Bible Strands
Ezekiel 42:16
With a measuring rod he measured the east side to be five hundred cubits long.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes a visionary survey where a measuring figure completes the temple interior and begins recording the outer boundaries, starting at the eastern gate.
The words — מָדַד (ma.Dad) translates as "he measured," while ר֥וּחַ (Ru.ach) indicates "the side" or cardinal direction, pinpointing the eastern face of the enclosure.
The thread — The measuring action recurs in Ezekiel 40:3 with a bronze-appearing man holding a linen cord, Zechariah 2:1 with a figure carrying a measuring line, and Revelation 11:1 where a staff-like rod is given to measure the temple.
Why it lands — The text records a precise five-hundred-cubit dimension for the east boundary before any theological meaning is drawn, requiring the reader to first acknowledge the exactness of the vision's architecture.
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
King James Version
He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 40:3 So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.
- Zechariah 2:1 Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
- Revelation 11:1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.