= Ezekiel 40
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== Ezekiel 40
1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning 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 the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither.
2 In the visions of God 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.
3 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.
4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart 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 house of Israel.
5 And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
6 Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad.
7 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.
8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed.
9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.
10 And the little chambers of the gate 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.
11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
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.
13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door.
14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate.
15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.
16 And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees.
17 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.
18 And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement.
19 Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward.
20 And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof.
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.
22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.
23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits.
24 After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures.
25 And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
26 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.
27 And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits.
28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;
29 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 cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad.
31 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.
32 And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures.
33 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 cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
34 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.
35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures;
36 The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
37 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.
38 And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering.
39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.
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.
41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices.
42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
43 And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering.
44 And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.
45 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.
46 And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the Lord to minister unto him.
47 So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house.
48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, 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.
== Notes
== Cross Reference
== Commentary
== Rashi
==== Verse 1
on Rosh Hashanah, on the tenth of the month What “year” is it whose Rosh Hashanah falls on the tenth of the month? The answer is that this is the Jubilee year. The Temple had been destroyed in [3338] the thirty-sixth year of the [50-year] Jubilee [cycle] which had commenced in the eighteenth year of Josiah [3303]. Fourteen years later [3352], the [beginning of the next] Jubilee would have fallen, and this was the twenty-fifth year of the exile of Jeconiah, who had been exiled in [3327], the twenty-sixth year of the Jubilee [cycle] [consisting of] fourteen years of Josiah, from the eighteenth to the thirty-first year [3302-3316], and eleven years of Jehoiakim [3316-3327].
the hand of the Lord The strength of His might, to lead me against my will.
and He brought me there to the city that was smitten - that is Jerusalem. That year He showed him the edifice of the future Temple.
==== Verse 2
In the visions of God He brought me He did not take me there but made it appear to me as if I were there.
on a very lofty mountain For it is indeed destined to be lofty, as it is said (Isa. 2:2): “and it shall be raised above the hills.”
like the building of a city [Heb. כְּמִבְנֵה עִיר.]
from the south at the south of the mountain.
==== Verse 3
like...copper Like the shine of the Living Beings (above 1:7): “and they sparkled like the color of burnished copper.”
with a linen cord in his hand For measuring land, there is nothing better than linen cord.
and a measuring rod with which to measure the thickness of the wall and the length and width of the gates.
==== Verse 4
to all that I am showing you the matter of the building.
you have been brought here from Babylon.
==== Verse 5
And behold a wall outside the House He showed me the structure of one building on the north side of the mountain and a wall on the outside going all around. It is delineated as such at the end of the Book that the city is in the south and the House in the north.
six cubits by a cubit and a handbreadth “Six cubits of a cubit that is a cubit and a handbreadth.” So did Jonathan render it. This is a cubit of medium length which equals a cubit and a handbreadth using a cubit that equals five handbreadths.
the width of the structure the thickness of the wall.
and the height one rod And this was the outside wall, which surrounds the Temple Mount, and it was low, as we learned (in Middoth 2:4): All the walls that were there were high except for the eastern wall, for the priest who would burn the [Red] Cow would stand on the Mount of Olives [and would look directly at the entrance to the Temple proper at the time of the sprinkling of the blood].
==== Verse 6
And he came to the gate that faced eastward he entered the enclosure and came to the eastern gate of the Women’s Court, which is called “the Outside Court” throughout this entire account, since it is in front of the Israelites’ Court.
and he ascended its steps For the incline of the mountain ascends gradually from the lower “hel” (an expanse and steps) up to the Women’s Court, twelve steps, in accordance with the Mishnah that we learned (Middoth 2:3): On its inner side, [i.e., on the inner side of the fence] was the “hel” of ten cubits’ [width], and twelve steps were there, etc.
the post of the gate This is the doorpost of the gate.
one rod the width six cubits. It overlay the entire thickness of the wall, which was one rod, as stated above (verse 5).
and the other post The second sidepost; one was in the north and one was in the south.
==== Verse 7
And the cell This was a projecting gallery, called appentis in French (see I Kings 6:5). There were three on the right of the gate and three on the left, as is stated in this section. The cells were near the eastern wall of the Women’s Court, on the outside, facing the Temple Mount. Now, from where do I learn that they were on the outside? From what is written after this entire account (verse 17): “And he brought me to the outer Court.” From here I learn that all that had been spoken of previously was outside it, for he had not yet entered it.
And the cell was one rod in length, etc. The inner area of each one was six cubits square.
and between the cells five cubits The walls separating the cells were five cubits thick, and so did Jonathan render: and between the cells was a wall of five cubits, and so we learned in Tractate Middoth (4:7): The wall of the cell was five [cubits.]
and the post of the gate that was beside the hall of the gate, etc. [i.e.,] [extending] beyond the gate was a hall connected to the gate, as is delineated in this account, protruding ten cubits into the Women’s Court, and at its front end were doors and posts, and this is what he meant by saying: “and the post of the gate” which was “next to the hall of the gate.”
from inside [Heb. מֵהַבָּיִת i.e.,] toward the inside.
The width of one rod covered the thickness of the wall of the hall, one on the right, [wall] and one on the left, for the thickness of [each] wall of the hall - to the [hallway’s] right and to [its] left - was one rod, as he explains further.
==== Verse 8
And he measured the hall of the gate from inside inward of the gate.
one rod The thickness of the right and left walls upon which the hall was founded.
==== Verse 9
And he measured the hall of the gate eight cubits the length of its protrusion into the Women’s Court.
and its pillars Meselins in Old French, posts, pillars. All the pillars mentioned in this account were sort of round trees made of hewn stone, standing in the entrance, one to the right and one to the left, in place of posts, in place of doorposts, and so did Jonathan render (Isa. 1:4): “And the doorposts (אַמוֹתהַסִפִּים) quaked”: אֵילְמַתסִפּיָא. And they are called אֵילִים because they were round like the terebinth and like the oak (וְכָאַלוֹן כָאֵלָה).
and its pillars two cubits in diameter. They were standing at the end of the hall space, this one attached to the right wall and this one to the left wall. The result is that the [total] protrusion of the hall and its pillars was ten cubits beyond the gate, into the Court interior.
and the hall of the gate from inside Since the hall of the Israelites’ Court Gate protruded and extended outward, as is delineated in this account, he explains concerning the hall of the Women’s Court Gate that it [in contrast] extended inward. The Women’s Court Gates were built in a straight line with the gates of the Israelites’ Court, resulting in one hall facing another hall, which is a beautiful thing.
==== Verse 10
And the cells of the gate [i.e., of] this [gate] that faced eastward - which was in the eastern wall of the Women’s Court - three were from here and three were from here: three to the south and three to the north, next to the wall of the Women’s Court, and facing the Temple Mount. The measurements of each cell’s interior and the wall that intervened between one and another were explained above.
and one measure for the pillars made for the hall’s posts on the inside.
from here and from here of the right and of the left; their measurement was two cubits.
==== Verse 11
the width of the entrance of the gate The width of the span of the entrance, and so we learned (Mid. 2:3): All the entrances...were ten cubits wide.
the length of the gate This is the span of the hall of the gate from north to south.
thirteen cubits ten corresponding to the span of the entrance plus a cubit and a half on this side and a cubit and a half on the other side. Now, do not wonder why in respect to the entrance he calls it width and in respect to the span of the hall he calls it length, because in respect to the entrance, its height and its length and the width is from post to post, but the hall, since the extension of the protrusion of its east to west span is less than the measure of its north to south span, as this is eight cubits and that is thirteen, he calls the larger measure “length.” And here is evidence for the matter: in the Temple of [the Book of] Kings (I 6:3): “And the hall before the Temple of the House, twenty cubits [was] the length thereof, beyond the breadth of the House.” We thus find that north-to-south is called breadth as regards the Temple, yet, as regards the hall, it is called length, because the east-to-west measurement of the Temple exceeded [its measurement] from north to south, and with the hall, it was the opposite. [Hence,] you learn that the large measurement is [always] called length.
==== Verse 12
And a border [area] was before the cells of one cubit, etc. The cells on either side of the gate were inset [away] from being in line with the area of the inward-going hall, a cubit to the north and a cubit to the south. For he already made it clear that on the inside, it [the space] was extended beyond from the [the area] facing the space of the gate, a cubit and a half to the north and likewise to the south. Now he explains that the cells which were on the outside were recessed to the north, one cubit more than the hall, and likewise one cubit to the south. As a result, they were recessed from the area of the [gate’s] entrance’s width, two and a half cubits to this side and two and a half cubits to this side. This is [the meaning of] the word וּגְבוּל, somayl in Old French, border, limit, an empty place. The wall of the cell was five cubits thick, resulting in the thickness of the northern wall of the northern cell, a nd the thickness of the northern wall of the hall, ending opposite each other. For the wall of the hall was six cubits thick and the wall of the cell was five, and it was extended one cubit inward opposite the thickness of the wall of the hall, and likewise, to the south.
==== Verse 13
And he measured the gate from the roof of the cell to its [other] roof from the roof of the cell at the north of the gate to the roof of the cell at the south of the gate.
twenty-five cubits The thickness of the wall of the cell was five [cubits], as was the thickness of the wall of the cell that was on the second side, totaling ten [cubits]; and the two and a half cubits that it (some versions: the cell) was recessed from the space of the entrance to this side and likewise to that side, totaled fifteen; and the space of the entrance was ten cubits, making twenty-five. And all of these, which together make up the measurement of the width of the gate, corresponded to the thirteen cubits of the space of the inward going hall, plus the two walls, one rod from this side and one rod from that side, totaling twenty-five [cubits].
an entrance opposite an entrance The entrance of the cell that was next to the gate in the south was directed exactly opposite the entrance of the cell that was next to the gate in the north, for the six cells did not have an entrance in the outside wall, but the two cells nearest the gate had entrances facing the space between the two of them, and so he says below (verse 16): “and for their doorposts [facing] toward the ‘inward of the gate.’” This teaches us that their entrances faced the gate.
==== Verse 14
And he made the pillars sixty cubits The height of the pillars of the posts of the hall was sixty cubits.
and [likewise] to the pillars of the court [and of] the gates all around And the same was for all the pillars that were in all the halls of the gates all around. For also in the north and in the south the gates were constructed like this gate, as is delineated in this account.
==== Verse 15
And the height of the entrance gate [Heb. וְעַל פְּנֵי הַשַּׁעַר,] lit. and on the face of the gate. The height of this gate. It is called שַּׁעַר הָאִיתוֹן because it serves as an entrance and exit for all who come into the Temple court. [The word] איתון is Aramaic for בִּיאָה, entry.
together with the height of the inner ball of the gate together with the height of the hall of the gate, which is further in than the gate.
fifty cubits And from the height of the other gates [mentioned] in this account, which were fifty cubits, I learn that the עַל פְּנֵי stated here means the height. (i.e., the outer gate’s height was fifty cubits, “together with the height of the entire hall:” just like the inner gate of the hall. For also at the end of the hall is a[nother] gate, as was already made clear in verse 7.).
==== Verse 16
And narrowing windows [were made] for the cells These cells did not have doors facing the outside, but one open to the other; and so we find in Tractate Middoth (4:3) regarding the cells around the Temple: “Each one had three entrances, one to the cell on the right, one to the cell on the left, and one to the cell above.” But as for the cells in the Court which were only three cells, one beside the other, having no cells above them the middle ones had two entrances: one to the cell on the right and one to the cell on the left; and the outer one, [standing] at the side of the gate, had two entrances: one open to the middle one and one to the side of the gate, and it was likewise with the outer cell of the other second side, on both sides of the gate, as is written above (verse 13): “an entrance opposite an entrance.” Now these [cells] had windows “שְּׁקֻפִים אֲטֻמִים both open and shut” - [I Kings 6:4] - open to the outside and “shut” to the inside, meaning narrow on the inside and wide on the outside to the east. Menahem (p. 180) interpreted שְּׁקֻפִים as being related to the word for looking (הַשְּׁקָפָה), as in (Song 6: 10) “Who is this who looks forth (הַנִשְּׁקָפָה)”; (Ps. 102:20) “For He has looked down (הִשְּׁקִיף) from His holy height.” He interprets [the word “lintel” in] (Exod. 12:22) “to the lintel (אֶל הַמַשְּׁקוֹף)” also, as being related to the word for [over]looking.
and for their doorposts [facing] toward the “inward of the gate” [i.e.], and to the edges of the entrances of the two cells nearest the gate on this side and that side. For their entrances were [facing] towards the inner area of the gate: the entrance of the northern cell on the north of the gate, and the entrance of the southern cell on the south of the gate. The edges of the entrances on each side of the entrance of the cell are the “posts.” And they had windows open to the intervening space - having the width of the gate - which intervened between the cells. Now, he calls that space “inward of the gate,” for when someone enters the area between the protrusions of the cells of here and there, it appears as though he has entered the gate.
and likewise for the halls And so did the halls of every gate have windows.
and windows all around [facing] inward in the wall, on the Court’s side, on the inside.
and to the posts were palm like crowns Jonathan renders: כּוֹתַרְתָּא, crowns at the top of the pillar. They were made like crowns, [each] resembling a palm tree, for in [the account about] Solomon’s Temple (I Kings 6:29) they are translated by the Targum, צוּרַתדִּקְלִין (shapes of palm trees), pomels, crowns.
==== Verse 17
and a balcony [Heb. וְרִצְפָּה,] planchez in Old French, flooring, paving: and I say that it was a surrounding balcony, like the one of which we learned (Middoth 2:5): “Originally it had been quite bare, but they surrounded it with a balcony” and on that balcony were the chambers, chanbres in Old French. And from that which is stated in this account “And the balcony was to the side of the gates,” and its base was on line with the height of the gates - we learn that this flooring was a balcony.
==== Verse 18
And the balcony was to the side of the gates The top of the gates of the Court separated the balcony, so that it did not go around the entire Court, and [thus the balcony] was to the sides of the gate from this side and from that side, parallel to the top of the gates.
the base of the balcony [Heb. הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה.] This word is different from every תַּחְתּוֹנָה in the Scriptures, for everywhere the accent is on the “nun,” whereas here, it is on the “tav” [so that the word is essentially תַּחְתּוֹן]. We learn that this תַּחְתּוֹנָה was not a balcony that is under another one but was one balcony, and the base of this balcony paralleled the top of the gate. The “hey” of תַּחְתּוֹנָה is like the “hey” of בֵּיתָה and like the “hey” of עֶזְרָתָה, and of חֶלְאָתָה, each of which is superfluous.
==== Verse 19
And he measured the width the area of the Women’s Court.
in front of the lower gate This is the gate delineated above.
in front of the Inner Court up to the Israelites’ Court.
to the east and to the north to two of its directions its space was one hundred cubits.
==== Verse 20
he measured its length and its width [to be] like the measurement of the eastern gate. This is delineated in the section.
==== Verse 21
fifty cubits its length its height.
And twenty five cubits its width from the roof of one cell to the roof of the other cell.
==== Verse 22
and its hall was beyond them The hall of the gate was beyond the steps; before he would enter the hall, he would ascend the steps.
==== Verse 23
And the gate of the Inner Court of the Israelites’ Court.
opposite the gate directly opposite the Outer [Gate].
and he measured from gate [i.e., from the] Lower [Gate] until the Upper [Gate] one hundred cubits. That is the width of the space of the Women’s Court.
==== Verse 24
And he led me by way of the south of the Outer Court.
==== Verse 25
were like these windows [Heb. כְּהַחַלנוֹת.] Rabbi Tanhuma expounded (Buber, Behaalothecha p. 48): This “hey” is superfluous, to indicate the term כֵּהָה, dark. Dark windows, wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, as if to say, “I do not need the light,” for all windows made to bring in light are narrow on the outside and wide on the inside.
==== Verse 26
its steps [Heb. עֹלוֹתָו,] like מַעֲלוֹתָו, its steps.
on its posts Atop the post was pictured a palm tree.
==== Verse 28
and he measured the Southern Gate of the Inner Court.
==== Verse 30
And arcades [Heb. וְאֵלַמּוֹת,] arboz in Old French.
round about The wall was made of many halls running through its thickness. These halls were inside [(absent in other editions:) above the cells. For the cells were inside, in the Inner Court, for the hall of the gate protruded into the outer [court], as is included in the account, and it is impossible for [both] the cells and the hall to have been facing the same area so that the entrances of the cells [too] could have opened to the inside of the hall, for the account equates all the measurements of the outer gates with those of the inner ones, and it distinguishes between them only as regards the protrusion of the halls.] (For the cells were outside, and six cells and their walls and the fifteen cubits of the width of the gate total eighty-one cubits, whereas the entire Inner Court is only one hundred by one hundred, as is specified in the account. Absent in other editions).
==== Verse 31
And its halls to the Outer Court The halls of the Inner Gate were not toward the inner side as were the halls of the Outer Gate, but were protruding outward.
==== Verse 36
fifty cubits long Its height was fifty cubits.
==== Verse 37
And its pillars were toward the Outer Court Et ses portiques in French, and its porticoes, and the hall of the gate is called אֵילִים here.
==== Verse 38
And a chamber was beside the Northern Gate in the Israelites’ Court.
and its entrance [The entrance] of the chamber faced the posts of the gate.
in [line with] the pillars of the gates In this chapter, there are verses that call the sides of the gates אֵילִים, meselins in Old French, posts, pillars.
there they would rinse the burnt offering the burnt offering, that was slaughtered in the north.
they would rinse the burnt offering they would wash the innards.
==== Verse 39
And in the hall of the gate [i.e., of] the Northern [Gate].
two tables in its east and two in its west, and although they extended into the Outer Court area, their sanctity was as [great as] those things of the Inner [Court area].
==== Verse 40
And to the outer side and to the entrance side of the hall, which was outside the hall interior, leading into the entrance area of (some editions: the side of) the Israelites’ Court.
for the one who ascends to the entrance of the Northern Gate When one enters within the gate and ascends the steps of the entrance of the Court.
two tables to the side of the entrance, to the east or to the west.
and to the other side of the entrance of the hall, were two tables.
==== Verse 42
upon them they would lay the implements Upon them they lay the knives and the basins in which the blood is received to be ready for [use by] those who slaughter the holiest sacrifices [Kodshei Kodoshim] in the north.
==== Verse 43
And the hooks one handbreadth iron hooks attached to short pillars in the slaughtering area in the north upon which the hallowed animals were hung and flayed, as we learned in Pes. (5:9): Iron hooks were attached to the pillars and to the walls upon which they would hang and flay [the sacrifices]. Jonathan renders likewise: And hooks extending one handbreadth.
attached on the inside attached within the interior of the Court. בַּבַּיִת means inside.
==== Verse 44
And outside the Inner Gate outside the gate’s hall space, within the Inner Court’s space, as explained at the end of this verse.
the chambers of the choristers the chambers of the Levites who sing.
and they faced southward their entrance[s] were towards the south.
one to the side of the Eastern Gate One chamber was to the side of the Eastern Gate.
facing northward Its entrance was toward the north.
==== Verse 45
for the priests who served [in] the Temple. These are apparently the Levite choristers.
==== Verse 47
And he measured the Court the interior of the Israelites’ Court [situated] before the Hall and the Temple proper.
==== Verse 48
to the Hall of the Temple the Hall of the Heichal.
and he measured the pillars of the hall [Heb. אֵל אֻלָם,] like אֶל אֻלָם, the pillars of the hall; the thickness of the sides of the entrance (that look toward the east absent in some editions) he measured from east to west. (And I, the copyist, found in other commentaries as I copied.)
(and the width of the gate, three cubits from here, etc. That was the width of the northern pillar [going] into the hall space to the west. So too was the thickness of the southern pillar which went inside the Hall on the west. And although we learned that (Mid. 4:7): “The wall of the Hall was five [cubits] and the Hall was eleven,” that of the future Temple will only be three, but in the Hall of the Second Temple etc. - absent in some editions.)
five cubits That of the Second Temple was the same, for so we learned (Mid. 4:7): “The wall of the Hall was five [cubits] and the Hall was eleven [cubits],” except that there were no [front wall] sides to the entrance on the north and south in the Hall of the Second Temple. The width of the entrance was twenty cubits, just as the width of the Hall, and here it says, “and the width of the gate: three cubits over here and three cubits over there,” (and I do not know how to reconcile it) except [to say] that the width of the front sides of the entrance was three cubits closing in on the space of the entrance here and three cubits there.
==== Verse 49
The length of the Hall was twenty cubits corresponding to the width of the Temple.
and the width was eleven cubits from east to west.
and with the steps upon which they would ascend to it And they ascended to it by way of the steps, as we learned (Mid. 3:6): “Between the Hall and the altar were twenty-two cubits, and twelve steps were there, the height of each step being one half cubit.”
and pillars to the posts instead of Jachin and Boaz (I Kings 7:21) which were in the First Temple.