Bible Strands
Ezekiel 42:8
For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those facing the temple were a hundred cubits long.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records the visionary tour of Ezekiel’s temple blueprint, where a measuring figure details the architectural dimensions of the outer court chambers. The vision contrasts the shorter outer chambers with the longer inner chambers facing the sanctuary.
The words — חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים (cha.mi.Shim) translates literally to fifty, and אַמָּה ('a.Mah) means cubit, establishing the precise metric system governing the layout. The Hebrew phrasing directly contrasts the fifty-cubit outer chambers with the hundred-cubit inner ones.
The thread — This measurement motif continues in Ezekiel 41:13, where the temple itself is recorded as a hundred cubits long. The consistent use of cubits ties the outer courts to the inner sanctuary in a single architectural vision.
Why it lands — The text demands attention to the exact proportions of sacred space before any theological application. It requires the reader to acknowledge that the vision’s authority rests on its structural precision, not symbolic speculation.
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
For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 41:13 Then he measured the temple to be a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long.