Ezekiel 43:16
in Ezekiel 43The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve broad, square in the four sides thereof.
KJV
And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 43
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the measures of the altar
on Ezekiel 43:13-17
The altar's own measure is given by a cubit and a hand breadth, a slightly longer cubit than the common one, rising in stepped settles from a one-cubit base to a hearth twelve cubits square with four horns at its corners, fourteen cubits at the wider settle below it. Commentators read the graduated settles as a sermon in stone by themselves, an altar approached upward in stages rather than mounted in one step, the same restraint that governed the earlier altar of earth or unhewn stone (Exodus 20:24-25). The stairs are set toward the east, so that whoever climbs to offer faces the gate through which the glory has just returned.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 13 seqq.) These are the measurements of the altar: in the true cubit, which is a cubit and a handbreadth (or παλαιστὴν) in his bosom, the cubit was in length, and its width was measured from its lip to the surrounding palm of one hand. This was also the trench of the altar. From the bosom of the earth to the outermost base, it was two cubits in height, and the width of one cubit. And from the smaller base to the larger base, it was four cubits, and the width of one cubit.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
altar - Ariel was to be an exact square on all sides. Compare Exo 27:1; Rev 21:16.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָאֲרִיאֵ֗ל | vehaarieil | and the altar hearth | H741 → | |
| שְׁתֵּ֤ים | sheteim | [is] two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵה֙ | ʾesreh | ten [cubits] | H6240 → | 338 times |
| אֹ֔רֶךְ | ʾorekh | [the] length | H753 → | 95 times |
| בִּשְׁתֵּ֥ים | bishteim | by two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה | ʾesreh | ten [cubits] | H6240 → | 338 times |
| רֹ֑חַב | rochav | [the] breadth | H7341 → | 101 times |
| רָב֕וּעַ | ravua' | square | H7251 → | 12 times |
| אֶ֖ל | ʾel | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַרְבַּ֥עַת | ʾarbaat | [the] four | H702 → | 318 times |
| רְבָעָֽיו׃ | revaav | sides its | H7253 → | 7 times |
וְהָאֲרִיאֵ֗לand the altar hearth
vehaarieilH741 →
שְׁתֵּ֤ים[is] two [plus]
sheteimH8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵה֙ten [cubits]
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
אֹ֔רֶךְ[the] length
ʾorekhH753 →95 times
בִּשְׁתֵּ֥יםby two [plus]
bishteimH8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֖הten [cubits]
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
רֹ֑חַב[the] breadth
rochavH7341 →101 times
רָב֕וּעַsquare
ravua'H7251 →12 times
אֶ֖לto
ʾelH413 →5510 times
אַרְבַּ֥עַת[the] four
ʾarbaatH702 →318 times
רְבָעָֽיו׃sides its
revaavH7253 →7 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
Exodus 27:1“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
it leads to
- Exodus 38:1–7
Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
- Hebrews 13:10
We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
- 2 Samuel 24:18
And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
- Exodus 38:1–7
Through
2 Chronicles 4:1He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:64
On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of…
- Ezekiel 43:13–17
These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its…
- 1 Kings 8:22
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
- 1 Kings 8:64
Through
Ezra 3:3They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land.
it leads to
- Numbers 28:2–8
“Command the Israelites and say to them: See that you present to Me at its appointed time the food for My offerings by fire, as a pleasing aroma to Me.
- Ezra 4:4
Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.
- Numbers 28:2–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
