King James Version · Babylon and the exile

Ezekiel 40

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In the five and twentieth year of our , of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of was upon me, and brought me thither. In the of brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. 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 . And the man said unto me, , behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine 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 . And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six long by the and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. Then came he unto the which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the , which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the , which was one reed broad. And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five ; and the threshold of the by the porch of the within was one reed. ⁸He measured also the porch of the within, one reed. Then measured he the porch of the , eight ; and the posts thereof, two ; and the porch of the was inward. ¹⁰And the little chambers of the eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹And he measured the breadth of the entry of the , ten ; and the length of the , thirteen . ¹²The space also before the little chambers was one on this side, and the space was one on that side: and the little chambers were six on this side, and six on that side. ¹³He measured then the from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty , door against door. He made also posts of threescore , even unto the post of the court round about the . ¹⁵And from the of the of the entrance unto the of the porch of the inner were fifty . And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees. Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement. ¹⁸And the pavement by the side of the over against the length of the was the lower pavement. Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred eastward and northward. And the of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first : the length thereof was fifty , and the breadth five and twenty . And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. And the of the inner court was over against the toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from to an hundred . After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty , and the breadth five and twenty . And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. And there was a in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from to toward the south an hundred . And he brought me to the inner court by the south : and he measured the south according to these measures; And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty long, and five and twenty broad. And the arches round about were five and twenty long, and five broad. And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the according to these measures. And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty long, and five and twenty broad. And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me to the north , and measured it according to these measures; The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty , and the breadth five and twenty . And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the , where they washed the burnt offering. And in the porch of the were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to thereon the burnt offering and the and the trespass offering. ⁴⁰And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north , were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the , were two tables. Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the ; eight tables, whereupon they slew their . And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a and an half long, and a and an half broad, and one high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the . And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was of the . And without the inner were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north ; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east having the prospect toward the north. And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the : these are the sons of among the , which come near to to minister unto him. So he measured the court, an hundred long, and an hundred broad, foursquare; and the that was before the house. And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five on this side, and five on that side: and the breadth of the was three on this side, and three on that side. The length of the porch was twenty , and the breadth eleven ; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.

The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.

The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›

Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.

Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
Egypt: Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
Judah: Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
Further afield: An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.

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