Ezekiel 40:42

There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The text records a visionary tour of the future temple’s gateway court, where Ezekiel observes the architectural layout for sacrificial rites. God directs the prophet’s measurement of the space designated for burnt offerings.

The words — The text specifies שֻׁלְחָנֹת (shul.cha.Not) as tables and גָזִית (ga.Zit) as hewn stone, noting each measured exactly one and a half cubits on every side. The description emphasizes precise, tool-shaped masonry for the sacrificial surface.

The thread — The text places these tables alongside other slaughter stations in the gateway (Ezekiel 40:39, 41:43) while contrasting with the command against tool-shaped altar stones (Exodus 20:25). The repeated use of dressed stone marks a shift in the temple’s prescribed construction.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the future worship space requires exact dimensions and prepared materials for handling blood and meat. Readers must note the tension between the commanded precision here and the prohibition against worked stone in earlier altar instructions.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאַרְבָּעָה֩ve./'ar.ba.'Ahand/ four שֻׁלְחָנ֨וֹתshul.cha.Nottables לָעוֹלָ֜הla./'o.Lahfor the/ burnt offering אַבְנֵ֣י'av.Nei[were] stones of גָזִ֗יתga.Zithewn [stone]אֹרֶךְ֩'o.reKh[the] length אַמָּ֨ה'a.Mah[was] a cubit אַחַ֤ת'a.Chatone וָחֵ֙צִי֙va./Che.tziand/ a half וְרֹ֨חַבve./Ro.chavand/ [the] breadth אַמָּ֤ה'a.Mah[was] a cubit אַחַת֙'a.Chatone וָחֵ֔צִיva./Che.tziand/ a half וְגֹ֖בַהּve./Goahand/ [the] height אַמָּ֣ה'a.Mah[was] a cubit אֶחָ֑ת'e.Chatone אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם'a.lei./Hemto/ them וְיַנִּ֤יחוּve./ya.Ni.chuso/ people may set down אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַכֵּלִים֙ha./ke.Limthe/ equipment<s>אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sherwhich יִשְׁחֲט֧וּyish.cha.Tupeople slaughtered אֶת־'et-<obj.>הָעוֹלָ֛הha./'o.Lahthe/ burnt offeringבָּ֖םba/mby/ themוְהַזָּֽבַח׃ve./ha./Za.vachand/ the/ sacrifice

King James Version

And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 40:39 Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered.
Exodus 20:25 Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.