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 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", "a blueprint for the religious and political rehabilitation of the Israelite nation in Palestine". 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, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus, Aleppo Codex, and Leningrad Codex.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, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus.
The beginning of the temple measurements (verses 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). In this vision Ezekiel is transported to the land of Israel, where he is placed on 'a very high mountain on which was a structure like a city to the south', evidently referring to Mount Zion and a new city to replace the devastated Jerusalem. A man gleaming 'like bronze' 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. The measuring actions continues to Ezekiel 42, but this single vision comprises the last nine chapters of the book, as Ezekiel tours the restored, pure temple and then watches the Divine Warrior's return and enthronement.Verse 1
- 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, this date falls on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and marks the start of the seventeenth Jubilee year in history.
Verse 4
- "Son of man": this phrase is used 93 times to address Ezekiel.
Verse 5
- "A cubit and a handbreadth": a cubit is about "44.4 cm or 17.5 in."; a handbreadth is about "7.4 cm or 2.9 in." Epiphanius of Salamis, in his treatise On [Weights and Measures (Epiphanius)|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 the span, that is, of the hand, taken all together."
The Eastern Gateway of the Temple (verses 6–16)
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.
Jewish
*Christian