What Does Ezekiel 40:5 Mean?
And behold, there was a wall outside the house all around, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six forearms long, by the forearm and a handbreadth. He measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and its rising, one reed.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.THE KEY
The wall does not erase spaciousness: the house’s breadth and height each become legible within the same measure.
THE MEANING
The house before you has an outer wall all around, and its breadth and height each take one reed. Its roominess and upright form are visible within a shared measure, so the boundary and dimensions belong to one image.
THE ROOT
רֹחַב
rōḥav
GROWS FROM
רחב
r-ḥ-b
To be broad, roomy, or spacious.
The word for the building’s breadth grows from the root for becoming wide or roomy; the same root forms words for an open expanse and a town square. Its breadth is not only a side on a plan: it is measured spaciousness held within the surrounding wall.
ALSO GROWS
merḥav: Wide place, open expanse
מֶרְחָב
The same root names room to spread out, revealing the spacious quality carried by the building’s breadth.
reḥov: Open square or street
רְחֹב
The root also describes an open public space, linking the building’s measured width with roominess beyond its walls.
קוֹמָתוֹ
qomato
GROWS FROM
קום
q-w-m
To rise or stand.
The word for height shares its root with rising and standing; מָקוֹם (maqom), “place,” is formed from the same root. The verse’s vertical dimension carries the sense of the house’s standing form, alongside the spaciousness of its breadth.
ALSO GROWS
qum: Rise, stand
קוּם
This root verb supplies the sense of rising that appears in the building’s height.
qomah: Height, stature
קוֹמָה
This is the noun form for height, showing that the building’s vertical measure belongs to the language of standing.
maqom: Place
מָקוֹם
A place shares the root of standing, joining the idea of where something stands with the house’s measured form.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling becomes legible through boundaries and measures that reveal its proportions.
And this is how you shall make it. Its length shall be three hundred forearms, its breadth fifty forearms, and its height thirty forearms.Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.And the one who speaks with me holds a golden reed to measure the city, and its gates, and its wall.THE THREAD
And the city lies four-cornered, and its length is as great as its width. And he measures the city with the reed, twelve thousand stades. Its length and width and height are equal.The measuring reed that frames the house here also measures the city, where breadth and height join the full set of dimensions. That later image opens this verse toward a dwelling whose whole form can be seen.
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