Ezekiel 41:4
in Ezekiel 41Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
KJV
So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
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This verse in Ezekiel 41
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe length thereof, twenty cubits - This is the measurement of the sanctuary, or holy of holies. See G in the plan. This also was the exact measurement of Solomon’s temple, see 1Ki 6:20. This, and the other resemblances here, sufficiently prove that Ezekiel’s temple and that of Solomon were on the same plan; and that the latter temple was intended to be an exact resemblance of the former.
This site's exposition
brought me into the outer sanctuary
on Ezekiel 41:1-4
The guide measures the outer sanctuary, forty cubits by twenty, then goes into the inner sanctuary. His own words name the room: “This is the Most Holy Place”. Gill notes the slowness of the tour, so that the reader reaches the innermost room only after every approach has been counted.
This site's exposition
This is the Most Holy Place
The room is a square of twenty cubits, the same size as Solomon's inner sanctuary, which Clarke takes as proof both temples share one plan. Matthew Henry links the square to the New Jerusalem, laid out as a square in Revelation 21:16. He reads the shape as stability.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 3, 4.) \"And he entered inside (or into the inner court) and measured the front (or threshold) of the gate to be two cubits, and the gate to be six (or ten) cubits, and the width of the gate to be seven cubits (or, the width of the gate from one shoulder to the other being seven cubits on each side). And he measured its (or the doors') length to be twenty cubits and its width to be twenty cubits in front of the temple.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For the new Jerusalem is exactly square ( Rev. xxi. 16 ), denoting its stability; for we look for a city that cannot be moved. The upper stories were larger than the lower,
So he measured the length thereof twenty cubits,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The angel went in and measured it, while Ezekiel stood in front, in the only part of the temple accessible to him. The dimensions of the two apartments are the same as in Solomon's temple, since being fixed originally by God, they are regarded as finally determined.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Temple - here is the holy place as distinguished from the most holy, “the Oracle,” which is “before” the holy place, inwards.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֨מָד | vaiyamod | and he measured | H4058 → | 51 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָרְכּ֜וֹ | ʾareko | length its | H753 → | 95 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֣ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| אַמָּ֗ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| וְרֹ֛חַב | verochav | and [the] breadth | H7341 → | 101 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֥ים | ʾesrim | [was] twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| אַמָּ֖ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פְּנֵ֣י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַֽהֵיכָ֑ל | haheikhal | the temple | H1964 → | 80 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| זֶ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| קֹ֥דֶשׁ | kodesh | [is] [the] holy place of | H6944 → | 469 times |
| הַקֳּדָשִֽׁים׃ | hakodashim | the holy places | H6944 → | 469 times |
וַיָּ֨מָדand he measured
vaiyamodH4058 →51 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אָרְכּ֜וֹlength its
ʾarekoH753 →95 times
עֶשְׂרִ֣יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
אַמָּ֗הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
וְרֹ֛חַבand [the] breadth
verochavH7341 →101 times
עֶשְׂרִ֥ים[was] twenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
אַמָּ֖הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַֽהֵיכָ֑לthe temple
haheikhalH1964 →80 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
זֶ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
קֹ֥דֶשׁ[is] [the] holy place of
kodeshH6944 →469 times
הַקֳּדָשִֽׁים׃the holy places
hakodashimH6944 →469 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
1 Kings 6:16He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
it leads to
- Hebrews 9:3
Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 3:8
Then he made the Most Holy Place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold.
- 1 Kings 8:6
Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
- Leviticus 16:2
And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he…
- Ezekiel 45:3
From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits, and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
- Hebrews 9:3
Through
2 Chronicles 3:8Then he made the Most Holy Place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold.
it leads to
- Exodus 26:33
And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
- 1 Kings 6:19–20
Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
- 1 Kings 6:16
He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
- Exodus 26:33
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.