Inside the Temple

41 Next he brought me into the great hall and measured the jambs;(A) on each side the width of the jamb was 10½ feet.[a][b] The width of the entrance was 17½ feet,[c] and the side walls of the entrance were 8¾ feet[d] wide on each side. He also measured the length of the great hall, 70 feet,[e] and the width, 35 feet.[f](B) He went inside the next room and measured the jambs at the entrance;(C) they were 3½ feet[g] wide. The entrance was 10½ feet wide, and the width of the entrance’s side walls on each side[h] was 12¼ feet.[i] He then measured the length of the room adjacent to the great hall, 35 feet, and the width, 35 feet.(D) And he said to me, “This is the most holy place.”(E)

Outside the Temple

Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was 10½ feet thick. The width of the side rooms all around the temple was 7 feet.[j](F) The side rooms were arranged one above another in three stories of thirty rooms each.[k] There were ledges on the wall of the temple all around to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be in the temple wall itself.(G) The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive story, for the structure surrounding the temple went up by stages. This was the reason for the temple’s broadness as it rose. And so, one would go up from the lowest story to the highest by means of the middle one.[l](H)

I saw that the temple had a raised platform surrounding it; this foundation for the side rooms was 10½ feet high.[m](I) The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was 8¾ feet. The free space between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the outer chambers was 35 feet wide all around the temple.(J) 11 The side rooms opened into the free space, one entrance toward the north and another to the south. The area of free space was 8¾ feet wide all around.

12 Now the building that faced the temple yard toward the west was 122½ feet[n] wide. The wall of the building was 8¾ feet thick on all sides, and the building’s length was 157½ feet.[o]

13 Then the man measured the temple; it was 175 feet[p] long.(K) In addition, the temple yard and the building, including its walls, were 175 feet long. 14 The width of the front of the temple along with the temple yard to the east was 175 feet. 15 Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple yard to the west, with its galleries[q] on each side;(L) it was 175 feet.

Interior Wooden Structures

The interior of the great hall and the porticoes of the court— 16 the thresholds, the beveled windows,(M) and the balconies all around with their three levels opposite the threshold—were overlaid with wood on all sides.(N) They were paneled from the ground to the windows (but the windows were covered), 17 reaching to the top of the entrance, and as far as the inner temple and on the outside. On every wall all around, on the inside and outside, was a pattern 18 carved with cherubim and palm trees.(O) There was a palm tree between each pair of cherubim.(P) Each cherub had two faces: 19 a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side,(Q) and a lion’s face turned toward it on the other. They were carved throughout the temple on all sides. 20 Cherubim and palm trees were carved from the ground to the top of the entrance and on the wall of the great hall.

21 The doorposts of the great hall were square,(R) and the front of the sanctuary had the same appearance. 22 The altar was[r] made of wood, 5¼ feet[s] high and 3½ feet long.[t] It had corners, and its length[u] and sides were of wood.(S) The man told me, “This is the table that stands before the Lord.”(T)

23 The great hall and the sanctuary each had a double door,(U) 24 and each of the doors had two swinging panels.(V) There were two panels for one door and two for the other. 25 Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the great hall like those carved on the walls. There was a wooden canopy[v](W) outside, in front of the portico. 26 There were beveled windows and palm trees on both sides,(X) on the side walls of the portico, the side rooms of the temple, and the canopies.[w]

Footnotes

  1. 41:1 LXX; MT reads jambs; they were 10½ feet wide on each side—the width of the tabernacle
  2. 41:1 Lit six cubits, also in vv. 3,5
  3. 41:2 Lit 10 cubits
  4. 41:2 Lit five cubits, also in vv. 9,11,12
  5. 41:2 Lit 40 cubits
  6. 41:2 Lit 20 cubits, also in vv. 4,10
  7. 41:3 Lit two cubits, also in v. 22
  8. 41:3 LXX; MT reads width of the entrance
  9. 41:3 Lit seven cubits
  10. 41:5 Lit four cubits
  11. 41:6 Lit another three and thirty times
  12. 41:7 Hb obscure
  13. 41:8 Lit a full rod of six cubits of a joint; Hb obscure
  14. 41:12 Lit 70 cubits
  15. 41:12 Lit 90 cubits
  16. 41:13 Lit 100 cubits
  17. 41:15 Or ledges
  18. 41:21–22 Or and in front of the sanctuary was something that looked like 22 an altar
  19. 41:22 Lit three cubits
  20. 41:22 LXX reads long and 3½ feet wide
  21. 41:22 LXX reads base
  22. 41:25 Hb obscure
  23. 41:26 Hb obscure

41 After that, the man brought me into the sanctuary of the Temple. He measured the walls on either side of its doorway,[a] and they were 10 1⁄2 feet[b] thick. The doorway was 17 1⁄2 feet[c] wide, and the walls on each side of it were 8 3⁄4 feet[d] long. The sanctuary itself was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.[e]

Then he went beyond the sanctuary into the inner room. He measured the walls on either side of its entrance, and they were 3 1⁄2 feet[f] thick. The entrance was 10 1⁄2 feet wide, and the walls on each side of the entrance were 12 1⁄4 feet[g] long. The inner room of the sanctuary was 35 feet[h] long and 35 feet wide. “This,” he told me, “is the Most Holy Place.”

Then he measured the wall of the Temple, and it was 10 1⁄2 feet thick. There was a row of rooms along the outside wall; each room was 7 feet[i] wide. These side rooms were built in three levels, one above the other, with thirty rooms on each level. The supports for these side rooms rested on exterior ledges on the Temple wall; they did not extend into the wall. Each level was wider than the one below it, corresponding to the narrowing of the Temple wall as it rose higher. A stairway led up from the bottom level through the middle level to the top level.

I saw that the Temple was built on a terrace, which provided a foundation for the side rooms. This terrace was 10 1⁄2 feet[j] high. The outer wall of the Temple’s side rooms was 8 3⁄4 feet thick. This left an open area between these side rooms 10 and the row of rooms along the outer wall of the inner courtyard. This open area was 35 feet wide, and it went all the way around the Temple. 11 Two doors opened from the side rooms into the terrace yard, which was 8 3⁄4 feet wide. One door faced north and the other south.

12 A large building stood on the west, facing the Temple courtyard. It was 122 1⁄2 feet wide and 157 1⁄2 feet long, and its walls were 8 3⁄4 feet[k] thick. 13 Then the man measured the Temple, and it was 175 feet[l] long. The courtyard around the building, including its walls, was an additional 175 feet in length. 14 The inner courtyard to the east of the Temple was also 175 feet wide. 15 The building to the west, including its two walls, was also 175 feet wide.

The sanctuary, the inner room, and the entry room of the Temple 16 were all paneled with wood, as were the frames of the recessed windows. The inner walls of the Temple were paneled with wood above and below the windows. 17 The space above the door leading into the inner room, and its walls inside and out, were also paneled. 18 All the walls were decorated with carvings of cherubim, each with two faces, and there was a carving of a palm tree between each of the cherubim. 19 One face—that of a man—looked toward the palm tree on one side. The other face—that of a young lion—looked toward the palm tree on the other side. The figures were carved all along the inside of the Temple, 20 from the floor to the top of the walls, including the outer wall of the sanctuary.

21 There were square columns at the entrance to the sanctuary, and the ones at the entrance of the Most Holy Place were similar. 22 There was an altar made of wood, 5 1⁄4 feet high and 3 1⁄2 feet across.[m] Its corners, base, and sides were all made of wood. “This,” the man told me, “is the table that stands in the Lord’s presence.”

23 Both the sanctuary and the Most Holy Place had double doorways, 24 each with two swinging doors. 25 The doors leading into the sanctuary were decorated with carved cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls. And there was a wooden roof at the front of the entry room to the Temple. 26 On both sides of the entry room were recessed windows decorated with carved palm trees. The side rooms along the outside wall also had roofs.

Footnotes

  1. 41:1a As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  2. 41:1b Hebrew 6 cubits [3.2 meters]; also in 41:3, 5.
  3. 41:2a Hebrew 10 cubits [5.3 meters].
  4. 41:2b Hebrew 5 cubits [2.7 meters]; also in 41:9, 11.
  5. 41:2c Hebrew 40 cubits [21.2 meters] long and 20 cubits [10.6 meters] wide.
  6. 41:3a Hebrew 2 cubits [1.1 meters].
  7. 41:3b Hebrew 7 cubits [3.7 meters].
  8. 41:4 Hebrew 20 cubits [10.6 meters]; also in 41:4b, 10.
  9. 41:5 Hebrew 4 cubits [2.1 meters].
  10. 41:8 Hebrew 1 rod, 6 cubits [3.2 meters].
  11. 41:12 Hebrew 70 cubits [37.1 meters] wide and 90 cubits [47.7 meters] long, and its walls were 5 cubits [2.7 meters] thick.
  12. 41:13 Hebrew 100 cubits [53 meters]; also in 41:13b, 14, 15.
  13. 41:22 Hebrew 3 cubits [1.6 meters] high and 2 cubits [1.1 meters] across.