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40 [1] **In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, **the exile of Yehoyakhin, **at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month,**** **Yom Kippur, **during the fourteenth year after the city **of** **Jerusalem** was stricken, on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me there, **to the city.** **
[2] **In **my **visions of God, **not in physical reality,** He brought me to the Land of Israel, and He set me down on a very high mountain, and alongside it**** to the south** of the mountain** was something like the structure of a city, **Jerusalem.** **
[3] **He brought me there, and behold, there was **before me the image of** a man. His appearance was like the appearance of bronze; a thread of linen was in his hand**** **for measuring distances or circular surfaces,** and a measuring rod, **a stick for measuring short, straight lengths, **and he, **that man,** was standing at the **entrance **gate **to the Temple compound. The human figure looked like an architect tasked with guiding Ezekiel in the details of the Temple’s structure.** **
[4] **The man, **who was actually an angel,** spoke to me: Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and take everything that I am showing you to heart, for you were brought here in order to show you, **so that you will **tell everything that you see to the house of Israel. **Ezekiel is commanded to convey to the people in exile everything that he sees and hears, in order to encourage them and show them the redemption that awaits them.
[5] The prophet details the plan and measurements of the Temple compound, from the outside inward. **Behold, a wall was on the outside of the House, **the Temple,** all around, and in the man’s hand was a measuring rod of six cubits of a cubit and a handbreadth **for each** **of those cubits. Over the generations, different-sized cubits were utilized for different purposes. The standard cubit was apparently five handbreadths long, whereas the cubit used here included an extra handbreadth. Accordingly, the length of the entire rod was approximately 3 m. The man began his measuring with the outer entrance gate of the Temple,** and he measured the thickness of the building,** its outer wall,** one rod, **six cubits,** and the height **of the wall was also** one rod. **This was not, of course, a wall designed for protection; rather, it served to demarcate between the sacred and the profane.
[6] **He, **the man,** came to the gate that faced eastward,**** and **he entered the gate of the eastern wall and** ascended by its stairs, and he measured the side of the threshold** or doorpost** of the gate, one rod in width, and the other side of the threshold, **also** one rod in width. **The thickness of the two gateposts was identical to that of the wall.
[7] Beyond the threshold of the gate were cells, small rooms for use by those performing the Temple service or as storerooms. The size of **each cell was one rod in length and one rod in width, and between **each of **the cells was five cubits. **The cells with the fenced area between them formed a corridor of sorts within the gate. **And the threshold of the gate **at the other end **near the hall of the gate from within was **also **one rod **in width. The gate was a large, hollow structure, with two six-cubit wide gateposts at each end. Between the two gateposts, there was a network of cells alongside the entrance and a hall inside the gate.
[8] Next, the man measured the gate from the inside outward. **He measured the hall of the gate from within, **from the inner, western side, and it was** one rod. **This was the aforementioned inner gatepost of the gate.
[9] Then** he measured **the length of the space inside **the hall of the gate, eight cubits, and its pillars, **the pillars of the entrance to the hall, were** two cubits, and the hall of the gate was within, **constructed** **inward from the pillars.** **
[10] **The **aforementioned **cells of the gate eastward, **on the eastern side of the gate,** were three on this side and three on that side, one measure for the three of them, and **there was also **one measure for the pillars on this side and on that side. **
[11] After informing Ezekiel of the dimensions of the gate along its length, from east to west, the man then measured its width, north to south. **He measured the width of the entrance of the gate, ten cubits. **This was the width of the gate at its narrow point, where the cells were located. **And the length of the gate, **the width of the space inside the gate at its widest point, the hall, was **thirteen cubits. **According to some commentaries, the length of the gate mentioned in the verse refers to its height.
[12] After measuring the width of the open space inside the gate, the man measured the width of the entire gate including the cells and their walls. **The partition before the cells, **the wall that separated the cells from the open space near the gate, **was** **one cubit **wide on this side of the gate,** and **likewise** one cubit **wide **was the partition on that side, **the other side** **of the gate,** and the cell **itself **was six cubits on this side **of the gate** and six cubits on that side, **as stated above.** **
[13] **He measured the gate from **the edge of **the roof of the **one **cell** on one end **to** the edge of **its roof** on the other end, in the opposite cell, **a width of twenty-five cubits,** the **entrance** of one cell **opposite** the **entrance** of the other cell.
[14] Ezekiel provides further details of the gate and the nearby area. **He **also** made the pillars **to a height or a distance of **sixty cubits;**** **next **to the pillar of the courtyard of the gate, **the pillars stood** all around **the courtyard or the gate.
[15] **From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the hall of the inner gate, **the other end of the gate,** was fifty cubits. ***Ata* in Aramaic means “come”; therefore, *ha’iton* refers to the gate through which people come to the Temple. The sum is as follows: The walls of the gate were six cubits thick, the three cells with the spaces in between them were thirty-four cubits, while the hall and its posts were ten cubits.
[16] **There were narrowing windows, **alcoves of sorts, wide at one end but gradually narrowing,** for the cells and for the pillars inside the gate, **on the inside of the gate** all around, and likewise for the halls were windows all around inside. **The halls also had windows all around it.** And on each pillar **were** date palms. **Palm trees were carved into the pillars.
[17] After the man had measured the eastern gate in detail, **he brought me to the outer courtyard, **a large courtyard that surrounds the Temple, **and behold, **there were** chambers **before me **and a paved area** **made for the courtyard all around, thirty chambers on the paved area. **
[18] **The paved area, **besides covering the ground of the courtyard itself,** was **also **to the side of **both **the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; **this **was the lower paved area, **traversed by people to reach the Temple itself, which was built further up the mountain.
[19] Then **he,** the man,** measured the width **of the courtyard **from the front of the lower gate, **the gate on the lower part of the incline through which one enters the outer courtyard, up** to the front of the inner courtyard from without, **its external boundary;** one hundred cubits **was its width, **eastward and northward. **The outer courtyard, which surrounded the Temple, was one hundred cubits wide on both its eastern and northern sides; it was square-shaped.
[20] The man also measured the other entrance gates: **The gate whose front faced northward to the outer courtyard, he measured its length and its width. **
[21] **Its cells were three from here and three from there, and its, **the gate’s,** pillars and its halls were **all **like, **identical to,** the dimensions of the first gate, **the eastern gate,** fifty cubits its length and the width twenty-five cubits. **
[22] **Its windows, its halls, and its **decorative **date palms were like, **identical to,** the dimensions of the gate whose front faced the east, and with seven stairs they would ascend it, and its halls were before them, **the stairs.
[23] **The gate to the inner courtyard was opposite the gate, **of the outer courtyard, **to the north and to the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits. **
[24] **He led me toward the south, and behold, **an outer** gate toward the south, and he measured its pillars, and its halls were in accordance with these dimensions **that were** **stated with regard to the eastern and northern gates.
[25] **There were windows for it,** the gate,** and for its halls all around, like those windows **of those gates,** fifty cubits the length and the width twenty-five cubits. **
[26] **Its ascent was seven stairs, and its halls were before them, and it had date palms, one from here, **on this side,** and one from there, **on that side,** on its pillars. **
[27] The man moved from the outer courtyard to the inner courtyard: **There was a gate to the inner courtyard toward the south, and he measured from **the outer **gate to **the inner **gate toward the south, one hundred cubits. **
[28] **He brought me to the inner courtyard through the south gate, and he measured the south gate in accordance with these dimensions, **the measurements of the outer gates.
[29] **Its cells and its pillars and its halls were** also **in accordance with these dimensions, and there were windows in it and in its halls all around, fifty cubits the length **of** **the entire gate** and the width twenty-five cubits. **
[30] In the wall of the inner courtyard, **there were **also **halls all around,**** the length twenty-five cubits and the width five cubits. **
[31] The man returned to the gate: **Its halls were **facing **toward the outer courtyard, and **the carved **date palms were on its pillars, **the pillars of the gate,** and eight stairs were its ascent. **
[32] **He, **the man,** brought me into the inner courtyard through the east, and he measured the **eastern **gate in accordance with these measures. **
[33] **Its cells and its pillars and its halls were in accordance with these measures, and there were windows for it and for its halls all around; it, **the gate,** was fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width. **
[34] **Its halls were toward the outer courtyard, and there were date palms **carved** on its pillars, on this side and on that side, and eight stairs were its ascent, **exactly like the southern gate.
[35] **He brought me to the north gate **of the inner courtyard,** and he measured **it** **too,** in accordance with these dimensions, **
[36] **its cells, its pillars, and its halls, and there were windows for it all around; it was fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width. **
[37] **Its pillars, **or its halls, **were toward the outer courtyard, and there were date palms on its pillars on this side and on that side, and eight stairs were its ascent. **
[38] Here there was something different, as there was a room at the entrance to the northern gate: **A chamber and its entrance were by the pillars of the gates; there they would rinse **the limbs of **the burnt offering. **As stated in the Torah, the burnt offering is slaughtered north of the altar, which is located within the inner courtyard. Since the entire offering is burned on the altar, its limbs are first rinsed in a nearby chamber.
[39] **In the hall of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering upon them. **These are offerings that are slaughtered on the northern side of the courtyard.
[40] **To the **one** side, on the outer side, **on the far side of the hall, **as one ascends to the entrance of the north gate, were two **more** tables, and **likewise, **to the other side of the hall of the gate were two tables. **
[41] In the hall of the northern gate, **four tables were on this side, **on the right, two tables farther from the gate and two tables closer to the gate, **and four tables on that side, **on the left, **by the side of the gate, **a total of **eight tables upon which they would slaughter. **
[42] In the space of the northern gate,** there were four tables **made **of hewn stone for the burnt offering, **the first daily offering; each table was **one and a half cubits in length, one and a half cubits in width, and one cubit in height, upon which they would place the implements with which they would slaughter the burnt offering and the feast offering.**
[43] **The projections, **protrusions, hooks for hanging or a kind of elevated border, which were** one handbreadth, were installed inside **the courtyard** all around, and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. **
[44] **Outside the inner gate, **when one exits the gate that leads into the inner courtyard,** were chambers for the singers, in the inner courtyard, along the side of the north gate, and **their entrance was **facing southward; **and an additional **one was** **to the side of the east gate facing northward. **
[45] **He, **the man,** said to me, **pointing to one of the chambers:** This chamber, which faces southward, is for **the use of **the priests, keepers of the commission of the House, **as they will wait there before leaving for their priestly watch.
[46] **The chamber, which faces northward, is for the priests, keepers of the commission, **the service,** of the altar; they are the sons of Tzadok,**** **an important priest in the time of David who served as High Priest during the reign of Solomon as well,** those among the sons of Levi who approach the Lord to serve Him. **
[47] **He measured the **inner **courtyard, one hundred cubits in length and one hundred cubits in width, square, and the altar was **situated in the courtyard **before the House, **the Temple.
[48] **He brought me to the Hall of the House, **the large chamber at the entrance to** **the Sanctuary, **and he measured each pillar of the Hall, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side, and the width, **thickness,** of the gate, three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. **
[49] **The length of the Hall was twenty cubits **from north to south,** and the width, eleven cubits, with steps by which one would ascend to it; and there were **extra **columns by the pillars, one on this side and one on that side,**** **similar to the pillars in the First Temple that Solomon erected at the entrance to the Sanctuary and named Yakhin and Boaz.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center