Ezekiel 40:3
New International Version
He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.

New Living Translation
As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod.

English Standard Version
When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway.

Berean Standard Bible
So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway.

New American Standard Bible
So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a thread of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

NASB 1995
So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

NASB 1977
So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

Legacy Standard Bible
So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

Amplified Bible
So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man [an angel] whose appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

Christian Standard Bible
He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. He was standing by the city gate.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. He was standing by the gate.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he brought me there, and I saw a man, and his appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a cord of linen was in his hand, and a measuring reed, and he was standing in the gate

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he brought me in thither, and, behold, there was a man, and the appearance of him was as the appearance of shining brass, and in his hand was a builder's line, and a measuring reed; and he stood at the gate.

Contemporary English Version
In my vision the LORD took me closer, and I saw a man who was sparkling like polished bronze. He was standing near one of the gates and was holding a tape measure in one hand and a measuring stick in the other.

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

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He brought me closer. I saw a man who looked like he was covered with bronze. The man was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring stick, and he stood in a gateway.

Good News Translation
He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.

International Standard Version
That's where he took me. All of a sudden, there was a man whose appearance resembled glowing bronze! He had a measuring reed and line in his hand as he stood in the city gate.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
And He brings me in there, and behold, a man, his appearance as the appearance of bronze, and a thread of flax in his hand, and a measuring-reed, and he is standing at the gate,

Majority Standard Bible
So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.

New American Bible
He brought me there, and there standing in the gateway was a man whose appearance was like bronze! He held in his hand a linen cord and a measuring rod.

NET Bible
When he brought me there, I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.

New Revised Standard Version
When he brought me there, a man was there, whose appearance shone like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.

New Heart English Bible
He brought me there; and, look, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

Young's Literal Translation
And He bringeth me in thither, and lo, a man, his appearance as the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hand, and a measuring-reed, and he is standing at the gate,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Man with a Measuring Rod
2In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city. 3So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4“Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”…

Cross References
Revelation 1:15
His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.

Revelation 11:1
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.

Revelation 21:15
The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls.

Ezekiel 1:7
Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.

Ezekiel 41:1
Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side.

Ezekiel 42:16
With a measuring rod he measured the east side to be five hundred cubits long.

Ezekiel 43:6
While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple,


Treasury of Scripture

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.

whose

Ezekiel 1:7,27
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 burnished brass…

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.

with

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 waters were to the ancles.

Isaiah 8:20
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isaiah 28:17
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jump to Previous
Appearance Brass Bronze Cord Doorway Flax Gate Gateway Hand Line Measuring Measuring-Reed Reed Rod Standing Stationed Stood Thither
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Appearance Brass Bronze Cord Doorway Flax Gate Gateway Hand Line Measuring Measuring-Reed Reed Rod Standing Stationed Stood Thither
Ezekiel 40
1. The time, manner, and end of the vision of the city and temple
6. The description of the east gate of the outer court
20. of the north gate
24. of the south gate
27. of the south gate of the inner court
32. of the east gate
35. and of the north gate
39. Eight tables
44. The chambers
48. The porch of the house














(3) A line of flax . . . a measuring reed.--The former for the longer, the latter for the shorter measures, a characteristic definiteness in details.

Verse 3. - The word "thither" carries the thought back to ver. 1. When the prophet had been brought into the land of Israel, to the mountain and to the building, he perceived a man, whoso appearance was like the appearance of brass, or, according to the LXX., "shining or polished brass," χαλκοῦ στίλβοντος, as in Ezekiel 1:7 - a description recalling those of the likeness of Jehovah in Ezekiel 1:26, 27, of the angel who appeared to Daniel (Daniel 10:6), and of the glorified Christ (Revelation 1:15), and suggesting ideas of strength, beauty, and durability. In his hand he carried a line of flax and a measuring-reed (kaneh hammidah, or "reed of measuring," reed having been the customary material out of which such rods were made; compare the Assyrian for a measuring-reed qanu, the Greek κανών, and the Latin canna). Possibly he carried these as "emblems of building activity" (Hengstenberg), and because "he had many and different things to measure" (Kliefoth); but most likely the line was meant to measure large dimensions (comp. Ezekiel 47:3) and such as could not be taken by a straight stick, as e.g., the girth of pillars, and the rod to measure smaller dimensions, like those of the gates and walls of the temple. Hitzig's conjecture, that the line was linen because the place to be measured was the sanctuary, whose priests were obliged to clothe themselves in linen, Kliefoth rightly pronounces artificial and inaccurate, since the line was made, not of manufactured flax, or linen, but of the raw material. That the "man" was Jehovah or the Angel of the Presence (comp. Ezekiel 9:2) the analogy of Amos 8:7, 8 and the statement of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 44:2, 5 would seem to suggest; only it is not certain in the last of these passages that the speaker was "the man" and not rather "the God of Israel," who had already taken possession of the house (see Ezekiel 43:2), and whose voice is once at least distinguished from that of the man (see Ezekiel 43:6). Accordingly, Kliefoth, Smend, and others identify the "man" with the ordinary angelus interpres (cf. Revelation 21:9). The gate in which he stood "waiting for the new comer" was manifestly the north gate, since Ezekiel came from the north, though Havernick and Smend put in a plea for the east gate, on the grounds that it was the principal entrance to the sanctuary, and the distance between it and the north gate, five hundred cubits, was too great to be passed over so slightly as in ver. 6.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So He took
וַיָּבֵ֨יא (way·yā·ḇê)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

me there,
שָׁ֗מָּה (šām·māh)
Adverb | third person feminine singular
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

and I saw
וְהִנֵּה־ (wə·hin·nêh-)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

a man
אִישׁ֙ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

whose appearance
מַרְאֵ֙הוּ֙ (mar·’ê·hū)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4758: Sight, appearance, vision

was like bronze.
נְחֹ֔שֶׁת (nə·ḥō·šeṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5178: Copper, something made of that metal, coin, a fetter, base

He
וְה֥וּא (wə·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

was standing
עֹמֵ֖ד (‘ō·mêḏ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations

in the gateway
בַּשָּֽׁעַר׃ (baš·šā·‘ar)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8179: An opening, door, gate

with a linen
פִּשְׁתִּ֥ים (piš·tîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6593: Flax, linen

cord
וּפְתִיל־ (ū·p̄ə·ṯîl-)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6616: Cord, thread

and a measuring
הַמִּדָּ֑ה (ham·mid·dāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4060: Extension, height, breadth, a measure, a portion, a vestment, tribute

rod
וּקְנֵ֣ה (ū·qə·nêh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7070: A reed, a, rod, shaft, tube, stem, the radius, beam

in his hand.
בְּיָד֖וֹ (bə·yā·ḏōw)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 40:3 He brought me there (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 40:2
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