So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.
Parallel translations
- WEB He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the width five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.
- KJV He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
- NKJV He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.
- NASB He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred rods and the width five hundred, to divide between the holy and the common.
- NLT So the area was 875 feet on each side with a wall all around it to separate what was holy from what was common.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A wall surrounded the whole area to separate the holy from the common. The boundary's purpose is to guard God's holiness.
Overview
The guide states the purpose of the encompassing wall: to make a separation between the holy and the common. This summarizes a central theme of the vision, the careful guarding of God's holiness. The wall that once divided is answered in Christ, who reconciles the holy God and sinful people, making his people themselves a holy dwelling for God (Ephesians 2:14-22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ezek 45:2Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, with 50 cubits around it for open land.
- Ezek 40:5And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.
- Ezek 22:26Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
- Ezek 44:23They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.
- Ezek 48:15The remaining area, 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, will be for common use by the city, for houses, and for pastureland. The city will be in the center of it
- Zech 2:5For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
- Isa 60:18No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
- Song 2:9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
- Isa 25:1O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders—plans formed long ago—in perfect faithfulness.
- Mic 7:11The day for rebuilding your walls will come—the day for extending your boundary.
- 2 Cor 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- Rev 21:10–27And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
- Ezek 48:20The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits by 25,000 cubits. You are to set apart the holy portion, along with the city property.
- Luke 16:26And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’
- Lev 10:10You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,
- Isa 26:1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 42:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.