Ezekiel 42:1-20

Chambers for the Temple

42:1 Then he led me out to the outer court, toward the north, and brought me to the chamber which was opposite the courtyard and opposite the building on the north. 42:2 Its length was 175 feet ¹  on the north side, ²  and its width 87½ feet. ³  42:3 Opposite the 35 feet ⁴  that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories. 42:4 In front of the chambers was a walkway on the inner side, 17½ feet ⁵  wide at a distance of 1¾ feet, ⁶  and their entrances were on the north. 42:5 Now the upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more space from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. 42:6 For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers ⁷  were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones. 42:7 As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, it was 87½ feet ⁸  long. 42:8 For the chambers on the outer court were 87½ feet ⁹  long, while those facing the temple were 175 feet ¹⁰  long. 42:9 Below these chambers was a passage on the east side as one enters from the outer court.

42:10 At the beginning ¹¹  of the wall of the court toward the south, ¹²  facing the courtyard and the building, were chambers 42:11 with a passage in front of them. They looked like the chambers on the north. Of the same length and width, and all their exits according to their arrangements and entrances 42:12 were the chambers ¹³  which were toward the south. There was an opening at the head of the passage, the passage in front of the corresponding wall toward the east when one enters.

42:13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers which face the courtyard are holy chambers where the priests ¹⁴  who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings – the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because the place is holy. 42:14 When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are.”

42:15 Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate which faces east and measured all around. 42:16 He measured the east side with the measuring stick ¹⁵  as 875 feet ¹⁶  by the measuring stick. 42:17 He measured the north side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. 42:18 He measured the south side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. 42:19 He turned to the west side and measured 875 feet by the measuring stick. 42:20 He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy and common places.

[42:2]  ¹ tn Heb “one hundred cubits” (i.e., 52.5 meters).

[42:2]  ² tn Heb “the door of the north.”

[42:2]  ³ tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[42:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “twenty cubits” (i.e., 10.5 meters).

[42:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “ten cubits” (i.e., 5.25 meters).

[42:4]  ⁶ tc Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm). The LXX and the Syriac read “one hundred cubits” (= 175 feet).

[42:6]  ⁷ tn The phrase “upper chambers” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied from the context.

[42:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[42:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[42:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one hundred cubits” (i.e., 52.5 meters).

[42:10]  ¹¹ tc The reading is supported by the LXX.

[42:10]  ¹² tc This reading is supported by the LXX; the MT reads “east.”

[42:12]  ¹³ tc The MT apparently evidences dittography, repeating most of the last word of the previous verse: “and like the openings of.”

[42:13]  ¹⁴ sn The priests are from the Zadokite family (Ezek 40:6; 44:15).

[42:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “reed” (also in the following verses).

[42:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “five hundred cubits” (i.e., 262.5 meters).