a reed (as erect) · 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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 40:5-26
The measuring-reed which was in the hand of the surveyor-general was mentioned before, Eze 40:3. Here we are told (Eze 40:5) what was the exact length of it, which must be observed, because the house was measured by it. It was six cubits long, reckoning, not by the common cubit, but the cubit of the sanctuary, the sacred cubit, by which it was fit that this holy house should be measured, and that was a hand-breadth (that it, four inches) longer than the common cubit: the common cubit was eighteen inches, this twenty-two, see Eze 43:13. Yet some of the critics contend that this measuring-reed was but six common cubits in length, and one handbreadth added to the whole. The former seems more pr…
chamber--These chambers were for the use of the Levites who watched at the temple gates; guard-chambers (Kg2 22:4; Ch1 9:26-27); also used for storing utensils and musical instruments.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 40:7
And every little chamber was one reed - These were the chambers of the buildings which were within the inclosure of the temple round the court, and these chambers appear to have been numerous. See the map, which has been carefully copied from that of Calmet.
John Gill on Ezekiel 40:8
He measured also the porch of the gate within,
one reed. This was either the measure of the breadth of the porch between the opposite chambers on both sides; or rather of the length of that space, which was between the third little chamber and the last gate; and such a space must be supposed to be between the first gate and the first little chamber, which space were three yards and a half; which shows how spacious the churches of Christ will be, and how exactly measured.
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 40:6-16
The Buildings of the East Gate
(See Plate II 1). - Eze 40:6. And he went to the gate, the direction of which was toward the east, and ascended the steps thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate one rod broad, namely, the first threshold one rod broad, Eze 40:7. And the guard-room one rod long and one rod broad, and between the guard-rooms five cubits, and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate from the temple hither one rod. Eze 40:8. And he measured the porch of the gate from the temple hither one rod. Eze 40:9. And he measured the porch of the gate eight cubits, and its pillars two cubits; and the porch of the gate was from the temple hither. Eze 40:10. And of the guard-…
The Church Fathers
He also measured the width of the threshold of the ten-cubit gate, which is a perfect number and is contained either in the Decalogue or in the sacraments of the four Gospels. Whoever begins with one, reaches four in such a way as to fill the number ten.
The man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, measured the vestibule of the gate at eight cubits, and its front at two cubits. And lest we should believe the vestibule to be outside the gate, it is added: But the vestibule of the gate was on the inside. What is signified by the inner vestibule, if not the breadth of eternal life, which is now conceived in the mind through hope amid the narrow constraints of the present life? Of which it is said through the Psalmist: Enter his gates with confession, his courts with hymns of confessions. For when we confess our sins through tears, we enter the gate of the narrow life. But when after these things we are led to eternal life, we enter the courts of our gate with praises of confessions, because there will no longer be any narrowness there, when the joy of perpetual festivity has received us. On account of the narrowness of our confession, the Truth says: Enter through the narrow gate. And when the Psalmist presumed that he would be received into the breadth of eternal joy, he said: You have set my feet in a spacious place. Therefore one proceeds through the gate to the court, because one arrives at the breadth of solemnity from the narrowness of confession. Those joys, therefore, which are called courts in David, are called the inner vestibule in Ezekiel. Hence this same vestibule is said to have been measured at eight cubits. For there all are to be received who now both labor in the exercise of work and sigh for eternal joys through the grace of contemplation. Nor is it unfitting that the measure of the vestibule is set at eight cubits, because all time unfolds in seven days. For the eternal day, which follows after the completion of the sevenfold succession of days, is indeed the eighth. Hence also the Psalmist, considering the day of resurrection, because he was about to speak of the severity of the final judgment, prefixed the title, saying: "Unto the end, a Psalm of David for the eighth." For to show which eighth day he meant—that day of tremendous terror—he continued at the beginning of the Psalm, saying: "O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chastise me in your fury." For now whoever is chastised through scourges and amended by corrections is chastised in gentleness, not in anger. But in that severe examination, all reproof and correction is fury and anger, because there is no pardon…
Dictionary and topics
Weights And Measures — A. WEIGHTS.—The general principle of the present inquiry is to give the evidence of the monuments the preference on all doubtful points. All ancient Greek systems of weight were derived, either…
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).
Six guard alcoves lined the inside of the gates, three on each side, confirming their defensive significance. These gates were similar in layout to those excavated at Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, but substantially larger in size.
Rashi on Ezekiel 40:8
And he measured the hall of the gate from inside inward of the gate.
one rod The thickness of the right and left walls upon which the hall was founded.
