Ezekiel 40:38-49

40:38 There was a chamber with its door by the porch of the gate; ¹  there they washed the burnt offering. 40:39 In the porch of the gate were two tables on either side on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. 40:40 On the outside of the porch as one goes up at the entrance of the north gate were two tables, and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables. 40:41 Four tables were on each side of the gate, eight tables on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. 40:42 The four tables for the burnt offering were of carved stone, 32 inches ²  long, 32 inches ³  wide, and 21 inches ⁴  high. They would put the instruments which they used to slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them. 40:43 There were hooks ⁵  three inches ⁶  long, fastened in the house all around, and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

40:44 On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court, one ⁷  at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the south ⁸  gate facing north. 40:45 He said to me, “This chamber which faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, ⁹  40:46 and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the descendants of Zadok, from the descendants of Levi, who may approach the Lord to minister to him.” 40:47 He measured the court as a square 175 feet long and 175 feet wide; ¹⁰  the altar was in front of the temple.

40:48 Then he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured the jambs of the porch as 8¾ feet ¹¹  on either side, and the width of the gate was 24½ feet ¹²  and the sides ¹³  were 5¼ feet ¹⁴  on each side. 40:49 The length of the porch was 35 feet ¹⁵  and the width 19¼ feet; ¹⁶  steps ¹⁷  led up to it, and there were pillars beside the jambs on either side.

[40:38]  ¹ tc The MT reads “jambs of the gates” which does not make sense in a context discussing one chamber. The emendation to “porch” is similar to v. 14. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:530.

[40:42]  ² tn Heb “one and a half cubits” (i.e., 78.75 cm).

[40:42]  ³ tn Heb “one and a half cubits” (i.e., 78.75 cm).

[40:42]  ⁴ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[40:43]  ⁵ tc This reading is supported by the Aramaic Targum. The LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac read “shelves” or some type of projection.

[40:43]  ⁶ tn Heb “one handbreadth” (7.5 cm).

[40:44]  ⁷ tn “One” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied for clarity in the translation.

[40:44]  ⁸ tc This reading is supported by the LXX; the MT reads “east.”

[40:45]  ⁹ tn Heb “the house.”

[40:47]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, a square” (i.e., 52.5 meters by 52.5 meters).

[40:48]  ¹¹ tn Heb “five cubits” (i.e., 2.625 meters).

[40:48]  ¹² tn The LXX reads “fourteen cubits” (i.e., 7.35 meters). See following note.

[40:48]  ¹³ tc The translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “the width of the gate was three cubits,” the omission due to haplography.

[40:48]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “three cubits” (i.e., 1.575 meters).

[40:49]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “twenty cubits” (i.e., 10.5 meters).

[40:49]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “eleven cubits” (i.e., 5.775 meters).

[40:49]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX reads “ten steps.”