Ezekiel 40:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 40:4
And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
man
אָדָ֡ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
behold
רְאֵ֣הre.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
eyes
בְעֵינֶיךָ֩ve.'ei.nei.Kha
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
hear
שְּׁמָ֜עshe.Ma'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
ears
וּבְאָזְנֶ֨יךָu.ve.'a.ze.Nei.kha
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
set
וְשִׂ֣יםve.Sim
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
heart
לִבְּךָ֗li.be.Kha
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
shew
מַרְאֶ֣הmar.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
intent
לְמַ֥עַןle.Ma.'an
H4616
properly · particle
shew
הַרְאוֹתְכָ֖הhar.'ot.Khah
H7200
to see · verb, hiphil infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
brought
הֻבָ֣אתָהhu.Va.tah
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hophal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
declare
הַגֵּ֛דha.Ged
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
seest
רֹאֶ֖הro.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
house
לְבֵ֥יתle.Veit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
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 44:5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning a…
Jeremiah 26:2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s hou…
Ezekiel 2:7-8 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
Ezekiel 43:10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.
Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Ezekiel 2:1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
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…
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 40:4
Declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel - That they may know how to build the second temple, when they shall be restored from their captivity.
John Gill on Ezekiel 40:4
And the man said unto me, Son of man,.... The glorious and illustrious Person before described, who appeared in a human form, spoke to the prophet, calling him "the Son of man", a title often bestowed upon him in this prophecy; and here used to put him in mind of his original and decent, and of his meanness and unworthiness; thereby teaching him humility, which is necessary in order to receive instruction, and learn the knowledge of divine things: and also he might use this free and familiar way of speaking, both to express his philanthropy or good will to men, and to take off all terror from the mind of the prophet at his appearance; that he might more diligently attend to what he should se…
Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears (Zech. XI): not with the eyes of the flesh, but with the spirit; not with the ears of the body, but with the soul. Lift up, he says, your eyes, and see that the fields are already white for harvest (John 4:35). And: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:8). The construction of the city is visible, and the order of the ceremonies and priests, and the description of the land can be heard.
But it is not enough to command to see with the eyes and hear with the ears; but he added: And place your heart in all things; or, place in your heart all that I will show you. For nothing is of benefit to have seen and heard, unless you place those things that you have seen and heard in the treasure of memory. When, however, he says, 'all things that I will show you', he makes the listener attentive, and he prepares the eyes of the heart, so that he may hold in his memory those things that are to be shown to him, for you have been brought here so that all things may be shown to you.
Brought to the testimony of spiritual things, what is it that when it is said: "See with eyes," "your" is added, and when it is subjoined "Hear with ears," "your" is added? But it should be known that the eyes and ears of the body are present even to carnal men, and are in use for them for things that are seen corporeally. But the eyes and ears of the heart belong only to spiritual men, who see invisible things through the intellect, and hear the praise of God without sound. The almighty Lord was seeking these ears when He said: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." For who in that people could there have been then who did not have ears of the body? But when it is said: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," it is openly shown that He was seeking those ears which not all could have. Let it be said therefore: "Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears." Now in the earlier part of our expositions we have already said why the prophet, as often as he is led to see spiritual things, is called son of man. But lest this should slip from mind, I briefly repeat that by this appellation he is always reminded what he is from weakness, lest he be lifted up by the greatness of contemplation. And it should be noted that it is distinctive that he is told, "See with your eyes, hear with your ears," and yet is called son of man. But through these words what else is openly said to him, except: behold spiritual things spiritually, and yet remember your carnal weaknesses? Hence it is also that often one who is more caught up in contemplation happens to be more wearied in temptation; as is wont to happen frequently to certain ones who are making good progress, whose mind, while either compunction affects it or contemplation carries it above itself, temptation also immediately follows, lest it be exalted on account of those things to which it was carried. For by compunction or contemplation it is raised up to God, but by the weight of its temptation it is beaten back to itself, so that temptation may burden it lest contemplation puff it up; and likewise contemplation may elevate it lest temptation plunge it down. For if contemplation were to lift it up in such a way that temptation were utterly absent, the soul would fall into pride. And if temptation were to press down in such a way that contemplation did not elevate, it would slide fully into fault. But by a…
Dictionary and topics
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 40:1-4
Introduction
Eze 40:1. In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten, on this same day the hand of Jehovah came upon me, and He brought me thither. Eze 40:2. In visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain; and upon it there was like a city-edifice toward the south. Eze 40:3. And He brought me thither, and behold there was a man, his appearance like the appearance of brass, and a flaxen cord in his hand, and the measuring-rod; and he stood by the gate. Eze 40:4. And the man spake to me: Son of man, see with thine eyes, and hear with…
a man whose face shone like bronze: An angelic guide would host Ezekiel’s tour of the Temple. The bronze color is reminiscent of the heavenly creatures described in the opening vision (see 1:7). Unlike the guide for his previous visionary tour of the earthly Temple in chs 8–11, this guide was armed only with a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod, implements of construction rather than destruction. Measurement is a key theme in the chapters that follow, enabling the prophet to highlight the importance of certain parts of the Temple by making them larger and more precisely determined than other parts.
Rashi on Ezekiel 40:4
to all that I am showing you the matter of the building.
you have been brought here from Babylon.
