What Does Ezekiel 48:16 Mean?

And these shall be its measures. The north side four thousand five hundred, and the south side four thousand five hundred, and the east side four thousand five hundred, and the sea side four thousand five hundred.

Ezekiel 48:16 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

THE KEY

The city is given the same measured extent in every direction, so no side is left undefined or privileged.

THE MEANING

The verse presents the city as fully bounded: north, south, east, and west each receive the same measure. Its image meets the reader now as a sacred dwelling made inhabitable through a clear, complete boundary.

THE ROOT

מְדֹתֶיהָ

mĕdōtêhā

GROWS FROM

מדד

m-d-d

To measure or measure out; to give something a defined extent.

“measures” in this verse is mĕdōtêhā. The word for the city’s dimensions belongs to the same root as the act of measuring. Repeating one measure on all four sides makes the boundary a continuous, even extent.

ALSO GROWS

madad: To measure, measure out.

מָדַד

This verb names the action behind the measured dimensions: space receives a defined extent.

middah: Measure, dimension, extent.

מִדָּה

This related noun shows how the act of measuring becomes the city’s stated boundary.

THE PATTERN

Sacred dwelling takes form through space that is measured and clearly bounded.

And the innermost room, in its forepart, was twenty forearms in length, and twenty forearms in breadth, and twenty forearms in its height; and he sheathed it with clean gold; and so he covered the altar which was of cedar.

1 Kings 6:20 · SDVThe inner sanctuary receives equal length, breadth, and height, giving sacred space a defined form.

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.

Zechariah 2:2 · SDVJerusalem’s breadth and length are made knowable through measurement.

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.

Revelation 21:16 · SDVThe city’s equal dimensions extend measured sacred space into a complete form.

THE THREAD

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.

Ezekiel 40:5 · SDV

The Hebrew root ⁨מדד⁩ (m-d-d), meaning to measure or measure out, appears in the measuring language of both verses. Ezekiel 40:5 shows the measuring in progress; Ezekiel 48:16 gives its result as an even extent around the city.

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