Ezekiel 42
King James Version
42 Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north.
2 Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits.
3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.
4 And before the chambers was a walk to ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north.
5 Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building.
6 For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.
7 And the wall that was without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits.
8 For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits.
9 And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court.
10 The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building.
11 And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they: and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.
12 And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.
13 Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.
14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.
15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.
16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
17 He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
18 He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.
19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
20 He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
Ezekiel 42
Evangelical Heritage Version
Rooms North of the Temple
42 Then he led me out into the outer courtyard which was north of the temple building, and he brought me to a set of rooms which bordered on the south side of the restricted area and was north of the structure of the temple building.[a] 2 This building north of the temple, which had doors facing north, was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.[b]
3 On each side of the north courtyard, across from the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner courtyard on the south side and across from the pavement that belonged to the outer courtyard on the north side, two sets of balconies faced each other.[c] Each was three stories high.[d] 4 In front of the rooms on the inside of the courtyard was a walkway[e] ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits long.[f] The entrances of the rooms faced north.[g]
5 The upper rooms were narrower, because the balconies took more space away from them than from the building’s bottom and middle floors. 6 These rooms were arranged in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars in the courtyards, so as you went up from ground level, the upper story had to be set back more than the lower and middle ones.[h]
7 There was a wall in the outer courtyard, which ran parallel to the rooms on the east side.[i] It was fifty cubits long. 8 The length of the set of rooms on the east side of the building facing toward the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, but the length of those on the north side was one hundred cubits long.[j] 9 On the bottom floor of these rooms on the east end of the building, there was an entrance, through which one could enter them from the outer courtyard.[k]
The Same Rooms on the South Side
10 At the head of the wall of the courtyard,[l] on the south[m] side of the temple, opposite the restricted area and opposite the building, there were rooms. 11 They also had a passageway in front of them. They looked just like the rooms on the north. They were the same length and also the same width, and they were the same in regard to all their exits, their designs, and their entrances. 12 Also identical were the entrances to the rooms on the south, at the head of the passageway, that is, the passageway opposite the corresponding wall, as one enters them from the east.
13 Then he said to me, “The northern and southern rooms in front of the restricted area are holy rooms where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering, for the place is holy. 14 When the priests go to enter these rooms, they must not go out from the holy place into the outer courtyard until they have put away their vestments in which they have ministered there, because the vestments are holy. They must put on other clothing before they approach the area that is for the people.”
15 In this way the man finished the measurements of the interior of the temple complex. Then he led me out through the gate on the east side of the temple complex and measured the temple area all the way around. 16 He measured the east side using the measuring rod. It measured five hundred cubits,[n] using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 17 Then he turned and measured the north side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 18 Then he turned and measured the south side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 19 He turned to the west side and measured again. It also was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 20 Thus he measured the temple area on all four sides. It had a wall all the way around it. It was five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, in order to separate the holy from the common.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 42:1 The interpretation of verses 1 and 2 is very difficult. It seems best to understand them as a reference to feature Q on the diagram, as the translation above does. This fits well with the measurements given in verse 2. Some, however, interpret these verses as a reference to feature C on the diagram and translate then he led me out into the outer courtyard north of the temple, and he brought me to a set of rooms on the other side of the restricted area, across from the temple along the north wall of the temple compound.
- Ezekiel 42:2 About 175 feet by 90 feet
- Ezekiel 42:3 Verse 3 is very difficult. It seems to refer to balconies on features Q and E on the diagram.
- Ezekiel 42:3 Or on the third floor
- Ezekiel 42:4 Feature R on the diagram
- Ezekiel 42:4 One hundred cubits is the reading of the Greek and Syriac. The Hebrew reads one cubit.
- Ezekiel 42:4 This apparently refers to the rooms on the south side of the northern courtyard.
- Ezekiel 42:6 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 42:7 Feature S on the diagram
- Ezekiel 42:8 This seems to refer to rooms on the short and long sides of building Q.
- Ezekiel 42:9 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 42:10 The translation follows the Greek. The Hebrew reads in the thickness of the wall.
- Ezekiel 42:10 The translation follows the Greek. The Hebrew reads on the east.
- Ezekiel 42:16 About 875 feet. The reading five hundred is from the margin of the Hebrew text. The in-text reading is five. There is also a textual question whether the dimensions of the area are 500 cubits or 500 rods.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.