Ezekiel 42:16
in Ezekiel 42With a measuring rod he measured the east side to be five hundred cubits long.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
KJV
He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
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This verse in Ezekiel 42
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 15 onwards) When he had finished measuring the interior dimensions of the house, he led me along the way of the gate that faced east, and he measured it all around. (He measured the likeness of the house all around in order.) He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was 500 rods long by the measuring rod all around. (He also measured the north side, south side, and west side.) And he measured against the north wind, five hundred cubits, measuring with a cubit in circumference.
This site's exposition
had finished measuring the interior
on Ezekiel 42:15-20
The inner survey ends. The rod goes around the whole: five hundred cubits, a square with a wall all around, “to separate the holy from the common”. The glory left a defiled house at 11:23, and this wall is set two chapters before its return at 43:4.
This site's exposition
five hundred cubits long
The Hebrew text reads five hundred reeds, and Jerome and Adam Clarke follow it, Clarke saying an area so large might be called a city. The Berean reads cubits, a figure that fits the measures of chapters 40 and 41. Matthew Henry sees the church's reach in it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thus large were the suburbs (as I may call them) of this mystical temple, signifying the great extent of the church in gospel-times, when all nations should be discipled and the kingdoms of the world made Christ's kingdoms. Room should be made in God's courts for the numerous forces of the Gentiles that shall flow into them, as was foretold, Isa. xlix.
13 Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the L ORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v13
He measured the east side,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He measured the east - north - south - west side - Each of which was five hundred reeds: and, as the building was square, the area must have been nearly thirteen thousand paces. No wonder this was called a city. See Eze 40:2.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
FAIRBAIRN rightly supports English Version, which agrees with the Hebrew. The vast extent is another feature marking the ideal character of the temple. It symbolizes the great enlargement of the kingdom of God, when Jehovah-Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, and from thence to the ends of the earth (Isa 2:2-4;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מָדַ֛ד | madad | he measured | H4058 → | 51 times |
| ר֥וּחַ | ruach | [the] side of | H7307 → | 378 times |
| הַקָּדִ֖ים | hakadim | the east | H6921 → | 69 times |
| בִּקְנֵ֣ה | bikneh | with [the] reed of | H7070 → | 62 times |
| הַמִּדָּ֑ה | hamidah | <the> measurement | H4060 → | 55 times |
| חֲמֵשׁ־ | chamesh- | five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| מֵא֥וֹת | emot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| קָנִ֛ים | kanim | reeds | H7070 → | 62 times |
| בִּקְנֵ֥ה | bikneh | by [the] reed of | H7070 → | 62 times |
| הַמִּדָּ֖ה | hamidah | <the> measurement | H4060 → | 55 times |
| סָבִֽיב׃ | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
מָדַ֛דhe measured
madadH4058 →51 times
ר֥וּחַ[the] side of
ruachH7307 →378 times
הַקָּדִ֖יםthe east
hakadimH6921 →69 times
בִּקְנֵ֣הwith [the] reed of
biknehH7070 →62 times
הַמִּדָּ֑ה<the> measurement
hamidahH4060 →55 times
חֲמֵשׁ־five
chamesh-H2568 →343 times
מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>
emotH3967 →581 times
קָנִ֛יםreeds
kanimH7070 →62 times
בִּקְנֵ֥הby [the] reed of
biknehH7070 →62 times
הַמִּדָּ֖ה<the> measurement
hamidahH4060 →55 times
סָבִֽיב׃all around
savivH5439 →336 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Zechariah 2:1Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:15
The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 40:3
So 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.
- Zechariah 1:16
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out…
- 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…
- Ezekiel 47:4
Then he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through knee-deep water. Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through waist-deep water.
- Revelation 21:15
Through
Ezekiel 40:3So 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.
it leads to
- Revelation 11:1
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.
- Ezekiel 47:3
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water.
- Ezekiel 1:7
Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.
- Revelation 11:1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.