And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed.

EZEKIEL 40:7KJV
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Ezekiel 40:7 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 40:7 mean?

Ezekiel 40:7 describes part of a gateway that Ezekiel sees in a vision of a temple. Its measurements show how the small rooms, the spaces between them, and the threshold fit into the gateway’s measured layout.

Ezekiel is watching a man measure the structure with a measuring reed. The “little chambers” are small rooms along the gate passage. The “threshold” is the strip at an entrance, here measured near the porch on the inner side of the gate.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 40:7

  • “chamber” — תָּא (ta): This word refers to a small room. In the gateway, these rooms are often understood as guardrooms, giving a clearer picture of the kind of space being measured.
  • “reed” — קָנֶה (qaneh): This word can mean a reed or a measuring rod. Here it is a unit of length: Ezekiel 40:5 gives the measuring reed as six long cubits.
  • “threshold” — סַף (saf): This word refers to the sill or threshold of an entrance. Its measurement helps mark the transition between the gate passage and the porch.

Why Ezekiel 40:7 matters

  • The measurements use a particular standard, not an ordinary cubit assumed by the reader. Verse 5 describes each cubit of the measuring reed as a cubit and a handbreadth.
  • The gateway has depth as well as an opening. The chambers, spaces between them, threshold, and porch show that the gate is a structure one passes through.
  • The repeated measurement of “one reed” helps the reader picture the rooms as equal in size. Each chamber is described as one reed long and one reed broad.

Where else these words appear

“chamber” Hebrew H8372 · used in 11 verses

  • 1 Kings 14:28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
  • Ezekiel 40:12 The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
  • Ezekiel 40:21 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 gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

“threshold” Hebrew H5592 · used in 28 verses

  • Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
  • 2 Kings 25:18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
  • Jeremiah 35:4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

“porch” Hebrew H197 · used in 29 verses

  • 1 Kings 6:3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
  • 2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
  • Ezekiel 40:40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables.

“reed” Hebrew H7070 · used in 38 verses

  • Genesis 41:5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
  • Exodus 37:22 Their knops and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold.
  • Isaiah 46:6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.