Behold, there was a man The same no doubt that appeared to the prophet, Ezekiel 1:20, (where see the note,) whose name is the Branch, and who builds the temple of the Lord, Zechariah 6:12-13; whose appearance was like the appearance of brass Bright and sparkling, Revelation 1:15. With a line of flax in his hand The use of the line was to measure the land of Israel, and of the reed to take the dimensions of the buildings in and about the temple; as also to set out several portions of land belonging to the sanctuary and city, to the prince and people: see the margin. And he stood in the gate Probably the north gate, being the first entrance the prophet may be supposed to have arrived at, as he came from Chaldea, which lay northward of Judea. Son of man, behold, &c., and hear Take notice of what thou seest, so that thou mayest afterward tell it to thy people. And, behold, a wall on the outside A wall went round the whole compass, or square, of the holy mountain, whereon the temple was situate, to separate the holy ground from that which was common: see Ezekiel 42:20. And in the man's hand a measuring-reed of six cubits long, &c. Here is explained what sort of a cubit is meant in the following delineation of the temple, namely, one that consisted of six hand-breadths, or one hand-breadth over the cubit used in Chaldea, where he now lived. This is the measure of a Scripture cubit, generally agreed to be equivalent to eighteen inches, or a foot and a half of our measure. See Bishop Cumberland, Of Scripture Weights and Measures, p. 36, &c. According to Michaelis, the Hebrew measures are, 1. The finger's-breadth: 2. Four fingers, or a hand-breadth: 3. The ell; the smaller of five hand-breadths, the larger of six: 4. The rod, of six ells. He also allows the rabbinical account, that a finger is equal to the length of six barley grains. So he measured the breadth of the building That is, of the outward wall, which was three yards high, and three yards broad. This wall surrounded a part which corresponded to the court of the Gentiles, and served as a security against the precipices of the mount on which the temple stood.
Related Commentaries of Ezekiel 40:3
Ezekiel 40:3-5
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.
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.
5 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.