. But perhaps the teacher's discourse is against vainglory, and while wonderfully insinuating how it ought to be avoided, he seeks vainglory by those very words with which he argues against that same vainglory. If therefore he desires to obtain what he forbids, the table does not turn its lip inward. But the table of the Lord, constructed from squared stones, will have its lip turned inward if one strives to hear what he says. For it is written: "Do nothing through contention, nor through vainglory."

   Everything gathered on Ezekiel 40:43→

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