Ezekiel 40:3

And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
brought	וַיָּבֵ֨יא vai.ya.Vei'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
man	אִישׁ֙ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
appearance	מַרְאֵ֙הוּ֙ mar.'E.hu	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
appearance	כְּמַרְאֵ֣ה ke.mar.'Eh	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
brass	נְחֹ֔שֶׁת ne.Cho.shet	H5178	copper · noun, common feminine singular absolute
line	וּפְתִיל u.fe.til-	H6616	twine · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
flax	פִּשְׁתִּ֥ים pish.Tim	H6593	linen (i.e. the thread · noun, common masculine plural absolute
hand	בְּיָד֖וֹ be.ya.Do	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
measuring	הַמִּדָּ֑ה ha.mi.Dah	H4060	properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
reed	וּקְנֵ֣ה u.ke.Neh	H7070	a reed (as erect) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
stood	עֹמֵ֖ד 'o.Med	H5975	to stand · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
gate	בַּשָּֽׁעַר ba.Sha.'ar	H8179	an opening · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ezekiel 47:3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the…
Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them tha…
Ezekiel 1:7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burni…
Daniel 10:5-6 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
Revelation 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Revelation 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
Zechariah 2:1-2 I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Ezekiel 1:27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from th…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 40:1-0

Here is, 1. The date of this vision. It was in the twenty-fifth year of Ezekiel's captivity (Eze 40:1), which some compute to be the thirty-third year of the first captivity, and is here said to be the fourteenth year after the city was smitten. See how seasonably the clearest and fullest prospects of their deliverance were given, when they were in the depth of their distress, and an assurance of the return of the morning when they were in the midnight of their captivity: "Then the hand of the Lord was upon me and brought me thither to Jerusalem, now that it was in ruins, desolate and deserted" - a pitiable sight to the prophet. 2. The scene where it was laid. The prophet was brought, in the…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 40:3

man--The Old Testament manifestations of heavenly beings as men prepared men's minds for the coming incarnation. brass--resplendent. line--used for longer measurements (Zac 2:1). reed--used in measuring houses (Rev 21:15). It marked the straightness of the walls.

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 40:3

A man, whose appearance was like - brass - Like bright polished brass, which strongly reflected the rays of light. Probably he had what we would term a nimbus or glory round his head. This was either an angel; or, as some think, a personal appearance of our blessed Lord.

John Gill on Ezekiel 40:3

And he brought me thither,.... Being brought into the land of Israel in vision, and to a high mountain in it, by which were as the frame of a city; he was from thence brought to the city or temple itself, which looked like one: and, behold, a note of attention and admiration: there was a man; one in human form; not a created angel, but the Messiah, the builder and owner of the city and temple, whom it was proper the prophet should first have a view of; and by whom he was to be made acquainted with the several parts and dimensions of those buildings: he is called a "man", not that he was a mere man, but the eternal God; or otherwise he would not have been fit to be the architect or builder…

The Church Fathers

The measuring rod can also be understood as Sacred Scripture for this reason: that whoever reads it measures himself in it—either how much he advances in spiritual virtue, or how far removed he remains from the good things that are commanded; how much he now rises up to do good, how much he still lies prostrate in wicked deeds.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 2, Homily 1

This man spoke to the prophet, in whose hand was a cord, and whose appearance was like bronze, and he held a reed in his hand. He spoke to Ezekiel, a true architect, whom Paul the apostle imitated, saying: Like a wise architect, I have laid the foundation. But he calls him the wise architect, to distinguish him from the foolish one, who is called an unworthy shepherd in Zechariah.
— Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 12:40.1-4

There was also a line made of twine in his hand, as it is written in Zechariah, that he had a measuring line to measure the width and length of the city. And the workers of masonry, either the angels who served under God's command, or Moses, and all the prophets and apostles who build the city of God, and are helpers or ministers of the Lord's will. Hence, the Apostle Paul also said: We are God's field, God's building. And what follows: And the pen of measurement in his hand signifies prophetic grace, of which it is written in the forty-fourth psalm: My tongue is the pen of a swift scribe.
— Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 12:40.1-4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Balance — Occurs in Lev. 19:36 and Isa. 46:6, as the rendering of the Hebrew kanch’, which properly means “a reed” or “a cane,” then a rod or beam of a balance. This same word is translated “measuring reed” in…
Building — Among the Jews was suited to the climate and conditions of the country. They probably adopted the kind of architecture for their dwellings which they found already existing when they entered Canaan…
Linen — (1.) Heb., pishet, pishtah, denotes “flax,” of which linen is made (Isa. 19:9); wrought flax, i.e., “linen cloth”, Lev. 13:47, 48, 52, 59; Deut. 22:11. Flax was early cultivated in Egypt (Ex. 9:31),…
Flax · Robes ma — Robes ma
Measures · Distances measured by rods and lines — Distances measured by rods and lines
Reed · Used as a measuring — Used as a measuring

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ezekiel 40:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 40:1-0

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 40:3

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 40:3

John Gill on Ezekiel 40:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezekiel 40:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 40:1-0

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 40:3

Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 40:3

John Gill on Ezekiel 40:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 40:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezekiel 40:3

Rashi on Ezekiel 40:3