Ezekiel 40

Ezekiel 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet and kohen (priest) Ezekiel, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. The Jerusalem Bible refers to the final section of Ezekiel, chapters 40-48, as "the Torah of Ezekiel". This chapter describes Ezekiel's vision of a future Temple.

Text

The original text was written in the Biblical Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 49 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text (𝕸), which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Leningrad Codex (1008).Template:Sfn

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; $𝔊$^B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; $𝔊$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; $𝔊$^Q; 6th century).Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

The visionary Ezekiel Temple plan drawn by the 19th-century French architect and Bible scholar Charles Chipiez

The beginning of the temple measurements (40:1–5)

This is the beginning of Ezekiel's final vision which he dated to the start of a Jubilee year, "in the 25th year of our exile" verse 1).Template:Sfn In this vision Ezekiel is transported to the land of Israel (cf. Ezekiel 8:3), where he is placed on 'a very high mountain on which was a structure like a city to the south' (verse 2), evidently referring to Mount Zion (exalted as in Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1) and a new city to replace the devastated Jerusalem.Template:Sfn A man gleaming 'like bronze' (verse 3; cf. Template:Bibleverse; 1:27; Template:Bibleverse-nb) appears with a measuring rod to measure the various dimensions of the temple complex and instructs Ezekiel to record the measurements to be passed on to the Israelites.Template:Sfn The measuring actions continues to Ezekiel 42, but this single vision comprises the last nine chapters of the book (chapter 40–48), as Ezekiel tours the restored, pure temple and then watches the Divine Warrior's return and enthronement (in contrast to the vision in chapters 8–11, which record Ezekiel touring the defiled temple before watching the departure of the Warrior).Template:Sfn

Verse 1

In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured,

on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me; and He took me there.

• The date corresponds to the 25th anniversary of Ezekiel's exile, April 28, 573 BCE, which is also the date given in an analysis by German theologian Bernhard Lang. The Jerusalem Bible notes the date as September–October 573. According to the Talmud (b. Arak. 12a), this date falls on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and marks the start of the seventeenth (and last) Jubilee year in history.

Verse 4

And the man said to me,

"Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears,

and fix your mind on everything I show you;

for you were brought here so that I might show them to you.

Declare to the house of Israel everything you see."

• "Son of man": this phrase is used 93 times to address Ezekiel.Template:Sfn

Verse 5

Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple.

In the man's hand was a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth;

and he measured the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod.

• "A cubit and a handbreadth": a cubit is about "44.4 cm or 17.5 in."; a handbreadth (or "four fingers thick") is about "7.4 cm or 2.9 in."Template:Sfn Epiphanius of Salamis, in his treatise On Weights and Measures, describes that: "the part from the elbow to the wrist and the palm of the hand is called the cubit, the middle finger of the cubit measure being also extended at the same time and there being added below (it) the span, that is, of the hand, taken all together."

Template:AnchorThe Eastern Gateway of the Temple (40:6–16)

Gateways of Ezekiel's Temple, as described in the Book of Ezekiel, drawn by the Dutch architect Bartelmeüs Reinders (1893–1979)

Ezekiel records the blueprint of the eastern gateway (which is similar to northern and southern gates) based on the action of the man acting as his guide: Template:Quote The Jerusalem Bible argues that "these elaborate gates" would be built "to enable a watch to be kept on those who enter" in order to ensure that the Temple could be kept pure from foreigners and sinners.

See also

• Israel
• Levi
• New Jerusalem Dead Sea Scroll
• Third Temple
• Zadok
• Related Bible parts: 1 Kings 6, 2 Chronicles 3, Isaiah 2, Ezekiel 33, Ezekiel 41, Ezekiel 48, Daniel 10, Revelation 21

Sources

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External links

Jewish

• Ezekiel 40 Hebrew with Parallel English
• Ezekiel 40 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

• Ezekiel 40 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Template:Webarchive