What Does Ezekiel 40:48 Mean in the King James?

And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.

Ezekiel 40:48 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The opening into the house has a measured spaciousness: each side mirrors the other.

THE MEANING

The way into the house has a precise shape. Its repeated measures hold both sides in balance, giving the opening a clear form. Here, spaciousness is not formless; it has room within measured boundaries.

THE ROOT

רֹחַב

roḥav

GROWS FROM

רחב

r-ḥ-b

To be wide, widen, or become spacious.

English “breadth” can sound like a bare dimension, but ⁨רֹחַב⁩ belongs to a family of words for widening and spaciousness. The gate’s width is therefore more than a number: it describes a shaped opening, with symmetry giving that spaciousness form.

ALSO GROWS

raḥav: To become wide or spread out.

רָחַב

This verb makes the gate’s breadth a movement toward room, not only a fixed measurement.

merḥav: A broad or spacious place.

מֶרְחָב

This noun connects the gate’s measured width with the experience of being brought into open space.

THE PATTERN

The dwelling place is revealed through ordered proportions that give its space a discernible form.

According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

Exodus 25:9 · KJVThe tabernacle’s form follows a shown pattern, making its sacred space ordered rather than arbitrary.

And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

1 Kings 6:3 · KJVThe temple porch, like Ezekiel’s, is disclosed through dimensions that define its approach.

And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

Revelation 21:16 · KJVThe measured city holds its dimensions in balance, showing ordered space on a larger scale.

THE THREAD

I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.

Psalm 118:5 · KJV

“Large place” translates ⁨מֶרְחָב⁩ (merḥav), from the same root ⁨רחב⁩ as the “breadth” of the gate. Ezekiel gives spaciousness a measured architectural form; the psalm describes being brought into that spaciousness from distress.

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