Inside the Temple

41 Next he brought me into the great hall and measured the pilasters;(A) on each side the width of the pilaster was 10½ feet.[a][b] The width of the entrance was 17½ feet,[c] and the side walls of the entrance were 8¾ feet[d] wide on each side. He also measured the length of the great hall, 70 feet,[e] and the width, 35 feet.[f](B) He went inside the next room and measured the pilasters at the entrance;(C) they were 3½ feet[g] wide. The entrance was 10½ feet[h] wide, and the width of the entrance’s side walls on each side[i] was 12¼ feet.[j] He then measured the length of the room adjacent to the great hall, 35 feet,[k] and the width, 35 feet.(D) And he said to me, “This is the most holy place.”(E)

Outside the Temple

Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was 10½ feet[l] thick. The width of the side rooms all around the temple was seven feet.[m](F) The side rooms were arranged one above another in three stories of 30 rooms each.[n] There were ledges on the wall of the temple all around to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be in the temple wall itself.(G) The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive story, for the structure surrounding the temple went up by stages. This was the reason for the temple’s broadness as it rose. And so, one would go up from the lowest story to the highest by means of the middle one.[o](H)

I saw that the temple had a raised platform surrounding it; this foundation for the side rooms was 10½ feet high.[p](I) The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was 8¾ feet.[q] The free space between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the outer chambers was 35 feet[r] wide all around the temple.(J) 11 The side rooms opened into the free space, one entrance toward the north and another to the south. The area of free space was 8¾ feet[s] wide all around.

12 Now the building that faced the temple yard toward the west was 122½ feet[t] wide. The wall of the building was 8¾ feet[u] thick on all sides, and the building’s length was 157½ feet.[v]

13 Then the man measured the temple; it was 175 feet[w] long.(K) In addition, the temple yard and the building, including its walls, were 175 feet long. 14 The width of the front of the temple along with the temple yard to the east was 175 feet. 15 Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple yard to the west, with its galleries[x] on each side;(L) it was 175 feet.

Interior Wooden Structures

The interior of the great hall and the porticoes of the court— 16 the thresholds, the beveled windows,(M) and the balconies all around with their three levels opposite the threshold—were overlaid with wood on all sides.(N) They were paneled from the ground to the windows (but the windows were covered), 17 reaching to the top of the entrance, and as far as the inner temple and on the outside. On every wall all around, on the inside and outside, was a pattern 18 carved with cherubim and palm trees.(O) There was a palm tree between each pair of cherubim.(P) Each cherub had two faces: 19 a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side,(Q) and a lion’s face turned toward it on the other. They were carved throughout the temple on all sides. 20 Cherubim and palm trees were carved from the ground to the top of the entrance and on the wall of the great hall.

21 The doorposts of the great hall were square,(R) and the front of the sanctuary had the same appearance. 22 The altar was[y] made of wood, 5¼ feet[z] high and 3½ feet[aa] long.[ab] It had corners, and its length[ac] and sides were of wood.(S) The man told me, “This is the table that stands before the Lord.”(T)

23 The great hall and the sanctuary each had a double door,(U) 24 and each of the doors had two swinging panels.(V) There were two panels for one door and two for the other. 25 Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the great hall like those carved on the walls. There was a wooden canopy[ad](W) outside, in front of the portico. 26 There were beveled windows and palm trees on both sides,(X) on the side walls of the portico, the side rooms of the temple, and the canopies.[ae]

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 41:1 LXX; MT reads pilasters; they were 10½ feet wide on each side—the width of the tabernacle
  2. Ezekiel 41:1 Lit six cubits
  3. Ezekiel 41:2 Lit 10 cubits
  4. Ezekiel 41:2 Lit five cubits
  5. Ezekiel 41:2 Lit 40 cubits
  6. Ezekiel 41:2 Lit 20 cubits
  7. Ezekiel 41:3 Lit two cubits
  8. Ezekiel 41:3 Lit six cubits
  9. Ezekiel 41:3 LXX; MT reads width of the entrance
  10. Ezekiel 41:3 Lit seven cubits
  11. Ezekiel 41:4 Lit 20 cubits
  12. Ezekiel 41:5 Lit six cubits
  13. Ezekiel 41:5 Lit four cubits
  14. Ezekiel 41:6 Lit another three and 30 times
  15. Ezekiel 41:7 Hb obscure
  16. Ezekiel 41:8 Lit a full rod of six cubits of a joint; Hb obscure
  17. Ezekiel 41:9 Lit five cubits
  18. Ezekiel 41:10 Lit 20 cubits
  19. Ezekiel 41:11 Lit five cubits
  20. Ezekiel 41:12 Lit 70 cubits
  21. Ezekiel 41:12 Lit five cubits
  22. Ezekiel 41:12 Lit 90 cubits
  23. Ezekiel 41:13 Lit 100 cubits
  24. Ezekiel 41:15 Or ledges
  25. Ezekiel 41:22 Or and in front of the sanctuary was something that looked like 22 an altar
  26. Ezekiel 41:22 Lit three cubits
  27. Ezekiel 41:22 Lit two cubits
  28. Ezekiel 41:22 LXX reads long and 3½ feet wide
  29. Ezekiel 41:22 LXX reads base
  30. Ezekiel 41:25 Hb obscure
  31. Ezekiel 41:26 Hb obscure

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall(A) and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits[a] on each side.[b] The entrance was ten cubits[c] wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits[d] wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.[e](B)

Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits[f] wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits[g] wide. And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall.(C) He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.(D)

Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubits[h] wide. The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty(E) on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple.(F) The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway(G) went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. 11 There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits[i] wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.[j]

13 Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits[k] long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.(H)

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries(I) on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, 16 as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows(J) and galleries around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered.(K) 17 In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary 18 were carved(L) cherubim(M) and palm trees.(N) Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces:(O) 19 the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple.(P) 20 From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

21 The main hall(Q) had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. 22 There was a wooden altar(R) three cubits[l] high and two cubits square[m]; its corners, its base[n] and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table(S) that is before the Lord.” 23 Both the main hall(T) and the Most Holy Place had double doors.(U) 24 Each door had two leaves—two hinged leaves(V) for each door. 25 And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. 26 On the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 41:1 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters; also in verses 3, 5 and 8
  2. Ezekiel 41:1 One Hebrew manuscript and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts side, the width of the tent
  3. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 18 feet or about 5.3 meters
  4. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 8 3/4 feet or about 2.7 meters; also in verses 9, 11 and 12
  5. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 70 feet long and 35 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 11 meters wide
  6. Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 3 1/2 feet or about 1.1 meters; also in verse 22
  7. Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 12 feet or about 3.7 meters
  8. Ezekiel 41:5 That is, about 7 feet or about 2.1 meters
  9. Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 123 feet or about 37 meters
  10. Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 158 feet or about 48 meters
  11. Ezekiel 41:13 That is, about 175 feet or about 53 meters; also in verses 14 and 15
  12. Ezekiel 41:22 That is, about 5 1/4 feet or about 1.5 meters
  13. Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew long
  14. Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew length