Ezekiel 42:6-20

42:6 For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers ¹  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 ²  long. 42:8 For the chambers on the outer court were 87½ feet ³  long, while those facing the temple were 175 feet ⁴  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 ⁵  of the wall of the court toward the south, ⁶  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 ⁷  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 ⁸  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 ⁹  as 875 feet ¹⁰  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.

[42:6]  ¹ tn The phrase “upper chambers” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied from the context.

[42:7]  ² tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[42:8]  ³ tn Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).

[42:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “one hundred cubits” (i.e., 52.5 meters).

[42:10]  ⁵ tc The reading is supported by the LXX.

[42:10]  ⁶ tc This reading is supported by the LXX; the MT reads “east.”

[42:12]  ⁷ tc The MT apparently evidences dittography, repeating most of the last word of the previous verse: “and like the openings of.”

[42:13]  ⁸ sn The priests are from the Zadokite family (Ezek 40:6; 44:15).

[42:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “reed” (also in the following verses).

[42:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “five hundred cubits” (i.e., 262.5 meters).