Description of Rooms for the Priests

¹ And he brought me out to the outer courtyard ⌞to the north⌟,¹ and he brought me to the chamber which was opposite the courtyard and which is opposite the building to the north.

1. Literally “to the way of the north”

² As to¹ the face of the length of the building with the doorway to the north, it was a hundred cubits,² and its³ width was fifty cubits.⁴

1. Or “along the face of”
2. That is, 175 feet
3. Or “the”
4. That is, 87.5 feet

³ Opposite the twenty cubits ⌞of the inner courtyard⌟,¹ and opposite the pavement that was to the outer courtyard was a gallery ⌞facing⌟² a gallery in the three stories.

1. Literally “which were to the courtyard the inner”
2. Literally “toward in the face/front of”

⁴ And ⌞in front of⌟¹ the chambers was a passageway ten cubits² in width toward the inside, a walkway of one cubit,³ and their doorways were to the north.

1. Literally “to the face of”
2. That is, 17.5 feet
3. One cubit of 18–21 inches is problematic; LXX and Syriac read 100 cubits (175 feet) running the length of the building

⁵ And the upper chambers narrowed, for the galleries took away space from them more than they took from the lower levels and more than they took from the middle level in the building.

⁶ For they¹ were three stories and ⌞they had no pillars⌟² like³ the pillars of⁴ the courtyards; therefore they were smaller than the lower stories and than the middle stories from the ground up.

1. Or “there”
2. Literally “there were not for them pillars”
3. Or “as”
4. Or “for”

⁷ And there was a wall that was to the outside ⌞alongside⌟¹ the chambers on the walkway to² the outer courtyard³ ⌞in front of⌟⁴ the chambers; its length was fifty⁵ cubits.⁶

1. Literally “to the outside to corresponding”
2. Or “of”
3. That is, “to the north”
4. Literally “to in face of”
5. That is, 87.5 feet
6. Hebrew “cubit”

⁸ For¹ the length of the chambers which were to the outer courtyard was fifty² cubits,³ and look!⁴ The chambers on the front of the temple were a hundred⁵ cubits.⁶

1. Or “while”
2. Hebrew “cubit”
3. That is, 87.5 feet
4. Or “yet!”
5. Hebrew “cubit”
6. That is, 175 feet

⁹ And from under these chambers was the entrance¹ from the east for them ⌞when one enters⌟² from the outer courtyard.

1. Reading the Ketiv
2. Literally “at/in his/its coming”

¹⁰ All along the width of the wall of the courtyard ⌞eastward⌟¹ in front of the courtyard to the front of the building were chambers.

1. Literally “on the way of the east”

¹¹ And a walkway was ⌞before them⌟¹ like the appearance of the chambers which were on ⌞the north⌟,² just like them in their length, and so was their width and all their exits, and they were built like their arrangements and like their doorways,

1. Literally “was to the face of them”
2. Literally “were on the way of the north”

¹² and like the doorways of the chambers which were on the way of the south was a doorway at the head of the way¹ ⌞before⌟ the stone wall, projecting² on³ the way of the east at their coming.⁴

1. Dropping one “way”
2. Or “protecting wall”
3. Or “toward”
4. That is, when people entered the complex

¹³ And he said to me, “The chambers of the north and the chambers of the south which are ⌞before⌟¹ the courtyard, they ⌞are the holy chambers⌟² in which the priests, who are near to Yahweh, will eat the ⌞most holy objects⌟.³ There they shall put the ⌞most holy objects⌟,⁴ and the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, for the place is holy.

1. Literally “to the front of”
2. Literally “are the chambers of the holiness”
3. Literally “holy objects of the holy objects”
4. Literally “holy objects of the holy objects”

¹⁴ ⌞When the priests enter⌟,¹ then they shall not go out from the sanctuary to the outer courtyard; and there they must put² their garments in which they serve because they are holy. They must put on other garments and then they may approach the area that is for the people.

1. Literally “at coming their”
2. Or “deposit/leave/remove”

¹⁵ And he completed the measurements of the inner temple, and he brought me to the walkway of the gate ⌞that faces toward the east⌟¹ and he measured it ⌞all the way around⌟.²

1. Literally “which its face is to the way of the east”
2. Literally “all around, all around”

¹⁶ He measured the east side with the reed¹ for² measuring, five hundred cubits,³ with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement, he measured it all around.

1. Or “rod”
2. Literally “of measuring”
3. Hebrew has “reeds” here (= 5,250 feet), which is not correct; 500 cubits = 875 feet.

¹⁷ He measured the north side as five hundred cubits, with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement all around.

¹⁸ Then he measured the south side as five hundred cubits, with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement.

¹⁹ He went around the west side¹ and he measured five hundred cubits, with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement.

1. Or “side toward/to the sea”

²⁰ ⌞Toward the four sides⌟¹ he measured it; there was a wall for it ⌞all the way around⌟.² Its length was five hundred cubits³ and its width was five hundred cubits, in order to make a separation between what is holy and what is common.

1. Literally “toward the four winds”
2. Literally “all around, all around”
3. That is, 875 feet