What Does Ezekiel 48:16 Mean in the King James?

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.

Ezekiel 48:16 · 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 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 oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.

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

Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.

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

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 city’s equal dimensions extend measured sacred space into a complete form.

THE THREAD

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.

Ezekiel 40:5 · KJV

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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