What Does Ezekiel 41:5 Mean?
Then he measured the wall of the house, six forearms; and the breadth of every rib chamber, four forearms, around the house on every side.
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
After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.THE KEY
The “side chambers” are literally the house’s sides or ribs: measured space belongs to the temple’s perimeter, not only its central room.
THE MEANING
The wall has a measure of six cubits, and each surrounding side chamber has a breadth of four cubits. The house is shown as a whole whose sides have their own measured space.
THE ROOT
צֵלָע
tsela
GROWS FROM
צלע
side, flank, or rib
“rib chamber” in this verse is tsela. The Hebrew word צֵלָע (tsela, side or rib) names both a body part and the side of a structure. English makes this sound like an ordinary room label; the Hebrew keeps the chamber joined to the side of the house.
ALSO GROWS
tsela: rib or side of the body
צֵלָע
This is the same word translated “rib” in Genesis 2:22, linking the chamber to the house’s side.
tsala: to limp or go lame
צָלַע
This verb shares the consonants צלע; its connection to the verse is the root’s language of sidedness, though the verse uses the architectural noun.
רֹחַב
rochav
GROWS FROM
רחב
to be wide or make room
The word רֹחַב (rochav, breadth) belongs to a root that also describes becoming spacious and having room. The verse gives that room a precise measure, four cubits, and repeats it around the house.
ALSO GROWS
rachav: to become wide or spacious
רָחַב
The verb shows the spatial sense beneath the measured breadth of each chamber.
merchav: broad or open place
מֶרְחָב
This noun appears in Psalm 18:19 as “a large place,” echoing the openness carried by the chambers’ breadth.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling’s fullness is shown not only at its center but in the measured space built around it.
And against the wall of the house he built side chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the innermost room; and he made side chambers round about.In my Father's house are many places to remain. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to make ready a place for you.THE THREAD
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from Adam, he built into a woman, and brought her to Adam.The Hebrew צֵלָע (tsela, side or rib) is translated “rib” here and “side chamber” in Ezekiel. The same word links the body’s side with the house’s sides, making the chambers part of the temple’s own structure.
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