Ezekiel 41:7

41:7 The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story; ¹  for the structure ²  surrounding the temple went up story by story all around the temple. For this reason the width of the temple increased as it went up, and one went up from the lowest story to the highest by the way of the middle story.

Ezekiel 43:13

The Altar

43:13 “And these are the measurements of the altar: ³  Its base ⁴  is 1¾ feet ⁵  high, ⁶  and 1¾ feet ⁷  wide, and its border nine inches ⁸  on its edge. This is to be the height ⁹  of the altar.

[41:7]  ¹ tc The Hebrew is difficult here. The Targum envisions a winding ramp or set of stairs, which entails reading the first word as a noun rather than a verb and reading the second word also not as a verb, supposing that an initial mem has been read as vav and nun. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:549.

[41:7]  ² tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[43:13]  ³ tn Heb “the measurements of the altar by cubits, the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth.” The measuring units here and in the remainder of this section are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard feet and inches, with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes. On the altar see Ezek 40:47.

[43:13]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term normally means “bosom.” Here it refers to a hollow in the ground.

[43:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[43:13]  ⁶ tn The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[43:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[43:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “one span.” A span was three handbreadths, or about nine inches (i.e., 22.5 cm).

[43:13]  ⁹ tc Heb “bulge, protuberance, mound.” The translation follows the LXX.