In the twenty-fifth year of exile the vision of the new Temple begins: the man with the measuring reed, and the gates and courts of the outer sanctuary.
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day, the hand of Hashem was upon me, and He brought me thither.
verse value 7894
Insights
Verse structure: 24 words, 97 letters. The shortest word is "year" (שָׁנָ֣ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "of·our·exile" (לְ֠גָלוּתֵ֠נוּ, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 355: year, year. The root שנה appears 3 times in this verse. 22 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "hand·of·Hashem" (root יהוה, 427x in Ezekiel); "that" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "was" (root היה, 335x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·city', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 9 words.
Rashi
"On the New Year, on the tenth day of the month." Which year is it whose New Year falls on the tenth of the month? Come and say, this is the Jubilee year. The Temple was destroyed in the thirty-sixth year of the Jubilee that began in the eighteenth year of Isaiah, and at the end of fourteen years the Jubilee was due to occur, and it was the twenty-fifth year of the exile of Jehoiachin, who was exiled in the twenty-sixth year of the Jubilee, [which was] the fourteenth year of Josiah, from [his] eighteenth to [his] thirty-first year, and eleven years of Jehoiakim.
Hand of God. The strength of His power to lead me against my will:
"And He brought me there"—to the city that was struck, namely Jerusalem. In that year, He showed him the building of the Temple for the future.
Radak
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, on the New Year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down. In the thirtieth year of the Jubilee, he saw that the Divine Presence had departed from Israel, as we have written at the beginning of the book; and this was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin. How many years remained from the Jubilee? Twenty years: the six years of Zedekiah, for five years had passed for him, and fourteen years after the city was struck down, making it twenty in all. This was the fiftieth year, which is the Jubilee year. This is what is stated: “On the New Year, on the tenth of the month.” Which year is it whose New Year falls on the tenth of the month? You should say, this is the Jubilee year. And since slaves were released from servitude to freedom in the Jubilee year on the Day of Atonement, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him the exodus from exile and the rebuilding of the Temple in the Jubilee year and on the Day of Atonement, for on that day God will forgive the iniquity of Israel, and their sin will no longer be remembered.
"There." The city that was mentioned:
Metzudat David
“our exile.” This refers to the exile of Yehoyachin, for it was then that Ezekiel went into exile.
"On the first day of the year, on the tenth of the month." Which is the year whose New Year falls on the tenth of the month? This is the Jubilee year, which began on Yom Kippur, the tenth of the seventh month. For the Chariot was seen in the thirtieth year of the Jubilee, as stated there. At that time, it was the fifth year of the exile of Jehoiachin. And this vision occurred in the twenty-fifth year of the exile of Jehoiachin. Therefore, it was in the Jubilee year. And already fourteen years had passed since the time the city was struck during the days of Zedekiah, for he reigned eleven years after the exile of Jehoiachin.
The hand of the Lord. The power and strength of prophecy to lead me against my will.
"There." This means: to the city that was struck, as mentioned above.
Metzudat Zion
“Betzem.” The matter of the essence and substance of the thing. And similarly, “My essence has not been hidden from You” (Psalms 139:15).
In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.
verse value 2725
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "high" (גָּבֹ֙הַּ֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "as·structure·of·city" (כְּמִבְנֵה־עִ֖יר, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "he·brought·me" (הֱבִיאַ֖נִי), "to·mountain" (אֶל־הַ֤ר), "and·upon·it" (וְעָלָ֥יו). The root איל appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·upon·it" (root על, 272x in Ezekiel); "to·land" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "he·brought·me" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: בְּמַרְא֣וֹת [in·visions·of] (649) + אֱלֹהִ֔ים [God] (86) + הֱבִיאַ֖נִי [he·brought·me] (78) + אֶל־אֶ֣רֶץ [to·land] (322) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל [Israel] (541) + וַיְנִיחֵ֗נִי [and·set·me·down] (144) + אֶל־הַ֤ר [to·mountain] (236) + גָּבֹ֙הַּ֙ [high] (10) + מְאֹ֔ד [very] (45) + וְעָלָ֥יו [and·upon·it] (122) + כְּמִבְנֵה־עִ֖יר [as·structure·of·city] (397) + מִנֶּֽגֶב [from·south] (95) = 2725.
Rashi
"In the visions of God He brought me." He did not lead me there, but rather showed me as if I were there.
To a very high mountain. For it is destined to be elevated, as it is stated (Isaiah 2:2): “And it shall be lifted up above the hills.”
Like the structure of a city. Like the building of a city:
“From the south.” In the south of the mountain:
Radak
"In the visions, to a very high mountain." This is the Temple Mount, and He showed it to him as very high, for so it will be in the future, elevated and lofty, as it is written: "The mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established as the chief of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills" (Isaiah 2:2). Moreover, it is high relative to its location, for the Land of Israel is higher than all the lands, and Jerusalem is higher than all the Land of Israel.
"And upon it, like a city built to the south." The meaning of "upon it" is that it is adjacent to it, as in the verse "and upon it the tribe of Manasseh," for the Holy Temple will be built on the Mount as it was, and the city of Jerusalem will be adjacent to it to the south. And He showed him the future building of the Temple, just as He showed its destruction to comfort the exiles of the House of Israel in this prophecy, "House of Israel, who were exiled, for their hope shall not be lost," and furthermore, they will return to the Land and dwell in it securely, and the building of the Temple will be greater than it was at first.
As a structure. A construct noun in the shkal pattern, meaning “a building,” showed him like a built city, or they were building it. The building of the house showed him how they were building it, and showed him the man who was standing over the builders, measuring the length and the width, how they would build it.
Metzudat David
“Through visions of God.” This means that He did not actually bring me [there], but rather it appeared to me in a prophetic vision as though He had brought me to the Land of Israel and placed me there on a very high mountain, which is the Temple Mount.
"And upon it." And adjacent to that mountain was a structure resembling a city, which was Jerusalem, and it lay opposite the mountain.
Metzudat Zion
And He set me down. The word is in the form of "setting down" (hanachah):
Like a structure. The word is from the root "building":
Malbim
“Through visions of God, He brought me” – [Malbim] explains that he was not actually there [in the Land of Israel] in reality, but rather he saw it in a vision. And it also means that there he saw the well-known vision, namely the visions of the Chariot (as stated in chapter 43), and the vision of the Temple is aligned opposite the upper Chariot, as stated in another place. “And He set me down upon a very high mountain” – as it is stated, “The mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established as the chief of the mountains.” “And upon it, like the structure of a city toward the south.” Now it will be explained (below, section 45, section 48) that the city in the future will be located to the south of the Temple, distant from it by forty-five mil. Therefore, he saw it like the structure of a city, because the city is very distant, and it is aligned opposite it from the southern side, and it does not stand in the place where it originally stood, adjacent to the Temple.
And He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
verse value 4741
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 66 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְה֥וּא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "name" (שָׁ֗מָּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·cord·of·flax" (וּפְתִיל־פִּשְׁתִּ֥ים, 10 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·he·brought" (וַיָּבֵ֨יא), "and·behold·man" (וְהִנֵּה־אִישׁ֙), "his·sight" (מַרְאֵ֙הוּ֙). The root מראה appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·brought" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel); "and·he" (root הוא, 86x in Ezekiel); "in·the·gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root מדה ("measure") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'measure', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיָּבֵ֨יא [and·he·brought] (29) + אוֹתִ֜י [me] (417) + שָׁ֗מָּה [name] (345) + וְהִנֵּה־אִישׁ֙ [and·behold·man] (377) + מַרְאֵ֙הוּ֙ [his·sight] (252) + כְּמַרְאֵ֣ה [as·sight·of] (266) + נְחֹ֔שֶׁת [copper] (758) + וּפְתִיל־פִּשְׁתִּ֥ים [and·cord·of·flax] (1356) + בְּיָד֖וֹ [in·his·hand] (22) + וּקְנֵ֣ה [and·reed·of] (161) + הַמִּדָּ֑ה [measure] (54) + וְה֥וּא [and·he] (18) + עֹמֵ֖ד [standing] (114) + בַּשָּֽׁעַר [in·the·gate] (572) = 4741.
Rashi
Like the appearance of copper. Like the splendor of the living creatures, and sparkling like the appearance of polished copper.
“And a flaxen cord was in his hand.” For measuring land, there is nothing better than a flaxen cord.
"And the measuring rod." Measure with it the thickness of the wall, and the length and width of the gates.
Radak
And He brought me there, and behold, a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. It is as if an angel from heaven said, “Measure the building,” and the prophet saw the angel in the form of a man, as it is stated in the book of Joshua: “And behold, a man standing before him.” And what he said, “like the appearance of bronze,” is similar to what is stated in the vision at the beginning of the book: “sparkling like the eyes of bronze.” “Bronze” and “copper” are a shared term; “my bronze” and “He blessed me because of you.”
"And a flaxen cord in his hand." To measure:
“And the measuring reed.” Likewise, it is in his hand to measure; however, with a measuring rope, a person measures a large quantity of land, whereas with a measuring rod, a person measures a small quantity, such as the measurement of a building and other similar items.
And he was standing at the gate. He saw him standing at the gate of the house, and in his hand was the cord and the measuring rod to measure.
Metzudat David
"And he brought me there, etc." This means: And when He brought me there, I saw, and behold, a man—the angel who was speaking with me—whose appearance was like the appearance of copper, like a shining and bright thing, like what is said concerning the living creatures: "And their appearance was like gleaming copper" (above, 1:7).
"And a flaxen cord in his hand." To measure with it the measurements of the building.
And he took the measuring rod. He also had in his hand a measuring rod (and he also needed a thread to measure with it a large distance, for it is very difficult to measure a large distance with a rod, since he would need each time to mark the place where the measurement of the rod ended, in order to measure from there and onward. And although it was in the vision of prophecy, nevertheless He showed it to him in a manner suitable to the senses. Therefore, he had in his hand a long thread, and with it he measured a large distance in one go. Afterwards, he measured the thread with the measuring rod to know how much it contained. Also, a measurement less than the full length of the rod would be difficult to estimate and determine precisely with the rod, but not so with the thread, for it is possible to fold it as one wishes, to estimate and determine according to the measure of the rod).
And it is this angel who was standing at the gate of the wall of the Temple Mount:
Metzudat Zion
And "patil." A doubled and twisted thread, like the thread of blue (Exodus 39:31), and it is the measuring line.
And a reed. A staff and a walking stick:
Malbim
"And He brought me there": Initially, He brought him near to the mountain, as it is stated, "He set me upon the mountain"; the word "to" (el) indicates that he was not yet there (for He desired that he should see from there the city standing at a distance). Now, He brought him there, to the holy place on the summit of the mountain. He held a flaxen cord in his hand to measure with it a large measure of the ground, and a measuring rod to measure the wall and a small measure. And he was standing at the gate; then he also saw that there was a gate there, and it was the eastern gate of the Temple Mount. And He showed him by this that the future building would not be by human beings, but by heavenly beings, in a manner of miracles.
And the man said to me: ‘Son of man, behold with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for to the intent that I might show them to you are you brought thither; declare all that you see to the house of Israel.’ .
verse value 7162
Insights
Verse structure: 24 words, 106 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֛י, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·that·you" (אֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 206: see, seeing. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·put" (וְשִׂ֣ים), "to·show·you" (הַרְאוֹתְכָ֖ה), "you·were·gone·in" (הֻבָ֣אתָה). The root ראה appears 4 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that·I" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "you·were·gone·in" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'they', dividing the verse into phrases of 19 and 5 words.
Rashi
"to all that I show you." The matter of the construction:
You have been brought here. From Babylonia:
Radak
And He spoke. It is clear:
"Show you." It is written with a he after the kaf, and similarly, "bring you."
Metzudat David
"See in your eyes." The measure of the measurement:
"And in your ears you shall hear." What is the matter that is measured?
And pay attention to understand the matters:
"In order that I may show you." In order that I may show you the construction of the future Temple, you were brought from Babylonia to this place.
“Speak, and…” – In order to comfort them and to strengthen their hope.
Malbim
See with your eyes the forms and shapes that will appear, and hear with your ears the words that will be spoken to you, and set your heart to understand the allegory and the secrets hidden in this vision, for the purpose of your being brought here is to show you, and the ultimate goal of this vision is that you may speak to the House of Israel in order to comfort them and strengthen faltering hands.
And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long, of a cubit and a hand-breadth each; so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height, one reed.
verse value 3885
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 84 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֔ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "get" (קְנֵ֣ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "six·cubits" (שֵׁשׁ־אַמּ֤וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 155: get, reed, reed. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·in·hand·of" (וּבְיַ֨ד), "and·the·height" (וְקוֹמָ֖ה). The root קנה appears 3 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root אמה ("six·cubits") in Ezekiel. First appearance of the root טפח ("and·hand's·breadth") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 15 words.
Rashi
And behold, there was a wall outside the house. He showed me the construction of a single house on the northern side of the mountain, and the wall was outside, surrounding it on all sides. This is explicitly stated at the end of the book: that the city is in the south and the house is in the north.
“Six cubits in a cubit and a handbreadth.” Six cubits in a cubit, which is a cubit and a handbreadth; so too does the Targum [render it]: “This is the average cubit of six [handbreadths], which is a cubit and a handbreadth in a cubit of five [handbreadths].”
The width of the building. The thickness of the wall:
And its height was one reed. This is the "outer elevation" that surrounded the Temple Mount, and it was low, as we learned: "All the walls there were high, except for the eastern wall, where the priest who burned the Red Heifer stood on the Mount of Anointing, etc."
Radak
And behold, a wall outside the house all around. For they would begin to build a wall around the Temple Mount, because the mountain in its entirety is called the Temple House. And the man was measuring the wall, how wide they would make it and its height. The measuring rod was six cubits in a cubit and a handbreadth in the known cubit, which is of five handbreadths and a handbreadth. This cubit was an extra handbreadth, and it was six handbreadths. And so we say in the Mishnah: Rabbi Yehuda said, “The cubit of building is six handbreadths, and that of vessels is five.” And Jonathan translated, “six cubits in a cubit, which is a cubit and a handbreadth.”
"And its height was one reed." This refers to the outer wall, which was low; it was not high, but only one reed high, whose measure is six cubits, each a cubit of six handbreadths. The rest of the walls of the Temple Court did not stand in front of it, for it stood opposite the gates, and all the gates were open opposite one another. They were higher than the Gate of the House, in proportion to the height of their respective locations. Similarly, we find in the Mishnah Middot that all the walls there were high, except for the eastern wall. For the priest who burns the Red Heifer stands on the Mount of Olives and aligns himself to see opposite the entrance of the Temple at the time of the sprinkling of the blood. If the eastern wall of the Temple Mount had been high, he would not have been able to see the entrance of the Temple, for the wall would have stood in front of him. And when it says "except for the eastern wall," it refers to the wall of the Temple Mount, which is the outer one. The exiles who returned from Babylon constructed the building in the image of what they saw in the future construction of Ezekiel, in some matters. And even though the implication of the verse is that the entire wall was low all around, since it did not specify the eastern wall, but rather stated generally, "And its height was one reed."
Metzudat David
"And behold, a wall." And behold, I saw a wall outside the House, surrounding it on all sides, and it is the wall of the Temple Mount.
“Six cubits, etc.” This means that the reed was six large cubits in length, each of which was measured according to the common cubit, which is a cubit of five handbreadths plus an additional handbreadth; thus, the measurement of the reed was thirty-six handbreadths.
The building. This means the building of that wall.
"And its height was one reed." So that it would be visible from the outside, along with all the structures of the Temple, and that wall would not hide them from the eye of the beholder; therefore, it was low, for this was its ornamentation and its beauty.
Metzudat Zion
And "tofuach." So is the name of the measure of four fingers joined together.
Malbim
And behold, a wall: this is the wall of the Temple Mount, which was five hundred reeds on each side, as stated below (end of chapter 42). And the wall is outside the Temple, for within the wall of the Temple Mount is found the Temple. And in the man’s hand was a measuring rod, meaning that the measuring rod that was in the man’s hand (as stated above, chapter 3) held six cubits, since each cubit contained a cubit of five handbreadths plus one handbreadth, namely six cubits of six handbreadths each. And he measured the width of the structure, namely the thickness of the wall, which was six cubits, and likewise the height of the wall. And from what is stated, “all around, all around,” it implies that it was lower on all sides [Note: Although in the Second Temple only the eastern wall was lower, so that the priest burning the Red Heifer could see from there the entrance to the Sanctuary, as stated in chapter 2 of Middot. Here, that reason does not apply, for there were twelve steps in the Women’s Court and fifteen steps in the Israelite Court. But here, in the Women’s Court there were only seven steps, as stated regarding the north and south sides (verse 22 and verse 26), and in the Israelite Court there were eight steps (as stated in verse 31, verse 34, and verse 36), lacking twelve steps, which equal six cubits. And thus he could see the entrance to the Sanctuary through the gate. Rather, it was lower for aesthetic purposes, so that one could see the entire Temple from the outside, and the wall would not obscure it. End of note].
Then came he to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up the steps thereof; and he measured the jamb of the gate, one reed broad, and the other jamb, one reed broad.
verse value 4823
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 75 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָד֙) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). Verse gematria: 4823 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "threshold" (סַ֣ף, 2 letters) and the longest is "in·his·ascents" (בְּמַעֲלוֹתָ֑ו, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 210: breadth, breadth. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "east" (הַקָּדִ֔ימָה), "in·his·ascents" (בְּמַעֲלוֹתָ֑ו), "jamb" (אֶת־סַ֣ף). The root אחד appears 3 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·gate" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·he·came" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root סף ("threshold") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·his·ascents', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 12 words.
Rashi
“And he came to the gate whose face was toward the east.” He entered within the precincts and came to the eastern gate of the Women’s Court; this is called the outer courtyard in this entire matter, since it is in front of the Court of Israel.
"And he went up by his ascent." This refers to the sloping ramp of the Temple Mount, which ascends continuously from the lower cheil up to the Women's Court, consisting of twelve steps, as we learned [in Middot]: "Within it was the cheil, ten cubits, and twelve steps were there."
The threshold of the gate. This is the doorpost of the gate:
One reed in width. Six cubits, and it covers the entire thickness of the wall, which was one reed, as stated above:
"And one threshold." [This teaches that] the second doorpost is placed one on the north and one on the south.
Radak
And he came. He was outside the wall and entered through the eastern gate of the Temple Mount.
“Whose face was toward the east.” This means that it was open toward the eastern path; the entrance is the face of the gate. And so did Jonathan translate: “Of the opening to the path of the east.” And Rashi, of blessed memory, explained: “And he came to the gate whose face was toward the east”—he entered into the enclosure and came to the eastern gate of the Court of Women.
“And he went up by its steps.” According to the explanation of Rashi of blessed memory, he ascended the twelve steps that were between the Chel and the Court of the Women. And according to our explanation, the Temple Mount was higher than the surrounding area, and one would ascend to it by means of steps.
"And he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide." Its width was equal to the width of the wall.
“And one threshold.” Likewise there was a second threshold, and the thresholds are the doorposts of the gate, one on this side and one on that side.
Metzudat David
And he came. The angel entered within the circuit of that wall and came to the Court of Women, to the gate facing eastward. That court is called in this matter the "outer court," because it is outer to the Court of Israel.
"And he went up by his steps." Before he came to the gate, he walked by steps, for this mountain was ascending toward the west, and there were steps there.
One reed in width. According to the measure of the thickness of the wall, which was one reed, and according to the measure of the wall of the Temple Mount.
"And one threshold." This means: He also measured the one threshold opposite it, and it was one reed wide.
Metzudat Zion
“By its steps.” They are the stairs by which one ascends.
Sef. Just as it says, "the doorposts of the gate," so too, "and the thresholds trembled" (Amos 9:1).
Malbim
And he came to the gate; from there he came to a gate, which is the Gate of the Women’s Court, which is in front of the Court of Israel. (And it is called in this book the Outer Court, opposite the Court of Israel, which is called the Inner Court.) And this wall surrounded it on all four sides. “His face was toward the east,” meaning that he entered through the eastern gate and ascended its steps, because the mountain was sloped, and they made it level; they dug steps near the gate. And he did not specify here how many steps there were. And from the structure of the Second Temple one cannot learn, for it was different from this structure, for even the steps of the Court of Israel were different. And therefore, since he relied on what he explained regarding the north and south, that there were seven steps [Note: And behold, in the structure of the Second Temple, the area of the Temple Mount was divided by a partition called the Soreg. And from this partition to the Women’s Court was ten cubits, and it was called the Heil (as stated in Chapter 2 of Middot), for no gentiles or those impure from contact with the dead enter there. And now, in its place were the chambers, and after them were the sixty pillars (which will be explained in verse 14) that stood opposite the entire wall, and they extended twelve cubits distant from the wall. End of note]:
And he measured the threshold of the gate. The thickness of this wall was thirteen cubits, and there were two thresholds in it: one on the outer side and one on the inner side. Each of them was six cubits wide, and there was one cubit in the middle between threshold and threshold. And this is what is meant by the verse: “He measured one threshold, which is the outer one, it was one reed wide; and he measured one threshold, which is the inner one, it was one reed wide.” And presumably it was so also on the other side of the gate, since the thickness of the wall was equal on both sides.
And every cell was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the cells was five cubits; and the jambs of the gate by the porch of the gate within were one reed.
verse value 4657
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 68 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֥ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "reed" (קָנֶ֨ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·chambers" (הַתָּאִ֖ים, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 575: gate, gate. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "the·chambers" (הַתָּאִ֖ים), "and·threshold·of" (וְסַ֣ף), "from·beside" (מֵאֵ֨צֶל). The root קנה appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "and·between" (root בין, 145x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root תא ("and·chamber") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 8 words.
Rashi
And the cell. It is a chamber called "apandion" in the vernacular. There were three on the right side of the gate and three on the left, as stated in the matter of "and the cells were adjacent to the eastern wall of the Court of Women, on the outside, facing the Temple Mount." From where do I learn that they were on the outside? From what is written after the entire matter: "And He brought me to the outer court." From here I learn that everything mentioned above was outside it, for he had not yet entered into it.
"And the chamber, one reed long, etc." The hollow of each and every one is six cubits square.
And between the cells were five cubits. The walls that separate between the cells are five cubits in thickness, and so did Jonathan translate: “And between their cells was a wall of five cubits.” And so we learned in the tractate Middot: “The wall of the cell is five [cubits].”
“And the threshold of the gate was beside the porch of the gate, etc.” This means that inside the gate there was constructed a porch attached to the gate, as is explained in the matter of its projecting ten cubits into the Court of the Women, and at its top were doors and doorposts. This is what is stated: “And the threshold of the gate,” which is adjacent to the porch of the gate.
From the house. That is to say, toward the interior:
"One reed": Its width is sufficient to cover the thickness of the walls of the hall, one on the right and one on the left, for the thickness of the wall of the hall on the right and on the left is one reed, as he proceeds to explain.
Radak
And the cell. It is a chamber, and it is called a "yatzia" (porch) or "tzela" (side). He stated that the measurement of each and every cell among the cells that were there was one reed in length and one reed in width, for it was square.
And between the chambers were five cubits. Explanation: What was between the chambers, namely, the width of the common wall between the two chambers was five cubits. And so did Jonathan translate: “And between the chambers, a wall of five cubits.” And the chambers were inside the wall, and there were five areas divided one inside another, from the wall of the Temple Mount to the altar: the Temple Mount was inside it, the area called the Cheil was inside it, the Women’s Court was inside it, the Israelites’ Court was inside it, the Priests’ Court was inside it.
“And the threshold from the vestibule of the gate, from the house, was one reed.” This is because above he mentioned the measurement of the thresholds of the gate, which are the outer thresholds. And this gate also had inner thresholds, since the vestibule is attached to it. He stated that the inner threshold, which is adjacent to the vestibule of the gate, its width is one reed, like the outer ones. And so too the second threshold, even though he did not mention it.
"From the house." Its meaning is from the inside, as we have explained, and so did Jonathan translate it: "From within."
Metzudat David
And the chambers. Every chamber was one reed in length, etc., and the number of chambers was three on the right of the gate and three on its left, as is explicitly stated in the matter, and they leaned against the wall of the Temple Court, with their fronts facing the Temple Mount.
"And between the cells." The walls that separated one cell from another were five cubits thick, and so were the outer walls on this side and that side, and so were the walls in front of them; but behind them, the wall of the Azarah served as their wall.
And the threshold of the door was from beside the porch of the door. For within the door there was a structure of a porch, as is explicitly stated in the matter, and its walls extended inward on both sides of the door, on this side and on that, and they had doorposts at their inner tops; therefore it said, "Each of the doorposts of the door that was beside the porch toward the inside was one reed high," according to the measurement of the walls of the porch.
Metzudat Zion
"And the cell." The meaning is a room. And similarly, "to the chamber of the runners" (I Kings 14:28). And it is called so because it is on the border of the body of the building; and it is the language of "you shall mark out for yourselves" (Numbers 34:7), which is a matter of a border.
"Ulam." The meaning is a "house of the door," which is shaped like a dome above:
From the house. From the inside:
Malbim
And behold, see that on the two sides of the gate, on the outside, there were structures belonging to the gate, called "cells" (from the root אתא, [meaning] "to come," since they served for [one] to come to the gate, to stand there before entering), and there were three on each side, with their openings facing the gate. And on the inner side there was a vestibule, which is the house of the gate, also belonging to the gate. And see that he measured the interior space of the cell next to the gate, and its interior space, both in length and in width, was one reed, which is six cubits square. And between the cells, that is, the walls separating one cell from another, the width of each was five cubits (and likewise the eastern wall of the cells on the outer side; see verse 12). And "the threshold of the gate": after he measured the cell next to the gate and the wall between it and the cell beside it, he entered the inner side of the gate to measure the vestibule. And he took three measurements in it: 1. He measured the thickness of the wall of the vestibule on this side and on that side. The wall of the vestibule was at the side of the gate, and on one side it leaned against the wall of the courtyard, but on the other, inner side, it had a threshold. And he measured the threshold of the gate from the vestibule of the gate, meaning the threshold of the vestibule, and he calls it the threshold of the gate because the vestibule also belonged to the gate. "From the house": since the outer side leaned against the wall and had no threshold, and it was one reed. From this, one knows that the walls of the vestibule, each of them, were six cubits wide.
He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed.
verse value 1732
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 24 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָֽד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "reed" (קָנֶ֥ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "porch" (אֶת־אֻלָ֥ם, 5 letters). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel). Full calculation: וַיָּ֜מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־אֻלָ֥ם [porch] (472) + הַשַּׁ֛עַר [gate] (575) + מֵהַבַּ֖יִת [from·the·house] (457) + קָנֶ֥ה [reed] (155) + אֶחָֽד [one] (13) = 1732.
Rashi
And he measured the porch of the gate from the house. From the inside of the gate:
One reed. The thickness of the right and left walls upon which the hall is erected:
Radak
"And he measured the porch of the gate from the house, one reed." The thickness of the wall of the porch, on the inside, was one reed.
Metzudat David
From the house. This means one who is standing inside, in the open space of the Temple courtyard.
One reed. Regarding the thickness of the wall, it says:
Malbim
And he measured, (the second measurement) he measured the porch of the gate, that is, the length of the wall of the porch from west to east. He began this measurement from the house, for since he was standing by the threshold of the porch on the inner side, he measured from there from west to east, and it was one reed. It is found that the porch extended inward six cubits.
Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.
verse value 4308
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "and·he·measured" (וַיָּ֜מׇד, 4 letters) and the longest is "porch" (אֶת־אֻלָ֤ם, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 575: gate, gate. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·porch·of" (וְאֻלָ֥ם). The root שער appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root שמנה ("eight") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֜מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־אֻלָ֤ם [porch] (472) + הַשַּׁ֙עַר֙ [gate] (575) + שְׁמֹנֶ֣ה [eight] (395) + אַמּ֔וֹת [cubits] (447) + וְאֵילָ֖ו [and·its·post] (53) + שְׁתַּ֣יִם [two] (750) + אַמּ֑וֹת [cubits] (447) + וְאֻלָ֥ם [and·porch·of] (77) + הַשַּׁ֖עַר [gate] (575) + מֵהַבָּֽיִת [from·the·house] (457) = 4308.
Rashi
And he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits. Its projection extended into the Court of Women:
And the pillars. All the "pillars" mentioned in this context are like round trees, made of hewn stones, standing at one entrance, one on the right and one on the left, in place of thresholds and in place of doorposts. And so does the Targum (Isaiah 6:4) render "the thresholds trembled": "the tree-like pillars." And they are called "pillars" because they are round, like these and like an oak.
And its pillars were two cubits [in height]. Their thickness was circular, and they stood at the end of the porch’s interior space, attached one to the right wall and the other to the left wall. Consequently, the projection of the porch and its pillars amounted to ten cubits into the Temple Court, inside the gate.
And the porch of the gate was from the house. Because the porticoes of the gates of the Court of Israel were projecting and extending outward, as is explained in the matter of the porticoes of the gates of the Court of Women, which were extending inward, and the gates of the Court of Women were aligned opposite the gates of the Court of Israel, so that portico faced portico, and this was a thing of beauty.
Radak
"And he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits." This indicates that it extended inward for eight cubits.
“And these are two cubits.” The doorposts of the entrance hall, [measured] from within, were two cubits, extending inward.
However, the porch of the gate was from the house. From within, as Targum Jonathan translates it, “from its interior.” And he needed to state this because the other porch is outside the gate, and it is what they call the “gatehouse.” Likewise, the porch of the Temple was on the outside. Therefore, he stated that this porch of the gate was from within.
Metzudat David
"And He measured..." – He drew in the protrusion inward.
And the "ayilim": The doorposts that stood at the tops of the walls extended inward by two cubits from their protrusion; thus, the total width was ten cubits (but the width of the doorposts themselves was one reed, to cover the thickness of the wall; and although they were rounded on the outside—hence they were called "ayilim"—they were not at an equal distance from each other).
However, the porch was from the house. Since a porch is a house of the gate, and its manner is to be outside the gate, just as were the porches of the inner court, therefore it said: behold, this porch was from the inside, not like the manner of porches; and it was made so in order that this porch should be opposite the porch of the inner court, and this is a matter of beauty and splendor (and the walls of the porch were extended from the interior of the gate, a cubit and a half on this side and on that, as is explained in the matter):
Metzudat Zion
“V’eilav” (and its posts)—so are the doorposts called, because they were round like the elah tree.
Malbim
And he measured, (the third measurement) he measured the porch of the gate from north to south, and it was eight cubits, and its two pillars were two cubits. That is to say, the width of the interior space of the porch from north to south was ten cubits, equal to the width of the interior space of the gate. However, on either side of its entrance stood two pillars, one on this side and one on that side, and each was one cubit by one cubit in circumference. They stood within the entrance of the porch on the inside, blocking the entrance by one cubit on each side, so that only eight cubits of the interior space of the porch remained. Together with the two cubits of the two pillars, the entrance was ten cubits, corresponding to the measure of the interior space of the gate. For the two walls of the porch were aligned with the gate on their inner sides, and the width of its interior space was equal to the width of the interior space of the gate. Regarding the porch of the gate being part of the house: since the usual custom is for the porch to stand outside the gate on the outer side, as was the case with the porch of the Court of Israel, [the text] informs us that the porch of the gate of the outer courtyard was part of the house, meaning it was on the inside. This was done for the sake of beauty, so that there would be a porch opposite a porch.
And the cells of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure; and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
verse value 5291
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 62 letters. Verse gematria: 5291 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "way" (דֶּ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·three·of·them" (לִשְׁלׇשְׁתָּ֑ם, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 409: one, one. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·chambers·of" (וְתָאֵ֨י), "and·measure" (וּמִדָּ֥ה), "to·the·posts" (לָאֵילִ֖ם). The root פה appears 4 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·three·of·them', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 5 words.
Rashi
And the chambers of the gate. This is the one that was situated in the eastern wall of the Women’s Court. There were three on this side and three on that side: three to the south and three to the north, adjacent to the wall of the Women’s Court, with their fronts facing the Temple Mount. The measurement of their interior space and the partition wall separating each one is explained above.
And one measure for the pillars. Those made for the thresholds of the hall from within:
From here. And from here, to the right and to the left, their measurement is two cubits:
Radak
"The chambers of the gate are toward the east." Because they were adjacent to this eastern gate, he associated them with it and said, "The chambers of the gate are toward the east"—the gate whose direction is toward the east.
"Three on this side and three on that side." Three to the south of the gate and three to the north of it.
"to the pillars." The pillars of the hall that were mentioned earlier, or the pillars of the chamber.
“From here and from there” [i.e., from north and from south]. Every instance of the word “mipoh” in this verse is written with a heh, whereas the word at the end of the verse is written with a vav.
Metzudat David
"Vetaei ha-sha'ar." The number of the chambers standing on the eastern side was three on this side of the door and three on that side.
"To the three of them." To the three chambers, on this side and on that side:
"To the mighty ones." To the doorposts of the chambers that stood at their entrances, one on this side and one on the other.
Metzudat Zion
From here. From here, and similarly until here, it shall come (Job 38:11):
Malbim
And the chambers of the gate facing east—this refers to the chambers of the eastern gate—there were three on one side and three on the other. This means three on the northern side of the gate, from south to north, and three on the southern side of the gate, from north to south. (And after he had already measured the chamber adjacent to the gate and saw that its interior space was six cubits by six cubits, and the thickness of the wall separating one chamber from another was five cubits, he went to measure the vestibule, which is also near the gate on the inside. And afterwards he went outside and measured the three chambers, and saw that) they all had one measure, meaning they were all according to the measure of the first chamber which he had already measured as mentioned above (in verse 7). And there was one measure for the pillars on one side and on the other. Just as there were two pillars at the entrance of the vestibule, each one cubit by one cubit, so too there were two pillars at the entrance of the chambers, one pillar on each side, and their measure was also one cubit by one cubit in circumference.
And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;
verse value 5205
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "ten" (עֶ֣שֶׂר, 3 letters) and the longest is "opening·of·the·gate" (פֶּתַח־הַשַּׁ֖עַר, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 575: gate, ten. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "opening·of·the·gate" (פֶּתַח־הַשַּׁ֖עַר). The root עשר appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "breadth" (root רחב, 58x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֛מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־רֹ֥חַב [breadth] (611) + פֶּתַח־הַשַּׁ֖עַר [opening·of·the·gate] (1063) + עֶ֣שֶׂר [ten] (570) + אַמּ֑וֹת [cubits] (447) + אֹ֣רֶךְ [length] (221) + הַשַּׁ֔עַר [gate] (575) + שְׁל֥וֹשׁ [three] (636) + עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה [ten] (575) + אַמּֽוֹת [cubits] (447) = 5205.
Rashi
“The breadth of the gate’s entrance.” The width of the opening of the entrance. And so we learned: All entrances, their breadth is ten cubits.
"The length of the gate." It is the space of the gate's hall from north to south.
Thirteen cubits. Ten [cubits] opposite the space of the doorway, and a half-cubit here and a half-cubit there. And do not be astonished that next to the doorway they call its width, and next to the space of the porch they call its length; for the doorway, its height is its length, and the width [is measured] from threshold to threshold. And the porch, since its extension of its interior space from east to west is less than its measure from north to south—this being eight cubits and that being thirteen—it calls the greater measure "length." And behold, there is proof for the matter in the verse (in I Kings): "And the porch was across the front of the house, twenty cubits its length, across the width of the house." It turns out that from north to south is called the width of the Holy Place, but for the porch it is called length, because the Holy Place’s measure from east to west is greater than from north to south, and in the porch the measures are reversed, for the greater measure is called length.
Radak
And it measured, "the opening of the gate." The doorposts, the thresholds, and the entire entrance are called a "gate," whereas only the part that is open within it is called an "opening." He stated that the width of the opening was ten cubits, but he did not count its height. And he said that the length of the gate was thirteen cubits. The length of the gate is from the outer threshold to the inner threshold. Now, he said, behold, the width of the outer threshold was one kaneh, which is six cubits. And that breadth he calls "length" when mentioning the measurement of the gate from threshold to threshold, for the additional measure is called length. Now, he mentioned that the width of the opening from threshold to threshold is ten cubits, and the length from threshold to threshold is thirteen cubits. However, in the width, the measurement of the thresholds is not included, for he speaks only of what is open in the gate, which is called the "opening." But in the length, the measurement of the thresholds is included. And the measurement of the thresholds between the inner and the outer is twelve cubits, for each threshold has a width of one kaneh, which is six cubits, and between threshold and threshold is one cubit; behold, thirteen cubits. And Rashi of blessed memory explained: "The length of the gate" refers to the empty space of the gate's porch from north to south, thirteen cubits: ten opposite the empty space of the opening, and one and a half cubits on this side and one and a half cubits on that side.
Metzudat David
"Et rochav" – this refers to the width of the opening of the gate, from one mezuzah to the other.
The length of the gateway. It is the space between the walls of the gateway hall (and one should not wonder that he refers to the space of the opening in terms of width, and to the space of the hall in terms of length, for since he speaks concerning the height of the gateway in terms of length, it is fitting therefore to speak of the measurement from threshold to threshold in terms of width; but the hall, indeed, the extent of the projection inward was ten cubits, and between the walls were thirteen cubits, and the excess in measurement is fitting to be called in terms of length) thirteen cubits: ten opposite the opening of the gateway, and a cubit and a half extending on each side from the opening of the gateway and beyond.
Malbim
"And he measured" – Now he measured the gate itself, and the width of the gate’s entrance from north to south was ten cubits, and the length of the gate from east to west was thirteen cubits. For we have already explained that the width of the courtyard wall was thirteen cubits (for it was divided into two thresholds, each threshold being six cubits, and one cubit in the middle, as stated above [verse 6]), and its length was thirteen cubits.
and a border before the cells, one cubit [on this side], and a border, one cubit on that side; and the cells, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
verse value 4875
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 57 letters. Verse gematria: 4875 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "cubits" (אַמָּ֣ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·cubit·one" (וְאַמָּֽה־אַחַ֥ת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 126: from·here, from·here. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "the·chambers" (הַתָּאוֹת֙), "and·cubit·one" (וְאַמָּֽה־אַחַ֥ת), "and·six" (וְשֵׁ֥שׁ). The root אמה appears 3 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: וּגְב֞וּל [and·border] (47) + לִפְנֵ֤י [to·face·of] (170) + הַתָּאוֹת֙ [the·chambers] (812) + אַמָּ֣ה [cubits] (46) + אֶחָ֔ת [one] (409) + וְאַמָּֽה־אַחַ֥ת [and·cubit·one] (461) + גְּב֖וּל [border] (41) + מִפֹּ֑ה [from·here] (125) + וְהַתָּ֕א [and·chamber] (412) + שֵׁשׁ־אַמּ֣וֹת [six·cubits] (1047) + מִפּ֔וֹ [from·here] (126) + וְשֵׁ֥שׁ [and·six] (606) + אַמּ֖וֹת [cubits] (447) + מִפּֽוֹ [from·here] (126) = 4875.
Rashi
“And the boundary before the chamber was one cubit, etc.” The chambers on either side of the gate extended from opposite the hollow space of the hall: one cubit to the north and one cubit to the south. As has already been explained, the hall itself extended one and a half cubits to the north and one and a half cubits to the south from opposite the hollow space of the gate. Now he explains that the chambers on the outside extended one additional cubit to the north beyond the hall, and likewise one additional cubit to the south. Thus, they were found to extend two and a half cubits to one side from the hollow space of the wide entrance, and two and a half cubits to the other side. This is the meaning of the term “boundary” (גבול), which in Yiddish is “ashom” (אשומיי”ל), meaning an empty space or gap. The wall of the chamber is five handbreadths thick. Consequently, the northern wall (it should be read: the southern wall, as per the correction) of the northern chamber and the northern wall of the outer chamber are opposite each other. Since the wall of the outer chamber is six handbreadths thick and the wall of the chamber is five handbreadths thick, the chamber’s wall extends one cubit into the space opposite the thickness of the outer chamber’s wall. The same applies to the south.
Radak
And the boundary was before the chambers. Before the three chambers there was one cubit that was their width, and up to the threshold of the cubit was the boundary of the chambers; and likewise from here to the other three chambers, for these chambers were open inward to the west, opposite the Cheil, and likewise they were open to the north and to the south. Rashi, of blessed memory, explained that these chambers were adjacent to the eastern wall of the Women’s Court from the outside, facing the Temple Mount, and the chamber was six cubits from here and six cubits from there. And if he said that each chamber was six cubits, he already stated above, “And the chamber was one kaneh,” so why does he need to change it? Here it is possible that he said that the southern chamber extended from the interior of the Hall six cubits, and likewise the northern chamber.
Metzudat David
And the boundary. Before the beginning of the cells, there was a free space of one cubit more than what was free on the inner side opposite it, because the walls of the hall extended from the interior of the gate onward for a cubit and a half, and the cells extended on the outer side opposite it and an additional cubit more; therefore, the boundary was two and a half cubits.
"And the cubit, etc." – This means: Likewise, one cubit constitutes the boundary on the opposite side.
And the cell. This means that the interior space of the cell was six cubits distant from the beginning of the boundary of the additional cubit beyond the inner boundary opposite it, for the cubit of the boundary together with the five cubits of the thickness of the cell’s wall make six cubits. (And it is possible that he intends to say by this that even the outer walls on this side and that side of the cells were five cubits thick, for above he only explained the space between the cells.)
"And six, etc." This means that it was also distant six cubits on the second side.
Metzudat Zion
And a boundary. This means: an empty space, devoid of buildings.
Malbim
And there was a border of one cubit before the chambers, because the chambers leaned against the western side, next to the wall of the courtyard, for the wall of the courtyard was the western wall of the chamber. And on the side of the gate, they leaned against the gate. He informed us that they did not lean directly against it, but rather there was a border of one cubit before them. For on the western side, the wall of the courtyard protruded by one cubit; opposite the chambers, the width of the wall was an extra cubit (which belonged to the chambers) along the entire length and height of the chamber. This was the border between the chamber and the wall of the courtyard. Similarly, on the side of the gate, the thickness of the wall of the chamber was an extra cubit, for the walls of the chambers were five cubits thick, but on the side of the gate, its width up to the height of the doorway was six cubits. In this extra cubit stood the two doorposts of the entrance to the chamber, each being one cubit thick. This was the border before the chamber toward the gate.
Now it will be explained (in the subsequent verse) that the chambers had entrances on both their sides. In the northern chambers, there was an entrance open to the south toward the gate, and an entrance open to the north toward the outside. Also at this entrance, there was a border of one cubit before the doorway. For the third wall of the chamber, which was on the outer side where the entrance to the outside was located, was also six cubits thick up to the lintel of the doorway, for one cubit was a border before the chamber, separating it from the outside. There too stood the two doorposts belonging to the entrance. This is included in what is stated, "And one cubit was the border from here," meaning from the other side, which was open to the outside. "And the chamber was six cubits from here," meaning that the outer wall of the outer chamber was six cubits thick. This applied both to the chamber on the side of the gate, whose outer wall was six cubits thick, and to the third chamber on the side of the outside, whose outer wall was also six cubits thick. This is what is stated, "And six cubits from here." (For it is impossible to interpret this as referring to the interior space of the chamber being six cubits, for that was already stated (in verse 6). Therefore, he said "the chamber" in the singular, for this did not apply to all the chambers, but only to the outer chamber. But the two walls separating one chamber from another were only five cubits thick, as stated (in verse 6): "And between the chambers were five cubits.")
And he measured the gate from the roof of the one cell to the roof of the other, a breadth of five and twenty cubits; door against door.
verse value 4194
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 45 letters. Verse gematria: 4194 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "from·roof·of" (מִגַּ֤ג, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·gate" (אֶת־הַשַּׁ֗עַר, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 488: opening, opening. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "from·roof·of" (מִגַּ֤ג), "chamber" (הַתָּא֙), "to·its·roof" (לְגַגּ֔וֹ). The root גג appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "and·five" (root חמש, 76x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֣מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־הַשַּׁ֗עַר [the·gate] (976) + מִגַּ֤ג [from·roof·of] (46) + הַתָּא֙ [chamber] (406) + לְגַגּ֔וֹ [to·its·roof] (42) + רֹ֕חַב [breadth] (210) + עֶשְׂרִ֥ים [twenty] (620) + וְחָמֵ֖שׁ [and·five] (354) + אַמּ֑וֹת [cubits] (447) + פֶּ֖תַח [opening] (488) + נֶ֥גֶד [against] (57) + פָּֽתַח [opening] (488) = 4194.
Rashi
"And he measured the gate from the top of the chamber to the top of it." From the top of the chamber that is on the north side of the gate to the top of the chamber that is on the south side of the gate.
Twenty-five cubits. The thickness of the wall of the chamber is five, and likewise the thickness of the wall of the chamber on the other side—this makes ten. And two and a half cubits should be extended from the interior of the doorway here, and likewise here—this makes fifteen. And the interior of the doorway is ten cubits—this makes twenty-five. And all of these are the measurements of the width of the gate, opposite the thirteen cubits of the interior of the hall, and two walls, one cubit here and one cubit there—this makes twenty-five.
"An opening opposite an opening." The opening of the chamber adjacent to the gate in the south was aligned opposite the opening of the chamber adjacent to the gate in the north. None of these six chambers had an opening in the wall facing the outside; rather, only the two chambers adjacent to the gate had openings facing the air space between them. And so it states below: "And toward the inner side, toward the gate." From this we learned that their openings faced the gate.
Radak
“And he measured the gate from the roof of the chamber to the roof thereof.” Rashi, of blessed memory, explained: From the roof of the chamber on the north side of the gate to the roof of the chamber on the south side of the gate. The thickness of the wall of the chamber is twenty-five cubits, and likewise the thickness of the wall of the chamber on the other side. Thus, there are twelve and a half cubits extending from the interior space of the doorway inward on one side, and likewise twelve and a half cubits on the other side, making twenty-five cubits in total, and the interior space of the doorway is ten cubits, making twenty-five cubits in all.
If this is his interpretation, why did it say “he measured the gate”? It should have said, “He measured from the roof of one chamber to the roof of the other chamber opposite it.” Why did it mention the gate? Moreover, these measurements were already mentioned in detail; why did it return to state them in general terms? Furthermore, Jonathan [the Aramaic translator] translated “from the roof of the chamber” as “from the roofs of the chambers,” using the plural form, to indicate that he was speaking about all the chambers, and that “chamber” is a collective term. Additionally, the “vav” in “to its roof” refers to the gate, not to the chamber, since the chamber was not mentioned [in the immediate context]. Although one might support this view by noting that we find a similar usage of the “vav” in “the Reubenite and the Gadite,” the truth is that these measurements regarding this building are not clear to us, for they pertain to a future building. Therefore, any interpretation people offer based on logical reasoning should not be relied upon. We accept only what is found in tradition, in the Mishnah of Middot or in the Targum of Jonathan, and the rest shall remain unresolved in its place until Elijah comes. Likewise, our Sages of blessed memory stated regarding certain matters of this prophecy: “Elijah will expound this chapter,” meaning that we do not know how to expound it.
It is possible that these chambers were narrower at the top; therefore, he returned to measure the height of the chambers together with the roof of the gate, the pillars, and the portico, which is twenty-five cubits wide, for according to their measurement at the bottom, they are wider. And likewise it is stated concerning the other gates, with the chambers, the pillars, and the porticoes: “The width is twenty-five cubits and the length is fifty cubits.” Perhaps there were other porticoes besides the portico mentioned.
“An entrance opposite an entrance.” The entrance of this gate was opposite the entrance of the gate before it, namely that of the Women’s Court and that of the Israelite Court. And Rashi, of blessed memory, explained: The entrance of the chamber adjacent to the southern gate was aligned opposite the entrance of the chamber adjacent to the northern gate.
Metzudat David
“From the roof of the cell to its roof.” This means: from the roof of the cell on this side to the roof of the cell opposite it on the other side.
The width is twenty-five cubits. For the roof is that which is above the space between the walls; therefore, come and count: the wall is five cubits, and the border is one cubit, and another one and a half cubits opposite the inner border, and likewise on the other side—this makes fifteen cubits. And ten cubits from the space of the gate entrance—this makes twenty-five cubits. And it was made like a ceiling, from roof to roof, and it appeared like a gate, as it is in the illustration.
"An opening opposite an opening." This means that the opening of this gate was opposite the opening of the gate facing inward, which was ten cubits in its interior space.
Malbim
And he measured the gateway: the three cells on each side belong to the gateway (as stated above, that it is called a "cell" from the term for "entry," as it is made for the entry of the gateway). Therefore, he now measured the gateway from the roof of the cell to its roof, meaning to the roof of the gateway, and its width was twenty-five cubits. For the width of the gateway from west to east was thirteen cubits (as stated above, verse 11), and the border before the cell was one cubit; this cubit was outside the gateway, for it belonged to the cell (as stated above, the previous verse), and it extended only to the height of the cell. And six cubits were the hollow space of the cell, and five cubits were the width of the eastern wall of the cell. The total is twenty-five cubits. "Opening opposite opening" means that all the openings of the cells were opposite each other, for there were openings between cell and cell. And in the southern cell of the northern cells, there was an opening open to the gateway, and in the northern cell, there was an opening open to the outside, so that one could enter the cells from every side. And so it was with the southern cells: there were openings on both sides and openings between cell and cell. And thus, the openings of the southern cells were aligned opposite the openings of the northern cells, both of which were open toward the gateway, opposite each other. And all this is included in what is stated: "Opening opposite opening."
He made also posts of threescore cubits; even to the posts of the court in the gates round about.
verse value 2678
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 40 letters. Verse gematria: 2678 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "cubits" (אַמָּ֑ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "posts" (אֶת־אֵילִ֖ים, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "posts" (אֶת־אֵילִ֖ים), "sixty" (שִׁשִּׁ֣ים). The root איל appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·did" (root עשה, 214x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיַּ֥עַשׂ [and·did] (386) + אֶת־אֵילִ֖ים [posts] (492) + שִׁשִּׁ֣ים [sixty] (650) + אַמָּ֑ה [cubits] (46) + וְאֶל־אֵיל֙ [and·to·post·of] (78) + הֶחָצֵ֔ר [court] (303) + הַשַּׁ֖עַר [gate] (575) + סָבִ֥יב [around] (74) + סָבִֽיב [around] (74) = 2678.
Rashi
“And he made the pillars sixty cubits.” The height of the pillars of the thresholds of the hall was sixty cubits.
"And to the pilaster of the court, the gate all around." Similarly, for all the pilasters of the court, in all the gateways all around, all around, for even in the north and in the south there were gates made according to the pattern of this gate, as is explained in the matter.
Radak
"And he made the pillars sixty cubits." In some manuscripts of the Targum I found: "And he made the pillars sixty cubits in their height," and in some manuscripts: "The pillars were sixty cubits in their height, one cubit [each]."
“And to the pillar of the courtyard’s gate all around, all around.” The explanation is that just as this measurement applied to the pillars of the courtyard, which are the pillars of the gate all around, so too did all the gates have this same measurement. And the term “pillar” is used in the place of “pillars,” speaking in a general sense, because there were five gates in the wall of the Temple Mount during the Second Temple period, as stated in the Mishnah in Middot: “There were five gates to the Temple Mount: two gates of Hulda from the south, serving for entry and exit; the Gate of Tadi from the north, which served no purpose; the Eastern Gate, upon which was the form of Shushan the capital; and the Western Gate, in which the priest burned the Red Heifer.” The Red Heifer and all its accessories would go out to the Mount of Olives. And the verse states this because, just as there were pillars for the Eastern Gate, so too were there pillars for all the gates all around.
Metzudat David
“Et ilim.” They are the doorposts of the gates, and their height was sixty cubits.
“And to the pillar.” This means that the pillar was like that measure, and it was at all the doorposts of the courtyard, on both sides of the entrance, on this side and on that side.
"Round about, round about." For even on the north and south sides there were gates, as is explicitly stated in the matter.
Malbim
“And he made pillars sixty cubits”: Behold, the chambers extended along the wall from the side of the gate forty cubits on each side (as will be explained in the subsequent verse), and thereafter the wall was empty. He made there pillars that extended from the place where the chambers ended up to sixty cubits, and they stood level with the chambers, and there were twelve cubits between them and the wall of the courtyard, and this was for the beauty of the house. And one can also interpret it as: “He made pillars sixty,” and each one was one cubit wide, and in this way they resembled the pillars of the entrance of the porch and the entrances of the chambers, which were also one cubit (as it is stated in verse 10: “And one measure for the pillars here and there”). And the explanation is: “And he made pillars sixty [cubits] of one cubit [each].” And it can be said that the space between one pillar and another was also one cubit. And according to this, they occupied in the width of the wall 119 cubits, and from the entrance of the gate of the outer courtyard to the northern wall, and likewise the southern, was 118 cubits. These are 45 cubits opposite the interior of the inner courtyard, 13 cubits opposite the thickness of the inner wall, and 100 cubits which the interior of the outer courtyard exceeds the inner courtyard. And the pillars begin from the place where the chambers ended, which were forty cubits from the gate; hence, the last pillar stood opposite the beginning of the thickness of the northern and southern walls of the outer courtyard, and it was in the place of the grating that was in the Second Temple, as stated above (verse 6). Therefore, he placed pillars opposite the entire length of the wall up to the thickness of the wall. And since these pillars were only on the eastern side alone, he changed the language and said, “And he made pillars.” For if he had stated generally that there were sixty pillars, it would have implied that it was so also on the north and south sides, which were similar in every way to the east, except that the pillars alone were not on the north and south.
“And to the pillar of the courtyard the gate all around”: Behold, the hinge of the gate was fixed between the two thresholds of the gate, as we have already explained (verse 6) that the gate had two thresholds, each six cubits wide, and there was one cubit between them, where the hinge of the gate was. And we did not know to which direction the gate opened, whether to the outside or to the inside. Here he explained that it opened toward the courtyard, to the inside, for it revolved on its hinge toward the pillar of the courtyard. For the pillar of the courtyard was fixed at the entrance of the porch, where they stood on the inside, a pillar on this side and a pillar on that side, projecting one cubit into the interior of the porch (as stated above, verse 9). And when the gate opened, it reached up to one cubit before one of the pillars of the courtyard, for the width of the gate was ten cubits, and when it opened, it occupied six cubits of the inner threshold of the gate and four cubits in the interior of the porch, and there remained only a space of one cubit until the pillar of the porch, for the length of the porch inward was only six cubits (as stated above, verse 8). And he informed us of this so that we would not err and think that it opened to the outside. And if so, it would have reached up to half the entrance of the chamber, for the chamber was open in the middle toward the side of the gate, and from the middle of the entrance to the boundary of the chamber were three cubits, and the boundary of the chamber was one cubit, and six cubits the width of the outer threshold of the gate, totaling ten cubits. And this would not be feasible to block half the entrance and the window of the chamber. Therefore, he informed us that the gate revolved toward the pillar of the courtyard, which is the porch, where its proper place was.
And from the forefront of the gate of the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.
verse value 3320
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "and·at" (וְעַ֗ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "entrance" ((היאתון), 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 575: gate, gate. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "entrance" ((היאתון)), "entrance" (הָאִית֔וֹן), "on·to·face·of" (עַל־לִפְנֵ֕י). The root פנים appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·at" (root על, 272x in Ezekiel); "face" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'inner', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְעַ֗ל [and·at] (106) + פְּנֵי֙ [face] (140) + הַשַּׁ֣עַר [gate] (575) + (היאתון) [entrance] (472) + הָאִית֔וֹן [entrance] (472) + עַל־לִפְנֵ֕י [on·to·face·of] (270) + אֻלָ֥ם [porch·of] (71) + הַשַּׁ֖עַר [gate] (575) + הַפְּנִימִ֑י [inner] (195) + חֲמִשִּׁ֖ים [fifty] (398) + אַמָּֽה [cubits] (46) = 3320.
Rashi
“And upon the face of the Gate of Aithon.” The height of this gate, and it is called the Gate of Aithon because it serves as the entrance and exit for all who enter the Temple Court.
Aiton. The Targumic translation of "bi'ah" (entrance):
"Upon the face of the hall of the inner gate." With its height, the hall of the gate which is within the gate, being fifty cubits, and from the height of the other gates, which in this matter are fifty cubits, I learn that "upon the face" mentioned here refers to the height (meaning, from the outer gate, its height is fifty cubits upon the entire hall, which is the inner gate of the hall, even at the end of the hall it is a gate, as already explained in verse 7; in other editions this [passage] does not appear):
Radak
"And upon the face of the gate that was there." Thus is it written and read: "that was there" (ha'iton), and it is like the reversed words: "keves" (lamb) and "kesev" (lamb), "simlah" (garment) and "salmah" (garment). I do not know the mind of the Targum, which translated it as "tar'a metza'ata" (the middle gate). And it is possible that because this eastern gate of the Temple Mount had two wickets, one on its right and one on its left, therefore he called it the middle gate. And it is possible that "iton" is from the root "atah" (to come), and from this gate those who came to the Temple Court to pray would enter, because it was eastern and aligned opposite the entrance of the Sanctuary. He said: "Upon the face of this gate," meaning from the gate, from the outside up to before the porch of the inner gate, was fifty cubits in length, as he counted in the other gates: a length of fifty cubits and a width of twenty-five, including the chambers, the doorposts, and the porches. That is to say, from the threshold of the outer gate to the doorpost of the inner gate, which is the porch, was fifty cubits.
“Upon the face of the porch.” This is like the usage in “until” and similarly in “upon the crossings,” which is like “until.” Rashi of blessed memory explained that “upon the face of the gate” refers to the height of the gate, and he said: “From the height of the other gates, which are fifty cubits, I learn that ‘upon the face’ mentioned here refers to height.” And similarly, he explained below that “fifty cubits its length” means its height. And I am astonished at his explanation, for throughout the matter it does not state a measurement for the height of the gates. And likewise, in the construction of the Second Temple, there was no gate that was fifty cubits high, for all the gates were ten cubits wide and twenty cubits high, except for that of the porch, whose height was forty cubits. And where did he find the term “length” to mean height? This is not so, for “length” is a measure of surface area, whereas “height” is a measure of elevation or depth. And what he said regarding the measurement of the pillars in Solomon’s construction, where in the Book of Kings it says “height” and in Chronicles it says “length,” we have already explained there that in Chronicles it records their measurement at the time of their casting on the ground, which is a measure of surface area; therefore, it said “length.” But at the time when they were erected and their measurement was recorded, it said “height,” for that was indeed the case.
Metzudat David
"And upon the face": This means the height of the gate of the Ulam, which is the eastern gate mentioned in the matter, and is so called because those who enter to worship come through it, as it is aligned opposite the entrance of the Temple and the Holy of Holies.
“Al lefanei” – “Before.” With the height of the hall of the gate, which extends inward:
“Fifty cubits.” This means that they were each fifty cubits in height, and thus the doorposts protruded ten cubits above the opening of the gate.
Metzudat Zion
"And upon the face." This refers to the matter of height; for the face of a person is at the highest part of the body.
"Haiton." The matter of "bi'ah" (coming in) is like "atah boqer" (Isaiah 21:12):
Al. Like with:
Before. The matter of height:
Malbim
And regarding the phrase, “And on the face of the outer gate, etc., fifty cubits,” it has already been explained (in verse 13) that the three cells on each side belong to the gate. Therefore, there it stated that he measured the gate from the roof of the cell to the roof of the gate, and its width was twenty-five cubits. This refers to the width of the entrance of the gate; the gate together with the width of the cell, from west to east, is called the width, and it was twenty-five cubits. Now, he measured from the gate along the length of the cells, which is the length of the face of the gate (meaning that which belongs to the gate), and it was fifty cubits. The width of the gate from south to north is ten cubits, and from the gate to the end of the cells is forty cubits. How so? The two outer walls of the cells, those on the side of the gate and those opposite them on the outer side, were each six cubits thick (for they were five cubits plus one cubit of boundary before the cells, as stated in Chapter 12), and the two walls separating the three cells were each five cubits thick (as stated in verse 7), and the three empty spaces of the cells were each six cubits wide (as stated in the aforementioned verse). The total is forty cubits. Together with the width of the gate, this makes fifty cubits.
According to this, he first measured on the southern side of the gate, from the beginning of the gate to the end of the southern cell, a width of twenty-five cubits from west to east. From there, he returned to measure from south to north to the end of the length of the cells, and it was fifty cubits. Similarly, when he measured on the northern side of the gate to the end of the northern cell, a width of twenty-five, he returned to measure from there in length from north to south to the end of the southern cells, and it was also fifty cubits. This is what he stated in the entire matter: that the length of every gate was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five (as stated in verses 21, 25, 29, 33, and 36).
Therefore, he called it the “outer gate” (*sha’ar ha’iton*), for so it is called together with the cells adjacent to it (for the word *ta’ar* [cell] is derived from *atah* [you] and *bo’ah* [entering]). This means a place where people come and enter the gate, namely the side facing outward, where one enters into the gate, for the cells were on the outside. And what is stated, “on the face of the inner gate,” means that the face of the outer gate on the outside was parallel to what was before the gate on the inside. For it will be explained (in verse 17) that next to the porch on the inside there was a pavement up to the shoulder of the gate, and on the pavement were thirty chambers. And in verse 18 it is explained that the pavement was up to the shoulder of the gates, opposite the length of the gates. From here we know that the length of the gates extended outward to the end of the cells, which are forty cubits from the gate. It is clear that opposite the length of the gates stood the pavement and the chambers upon it on the inside. And where the cells ended on the outside, the pavement opposite them ended on the inside. The extent of the pavement was thirty-four cubits (as will be explained in verse 18), which is forty cubits from the gate.
This is what he says here: that what was on the face of the outer gate on the outside was parallel to what was before the porch of the inner gate. This means opposite what was on the inside before the porch of the gate, where buildings also stood parallel on the inside opposite the cells on the outside, and they were fifty cubits: thirty-four cubits of the extent of the pavement, six cubits of the thickness of the wall of the porch, and ten cubits of the width of the gate. And since the pavement stood before the porch on the inner side, he said, “before the porch of the inner gate.” (And he also came to exclude the outer porch, meaning the porch of the inner courtyard, which was on the outside (as will be explained in verse 31), where there was no pavement before it.) And he comes incidentally to teach us that also on the inner side the pavement extended to the end of the cells, which are fifty cubits from the beginning of the width of the space of the gate. And after fifty cubits from the beginning of the width of the space of the gate, the building of the cells ended on the outside, and the building of the pavement and the chambers upon it opposite them ended on the inside.
And there were narrow windows to the cells and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches; and windows were round about inward; and upon each post were palm-trees.
verse value 4760
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 87 letters. The shortest word is "and·to" (וְאֶל֩, 3 letters) and the longest is "window" (וְחַלּוֹנ֣וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 506: window, window. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·the·chambers" (אֶֽל־הַתָּאִ֡ים), "their·posts" (אֵלֵיהֵ֨מָה), "to·the·porches" (לָאֵֽלַמּ֑וֹת). The root סביב appears 4 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·chambers" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·to" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root חלון ("window") in Ezekiel. First appearance of the root אטם ("closed") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·porches', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 6 words.
Rashi
And windows, opaque toward the cells. These cells did not have openings to the outside, but rather one was open to the other. And so we find in the tractate Middot regarding the cells surrounding the Temple: three openings for each and every one—one to the cell on the right, one to the cell on the left, and one to the cell above it. And for the cells in the courtyard, which were only three cells next to each other and did not have cells above them, the middle one had two openings: one to the cell on the right and one to the cell on the left. And the outer one on the side of the gate had two openings: one open to the middle one and one toward the side of the gate. And likewise for the outer cell of the second shoulder, on this side and on that side toward the gate, as it is written above: “opening opposite opening.” And they had windows, transparent, opaque, open toward the outside and closed toward the inside; that is to say, narrow toward the inside and wide toward the outside, toward the east. And Menachem interpreted “transparent” as meaning “looking,” like (Song of Songs 6:10) “Who is this who looks forth?” (Psalms 102:21) “For He looked down from the height of His holiness.” And likewise, the word “el hamashkof” (Exodus 12) he also interpreted as meaning “looking.”
“And to their pillars, into the gate.” And the pillars [were] of the entrances of two chambers adjacent to the gate, one on this side and one on that side, whose entrances opened into the airspace of the gatehouse. The entrance of the northern chamber was to the north of the gate, and the entrance of the southern chamber was to the south of the gate. And the pillars of these entrances, on this side and that side, facing the entrance of the chamber—they are the pillars [of the gate]. And there were windows in them, open to the airspace of the interval, the width of the gatehouse that separated between the chambers. And that airspace is called, into the gate. For whoever enters between the airspace of the projections of the chambers, from here and from there, appears to be entering the gate.
And similarly for the halls. And there were windows for the halls of every gate and gate:
And windows all around, all around, facing inward. In the wall, alongside the Azarah, from the inside:
"And to the pillar of the palm-tree images." The Targum renders it: "kutharta, kutharot" [crowns, crowns]. It was made on the head of the pillar like a kind of crowns, resembling a palm tree, for in the Temple of Solomon they are translated as "forms of palm trees," *pomilia* in the vernacular.
Radak
"And the windows were latticed." [They were] closed, yet it does not say that they were completely sealed, for it would not be called a window if it were not open. Rather, the meaning of "latticed" is like the meaning of "windows broad and narrow (shekufim atumim)" (1 Kings 6:4) in the construction of Solomon, which means that they were wide on the outside and narrow on the inside. And behold, it only said "latticed," meaning that they were narrow on the inside. And Jonathan [ben Uzziel] did not explain the matter, nor did he translate it except as "their closures," and regarding the construction of Solomon he said, "Their openings were from within, and their closures were from without."
"Iliyyamah." Like "iliyyam," and the heh is added to the mem of the plural; likewise, after the nun of the feminine plural: "guyyoteyhenah," "kissoteykhenah." And the chambers had pillars, and it said that there were windows in the walls of the chambers, and likewise in the pillars: "ilpanimah" (inwardly) toward the gate, all around. And likewise for the halls, for the chambers, and for the pillars that were inside this gate, and likewise for the other gates that were all around, which had pillars and porticoes. And "illem" means they had blocked-up windows, "illem" like "elim," which is weak.
"And windows all around, all around inwardly." The windows that were all around inwardly—this means that the windows were on the inner side, not on the outer side of the wall.
"And to the pillar of palm trees." And to each and every one of them there were date-palms. And Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated it as "keterata" [a type of capital or crown], and in the translation of the Temple of Solomon he rendered it as "the form of palm trees." And it is possible that they were made in the shape of palm trees, with capitals on their tops.
Metzudat David
"And windows that were sealed." In the chambers there were windows that were sealed, meaning they were not open without any covering at all, but rather they were covered with a transparent partition, pure enough to allow the light to enter through it.
"And to them." Those windows were in the doorposts facing inward toward the gate, for the outer chamber, adjacent to the gate, had its entrances on either side facing each other and opening into the void of the outer gate, which was twenty-five cubits wide, as explained above. And in the doorposts of those entrances were the windows. However, in the other chambers, it is possible that there were no windows in their doorposts, for there was not a great need for light there.
“Saviv saviv.” This means that such was the case for the outer chambers of each and every gate.
And so it is with the word "almot." Also, all the halls had sealed windows.
"Windows." There were also windows in all the chambers that surrounded [the Temple], and they faced inward toward the space of the Ezrat Kohanim (Court of the Priests). For the wall of the Ezrat Kohanim served as their rear wall, and in that wall there were windows, because the Azarah (Court) was not roofed, and there was abundant light in it.
"And to the pillar." In every mezuzah there was a heading above it in the shape of date palms.
Metzudat Zion
Atumot. The meaning is "stopped up," like "he stopped his ears" (ibid. 33).
“unto the cells.” This means: “in the cells,” where the letter *aleph* (in *el*) is used in place of the letter *bet* (in *be*). Similarly, “and unto the ark” (Exodus 25).
“Alimahah.” They are the doorposts:
"To the vestibules." The word is from the term "ulam" (portico).
“And to the post.” And the post is the doorpost.
Malbim
“Window casements” means windows that were made to bring in light, and they were sealed with glass. “To the chambers” means in the eastern wall of the chambers, to bring light from the outside into the chambers. And “to the porches” means on the side of the entrances, where two pillars stood. I have already explained (in verse 13) that the chambers had entrances on both sides, one opposite the other, so that there were entrances from one chamber to the next. Likewise, the chamber opposite the gate had an entrance to the gate, where two pillars stood. And the outer chamber, on the outside side, also had an entrance to the outside, and two pillars stood there (as stated in verse 10). Here it informs us that on both sides of the outside there were windows facing outward: 1. “To the pillars,” meaning at the entrance on the outside side of the third chamber, where the pillars stood. And likewise “to the inside,” meaning in the first chamber, which stood adjacent to and had its entrance with pillars facing the gate, from where one entered inward to the gate; there too were windows. Thus, the windows surrounded the chambers on three sides: east, south, and north. And likewise “to the pillars.” And there were windows to the porch of the gate, which opened to the courtyard (and these windows, at the cubit near the pillar of the entrance, were open to the floor on that side, for if they were lower than this, they would be blocked by the gate, which opened onto this cubit, as stated above in verse 14 in the phrase “and to the pillar of the courtyard, the gate all around”). And likewise, there were windows all around to the inside, in the wall of the courtyard: there were windows open inward to the courtyard along the entire wall of the courtyard, above the chambers, to bring light into the courtyard. And “to the pillars and the date palms,” meaning for every pillar and every pillar (whether the pillars of the courtyard or the pillars of the chambers). And the sixty pillars that stood after the chambers on the eastern side had atop them the form of date palm trees for ornamentation.
Then brought he me into the outer court, and, lo, there were chambers and a pavement, made for the court round about; thirty chambers were upon the pavement.
verse value 4509
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 67 letters. The shortest word is "and·behold" (וְהִנֵּ֤ה, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·he·brought·me" (וַיְבִיאֵ֗נִי, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 756: chambers, chambers. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·pavement" (וְרִֽצְפָ֔ה), "to·the·pavement" (אֶל־הָרִֽצְפָֽה). The root לשכה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·court" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "made" (root עשה, 214x in Ezekiel); "and·he·brought·me" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root לשכה ("chambers") in Ezekiel. First appearance of the root רצפה ("and·pavement") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיְבִיאֵ֗נִי [and·he·brought·me] (89) + אֶל־הֶחָצֵר֙ [to·the·court] (334) + הַחִ֣יצוֹנָ֔ה [outer] (174) + וְהִנֵּ֤ה [and·behold] (66) + לְשָׁכוֹת֙ [chambers] (756) + וְרִֽצְפָ֔ה [and·pavement] (381) + עָשׂ֥וּי [made] (386) + לֶחָצֵ֖ר [for·the·enclosure] (328) + סָבִ֣יב [around] (74) + סָבִ֑יב [around] (74) + שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים [thirty] (680) + לְשָׁכ֖וֹת [chambers] (756) + אֶל־הָרִֽצְפָֽה [to·the·pavement] (411) = 4509.
Rashi
And [the] pavement. Plank in German. I say that the "paving" refers to a surrounding platform, like that which we learned: "It was smooth in the First Temple, and they surrounded it with a gallery, and upon that platform were the chambers," which is called a "Kammer" in German. And from what is stated regarding the matter, "And the pavement was against the shoulder of the gates, and beneath them, opposite the height of the gates," we learn that this pavement was a platform.
Radak
“And He brought me to the outer court.” This is the Women’s Court, for until now he was on the Temple Mount, and now he says that they brought him into the Women’s Court. It is called “outer” because it is outer to the Court of Israel.
“And behold, the chambers.” And afterward he stated how many there were; rather, he recounted them at the beginning because they were built upon the pavement, and in the construction of the Second Temple, these chambers did not exist.
“And he paved it.” This is well-known, similar to the phrase “upon the pavement of polished stone” (Esther 1:6), where the floor is paved with stones. The word “made” is masculine, while “pavement” is feminine. The reason for using the masculine form “made” is that it refers to the structure itself. After mentioning the lower pavement, it appears that there was both an upper and a lower pavement: the lower one was laid directly on the ground, and the upper one was built atop the columns, forming a gallery. It is possible that they modeled this construction after the Second Temple, which had a gallery in the Women’s Court. This is what is stated in the Mishnah in Middot: “It was originally flat, but they surrounded it with a gallery, so that women could look down from above and men from below, in order that they not be mixed together.”
“Unto the floor.” Just as it says “upon,” so too it says “unto the mountains.” “He did not eat.”
Metzudat David
“to the courtyard.” Initially, they stood at the gate, and now they brought them into the open space of the courtyard.
“And behold, the chambers.” This means: I saw, and behold, there were chambers.
And the pavement. It was paved with stones, constructed at a height, standing on pillars in the courtyard surrounding it on its four sides, and it leaned against the wall. Upon that pavement stood the chambers, and they were thirty in number.
Metzudat Zion
Lishkot: Chambers, as it is written, “And he brought them into the chamber” (1 Samuel 9:22).
"Ve-ratzpah." The meaning is the laying of stones for a floor to walk upon. And similarly, "on a pavement of red and white stones" (Esther 1:6).
Malbim
“And He brought me to the outer court.” Until now, he had stood within the gate, and outside of it toward the exterior; now He brought him to the court of the Temple, inward. And he saw chambers: there were chambers on the side of the wall of the porch, and a pavement made for the court all around. He saw that next to the wall of the court from the inside there was a stone pavement that was higher than the rest of the ground of the court. And he saw that there were thirty chambers to the pavement; upon the pavement stood chambers, and they were thirty in number. He did not specify how many chambers there were on each side. And it is impossible to say that there were thirty on each side, for we have already explained (in chapter 15) that the length of the chambers on each side was only thirty-four cubits, and how could thirty chambers and their walls stand there? And from what is written, “and a pavement made all around,” it is clear that he then also saw the pavement on the north side and on the south side, as the word “all around” indicates. And according to this, it is clear that among them all there were thirty chambers: ten on the east side, five on this side of the gate and five on that side; and so on the north and south sides, ten on each, totaling thirty. And below (chapter 42, verse 6) it will be explained that the chambers were triple: lower, middle, and upper. For such were the chambers on the pavement opposite the wall of the Sanctuary, as will be shown there with proofs. Therefore, when we count also the chambers in height, there were thirty on the east, thirty on the north, and thirty on the south. And when we count only the lower chambers, there were thirty in the combination of all three directions. And regarding this he simply said “thirty chambers” to include both calculations.
And the pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.
verse value 4182
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "length" (אֹ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "lower" (הַתַּחְתּוֹנָֽה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 625: the·gates, the·gates. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·pavement" (וְהָרִֽצְפָה֙), "pavement" (הָרִֽצְפָ֖ה). The root רצפה appears 2 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·side" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "the·gates" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "length" (root ארך, 44x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root תחתון ("lower") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·gates', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְהָרִֽצְפָה֙ [and·pavement] (386) + אֶל־כֶּ֣תֶף [to·side] (531) + הַשְּׁעָרִ֔ים [the·gates] (625) + לְעֻמַּ֖ת [to·opposite·of] (540) + אֹ֣רֶךְ [length] (221) + הַשְּׁעָרִ֑ים [the·gates] (625) + הָרִֽצְפָ֖ה [pavement] (380) + הַתַּחְתּוֹנָֽה [lower] (874) = 4182.
Rashi
And the pavement was up to the shoulders of the gates. The height of the courtyard gate was interrupting the ascent, which did not encircle the entire courtyard; rather, it was at the shoulders of the gate, on this side and on that, opposite the height of the gates.
“The lower pavement.” This word is altered from all occurrences of “lower” in the Bible, for in every other place the accent falls on the final syllable (with the nun), whereas here it falls on the penultimate syllable (with the tav). We learn from this that this “lower” does not refer to a pavement beneath another, but rather that it is a single pavement, and its lower part was opposite the height of the gate. And the he of “lower” is like the he of “its house,” and like the he of “its court,” and of “its chamber,” which are superfluous.
Radak
"And the pavement was at the shoulder of the gates." The pavement upon which the chambers stood was constructed on the side of the gates, on this side and on that. The meaning of "shoulder" is side and flank, as in the phrase "and to the other shoulder."
“Opposite the length of the gates.” Just as it was stated that the length of all the gates was fifty cubits, and by this [expression] the measure of both the length and the width of the gates is included, as it is written above regarding the gate of the house: “Fifty [cubits] its length, and twenty-five its width,” as we explained above. The lower pavement, about which it was said that it was built upon the shoulder of the gates.
Metzudat David
"And the pavement was against the shoulder of the gates." The pavement stood against the shoulder of the gates, for above the gates there was no pavement; thus, it stood against the shoulder of the gates on this side and on that side.
“Opposite the length of the gates, the lower floor.” This means that the bottom of that floor was opposite the full height of the gates, and it protruded upward opposite the height of the gates, and the chambers were upon it. (And although the word “length” is used for a horizontal surface and not for something standing in height, nevertheless the term “length” is used here because when he measured its height by means of the cord and the measuring rod, as explained above, the cord was then laid flat on the ground, and thus the term “length” applies to it.)
Metzudat Zion
Katif. Side and flank:
Le'umat. Opposite:
Malbim
“And the pavement was by the shoulder of the gates”: The pavement was adjacent to the shoulder of the gates, on this side and on that side; that is to say, next to the wall of the Ulam, whose thickness was six cubits and whose length was also six (as stated above in verses 7 and 8). The pavement began and extended six cubits inward into the courtyard toward the west (and it implies that only the pavement was six cubits wide, corresponding to the width of the shoulder of the gate, but the chambers above it were only four cubits wide, and two cubits of the pavement remained open in front of the chambers. In this way, a window could be depicted in the wall of the Ulam adjacent to the pavement, which was in that cubit in front of the pillar of the Ulam, opposite which the chambers did not yet block, as stated in Chapter 16 in the explanation of “and so for the pillars”). And the length of the pavement was opposite the length of the gates, as has already been explained (in verse 15) that the extension on the outer side, from the place where the gate begins to the end of the cells from south to north, is called by the name “the length of the gates.” Opposite this area stood the pavement inside, so that the length of the pavement was thirty-four cubits, because forty cubits from the place where the gate begins, the cells ended (as stated above in Chapter 15). And opposite this, inside, was the wall of the Ulam, whose thickness was six [cubits]. Thus, the thirty-four cubits of the pavement resulted in the length of the pavement inside being aligned opposite the length of the gate outside, and they both ended at one place, this one inside and this one outside (and see what is written in verse 15). “The lower pavement”: That is to say, because it will be explained (in Chapter 42, verse 3) that also in the wall facing the Ulam and the Temple, which belonged to the outer courtyard, there was likewise a pavement and chambers, just as there were in the walls of the outer courtyard facing the Court of Israel. And the pavement that was there on the south side and on the north side is called the upper pavement (because the Temple stood on the mountain, and to its west it stood on the top of the mountain, and to its east it stood on the slope of the mountain). And lest we err, as if his words here include the pavement that stood all around the courtyard facing the Court of Israel in the east, north, and south, so that this upper pavement, which was in the northern and southern walls facing the Ulam and the Temple, would also be included in this calculation, therefore he clarifies that he is speaking here of the lower pavement, for the upper pavement was not “by the shoulder of the gates,” for this calculation does not apply there at all, and he is speaking here only of the lower pavement of the courtyard on the eastern side, as stated (in Chapter 43, verse 9). “And beneath the chambers”: Behold, there it is called “beneath” and “lower” because it was at the bottom of the mountain; see there.
Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court without, a hundred cubits, eastward as also northward.
verse value 3229
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 58 letters. The shortest word is "breadth" (רֹ֡חַב, 3 letters) and the longest is "lower" (הַתַּחְתּ֜וֹנָה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 210: breadth, from·before. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "north" (וְהַצָּפֽוֹן). The root פנים appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·before" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root מאה ("hundred") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 2 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֣מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + רֹ֡חַב [breadth] (210) + מִלִּפְנֵי֩ [from·before] (210) + הַשַּׁ֨עַר [gate] (575) + הַתַּחְתּ֜וֹנָה [lower] (874) + לִפְנֵ֨י [to·face·of] (170) + הֶחָצֵ֧ר [court] (303) + הַפְּנִימִ֛י [inner] (195) + מִח֖וּץ [outside] (144) + מֵאָ֣ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּ֑ה [cubits] (46) + הַקָּדִ֖ים [east] (159) + וְהַצָּפֽוֹן [north] (237) = 3229.
Rashi
"And he measured the breadth." [This refers to] the courtyard of the Women's Court.
From before the lower gate. This is the gate that is explicitly mentioned above:
Before the inner courtyard. Up to the Court of Israel:
The east and the north. For its two sides, its hollow is a hundred cubits:
Radak
“And he measured the width from before the lower gate.” Like “the lower” [ha-tachton], the heh is added; therefore, the word is accented on the penultimate syllable, with the accent on the tav, because “gate” is a masculine term. He called it “the lower” [tachtonah] because it was the gate of this outer courtyard, which is the Women’s Court, since it is lower than the gate of the inner courtyard, which is the Israelite Court, for the Israelite Court is higher than the Women’s Court, because the Mount was sloping and ascending. And it is stated, “Behold, by seven steps they shall ascend into it.” And he measured the breadth that was between this gate and the gate of the inner courtyard—one hundred cubits—outside the inner courtyard. That is to say, the measurement was taken from outside, not including the inner gate itself. Therefore, he said “before the inner courtyard,” meaning up to the front of the courtyard.
"The east and the north." This was the measure for the east and the north:
Metzudat David
"And he measured the breadth." He measured the breadth of the chamber that is in front of the lower gate, which is the gate of the Court of Women, which is on the mountain below, opposite the gate of the Court of the Men; this is the inner courtyard.
"Before the inner courtyard." This means: it is the space that lies before the inner courtyard, outside of it.
“a hundred cubits.” This means that he measured it as being a hundred cubits, and it was the space of the Court of Women.
"The east and the north." This means that the measurement of the space of the Court of Women was the same on the eastern side, and likewise its measurement was the same on the northern side, and likewise on the southern side, as is explicitly stated in the matter. And to be concise, he did not mention it (for the Court of Women would then surround all the buildings of the Temple, the Court of the Men, and the chambers from all four directions).
Malbim
And he measured the breadth: Now, he came to measure the breadth of the space of the Court of the Women from east to west. And for as long as he stood before the chambers, he was unable to measure, because on the inner side of the outer court the chambers stood there, and on the outer side of the inner court the cells stood there, both of which extended for forty cubits from the gate. And this entire extent is called by the name: “before the gate” (as it is stated in verse 15: “And before the gate of the gatehouse, before the porch of the gate”). And when he came after the extent of forty cubits, where the chambers ended on this side and the cells on that side, he measured from the inner wall of the outer court to the outer wall of the inner court. And this is what it says: “And he measured the breadth from before the lower gate.” (The “lower” refers to the outer court, which is at the bottom of the mountain, opposite the inner court, which one ascends to by steps.) And the measurement was from before the gate, meaning after the forty cubits, in the place where the chambers that stand before the lower gate ended. From there he measured to before the inner court, meaning in the place where the cells of the inner court ended on the outside, where the wall was free on both sides. And it was from wall to wall a hundred cubits. The east and the north: After he measured thus on the eastern side, he went and measured on the northern side, where also from wall to wall he found it to be so (and see in verse 23).
And the gate of the outer court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof and the breadth thereof.
verse value 2682
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 43 letters. Verse gematria: 2682 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁ֤ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "outer" (הַחִיצוֹנָ֑ה, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·its·breadth" (וְרׇחְבּֽוֹ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "his·face" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'outer', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְהַשַּׁ֗עַר [and·the·gate] (581) + אֲשֶׁ֤ר [which] (501) + פָּנָיו֙ [his·face] (146) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַצָּפ֔וֹן [north] (231) + לֶחָצֵ֖ר [for·the·enclosure] (328) + הַחִיצוֹנָ֑ה [outer] (174) + מָדַ֥ד [measured] (48) + אׇרְכּ֖וֹ [length] (227) + וְרׇחְבּֽוֹ [and·its·breadth] (222) = 2682.
Rashi
He measured its length and its breadth. Just as the measure of the eastern gate is described, so too is this matter explained.
Radak
And the gate. He said that he also measured the length and width of the northern gate of the Women's Court.
Metzudat David
"The way of the north." In the northern corner of the outer courtyard:
He measured its length and its breadth. This means that he measured it with the measure of the eastern gate.
Malbim
“And the gate whose face is toward the north”: After he had already stood on the northern side and measured from wall to wall, as stated above, he went there to the northern gate of the outer court and measured its length and width.
And the cells thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
verse value 5613
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 76 letters. The shortest word is "from·here" (מִפּוֹ֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "first" (הָרִאשׁ֑וֹן, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 641: three, three. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "first" (הָרִאשׁ֑וֹן). The root שלוש appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "was" (root היה, 335x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root תאו ("and·its·chamber") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'first', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 7 words.
Rashi
Its length was fifty cubits. Its height:
And twenty-five cubits in breadth. From the roof of the inner chamber to its roof:
Radak
“And its chamber.” All these—“and its chamber,” “and its window,” and “and its portico”—are lacking the yod of the plural in the written text.
“Three from here and three from here.” Both are written with a vav.
Like the measurement of the first gate. It is the gate of the Temple Mount, as we explained above, that its length is fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.
Metzudat David
And “T’ai.” The “T’ai” of this gate, which numbered three chambers on this side and three on that side, and the doorposts of the gate, and the vestibule extending inward, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side—all of this was according to the measurement of the eastern gate, which was measured first.
“Its length.” This means the height of the gate.
Twenty-five. This was the measure of the width of the outer gate, as stated above:
Malbim
And their chambers: Likewise, he measured the dimensions of the chambers, which were three on each side. And likewise their pillars, which are the pillars at the entrances of the chambers (as stated above, verse 10). And their vestibule: it is the vestibule of the gate. All of it was according to the measure of the first gate. And it was fifty cubits its length, the space of the gate up to the end of the chambers, from south to north (as stated above, verse 15); and twenty-five cubits its width, from the chamber in the east up to the end of the span of the gate near the vestibule, from east to west (as stated above, chapter 13).
And the windows thereof, and the arches thereof, and the palm-trees thereof, were after the measure of the gate that looks toward the east; and it was ascended by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.
verse value 4288
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 69 letters. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֥ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "what comes up" (וּבְמַעֲל֥וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 93: porch, porch. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "window" (וְחַלּוֹנָ֤ו), "palm·tree·figure" (וְתִ֣ימֹרָ֔ו), "they go up·in it" (יַעֲלוּ־ב֔וֹ). The root אילם appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "face" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'east', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְחַלּוֹנָ֤ו [window] (106) + וְאֵֽילַמָּו֙ [porch] (93) + וְתִ֣ימֹרָ֔ו [palm·tree·figure] (662) + כְּמִדַּ֣ת [measure] (464) + הַשַּׁ֔עַר [gate] (575) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + פָּנָ֖יו [face] (146) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַקָּדִ֑ים [east] (159) + וּבְמַעֲל֥וֹת [what comes up] (554) + שֶׁ֙בַע֙ [seven] (372) + יַעֲלוּ־ב֔וֹ [they go up·in it] (124) + וְאֵילַמָּ֖ו [porch] (93) + לִפְנֵיהֶֽם [face] (215) = 4288.
Rashi
And its halls were before them. For the hall of the gate was before the steps; before entering the hall, one would ascend by the steps:
Radak
And its window, and by seven steps they shall go up in it. They go up by seven steps from the Women’s Court to the Israelite Court. And we learned in the Mishnah in Middot that fifteen steps ascend from it to the Israelite Court, corresponding to the fifteen Songs of Ascents in Psalms, upon which the Levites stand while singing.
And its vestibule was before them. Before the steps was its vestibule, for prior to entering the vestibules, one would ascend the steps.
Metzudat David
“And its windows, etc.”: The windows of the gate’s chambers, the walls of the vestibule, and the capitals that were above the doorposts, which were in the form of palm trees—all of these were according to the measure of the eastern gate.
And regarding “and the ascent,” etc.: For the mountain was continuously rising, and they ascended it by means of steps, and until this gate there were seven steps.
And its vestibules were before them: The walls of the Ulam were inside the steps, and one would ascend the steps until one would come to the Ulam.
Malbim
And its windows (as stated above, verse 16), and its pillars—they were the pillars of the porch (as stated above, verse 9), and its palm trees that were upon the pillars (as stated above, verse 16)—all of this was according to the measure of the gate whose face was toward the east, and by means of seven steps one would ascend to this gate, which was situated at the height of the mountain. And its pillars stood before them, that is, before the steps; two pillars stood there, one on this side and one on that side, for ornamentation. And it is explicitly explained below (verse 26) that this refers to the two pillars and the palm trees upon them that were situated before the steps. Now, he did not mention the number of the steps nor the pillars of the steps at the eastern gate, because there he immediately entered to measure the threshold of the gate and had not yet turned his attention to the number of the steps and what was beside them. But when he came to the northern and southern gates, he also paid attention to this matter. And we thereby know that it was likewise so at the eastern gate, since they were similar in all their details.
And there was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, northward as also eastward; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.
verse value 3540
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "opposite" (נֶ֣גֶד, 3 letters) and the longest is "inner" (הַפְּנִימִ֔י, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 46: hundred, cubits. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·to·the·east" (וְלַקָּדִ֑ים). The root שער appears 3 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·gate" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·to·the·east', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְשַׁ֙עַר֙ [and·gate] (576) + לֶחָצֵ֣ר [for·the·enclosure] (328) + הַפְּנִימִ֔י [inner] (195) + נֶ֣גֶד [opposite] (57) + הַשַּׁ֔עַר [gate] (575) + לַצָּפ֖וֹן [to·the·north] (256) + וְלַקָּדִ֑ים [and·to·the·east] (190) + וַיָּ֧מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + מִשַּׁ֛עַר [from·gate] (610) + אֶל־שַׁ֖עַר [to·gate] (601) + מֵאָ֥ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּֽה [cubits] (46) = 3540.
Rashi
And a gate for the inner court. [Leading] to the Court of Israel:
"Opposite the gate." The outer ones are aligned:
"And he measured from the gate." From the lower [gate] to the upper [gate], the width of the open space of the Court of the Women was one hundred cubits.
Radak
"And the gate to the inner court." He states that the gate of the Court of Israel, which is the inner court, was opposite the gate, meaning the outer gate of the Court of Women, to the north and east; they were opposite one another, and there were a hundred cubits from one to the other, as we stated above.
Metzudat David
"And a gate to the inner court." The gate of the inner court was opposite the gate of the outer court.
"to the north and to the east." So it was at the northern corner, and so too at the eastern one. (And behold, the eastern gate of the Court of Men stood in the middle of the eastern wall, and likewise the gate of the Court of Women, and they were opposite each other. But the northern gate of the Court of Women necessarily did not stand in the middle of its wall, like the northern gate of the Court of Men; for if it too had stood in the middle, they would not have been opposite each other. And likewise the southern gate of the Court of Women mentioned in the matter did not stand in the middle of its wall either, as stated in the commentary on the construction of the House.)
From gate to gate. From the gate of the Court of Women to the gate of the Court of Men, he measured a hundred cubits.
Malbim
“And there was a gate toward the inner court, opposite the gate”: Now he lifted his eyes toward the inner court and saw that directly opposite the gate of the outer court stood the gate of the inner court, this one opposite the other to the north and to the east. For after he had looked thus on the northern side, he returned again to the eastern side and saw that there too there was a gate of the inner court opposite the gate of the outer one. And he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits, for initially he had not measured from gate to gate, but only from wall to wall, forty cubits distant from the gate (as stated above, verse 19). And now he measured again from gate to gate, and it was also a hundred cubits. By this he knew that the gates were aligned opposite each other, for if they had not been aligned, the measuring line would have been more than a hundred cubits, according to the deviation of one gate from the gate opposite it. The reason he did not observe this immediately while he was at the east is that there he saw that the gate of the outer court stood in the middle, and likewise the inner gate. But on the northern side, he could not know this: either because of the inner gate, for although inside it was in the middle of the space, outside it was not in the middle, since on the eastern side the wall of the inner court extended beyond the middle of the space, while on the western side it did not have a wall specifically; or because of the outer court, for he could not now see the wall all the way to the end of the west, until he reached there from the Temple (as will be explained in section 42), and he did not know whether the gate was in the middle. Therefore, he measured from gate to gate, and when he found that it was a hundred cubits, he knew that the gates were aligned in the north just as in the east, and this is what it says: “to the north and to the east.”
And he led me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south; and he measured the posts thereof, and the arches thereof according to these measures.
verse value 2431
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 53 letters. Verse gematria: 2431 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "way" (דֶּ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·he·led·me" (וַיּוֹלִכֵ֙נִי֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 255: south, south. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·behold·gate" (וְהִנֵּה־שַׁ֖עַר), "its·post" (אֵילָו֙). The root דרך appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "its·post" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel); "and·he·led·me" (root הלך, 66x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'south', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיּוֹלִכֵ֙נִי֙ [and·he·led·me] (132) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַדָּר֔וֹם [south] (255) + וְהִנֵּה־שַׁ֖עַר [and·behold·gate] (636) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַדָּר֑וֹם [south] (255) + וּמָדַ֤ד [and·will·measure] (54) + אֵילָו֙ [its·post] (47) + וְאֵ֣ילַמָּ֔ו [and·its·porch] (93) + כַּמִּדּ֖וֹת [as·the·measures] (470) + הָאֵֽלֶּה [these] (41) = 2431.
Rashi
And He brought me by the way of the south. To the outer court:
Radak
"And he led me." In the Women's Court, he led me through the south, and it is explained:
Metzudat David
The way of the south. In the southern side, in that courtyard:
As for these measurements: those of the eastern gate and the northern gate.
Malbim
And He brought me by the way of the south. Now, he walked in the outer court from the east to the south, and he saw that there was also a gate there. He measured its pillars and its vestibule, but he did not mention that he measured the chambers, for they are included in what was stated: "Its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits." From this we learn that the width and length of these chambers are according to the measure of the first chambers, for this measurement is determined by the chambers (as stated above, verse 21).
And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
verse value 2918
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 62 letters. Notable word values: "to·it" (ל֤וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·it" (ל֤וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "window" (וְחַלּוֹנִ֨ים, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·for·its·porch" (וּלְאֵֽילַמָּו֙), "window" (כְּהַחַלֹּנ֖וֹת). The root חלון appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "fifty" (root חמש, 76x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'these', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְחַלּוֹנִ֨ים [window] (150) + ל֤וֹ [to·it] (36) + וּלְאֵֽילַמָּו֙ [and·for·its·porch] (123) + סָבִ֣יב [around] (74) + סָבִ֔יב [around] (74) + כְּהַחַלֹּנ֖וֹת [window] (519) + הָאֵ֑לֶּה [these] (41) + חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים [fifty] (398) + אַמָּה֙ [cubits] (46) + אֹ֔רֶךְ [length] (221) + וְרֹ֕חַב [and·breadth] (216) + חָמֵ֥שׁ [five] (348) + וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים [and·twenty] (626) + אַמָּֽה [cubits] (46) = 2918.
Rashi
“Like these windows.” Rabbi Tanḥuma expounded: The letter heh in “these” is superfluous, indicating the phrase “dimmed windows.” The windows were broad on the outside and narrow on the inside, to teach that I do not need their light, for all windows made to let in light are narrow on the outside and broad on the inside.
Radak
"Windows, like these windows." With the definite article, as in "to the host that came to him" and "in the heavens Your kindness, like this day," and similar verses. And there is a midrash: "Like the windows" means "like darkened windows," i.e., windows that are dark and narrow on the inside and broad on the outside, meaning: I do not need their light.
Metzudat David
“And it had windows.” This means that the windows which were in each of the cells of that gate, and in the walls of the vestibule all around, were like the windows of the eastern gate and the northern gate.
Length. This means the height of the gate.
And the width of the outer gate:
And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them; and it had palm-trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.
verse value 2833
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 53 letters. Notable word values: "to·it" (ל֗וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·it" (ל֗וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·ascents" (וּמַעֲל֤וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 126: from·here, from·here. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "its·ascent" (עֹֽלוֹתָ֔ו). The root אחד appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·its·posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "before·them" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'before·them', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וּמַעֲל֤וֹת [and·ascents] (552) + שִׁבְעָה֙ [seven] (377) + עֹֽלוֹתָ֔ו [its·ascent] (512) + וְאֵלַמָּ֖ו [and·its·porch] (83) + לִפְנֵיהֶ֑ם [before·them] (215) + וְתִמֹרִ֣ים [palm·tree·figure] (696) + ל֗וֹ [to·it] (36) + אֶחָ֥ד [one] (13) + מִפּ֛וֹ [from·here] (126) + וְאֶחָ֥ד [and·one] (19) + מִפּ֖וֹ [from·here] (126) + אֶל־אֵילָֽו [to·its·posts] (78) = 2833.
Rashi
"Its steps." Like "his steps."
"Unto his ram." Upon the head of the ram was a palm tree depicted.
Radak
"And the seven steps of its ascents." Just as it says "its steps," meaning that through the seven steps they would also ascend from the Court of Women to the Court of Israel via the Southern Gate.
And substitutes for it. We have explained it:
"One from here and one from here." Both are written with a vav.
Metzudat David
And the steps. The number of steps by which they ascended to this gate was seven.
And its porches. The walls of the hall were within the steps.
And date-palm ornaments for him. For each one, there was a capital in the shape of a single date-palm tree, one on this side and one on that side. And he returns and explains: the capitals were on the doorposts above.
Metzudat Zion
"His ascents." [I.e.,] his steps:
Malbim
And the seven ascents: their ascent there was by means of seven steps. And its posts before them: the posts of the steps stood before it. And there were palm-figures on the posts of the steps, for ornamentation.
And there was a gate to the inner court toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.
verse value 3826
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "way" (דֶּ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "inner" (הַפְּנִימִ֖י, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 255: south, south. The root שער appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·gate" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel); "and·gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'south', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְשַׁ֛עַר [and·gate] (576) + לֶחָצֵ֥ר [for·the·enclosure] (328) + הַפְּנִימִ֖י [inner] (195) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַדָּר֑וֹם [south] (255) + וַיָּ֨מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + מִשַּׁ֧עַר [from·gate] (610) + אֶל־הַשַּׁ֛עַר [to·the·gate] (606) + דֶּ֥רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַדָּר֖וֹם [south] (255) + מֵאָ֥ה [hundred] (46) + אַמּֽוֹת [cubits] (447) = 3826.
Radak
“And the gate to the inner court.” This is the Court of Israel, as we have explained.
Metzudat David
The way of the south. In the direction of the south:
“From the gate to the gate.” This means from the gate of the inner courtyard to the gate of the outer courtyard on the southern side.
Malbim
And the gate: He saw that even on the southern side there is a gate to the inner courtyard, opposite the outer gate. And he measured from gate to gate. Here, he measured directly from gate to gate, and he knew that its distance was a hundred cubits. And from this he also knew that the gates are aligned, and he did not need the two measurements that I explained (in verse 19 and in verse 23).
Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate; and he measured the south gate according to these measures;
verse value 3242
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "in·gate·of" (בְּשַׁ֣עַר, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·he·brought·me" (וַיְבִיאֵ֛נִי, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 255: south, south. The root שער appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·court" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·he·brought·me" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel); "in·gate·of" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'south', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיְבִיאֵ֛נִי [and·he·brought·me] (89) + אֶל־חָצֵ֥ר [to·court] (329) + הַפְּנִימִ֖י [inner] (195) + בְּשַׁ֣עַר [in·gate·of] (572) + הַדָּר֑וֹם [south] (255) + וַיָּ֙מׇד֙ [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־הַשַּׁ֣עַר [the·gate] (976) + הַדָּר֔וֹם [south] (255) + כַּמִּדּ֖וֹת [as·the·measures] (470) + הָאֵֽלֶּה [these] (41) = 3242.
Rashi
And he measured the south gate. Of the inner courtyard:
Radak
"And He brought me to the gate of the south" – like "the southern" – and the construct state with the definite article is like "the scoffers' mockery," "the kingdoms of the earth," and the like.
Metzudat David
According to these measurements. According to the measurements of the gates mentioned above:
Malbim
"And He brought me into the inner court; he entered on the south side into the inner court, which is the Court of Israel. And He measured the gate of the south according to these measurements"—meaning that even there, the width of the gate’s entrance was ten cubits, and the length of the gate was thirteen cubits (as stated above, chapter 11), for the wall of the Court of Israel was also thirteen cubits in width.
and the cells thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures; and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
verse value 4165
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 74 letters. Notable word values: "to·it" (ל֛וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·it" (ל֛וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "window" (וְחַלּוֹנ֥וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. The root אילם appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "fifty" (root חמש, 76x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 7 words.
Radak
And its chambers: it is clear:
Metzudat David
"And the chambers, etc." Also for the gate of the inner courtyard there were chambers, pillars, and a vestibule, and they were according to the measurements of the gates of the Court of Women.
36. According to all opinions, they are from the chambers of the gate.
"And to its porches." To the walls of the hall all around:
Length. This means the height of the gate.
And the width: of the outer gate:
Malbim
"And the chambers, and there also were chambers, and the vestibule of the gate, and the pillars of the chambers and the vestibule were fifty cubits in length," as is explicitly stated above in verse 21.
And there were arches round about, five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad.
verse value 2883
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 40 letters. The shortest word is "length" (אֹ֗רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·porches" (וְאֵלַמּ֖וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 348: five, five. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·porches" (וְאֵלַמּ֖וֹת). The root סביב appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "five" (root חמש, 76x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְאֵלַמּ֖וֹת [and·porches] (483) + סָבִ֣יב [around] (74) + סָבִ֑יב [around] (74) + אֹ֗רֶךְ [length] (221) + חָמֵ֤שׁ [five] (348) + וְעֶשְׂרִים֙ [and·twenty] (626) + אַמָּ֔ה [cubits] (46) + וְרֹ֖חַב [and·breadth] (216) + חָמֵ֥שׁ [five] (348) + אַמּֽוֹת [cubits] (447) = 2883.
Rashi
And the vestibules. "Arbotz" in the vernacular:
“Round about, round about.” The wall was constructed of chambers; chambers were built into its thickness, and these chambers were located on the inside (another version reads: above the cells, for the cells were on the inside in the inner courtyard, since the gate’s chamber projected outward into the outer courtyard, as stated in that matter. And it is impossible that the cells and the chamber faced the same direction, with the doors of the cells opening into the chamber, for the text equates all the measurements of the outer and inner gates, and does not distinguish between them except for the projection of the chambers) (for the cells were on the outside, and the six cells, their walls, and the fifteen cubits of the gate’s width total eighty-one cubits [ninety-one cubits, as it should be corrected, cf. there]; and the entire inner courtyard is only one hundred by one hundred, as is explicitly stated in that matter, another version reads):
Radak
"And the vestibules all around, all around." The vestibules were built around the wall or within the thickness of the wall:
Its length was twenty-five cubits. Among them all, they reinforced twenty-five cubits along the length of the wall.
And its width was five cubits. Each one, the width of its interior space, was five cubits, and this is not mentioned in the outer courtyard.
Metzudat David
"And the chambers all around, all around." In the space of the Court of Israelites, in all three directions—east, north, and south—there were porches leaning against the wall and opening inward.
Length. It is that which extends along the wall:
And "width": this is the dimension extending toward the open space of the courtyard.
Malbim
"And the porches all around" — the porches were all around, inside the Court of Israel. Their length on each side was twenty-five cubits, and their width was five cubits. Rashi explained that these porches projected into the thickness of the wall. However, from the language, it appears that they extended inward into the courtyard, like the other structures mentioned in the matter.
And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof; and the going up to it had eight steps.
verse value 2449
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 43 letters. The shortest word is "his·ascent" (מַעֲלָֽו, 4 letters) and the longest is "outer" (הַחִ֣צוֹנָ֔ה, 6 letters). The root איל appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·court" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "his·ascent" (root מעל, 28x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·its·posts', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאֵלַמָּ֗ו [and·its·porches] (83) + אֶל־חָצֵר֙ [to·court] (329) + הַחִ֣צוֹנָ֔ה [outer] (164) + וְתִמֹרִ֖ים [palm·tree·figure] (696) + אֶל־אֵילָ֑ו [to·its·posts] (78) + וּמַעֲל֥וֹת [and·ascents] (552) + שְׁמוֹנֶ֖ה [eight] (401) + מַעֲלָֽו [his·ascent] (146) = 2449.
Rashi
"And its porches were toward the outer courtyard. The porch of the inner gate was not on the inner side, as were the porches of the outer gate, but rather it projected outward."
Radak
And its vestibule extended into the outer courtyard. He said that the vestibule of the inner courtyard protruded into the outer courtyard, unlike the situation in the outer courtyard, which was the Women's Court, where the pillars and vestibule were on the inside.
And there were eight steps leading up from it. With eight steps one ascended from the Court of Israel to the Court of the Priests, and in the Second Temple there were only three steps.
Metzudat David
"And its porches: the walls of the porch of that gate extended outward, like a porch, and thus it would protrude opposite the porch of the gate of the Court of Women. This is a matter of ornamentation (and the porches of the gates of the Court of Israel were built further in, from the chambers of the gate, as stated in the treatise on the construction of the House)."
"To him." On the doorposts above, there were capitals in the form of palm trees:
And there were eight steps above it. On these eight steps, the priests ascended from the Court of Women to that gate.
Malbim
And its porticoes were toward the outer courtyard, in this the inner courtyard was different from the outer courtyard, in that the portico of the outer courtyard stood on the inside of the gate, and the portico of the inner courtyard stood on the outside, and it was in front of the cells. For after the twelve cubits of the width of the cell, its wall, and its boundary of one cubit, the portico began; it leaned against the eastern wall of the cell from the outside and extended six cubits outward. [Note: There is one explanation in Rashi that it is impossible for the cells and the portico to face one place and for the doors of the cells to open into the portico, since the matter equates all the measurements of the outer and inner gates and does not distinguish between them. According to this approach, one must say that the cells were on the inside and the porticoes were next to the portico that was on the outside. However, according to the opinion of Rashi and the commentators, this was an impossible thing, for the wall of the inner courtyard from the gate to the wall was forty-five cubits. According to their approach, the cells extended from the gate for a length of forty and a half cubits (for the cell was two and a half cubits distant from the gate, and the length of the cells was thirty-eight cubits according to their approach), and only four and a half cubits remained until the wall. But the length of the cell in its width was eleven cubits; how could the southern and northern cells stand next to the eastern cells together? Also, according to my approach, that the length of the cells was only forty cubits and the space of the last cell next to the wall ended eleven cubits distant from the wall, and there the walls of the northern cells met the walls of the eastern ones, and one could build the last wall of the cell on the inside on every side. But behold, according to my opinion, the cell extended in width twelve cubits as stated above, and also it was not possible, and see how it is possible that the cells stood on the inside, for the altar was in the middle of the Temple courtyard, and on its southern side was the ramp, thirty cubits. Thus, it would consume forty-six cubits on the southern side. How could the cells stand there, whose width into the courtyard was eleven cubits according to Rashi and twelve cubits according to my approach? For the entire space from half the gate and southward would be only fifty cubits. This can only be imagined according to those who say that the entire altar stands in the north. Therefore, I explained according to the opinion of Radak that the cells and the portico both stood on the outside, and the porticoes were on the inside. And even though he equated all the measurements of the outer and inner gates, behold, here he distinguished between them explicitly in what he said, “And its porticoes toward the outer courtyard.” It is clear that only in its porticoes was there a distinction, but the cells stood like the cells of the Court of the Women, which were on the outside. However, the porticoes that were on the inside could not have been adjacent to the gate, for they protruded five cubits into the Temple courtyard according to my explanation. How could the ramp stand on its southern side? For according to those who say that half of the altar stands in the south, only four cubits remained from the ramp to the wall? But in any case, it appears that the porticoes ended forty cubits distant from the gate, so that the porticoes on the inside could be where the cells on the outside ended, to fulfill also in the inner courtyard what is stated in verse 15: “And on the face of the gate of the atrium, before the inner gate, fifty cubits.” See what I explained there. And there were five cubits between the southern porticoes and the eastern wall of the courtyard, and the eastern porticoes, which were attached to them, could stand, touching wall to wall, for their width was five cubits. And on the other side, fifteen cubits remained until the rest. End of note.]
And palm-figures upon its posts: for upon the porch of the chambers and the hall, and upon the posts of the steps, there were palm-figures. And by eight steps one would ascend to this gate.
And he brought me into the inner court toward the east; and he measured the gate according to these measures;
verse value 2548
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 46 letters. Verse gematria: 2548 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "way" (דֶּ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·he·brought·me" (וַיְבִיאֵ֛נִי, 7 letters). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·court" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·he·brought·me" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'east', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיְבִיאֵ֛נִי [and·he·brought·me] (89) + אֶל־הֶחָצֵ֥ר [to·the·court] (334) + הַפְּנִימִ֖י [inner] (195) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַקָּדִ֑ים [east] (159) + וַיָּ֣מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־הַשַּׁ֔עַר [the·gate] (976) + כַּמִּדּ֖וֹת [as·the·measures] (470) + הָאֵֽלֶּה [these] (41) = 2548.
Radak
And He brought me by the way of the east wind. So too, they were brought by the three winds; just as this [case] is so, so is this [case], and all is explained.
Metzudat David
The way of the east. In the direction of the east:
“According to these measurements.” According to the measurements of the gates mentioned above:
Malbim
And He brought me to the inner court, for he had already exited the court to measure the chambers and the gatehouse, and returned there via the eastern gate, and he measured the gate. Here, he measured first from the outside, and then entered within and measured there. Therefore, it says, "And He brought me to the north gate," and it does not say, "And He brought me to the inner court," because now he did not exit the inner court; rather, he went from east to north within, and measured first from the inside, and then went out to the outside.
and the cells thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures; and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
verse value 3754
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 72 letters. Notable word values: "to·it" (ל֛וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·it" (ל֛וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "window" (וְחַלּוֹנ֥וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·its·post" (וְאֵלָ֤ו). The root אילם appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "fifty" (root חמש, 76x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 7 words.
Metzudat David
36. According to all of them, [the reference is] to the chambers of the gate.
And to its porches. To the walls of the hall all around:
And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side; and the going up to it had eight steps.
verse value 2700
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 48 letters. Verse gematria: 2700 is divisible by 50, the years to the Jubilee (yovel). The shortest word is "from·here" (מִפּ֣וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "outer" (הַחִ֣יצוֹנָ֔ה, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·its·posts" (אֶל־אֵלָ֖ו). The root פה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·its·posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "from·here" (root פה, 52x in Ezekiel); "for·the·enclosure" (root חצר, 37x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאֵלַמָּ֗ו [and·its·porch] (83) + לֶחָצֵר֙ [for·the·enclosure] (328) + הַחִ֣יצוֹנָ֔ה [outer] (174) + וְתִמֹרִ֥ים [palm·tree·figure] (696) + אֶל־אֵלָ֖ו [to·its·posts] (68) + מִפּ֣וֹ [from·here] (126) + וּמִפּ֑וֹ [and·from·here] (132) + וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה [eight] (401) + מַעֲל֖וֹת [steps] (546) + מַעֲלָֽו [his·ascent] (146) = 2700.
Metzudat David
“From here and from here.” By crossing from one side and by crossing from the other side.
the cells thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof; and there were windows therein round about; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
verse value 3118
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 55 letters. Notable word values: "to·it" (ל֖וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·it" (ל֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "window" (וְחַלּוֹנ֥וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "its·chamber" (תָּאָו֙). The root סביב appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "its·post" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 7 words. Full calculation: תָּאָו֙ [its·chamber] (407) + אֵלָ֣ו [its·post] (37) + וְאֵלַמָּ֔ו [and·its·porch] (83) + וְחַלּוֹנ֥וֹת [window] (506) + ל֖וֹ [to·it] (36) + סָבִ֣יב [around] (74) + סָבִ֑יב [around] (74) + אֹ֚רֶךְ [length] (221) + חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים [fifty] (398) + אַמָּ֔ה [cubits] (46) + וְרֹ֕חַב [and·breadth] (216) + חָמֵ֥שׁ [five] (348) + וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים [and·twenty] (626) + אַמָּֽה [cubits] (46) = 3118.
Rashi
Its length was fifty cubits. Its height was fifty cubits.
Metzudat David
“His chambers,” etc. This is connected to the preceding verse, to say that he measured its chambers, etc., of that gate according to those measures mentioned.
And the posts thereof were toward the outer court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side; and the going up to it had eight steps.
verse value 2680
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "from·here" (מִפּ֣וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "outer" (הַחִ֣יצוֹנָ֔ה, 7 letters). The root פה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·its·posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "from·here" (root פה, 52x in Ezekiel); "for·the·enclosure" (root חצר, 37x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאֵילָ֗ו [and·its·post] (53) + לֶחָצֵר֙ [for·the·enclosure] (328) + הַחִ֣יצוֹנָ֔ה [outer] (174) + וְתִמֹרִ֥ים [palm·tree·figure] (696) + אֶל־אֵילָ֖ו [to·its·posts] (78) + מִפּ֣וֹ [from·here] (126) + וּמִפּ֑וֹ [and·from·here] (132) + וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה [eight] (401) + מַעֲל֖וֹת [steps] (546) + מַעֲלָֽו [his·ascent] (146) = 2680.
Rashi
"And their pillars to the outer court." "Aschischpjar" in the vernacular, and the gatehouse is called "pillars" here.
Metzudat David
"And its doorposts." The doorposts of the hall face the air of the outer courtyard, and the walls of the hall face the direction toward which the doorposts are oriented. The text mentions the doorposts rather than the hall itself, and this is the meaning.
And a chamber with the entry thereof was by the posts at the gates; there was the burnt-offering to be washed.
verse value 2467
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 35 letters. The shortest word is "there" (שָׁ֖ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "in·posts·of" (בְּאֵילִ֖ים, 6 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·room" (וְלִשְׁכָּ֣ה), "and·her·entrance" (וּפִתְחָ֔הּ), "in·posts·of" (בְּאֵילִ֖ים). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·posts·of" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "the·gates" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "there" (root שם, 67x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·gates', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְלִשְׁכָּ֣ה [and·room] (361) + וּפִתְחָ֔הּ [and·her·entrance] (499) + בְּאֵילִ֖ים [in·posts·of] (93) + הַשְּׁעָרִ֑ים [the·gates] (625) + שָׁ֖ם [there] (340) + יָדִ֥יחוּ [they·rinsed] (38) + אֶת־הָעֹלָֽה [the·burnt-offering] (511) = 2467.
Rashi
And the Lishkah. It was located near the northern gate in the Court of Israel.
And its opening. The opening of the chamber was toward the pillars of the gate, on the side of the gate.
“On the rams of the gates.” There are verses in the passage that read: “The shoulder of the gate, the ram,” as it is said in the vernacular: “Meynshleish” (shoulder).
There they would wash the burnt-offering. The burnt-offering that is slaughtered in the north:
They shall rinse the burnt-offering. They shall wash the inner organs:
Radak
“And a chamber, and its opening toward the pillars of the gates.” Just as it is written “toward the pillars of the gates,” and the preposition “bet” is attached with the mem, like “rams’ wool, flax, silver,” and similar constructions. And he said that in the north wind he saw a chamber, and it was open toward the pillars of the gates. For to the north, to the north of the altar, was the slaughter of the holy things, and their flaying and cutting up, as it is stated in the Torah: “To the north, before the Lord.”
There they would rinse the burnt-offering, as it is written, “And its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water.” And on marble tables they would rinse it.
Metzudat David
And the chamber: This means that in the space of the Court of Israelites, opposite the northern gate, there stood one chamber, and its opening was opposite the doorposts of the gates. And since there were two gates, one inner and one outer, as stated above regarding the Court of Women, therefore it says “the gates” (in the plural).
There. In that chamber, they rinsed the entrails of the burnt offerings that were slaughtered in the north, and it served as the slaughterhouse.
Metzudat Zion
yadichu. The matter of washing and rinsing with water:
Malbim
And the chamber, and its opening was between the pillars of the gates: This will be explained below (Chapter 42, Verse 1) that twenty cubits outside the wall of the inner courtyard were sanctified with the sanctity of the Temple Court. According to this, along the span opposite the cells (which extended twelve cubits outside the courtyard wall), there were eight cubits outside the cells that were sanctified together with the interior of the cells. And next to the porch, which was outside the cells and extended eighteen cubits from the wall, there remained two additional cubits outside the porch that were holy with the sanctity of the Temple Court. We have already written (in Verse 22) that before the steps of the gates stood two pillars, one on each side, and the steps were in front of the porch (as stated in Verse 22: “and its pillars were in front of it”). The steps of the gate of the inner courtyard were eight in number (as stated in Verse 37). It is known that the height of a step is half a cubit and its tread (i.e., the place where the foot is placed) is half a cubit (as stated in Chapter 2 of Middot). Therefore, the width of the space occupied by the steps was four cubits. Thus, between the pillar on the side of the lower step and the wall of the porch, there remained three cubits, two of which were holy. For those two cubits, the opening of the chamber was made so that it would be holy with the sanctity of the Temple Court, in accordance with the law of chambers that open into a holy area. And it is not to be said that the chamber stood opposite the opening of the porch, for this is impossible, as it would have blocked the opening of the porch. Therefore, it must be that it stood on the side, and its opening was open into those two cubits beside the steps that were holy. The pillar of the steps was on one side of the opening, and the pillar of the porch was on the other side of the opening. This is what the verse means by “and its opening was between the pillars of the gates,” namely, between the two pillars that were found at the gates. It appears that this chamber stood on the eastern side of the porch, because on its western side was the enclosure of the garden (whose details will be explained in Chapter 42, Verse 7), which was fifty cubits long, and it was not possible for a chamber to stand there. Only on the eastern side of the northern gate was there space, and there the chamber stood beside the porch, and its opening opened into those two sanctified cubits on the east of the porch, toward the pillars of the gate. And one would ascend by the steps that were at the opening of the chamber to the steps of the porch, and there they would rinse the burnt offering.
And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt-offering and the sin-offering and the guilt-offering.
verse value 4635
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 62 letters. Notable word values: "to·them" (אֲלֵיהֶם֙) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "from·here" (מִפּ֔וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "tables" (שֻׁלְחָנוֹת֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 794: tables, tables. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·in·porch·of" (וּבְאֻלָ֣ם), "to·slay" (לִשְׁח֤וֹט), "the·burnt-offering" (הָעוֹלָ֔ה). The root שנים appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·them" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "the·burnt-offering" (root עלה, 61x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 5 words. Full calculation: וּבְאֻלָ֣ם [and·in·porch·of] (79) + הַשַּׁ֗עַר [gate] (575) + שְׁנַ֤יִם [two] (400) + שֻׁלְחָנוֹת֙ [tables] (794) + מִפּ֔וֹ [from·here] (126) + וּשְׁנַ֥יִם [and·two] (406) + שֻׁלְחָנ֖וֹת [tables] (794) + מִפֹּ֑ה [from·here] (125) + לִשְׁח֤וֹט [to·slay] (353) + אֲלֵיהֶם֙ [to·them] (86) + הָעוֹלָ֔ה [the·burnt-offering] (116) + וְהַחַטָּ֖את [and·the·sin-offering] (429) + וְהָאָשָֽׁם [and·the·reparation·offering] (352) = 4635.
Rashi
And in the hall of the north gate.
There were two tables in its eastern side and two in its western side. And even though they were drawn into the outer courtyard, their sanctity was as if they were inside.
Radak
And in the hall of the gate, from there. The first [word] with a vav and the second with a he:
"To slaughter unto them." Just as it says "upon them," and similarly, "and to the mountains they did not eat," and there are many cases like these.
"The burnt-offering, the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering." Just as it is written in the Torah: "In the place where the burnt-offering is slaughtered, the sin-offering shall be slaughtered," and similarly it is stated: "In the place where they slaughter the burnt-offering, they shall slaughter the sin-offering." And this was indeed the practice, so as not to publicize the sins of the offenders.
Metzudat David
"And in the hall of the gate." In the open space of the hall extending from that gate, there stood two tables on one side and two tables on the other side; that is to say, two on its eastern side and two on its western side.
"To slaughter them"—that is, to slaughter near them, in close proximity to them, the burnt-offering, etc., which are the most holy things that require slaughter in the north (and even though it was drawn out into the non-sacred area of the Temple courtyard, nevertheless its sanctity remains as if it were within the Sanctuary, for it becomes sanctified by the sanctity of the Azarah).
Metzudat Zion
“Upon them.” Among them, in close proximity to them.
Malbim
"And in the porch of the gate, whose length from east to west was ten cubits and whose width from north to south was six, there stood two tables in its eastern part and two in its western part, upon which the burnt-offering was slaughtered, for the slaughter must be performed on the northern flank of the altar, and the porch was sanctified with the sanctity of the Temple Court, and its law is like that of the north."
And on the one side without, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables.
verse value 6882
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 74 letters. The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁר֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·to·the·shoulder" (וְאֶל־הַכָּתֵ֣ף, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 794: tables, tables. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "from·outside" (מִח֗וּצָה), "north" (הַצָּפ֔וֹנָה), "another" (הָאַחֶ֗רֶת). The root כתף appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "to·the·one·going·up" (root עלה, 61x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'tables', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 7 words.
Rashi
"And to the shoulder, from the outside. And to the side of the entrance of the Hall, from the outside of the space of the Hall, into the space of the entrance of the Court of Israel:"
"To the burnt-offering, at the entrance of the northern gate. When he enters within the gate and ascends the steps of the entrance to the Court:"
Two tables: tables placed on the shoulders of the doorway, to the east (and likewise) to the west.
"And to the other shoulder." There were two tables at the entrance to the Hall:
Radak
"And to the shoulder, outside of the burnt offering." It is spelled with a segol, like "ma'aleh," meaning: outside of the steps that were mentioned.
The northern gate. Just as we explained the southern gate:
Metzudat David
"And to the shoulder." On one side of the hall, outside it, as one ascends the steps to the entrance of the northern gate, meaning the inner gate, which was ten cubits wide. Those steps were between the cells, and there stood two tables.
"And to the shoulder, etc." And similarly, in the other passageway of the porch of the gate, there stood two tables:
Malbim
“And toward the shoulder” means the chamber that was inside the Hall but outside the gate entrance, that is, outside the thirteen cubits of the gate’s own length, where the chamber was located, from which one ascends to the gate entrance, and it was outside the gate entrance. They also placed two tables on each shoulder, that is, on each side. And because the entrance of the chamber was there toward the gate, they could not place the tables except on the sides of the entrance, one on this side of the chamber’s entrance and one on the other side. And likewise by the second chamber’s entrance, therefore it says “toward the shoulder,” meaning on the shoulder of the chamber’s entrance.
Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon to slay the sacrifices.
verse value 5119
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 58 letters. Notable word values: "to·them" (אֲלֵיהֶ֥ם) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "from·here" (מִפֹּ֗ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "tables" (שֻׁלְחָנ֜וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 794: tables, tables, tables. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·shoulder·of" (לְכֶ֣תֶף). The root שלחן appears 3 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·them" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "gate" (root שער, 86x in Ezekiel); "four" (root ארבע, 59x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'gate', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 4 words. Full calculation: אַרְבָּעָ֨ה [four] (278) + שֻׁלְחָנ֜וֹת [tables] (794) + מִפֹּ֗ה [from·here] (125) + וְאַרְבָּעָ֧ה [and·four] (284) + שֻׁלְחָנ֛וֹת [tables] (794) + מִפֹּ֖ה [from·here] (125) + לְכֶ֣תֶף [to·shoulder·of] (530) + הַשָּׁ֑עַר [gate] (575) + שְׁמוֹנָ֥ה [eight] (401) + שֻׁלְחָנ֖וֹת [tables] (794) + אֲלֵיהֶ֥ם [to·them] (86) + יִשְׁחָֽטוּ [they·slay] (333) = 5119.
Radak
Four, unto them they shall slaughter. Like "upon them":
Metzudat David
From here. From this side, two in the space of the hall and two in the space between the chambers:
“Upon the shoulder of the gate.” This means upon each of the two shoulders of the gate.
Eight. This means that all together there were eight, and near them, in close proximity to them, the sacrifices whose slaughter is performed in the north are slaughtered.
Malbim
"Four tables for the shoulder of the gate" means that on the sides of the gate itself, which was thirteen cubits long, there stood four tables on one side and four tables on the other side, making a total of eight tables. "Upon which they shall slaughter" also refers to the preceding verse. Whether regarding the four tables in the chamber or the eight tables at the entrance of the gate itself, they would slaughter upon them. Thus, there were sixteen tables for slaughter: four in the Ulam, four between the chambers on the two sides of the gate, and eight at the entrance of the gate.
Moreover there were four tables for the burnt-offering, of hewn stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, whereupon to lay the instruments wherewith the burnt-offering and the sacrifice are slain.
verse value 5851
Insights
Verse structure: 24 words, 102 letters. Notable word values: "to·them" (אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "in·them" (בָּ֖ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·instruments" (אֶת־הַכֵּלִים֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 409: one, one, one. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "wrought" (גָזִ֗ית), "and·they·shall·lay" (וְיַנִּ֤יחוּ), "the·instruments" (אֶת־הַכֵּלִים֙). The root אמה appears 3 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·them" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'one', dividing the verse into phrases of 16 and 8 words.
Rashi
To them they would place the vessels. Upon them they would place the knives and the basins, which receive the blood, so that they would be ready for the slaughterers there, [for] the Most Holy Things [were slaughtered] in the north.
Radak
And four tables for the burnt-offering. This is a remembrance of the burnt-offering, since it was offered continuously, and likewise they would place upon them all the vessels of the other sacrifices, as stated at the end of the verse: "and the sacrifice."
“Upon them they would place the vessels.” The vav is an additional vav, like the vav in “And Abraham lifted up his eyes” (Genesis 22:4), and like the vav in “And he answered” (Genesis 22:11), and similar cases, as we have written in the book of Miklol in the section of grammar, where he stated that upon these four tables they would place the vessels with which the burnt-offering and the sacrifices were slaughtered, namely, the knives with which they were slaughtered, and the sprinkling basins with which the blood was received.
Metzudat David
“Le’olah” – to place upon them the meat of the burnt-offering; and the same applies to the meat of all other sacrifices. It mentions specifically the burnt-offering because it is the first [sacrifice offered] and is continuous, and it was entirely consumed on the altar.
“Hewn stones.” The tables were made of hewn stones, and this is in accordance with the principle that stone cools and preserves the meat from putrefaction:
“Upon them they shall place.” They also place upon them the instruments with which they slaughter, namely, the knives.
“Which, etc.” And the term “sacrifice” is transposed [in the verse's word order], so that it reads “which they shall slaughter therein the burnt-offering and the sacrifice,” meaning that “the sacrifice” refers to the other types of sacrifices. The phrase is referring to the vessels, to say that the knives designated for the slaughter of the other types of sacrifices are also placed upon them; but it does not come to say that the other types of sacrifices are slaughtered there.
Metzudat Zion
Gazit. The word is from the root of “gizah” (cutting), and it means that they were hewn in straight lines.
“And they shall place.” The vav is superfluous:
Malbim
And there were four tables for the burnt-offering: along the path by which one ascends from the gate entrance to the inner courtyard, there stood four additional tables, upon which they placed the knives and the basins that receive the blood.
And the slabs, a handbreadth long, were fastened within round about; and upon the tables was to be the flesh of the offering.
verse value 3374
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 49 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֛ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "span" (טֹ֧פַח, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·to·the·tables" (וְאֶל־הַשֻּׁלְחָנ֖וֹת, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: round·about, round·about. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·hook-shaped pegs" (וְהַֽשְׁפַתַּ֗יִם), "span" (טֹ֧פַח), "fastened" (מוּכָנִ֥ים). The root סביב appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "round·about" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'round·about', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְהַֽשְׁפַתַּ֗יִם [and·hook-shaped pegs] (841) + טֹ֧פַח [span] (97) + אֶחָ֛ד [one] (13) + מוּכָנִ֥ים [fastened] (166) + בַּבַּ֖יִת [in·the·house] (414) + סָבִ֣יב [round·about] (74) + סָבִ֑יב [round·about] (74) + וְאֶל־הַשֻּׁלְחָנ֖וֹת [and·to·the·tables] (836) + בְּשַׂ֥ר [flesh] (502) + הַקׇּרְבָֽן [offering] (357) = 3374.
Rashi
"And the lips are one touching." Iron hooks were fixed in the dwarf pillars that were in the slaughterhouse in the north, for hanging and skinning the sacred offerings. This is what we learned in the Mishnah of Pesachim: "Iron hooks were fixed in the pillars and walls, on which they would hang and skin [the sacrifices]." And so does the Targum render it: "And iron hooks come out, one touching."
They are prepared in the house. They are fixed within the space of the Azarah, on the inner side:
Radak
“And the lips were one handbreadth, prepared in the house all around.” These are the shelves upon which they placed the pots; and it is called “lips” in the plural because it held two pots. Therefore, it is referred to by a term of plurality. And the Targum of Jonathan translates: “And hooks protrude one handbreadth, fixed in the pillars of the slaughterhouse, from the inner chambers, all around.” And the onkelin are “iron hooks fixed in the pillars and in the walls, to hang upon them.” And they call them onkelin with an ayin, or with an aleph, unkelin. And upon these lips they hung the sacrifices and flayed them. And so we learned in the tractate Middot: “The slaughterhouse was to the north of the altar, and upon it were eight short pillars, with square cedar beams upon them, and upon them were iron hooks fixed, and there were three rows; and upon each of them they hung and flayed, upon marble tables that were between the pillars.”
“And to the tables, the flesh of the offering.” When the qamats under the kuf is pronounced with a geia, and the bet is lenited because the shva under the resh is movable due to the placement of the qamats, therefore the bet is lenited. And Rabbi Yonah writes that the kuf is chatef and the bet is lenited.
Metzudat David
“And the lips were one handbreadth thick.” Iron hooks, shaped like the letter vav, were fixed into cedar beams that were themselves secured to low pillars. These hooks protruded one handbreadth from the beams atop the pillars, and upon them the sacrifices were hung to have their skins removed. These structures stood in the slaughterhouse, which is the chamber whose opening was at the jambs of the gates, as mentioned above.
They were prepared in the house. The columns with the bases were fixed in that inner chamber on all four sides:
"And to the tables." These are the four tables of hewn stone that stood in that chamber, upon which they would place the flesh of the sacrifice.
Metzudat Zion
And the lips. Targum Jonathan renders it ankelin, which are “hooks,” and they are the hooks on the fourth [crossbeam] of the cedar wood, which is placed upon the pillars; their heads are bent upward, so that the sacrifices are suspended from them and skinned.
Ready. The term denotes preparation and firm establishment:
In the house: from the inside:
Malbim
“And the lips were one handbreadth.” The explanation is that iron hooks, fixed in place, protruded one handbreadth from behind the low pillars, for hanging and flaying the sacred offerings (as stated in Chapter 5 of Pesachim and Chapter 3 of Middot). They were arranged all around the courtyard, fixed to the pillars that stood around the tables, for the tables were located between them (as we learned in Chapter 3 of Middot: “Tables of marble between the pillars,” since marble cools and preserves the meat from spoiling). And this is what it means when it says, “And to the tables (that were there) they placed the flesh of the sacrifice.” These are other tables, besides those mentioned above.
And without the inner gate were chambers for the guard in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate, and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.
verse value 7116
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 91 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֗ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁ֗ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·from·outside" (וּמִח֩וּצָה֩, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 570: gate, gate. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·from·outside" (וּמִח֩וּצָה֩), "cattle" (שָׁרִ֗ים), "in·the·court" (בֶּחָצֵ֤ר). The root שער appears 3 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·side" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·their·faces" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'south', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 7 words.
Rashi
And from outside the inner gate. And from outside the hollow of the gate’s antechamber into the airspace of the inner courtyard, as is explicitly stated in the biblical verse at its conclusion:
Chambers of the princes. Chambers of the Levite singers:
"And their faces toward the south." Their entrance was on the southern side.
One [chamber] was at the shoulder of the eastern gate. One chamber was at the shoulder of the eastern gate:
The front of the northern way. And its opening was toward the north:
Radak
“And outside the inner gate, the chambers of the officers.” The inner gate of the Court of Israel had outside it, that is, in the space of the inner courtyard, the chambers of the Levite singers; and so did Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translate: “the chamber of the Levites.”
“Which are at the shoulder of the northern gate, and their faces are toward the south.” And they were at the shoulder of the northern gate, and the faces of the chambers were toward the south; that is to say, their entrances faced south. The term “shoulder of the gate” refers to what is behind the gate, as we have explained.
One [was] toward the shoulder of the eastern gate. He said: There was one chamber toward the shoulder of the eastern gate.
"The face of the way to the north." That is to say, it is open toward the north. And one might say that the term is masculine with regard to the chamber, whereas the word "chamber" is feminine, because the chamber is a house, and "house" is a masculine term.
Metzudat David
"And from outside the inner gate." [This means] outside the space of the gate of the inner courtyard (or perhaps it refers to the inner gate itself, stating that it was ten cubits high). There were the chambers of the singers. And the text returns to explain that they stood in the space of the inner courtyard, not outside the space of the gate toward the exterior, in the Ezrat Nashim (the Court of Women).
"Which are by the shoulder." This means that they stood by the shoulder of the northern gate, on this side and on that side.
And their faces: Their entrances faced toward the south.
One. A single chamber stood at the shoulder of the eastern gate, and its opening faced northward.
Metzudat Zion
Sarim. From the word for song, that is to say, singers.
And their faces. This means their entrances, which are the front of the House.
Malbim
"And outside the inner gate" – that is to say, within the Temple Court, on the side of the gate facing inward, and outward on the side facing east, there were chambers for the singers. So that we should not err and think that what is written "outside the gate" means outside in the true sense, i.e., in the outer court, he explains that they were in the inner court. They were at the shoulder of the North Gate, on the eastern side of the North Gate; they stood from west to east, their backs to the northern wall of the court, and their faces – that is, their entrances – were to the south. Now, opposite the northern gate, and also on the side of the gate towards the west, stood the tables mentioned in verse 42, and the basins together with the tables belonging to them, which were used for flaying and placing the flesh of the sacrifice, as mentioned in the preceding verse. It was not possible to place chambers there. As has already been explained above (in the note to verses 30–31), halls stood in the walls of the inner court on the inside, their length being twenty-five cubits and their width five cubits, on each side. There I proved that the halls were distant from the gate on each side by fifteen cubits. Certainly, these chambers stood in those fifteen cubits that were vacant and where there were no halls. They stood adjacent to the halls up to the gate. The altar was thirty-two cubits by thirty-two cubits, positioned in the center of the Temple Court. The altar was positioned opposite the gate at a distance of ten cubits, and from each side of it eleven cubits. In that span stood the chambers on the eastern side of the North Gate, with their entrances to the south, facing the altar. However, opposite them, at the South Gate, stood the ramp, which was south of the altar, extending thirty cubits and reaching to four cubits from the wall (as stated above in the note there). It was not possible to place chambers there. They placed one chamber at the shoulder of the East Gate in those fifteen cubits between the gate and the halls. The back of the chamber was to the south, and its face – that is, its entrance – was to the north (and he did not clarify whether it was close to the eastern wall or distant from it and close to the altar; and it will be explained in chapter 46).
And he said to me: ‘This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.
verse value 3862
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "this" (זֹ֣ה, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·the·priests" (לַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "room" (הַלִּשְׁכָּ֗ה). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "whose" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·me', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 10 words. Full calculation: וַיְדַבֵּ֖ר [and·spoke] (222) + אֵלָ֑י [to·me] (41) + זֹ֣ה [this] (12) + הַלִּשְׁכָּ֗ה [room] (360) + אֲשֶׁ֤ר [whose] (501) + פָּנֶ֙יהָ֙ [her·face] (145) + דֶּ֣רֶךְ [way] (224) + הַדָּר֔וֹם [south] (255) + לַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים [to·the·priests] (155) + שֹׁמְרֵ֖י [keepers·of] (550) + מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶת [charge·of] (980) + הַבָּֽיִת [the·house] (417) = 3862.
Rashi
"To the priests." The servants of the House, as it seems, are the Levites who are the singers.
Radak
"And He spoke to me: This is the chamber whose face is toward the south." There was another chamber there, and if it was not mentioned, it is because its face was toward the south alone, unlike the chambers of the Levites which were mentioned, for those were for the Levites and this one was for the priests.
Metzudat David
"And He spoke unto me." The angel who spoke with me:
"This is the chamber." The meaning is: the groups of chambers, each of which had its entrance facing the south, were for the use of the servants of the Omnipresent, blessed be He, who kept the charge of the House, in connection with the duty incumbent upon them, namely, the service of song, which was incumbent upon the Levites.
Metzudat Zion
"To the priests." Those who serve the Lord are called priests, even if they are not from the descendants of Aaron.
Malbim
“And He spoke to me” – behold, in chapter 44, it is explained that in the future, only the priests, the sons of Zadok, who did not err from the Lord, will be fit for service, but the other priests who erred by worshipping idolatry will not serve on the altar; rather, they will be keepers of the guard of the Temple. And here, the Lord showed the prophet that these priests, who will be disqualified from service and will be keepers of the Temple guard, will have the chamber whose face is towards the south, which is the Chamber of the Princes. And it implies that they will be singers in the Temple. And this is very difficult, for the priests are warned not to perform the service of the Levites, and according to the Raavad (at the end of Chapter 3 of the Laws of the Vessels of the Temple), this is punishable by death, and according to the Rambam there, it is at least subject to a warning. However, one can say that this applies only to a priest who is fit for service, but once these priests are removed from the status of priests, their status will be like that of Levites, for they are at least from the children of Levi. And so I saw in the Mahari Eyyash in the book Lechem Yehuda, who wrote regarding what the Rambam wrote (Chapter 5 of the Laws of the Vessels of the Temple, Law 15): “And when the priest grows up and becomes a man, he is fit for service, and he does not enter the Court to serve except at the time when the Levites sing the song.” This teaches us that although he is grown, he does not perform service initially, whether as a priest or as a Levite, until he begins to say the song with the Levites in the manner of a branch. And although a priest is not fit for the service of singing, for a priest performing the service of a Levite is subject to a warning, this applies only after he has already engaged in his proper service, for then he cannot transfer himself to the service of another. But initially, he is permitted to perform the work of song, for the priests were also Levites, and the tribe of Levi is called so. Thus he wrote. And if we do not accept this opinion, one can say that they will be singers with instruments, for even Israelites of distinguished lineage are fit for this (as the Rambam wrote there, Chapter 3, Law 3). And behold, in Chapter 2 of Middot, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: “There was an ascent, and it was one cubit high, and the platform was placed upon it, and upon it were three steps of half a cubit each.” It turns out that the Court of the Priests is higher than the Court of Israel by two and a half cubits. And it is explained there that the platform stood at the end of the Court of Israel, which was eleven cubits from the east, along the length of the court from north to south. And this was in the Second Temple, in which there was no eastern gate extending to the porch, but only seventy-six cubits, and in the middle was the altar, thirty-two cubits. There remained from the altar to the east twenty-two cubits, and these were divided into eleven cubits for the treading of the feet of the priests and eleven cubits for the Court of Israel. But in the Third Temple, which will be built, God willing, where there will be one hundred cubits from the eastern gate to the porch, there will remain from the altar to the eastern wall thirty-four cubits (and likewise from the altar to the porch). Thus, the platform, which will be at the end of the Court of Israel, will be seventeen cubits distant from the altar. Upon it stood the Levites who sang, on three steps along the entire length from south to north, and their faces were towards the west, opposite the altar. And in this you will find the novelty of this chamber, which stood next to the wall of the northern gate and extended towards the east fifteen cubits to the porches. It turns out that its end was adjacent, two cubits away, to the platform. And it is explained in Arakhin (Chapter 2, Mishnah 6): Rabbi Elazar ben Yaakov says, “They do not ascend to the count, and they do not stand on the platform, but in the land they stood, and their heads were between the legs of the Levites.” According to Rashi, this refers to the young Levites who assisted in the song, and according to the Rambam in his commentary on the Mishnah, it refers to the musicians with instruments, who did not stand on the platform. Therefore, the priests who are keepers of the Temple guard, who will be disqualified from service, and who also did not stand on the platform with the Levites to sing, will stand in the Chamber of the Princes on the ground, adjacent to the platform, to sing with their mouths or with musical instruments, and their faces will be towards the south, which is also opposite the altar. And from the side that they were nevertheless priests, their chamber stood in the Court of the Priests. And see in the Mishneh LeMelech, Chapter 6 of the Laws of Entering the Temple, Law 1, and the end of Chapter 9, and I will not elaborate on this.
And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Hashem to minister to Him.’
verse value 5024
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 75 letters. The shortest word is "whose" (אֲשֶׁ֤ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "sons·of·Zadok" (בְנֵֽי־צָד֗וֹק, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·the·room" (וְהַלִּשְׁכָּ֗ה), "sons·of·Zadok" (בְנֵֽי־צָד֗וֹק), "from·the·sons·of·Levi" (מִבְּנֵֽי־לֵוִ֛י). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·Hashem" (root יהוה, 427x in Ezekiel); "whose" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "abundance" (root הם, 166x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root צדוק ("sons·of·Zadok") in Ezekiel. First appearance of the root לוי ("from·the·sons·of·Levi") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'altar', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 6 words.
Radak
"And the chamber." The chamber mentioned, whose face is toward the north.
They are the sons of Zadok. The mention of Zadok is because he was the High Priest initially in the Temple that Solomon built, as it is written: “And they made Solomon the son of David king again, and Zadok priest” (1 Chronicles 29:22). He was from the descendants of Eleazar the priest, and to Phinehas his son and to his seed was given the covenant of the priesthood, whereas those from the descendants of Itamar were demoted from the ranks of the priesthood due to the curse of Eli.
Metzudat David
The guards of the altar's watch: to offer upon it sacrifices.
They are the sons of Zadok. For they will serve as priests in the future, as it is stated, “And the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me” (Ezekiel 44:15).
"The ones who approach." "Who shall approach the Lord from among the children of Levi to serve Him." This means those chosen for the Lord from among the rest of the priests, the children of Levi, as it is stated there.
Malbim
And the chamber whose face was toward the north belonged to the priests from the sons of Zadok, who were engaged in the service; therefore their chamber stood on the southern side, where the ramp was, by which they would ascend to the altar to perform the service. And I have already explained that it was opposite the fifteen cubits of the eastern gate’s side, south of the gate, where there were no halls. And despite all this, it appears that it was close to the altar in the Court of the Priests; and therefore there was room there for only one chamber.
And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.
verse value 2752
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 48 letters. Verse gematria: 2752 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "length" (אֹ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·court" (אֶת־הֶחָצֵ֜ר, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 46: hundred, cubits, hundred, cubits. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "lain·stretched·out" (מְרֻבָּ֑עַת), "and·the·altar" (וְהַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ). The root מאה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "to·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'lain·stretched·out', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֨מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־הֶחָצֵ֜ר [the·court] (704) + אֹ֣רֶךְ [length] (221) + מֵאָ֣ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּ֗ה [cubits] (46) + וְרֹ֛חַב [and·breadth] (216) + מֵאָ֥ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּ֖ה [cubits] (46) + מְרֻבָּ֑עַת [lain·stretched·out] (712) + וְהַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ [and·the·altar] (68) + לִפְנֵ֥י [to·face·of] (170) + הַבָּֽיִת [the·house] (417) = 2752.
Rashi
“And he measured the court.” The courtyard of the Israelites, situated before the Ulam and the Heichal:
Radak
“And he measured the courtyard: its length was a hundred cubits, and its breadth a hundred cubits, square.” This was not the case in the Second Temple, for the length of the Court of Israel was one hundred and thirty-five cubits by a breadth of eleven cubits, and so too was the Court of the Priests.
"And the altar was before the house." He said: And he also measured the altar that was before the house, yet he did not mention its measurement, nor will he mention it again.
Metzudat David
"The courtyard." This refers to the interior space of the inner courtyard.
"And the altar was before the house." The altar stood in the open space of that courtyard, before the House, aligned directly opposite the Sanctuary and its walls, as stated in the commentary on the construction of the House.
Metzudat Zion
"Square." From the term "square":
"The House." So is the Sanctuary called, for it was roofed like a house, whereas the courtyards were not so.
Malbim
“And he measured the court”: The inner court, which was the Court of Israel, was a hundred cubits by a hundred cubits square in its open space. And the altar was “before the house,” that is to say, before the antechamber of the Temple. The plain meaning of the language indicates the words of Rabbi Yehuda, who said that the altar was situated in the middle of the Court, ten cubits opposite the entrance of the Temple, eleven cubits to the north, and eleven cubits to the south. Thus, the altar was aligned opposite the Temple and its walls. And according to those who say that [the altar] was in the north or in the south, the language is not precise; nevertheless, it appears that according to all opinions, it was in the middle between east and west, as it was in the Second Temple, where the width of the Court was only seventy-six cubits, and the altar stood in the middle, with twenty-two cubits from it to the east, and twenty-two cubits between the antechamber and the altar. And in this construction, there would be thirty-four cubits from the altar to the antechamber, and thirty-four cubits from it to the east, seventeen cubits for the Court of the Priests, and seventeen cubits for the Court of Israel (as stated above, verse 45). And even though this Temple lacked the space for the footprints of Israel and the Priests along its length, where there were one hundred and thirty-five cubits, in contrast, it had an excess of six cubits in their width, extending a hundred cubits for each side, and the place would be more spacious than it was in the Second Temple. Examine and you will find it so.
Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side; and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
verse value 5809
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 74 letters. The shortest word is "post" (אֵ֣ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·he·brought·me" (וַיְבִאֵ֘נִי֮, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 447: cubits, cubits, cubits, cubits. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·porch" (אֶל־אֻלָ֣ם), "three" (שָׁלֹ֤שׁ), "three" (וְשָׁלֹ֥שׁ). The root אמה appears 4 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·porch" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·he·brought·me" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel); "the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 8 words.
Rashi
"Unto the hall of the house." The hall of the Temple:
“And he measured unto the porch.” Just as the word “porch” (ulam) denotes the thickness of the doorposts (in another version: “One who sees the east”), so too, he measured from east to west. (And I, in my youth, found in the commentaries of later authorities exactly as I have transcribed above.)
(And the width of the gate is three cubits from here, etc. It is the thickness of the northern pillar extending into the void of the doorway toward the west, and likewise the thickness of the southern pillar extending into the void of the hall toward the west. And even though we have learned in the Mishnah: “The wall of the hall is five [cubits thick], and the hall [itself] is eleven [cubits wide]”—this applies to the Second Temple, whereas in the future Temple the hall was only three [cubits wide], etc.—so it is written in another manuscript).
Five cubits. And even in the Second Temple it was so, as we learned: “The wall of the porch was five [cubits], and the porch eleven [cubits].” Rather, in the porch of the Second Temple there were no side-walls to the entrance to the north and to the south, for the width of the entrance was twenty cubits, like the width of the porch. And here it is written: “And the width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side.” And I do not know what is meant by the words “on this side and on that side,” but rather [it refers] to the width of the side-walls of the entrance: three cubits close off the opening of the entrance on this side, and three cubits on that side.
Radak
And He brought me to the porch of the house. This is the porch of the Temple:
And he measured to the porch. The word "El" is written without a yod, indicating that he measured the pillars of the porch, which were at its entrance, from one side to the other, and each one was five cubits.
From here. Both with a he:
And the breadth of the gate was three cubits from its [side] and three cubits from its [side]. Both [instances] are written with a vav, and he said that the breadth of the gate of the porch was such that there remained for it a shoulder after the gate: three cubits from the north and three cubits from the south. It turns out that the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, for the length of the porch was twenty cubits. Subtract from them six for the shoulders of the gate—three from here and three from there—and it turns out that the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits. To clarify this, he attached to it:
Metzudat David
"Unto the porch of the house." This is the porch that stands before the Sanctuary.
"And he measured to the porch." He measured the doorposts of the porch as five cubits; this measurement was in thickness, but the width was not so. For the doorpost, together with the wall on the side of the entrance, was only three cubits, as stated in that matter, and although they were round, they were not at an equal distance, like the doorposts of the porches of the gates (and it is possible that the thickness of the wall was equal to the measurement of the doorpost, like the walls of the courtyards).
From here. From this side:
"And the gate was broad." This means that the gate was broad in such a way that there remained a wall of three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side; and thus its breadth was fourteen cubits.
Malbim
And He brought me to the hall of the house, the hall of the Temple, and He measured the vestibule; namely, the thresholds of the gate were five cubits, because the thickness of the wall of the vestibule was five cubits, and the width of the gate was three cubits on this side. The term "gate" refers to the door that closes the opening of the gate; but in the hall, where there was no gate, its opening was fourteen cubits wide. This is in contrast to the Second Temple, where the hall was open across its entire width (as stated by the Tosafot in the chapter "Kol Ha-Tzalmim," regarding the statement that one should not make a colonnade in the form of the hall). Here, however, it was closed off by three cubits on each side. The text refers to these three cubits as a "gate," because by means of these three cubits it is called a "gate."
The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and it was by steps that it was ascended; and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.
verse value 4377
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 75 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֥ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "length" (אֹ֣רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·the·posts" (אֶל־הָ֣אֵילִ֔ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 125: from·here, from·here. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "porch" (הָאֻלָ֞ם), "one" (עַשְׁתֵּ֣י), "and·posts" (וְעַמֻּדִים֙). The root אמה appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·the·posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "to·it" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root עמוד ("and·posts") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 6 words.
Rashi
The length of the Ulam was twenty cubits, corresponding to the width of the Heichal.
And its width was eleven cubits, from east to west:
"And by the steps by which they went up to it." And by the steps was the path by which they went up to it, as we learned: "Between the Ulam and the Altar were twenty-two cubits, and there were twelve steps there; the height of each step was half a cubit."
"and pillars to the pillars": [This refers to what was] instead of Jachin and Boaz, which were in the First Temple.
Radak
The length of the Ulam was twenty cubits. Its length was opposite the width of the Heichal.
"And the width was eleven cubits." Thus was it in the construction of the Second Temple, as we learned in the Mishnah of Middot: "The Ulam was eleven cubits [wide]." But in the construction of Solomon's Temple, its width was twenty cubits, equal to its length.
"And on the steps by which they would ascend to it." I saw Him measuring the steps by which they would ascend to it, yet He did not mention how many there were. Concerning the construction of the Second Temple, we learned in the Mishnah of Middot: "There were twelve steps there; the height of each step was half an amah, and its breadth was half an amah."
"And pillars to the pillars, one from here and one from here." Regarding the "pillars" mentioned earlier, which were for the hall, one on this side and one on that side, he states that he saw two pillars for them.
From here. Both are written with a he:
Metzudat David
The length of the Hall. From north to south:
Twenty cubits. This is according to the measure of the width of the Sanctuary.
And "wide" – from west to east:
And in the steps by which they shall ascend unto it. This means: And in the steps was the path by which they would ascend to it from the inner courtyard.
"And pillars to the pillars." In the space of the porch, adjacent to the doorposts, stood two pillars, one on this side and one on that side. They were in the place of the pillars Jachin and Boaz, which had been in the First Temple.
Malbim
The length of the hall from north to south was twenty cubits, corresponding to the width of the Temple, and its width from east to west was eleven cubits. And the pillars that were at the steps leading up to it—this means that at the steps where one would ascend there were pillars; pillars stood before the steps, one on this side and one on that side, as we have explained above (verse 27), that there were pillars before the steps (and in the Second Temple there were twelve steps there, as explained in the Mishnah in Middot), and pillars added to the pillars—pillars stood (for they were thick, since the pillars themselves were only one cubit by one cubit) at the sides of the hall, one on this side and one on that side, opposite the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which Solomon made in the First Temple.
Rashi
Radak
Metzudat David
Metzudat Zion