Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Ezekiel 42:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20He 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Ezekiel's measured final vision states or reports “He measured it by the four sides” at Ezekiel 42:20 as a specific part of “A Square Outer Boundary Separates Holy and Common.”
Read It With
- Ezekiel 42:15–20
Follow Ezekiel 42:15–20, not verse 42:20 alone. Ezekiel's measured final vision states or reports “He measured it by the four sides” at Ezekiel 42:20 as a specific part of “A Square Outer Boundary Separates Holy and Common.” The controlling limit is: The boundary does not authorize segregation by ethnicity, wealth, disability, or perceived moral purity.
Why This Verse Appears Here
At Ezekiel 42:20, the report adds a non-interchangeable step to “A Square Outer Boundary Separates Holy and Common.” Ezekiel's measured final vision states or reports “He measured it by the four sides” at Ezekiel 42:20 as a specific part of “A Square Outer Boundary Separates Holy and Common.”
What Remains True
Because this line performs the stated role at Ezekiel 42:20, it supports a bounded truth: Presence, ordered access, accountable leadership, honest measures, protected inheritance, life-giving water, and a named community belong together; technical holiness cannot replace justice.
How It Can Shape Life
- Role in Ezekiel 42:20: Ezekiel's measured final vision states or reports “He measured it by the four sides” at Ezekiel 42:20 as a specific part of “A Square Outer Boundary Separates Holy and Common.” Contextual meaning in Ezekiel 42:15–20: The guide measures five hundred reeds on each side of the temple complex, with a wall separating holy from common. The interpretive limit remains: The boundary does not authorize segregation by ethnicity, wealth, disability, or perceived moral purity. Proportionate enduring truth: Presence, ordered access, accountable leadership, honest measures, protected inheritance, life-giving water, and a named community belong together; technical holiness cannot replace justice. Application: Study the measurements and social hierarchy without demanding a modern build, animal harm, exclusion, or displacement; ask how worship, access, ecology, and power serve life.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ezekiel 42:15–20 — A Square Outer Boundary Separates Holy and CommonSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 42:15–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 42:15–20
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 42:15–20
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗