And he brought me to athe temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent.
verse value 3770
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 58 letters. Verse gematria: 3770 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "breadth" (רֹ֧חַב, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·six·cubits·breadth" (וְשֵׁשׁ־אַמּֽוֹת־רֹ֥חַב, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 210: breadth, breadth. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·the·palace" (אֶל־הַהֵיכָ֑ל), "the·posts" (אֶת־הָאֵילִ֗ים), "and·six·cubits·breadth" (וְשֵׁשׁ־אַמּֽוֹת־רֹ֥חַב). The root אמה appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·posts" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·he·brought·me" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel); "six·cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·palace', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 9 words. Full calculation: וַיְבִיאֵ֖נִי [and·he·brought·me] (89) + אֶל־הַהֵיכָ֑ל [to·the·palace] (101) + וַיָּ֣מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־הָאֵילִ֗ים [the·posts] (497) + שֵׁשׁ־אַמּ֨וֹת [six·cubits] (1047) + רֹ֧חַב [breadth] (210) + מִפּ֛וֹ [from·here] (126) + וְשֵׁשׁ־אַמּֽוֹת־רֹ֥חַב [and·six·cubits·breadth] (1263) + מִפּ֖וֹ [from·here] (126) + רֹ֥חַב [breadth] (210) + הָאֹֽהֶל [tent] (41) = 3770.
Rashi
“Six cubits in breadth.” This refers to the thickness of the Temple wall situated between the Temple and the Ulam (from east to west):
The width of the tent. The width of the vestibule, which is within the width of the vestibule and within the length of the sanctuary. In the commentary of later authorities, "the width of the tent" refers to the tent of the entrance.
Radak
And He brought me to the Temple, and He measured the pillars. The pillars of the entrance to the Temple were made in the shape of a dome above, and the width of each pillar was six cubits.
“Broad was the tent.” The covering was six cubits in breadth, and the covering is called a tent. And the Targum translates it as “the breadth of the Tabernacle.”
Metzudat David
"the rams." They are the doorposts. (And although the term "rams" was applied to the doorposts because they were exposed like trees, and regarding this matter it is stated that the doorposts of the Temple were square, nevertheless he called them "rams" just as the rest of the doorposts [are so called].)
"Six cubits wide from here to there." The width of the mezuzah was six cubits from this side to the other, etc. This means the thickness of the mezuzot within the space of the doorway (and it is possible that the thickness of the wall was equal to the measurement of the mezuzot, similar to the walls of the courtyards).
"Rachav ha'ohel." This means that the width of the tent was also the lintel that overshadowed the doorposts, and it is possible that it was in the form of a tent.
Malbim
And He brought me to the Temple, etc., six cubits wide: This is the thickness of the wall of the Temple that is between the Temple and the porch. The width of the tent: Because the law is that from the side of the door and inward is considered inward, and from the side and outward is considered outward. But the Temple had double doors (as will be explained in verse 24), and according to this, between the doors was a separate domain, intermediate between the sanctity of the Temple and the sanctity of the porch, and therefore it was called a tent.
And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side; and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.
verse value 6517
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 75 letters. The shortest word is "ten" (עֶ֣שֶׂר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·shoulder-pieces·of" (וְכִתְפ֣וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 493: opening, opening. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·shoulder-pieces·of" (וְכִתְפ֣וֹת). The root אמה appears 5 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "five" (root חמש, 76x in Ezekiel); "forty" (root ארבע, 59x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 7 words.
Rashi
And the side posts of the entrance were five cubits. Since the width of the Temple was twenty cubits and the width of the entrance was ten cubits, it follows that its side posts, on this side and on that side, were five and five.
Radak
“And the breadth of the doorway was ten cubits.” [This refers to] the breadth of the entrance to the Temple.
"And the doorposts of the entrance, five cubits from here and five cubits from here." This makes twenty, for such was the width of the Temple, as it is stated: "Its length forty cubits and its width twenty cubits."
From here. Both are written with a vav:
Metzudat David
"And the doorposts of the entrance." The wall on the side of the entrance was five cubits from this side, etc., and this measurement included the thickness of the doorposts.
Its length. From east to west:
And broad. From north to south:
Metzudat Zion
And the shoulder-pieces. The matter of "over" and "side":
Malbim
And the width of the doorway from north to south was ten [cubits], and since the width of the Temple was twenty [cubits], there remained five cubits on this side of the doorway and five cubits on that side.
Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.
verse value 5089
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 54 letters. The shortest word is "six" (שֵׁ֣שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "post·of·the·opening" (אֵֽיל־הַפֶּ֖תַח, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 447: cubits, cubits, cubits. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "post·of·the·opening" (אֵֽיל־הַפֶּ֖תַח), "and·the·entrance" (וְהַפֶּ֙תַח֙). The root אמה appears 3 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "post·of·the·opening" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·he·shall·come" (root בוא, 175x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 7 words. Full calculation: וּבָ֣א [and·he·shall·come] (9) + לִפְנִ֔ימָה [within] (215) + וַיָּ֥מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֵֽיל־הַפֶּ֖תַח [post·of·the·opening] (534) + שְׁתַּ֣יִם [two] (750) + אַמּ֑וֹת [cubits] (447) + וְהַפֶּ֙תַח֙ [and·the·entrance] (499) + שֵׁ֣שׁ [six] (600) + אַמּ֔וֹת [cubits] (447) + וְרֹ֥חַב [and·breadth·of] (216) + הַפֶּ֖תַח [opening] (493) + שֶׁ֥בַע [seven] (372) + אַמּֽוֹת [cubits] (447) = 5089.
Rashi
And he came inside. To the partition that separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies:
And he measured the doorpost of the entrance. Its thickness is two cubits; this is not equal to one cubit of the Greek measure.
"And the gate was six cubits." I cannot interpret this except as referring to its height.
Radak
And he came within. "Before" and "within" refers to the Holy of Holies.
“And he measured the pillar of the entrance, two cubits.” This means that the two pillars of the entrance, one on this side and one on that side, each had a width of two cubits.
And the entrance was six cubits. The thickness of the entrance was six cubits, and its width was seven.
Metzudat David
And he came within. The angel who spoke to me came within, to the Holy of Holies, and did not bring him [Ezekiel] with him, for no one may enter there except the High Priest on Yom Kippur (and although it was in a prophetic vision, nevertheless He showed it to him in a manner appropriate to physical perception).
“The ram of the entrance.” This means that every ram was two cubits (and it is possible that the thickness of the wall was equal to the measurement of the mezuzot, like the walls of the courtyards):
And the opening. This means the height of the opening.
Malbim
And he came before the Holy of Holies, and he measured the doorpost of the entrance, which was the thickness of the wall between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, as two cubits, and the entrance as six cubits. It is explained below (verses 23–24) that the Holy of Holies had two entrances, one on the inside and one on the outside; see there. And the width of the hollow of the entrance was seven cubits, and this is what it says, “and the width of the entrance was seven cubits.” But the width of the doors that closed the entrance was only six cubits, and the door did not cover one cubit, for there was a curtain on that one cubit. And the open cubit from the door on the inner side was not opposite the open cubit from the door facing outward. Likewise, the outer and inner curtains were not opposite each other; rather, the outer one was open on the south side, and the inner one was open on the north side. And just as it was in the Second Temple, where there were two curtains, as stated by the first opinion of Rabbi Yosei in Yoma, page 38. And when the High Priest entered the inner sanctum, he entered on the south side, turned his face northward, walked between the two entrances, and entered through the curtain on the open cubit toward the north. And with this glance, he stated that the entrance was six cubits, meaning the door that closed the entrance on all sides.
And he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple; and he said to me: ‘This is the most holy place.’
verse value 3650
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 59 letters. Verse gematria: 3650 is divisible by 50, the years to the Jubilee (yovel). The shortest word is "this" (זֶ֖ה, 2 letters) and the longest is "its·length" (אֶת־אׇרְכּ֜וֹ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 620: twenty, twenty. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "its·length" (אֶת־אׇרְכּ֜וֹ). The root עשרים appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 362x in Ezekiel); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel); "to·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'palace', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֨מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + אֶת־אׇרְכּ֜וֹ [its·length] (628) + עֶשְׂרִ֣ים [twenty] (620) + אַמָּ֗ה [cubits] (46) + וְרֹ֛חַב [and·breadth] (216) + עֶשְׂרִ֥ים [twenty] (620) + אַמָּ֖ה [cubits] (46) + אֶל־פְּנֵ֣י [to·face·of] (171) + הַהֵיכָ֑ל [palace] (70) + וַיֹּ֣אמֶר [and·said] (257) + אֵלַ֔י [to·me] (41) + זֶ֖ה [this] (12) + קֹ֥דֶשׁ [holiness·of] (404) + הַקֳּדָשִֽׁים [apartness] (459) = 3650.
Rashi
“Before the face of the Temple.” Before the face of the Temple’s width:
Radak
And he measured, toward the front of the Temple. For thus was the width of the Temple twenty cubits, and thus was the Holy of Holies that Solomon built, and thus was it in the Second Temple:
Metzudat David
“Before the face of the Temple.” This means: in the measure of the width of the Temple.
And he said to me. The angel speaking with me:
Malbim
It was aligned facing the Temple, opposite the width of the Temple’s chamber, which was also twenty [cubits]. This [area] is the Holy of Holies, because in the Second Temple they were in doubt regarding the cubit of the partition—whether it belongs to the interior or to the exterior. He was informed that only this [area] is the Holy of Holies, but the two cubits of the space of the wall are not the Holy of Holies and belong to the exterior.
Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.
verse value 3629
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "six" (שֵׁ֣שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "wall·of·the·house" (קִֽיר־הַבַּ֖יִת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 447: cubits, cubits. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "wall·of·the·house" (קִֽיר־הַבַּ֖יִת). The root סביב appears 3 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "round·about" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root צלע ("side") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 8 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֥מׇד [and·he·measured] (60) + קִֽיר־הַבַּ֖יִת [wall·of·the·house] (727) + שֵׁ֣שׁ [six] (600) + אַמּ֑וֹת [cubits] (447) + וְרֹ֣חַב [and·breadth·of] (216) + הַצֵּלָע֩ [side] (195) + אַרְבַּ֨ע [four] (273) + אַמּ֜וֹת [cubits] (447) + סָבִ֧יב [round·about] (74) + סָבִ֛יב [round·about] (74) + לַבַּ֖יִת [to·the·house] (442) + סָבִֽיב [round·about] (74) = 3629.
Rashi
The wall of the house. The western wall:
And the width of the side: In the vernacular, an "apendits," meaning the chamber behind it was four cubits in its interior space, whereas in the Second Temple it was six cubits. And you must say that this house refers to the future Temple, for in the Second Temple there was no wall separating the Holy of Holies.
Radak
"And he measured the wall of the house, six cubits." The wall of the Temple.
"And the breadth of the side." The accent is on the final syllable. And likewise, "side to side." And the "side" is the cell, which is the gallery mentioned in the construction of Solomon’s Temple. And Jonathan the Translator rendered it as "its partition," and likewise did they translate it there. And the matter of the construction of the sides is just as it is there, except that it is repeated with different words. Only that the lower gallery, he stated, was four cubits, whereas there it was five cubits. And these sides were on three walls of the house, on the outside, from the west, north, and south, and this is what is meant by "all around."
Metzudat David
"The wall of the house" – this refers to the western wall of the Holy of Holies.
"And the breadth of the side." The breadth of the western side, which leaned against the wall of the Holy of Holies, and it served as a back wall for it.
“Around, etc.” The structure of the side chambers encircled the House, meaning the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, from all three directions—from the west, from the north, and from the south. They all leaned against the wall, and the wall was behind them.
Metzudat Zion
Kir. A wall:
The side chamber. It is a room. And in Solomon’s structure, it is also called a “porch” (yatsi’a). The Torah uses the term “side” (tsela’) because it is located on the side of the house; and a porch is a modest place.
Malbim
And he measured the wall of the house, the northern and southern walls of the Sanctuary and the House of the Holy of Holies. Likewise, the western wall of the House of the Holy of Holies was six cubits [thick], and the width of the side-chamber was four cubits. Now it will be explained (in verse 6) that there were double side-chambers surrounding the house, and here he speaks of the side-chamber adjacent to the wall of the house, which is called simply "the side-chamber." Its hollow space was four cubits wide all around. And he explains that this was for the house all around, because it will be explained below that in the western wall, this side-chamber was absorbed into the western wall, which was six cubits [thick], with a hollow space of four cubits within the wall. The wall extended from this side and that side to the hollow space up to the height of the chambers, only one cubit from this side and one cubit from that side (only above the chambers it was not hollow). And here he says that the width of the side-chamber was outside the wall, and this was for the house all around, except for the western wall.
(6) "And the side-chambers, side-chamber upon side-chamber" means that the side-chambers were double, one side-chamber inside another side-chamber: a side-chamber on the side of the house and a side-chamber opposite it on the outside, as if each side-chamber was divided along its length into two, one next to the other. And this was thirty-three times, because there were five chambers on the north side and five on the south side and one on the west side, making eleven. And they were tripled in height—lower, second, and third—one atop another, making thirty-three. And each one was divided into two along its length, side-chamber upon side-chamber, thirty-three times, which are sixty-six side-chambers. "And they came into the wall which was for the house, to the side-chambers, to be attached" means that because it is written regarding the house which Solomon built, "He made recesses for the house all around, so that they would not be attached to the walls of the house," in order not to need to make holes in the wall of the house to place in them the ends of the beams of the side-chambers, he was forced to have the wall of the Sanctuary recede one cubit from above, and another cubit over the middle gallery. In the third house, it would not be so, because he would not place the ends of the beams of the side-chambers across their width, but along their length, on the walls between side-chamber and side-chamber, as will be explained below that each side-chamber was twelve cubits in length and the width of the wall between side-chamber and side-chamber was five cubits, and the length of the beams was seventeen cubits, placed from the wall of this side-chamber to the wall of the opposite side-chamber along the length. And this is what it says, "And they came to be attached to the wall which was for the house, to the side-chambers," meaning in the wall between the house and the side-chambers (for the wall between side-chamber and side-chamber had one end attached to the house and one end attached to the outer side-chambers, and therefore he called it "the wall which was for the house, to the side-chambers," meaning that it was attached to both on its two sides). In these walls they came to be attached and were placed along the length, so that they would not be attached to the wall of the house; for if they were placed across the width, they would be attached to the wall of the house. And it is clear that this was only in the inner side-chambers close to the house, but in the outer side-chambers, the ends of the beams were placed across the width from the outer wall to the wall placed between the length of the side-chambers. And on this it says, "To the wall which was for the house, to the side-chambers," to be precise that this was only in the walls attached on one side to the house.
And the side-chambers were one over another, three and thirty times; and there were cornices in the wall which belonged to the house for the side-chambers round about, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house.
verse value 6416
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 92 letters. The shortest word is "side" (צֵלָ֨ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·the·sides" (וְהַצְּלָעוֹת֩, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 312: in·the·wall, in·wall·of. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·the·sides" (וְהַצְּלָעוֹת֩), "side" (צֵלָ֨ע), "to·side" (אֶל־צֵלָ֜ע). The root צלע appears 3 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which·belonged·to·the·house" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·be" (root היה, 335x in Ezekiel); "to·side" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root אחז ("grasp") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'grasp', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 4 words.
Rashi
Rib to rib. A leaf to a leaf, and a leaf upon a leaf:
Thirty-three times. And in the Second Temple there were thirty-eight [rooms]: fifteen in the north and fifteen in the south, five by five, and five upon them, and eight in the west. It is a side, it is a platform, it is a room. And I say that the rooms in the north and in the south were arranged thus: the length of each and every one was twelve cubits, making sixty cubits for five rooms, and five walls of five cubits each, making eighty-five [cubits], and the width of five cubits of the one lying [horizontally]—a total of ninety cubits for the length of the wall. And so it was in the south. And those in the west were one upon another, and a third upon them, and their length upon them was twenty cubits, opposite the width of the Holy of Holies, making eleven in each row. And Targum Jonathan reads: eleven in the row. (Another manuscript reads: thirty-three times, three times eleven, eleven upon them; and so does the Targum read: eleven in their arrangement. And in the Second Temple, etc., until: it is a room. And no more.)
“And they come inwhich is to the house, to the sides.” The beams of the upper stories of the galleries had their ends extending to the side of the outer partition of the cells; they came out and pierced the wall on its inner side. This is what is meant by “to the wall which is to the house, to the sides”—namely, on the side facing inward toward the cells. And this is what is meant by “to be held fast in the wall of the house,” indicating that they were firmly fixed, as is known in the foreign tongue as “poppri” (parapet).
And they were not embedded in the wall of the house. The ends of the beams on the side of the wall of the Sanctuary were coming and piercing into openings, for the wall of the Sanctuary protruded into the chambers, as stated regarding Solomon’s construction (I Kings 6:5): “He made recesses all around the house, surrounding the lower gallery, five cubits wide; and the middle gallery, six cubits wide; and the third gallery, seven cubits wide.” For the wall of the Sanctuary was recessed one cubit from above. Therefore, the space of the middle gallery was six cubits wide, and the third [gallery] was seven cubits wide, and it was the upper gallery of the middle one, for the wall of the Sanctuary was recessed into it one cubit from above. And these [beams] were like them. This is what it said: “And they were not embedded in the wall of the house” — they were not piercing into the wall of the Sanctuary, unlike the other ends of the beams, the low ones fixed in the high wall, which pierce the wall and insert the ends of the beams into the openings.
Radak
And the sides, side by side, thirty-three times. "Al" (to/against) is like "al" (upon), for they were built one upon the other, as it says in Kings: thirty-three times, one upon the other, was their height, thirty-three cubits. And the measure of the cubit is two handbreadths. And the Targum says: "Thirty-three, eleven, in order," meaning that the sides were thirty-three to three directions; behold, eleven for each direction, arranged one next to the other.
"And they came into the wall which was in the house, on the sides all around." The ends of the beams entered into the wall of the Temple to the extent that they were laid on the sides, as it is stated in Kings: "He made recesses in the house all around on the outside."
That they should be secured, and yet not be secured to the wall of the house. That they should be secured in the place that is set into the wall, and not in the wall itself. They would make holes in the wall of the house so that the ends of the beams would be secured in them, as it says there, "so that they should not be secured to the walls of the house." For the wall of the house was wide at the bottom and went narrowing outward, opposite the cells, so that the ends of the beams would be secured in that place that was set for them.
Metzudat David
“And the ribs, etc.” The structure of the ribs was rib by rib, meaning one next to the other and one upon the other.
“Thirty and three times.” This means that the number of the beams was multiplied thirty-three times, for they were arranged in this number: in the west, one was placed upon another, and a third upon them, filling the entire width; and in the north and south, five were placed upon five, and five upon five, along the length, each measuring eleven cubits. Thus, for the five [layers], there were fifty-five cubits. From the six walls, each measuring five cubits, there were thirty cubits. Thus, in all, there were eighty-five cubits. And from the foundation of the western chamber’s wall to the place of exchange, there were ninety cubits, as stated in the commentary on the Building of the Temple. Therefore, five cubits remained as an empty space, which is referred to in the matter of the place where it was laid. The remaining matters will be explained in the commentary on the Building of the Temple.
“And they came into the wall that was to the house.” The ends of the beams that were beneath the ceilings of the side chambers came and entered into the wall that was to the house; that is to say, into the walls of the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.
"To the sides all around." This means that all the beams of the ceilings of the sides which were all around were attached to the wall in this manner: for there was a recess cut into the thickness of the wall at the end of the height of the lower side, and upon the protrusion below were placed the beams of the lower ceiling, which is the floor of the middle story; and at the end of the height of the middle story, there was again a recess cut into the thickness of the wall, and upon the protrusion below were placed the beams of the middle ceiling, which is the floor of the upper story; and so too at the end of the height of the upper story, etc. And just as Solomon did, as it is stated: "for he made recesses in the house" (1 Kings 6:6). And by this means they had great strength and would not totter.
And they shall not be fastened to the wall of the house. This means that they should not be fastened to the wall of the house in the manner of attachment that builders are accustomed to make in such construction, which is that they make holes and openings in the wall, and into them they insert the ends of the ceiling beams; for there is not much strength in this, as they will easily become loose.
And the side-chambers were broader as they wound about higher and higher; for the winding about of the house went higher and higher round about the house; therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest row to the highest by the middle.
verse value 5674
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 104 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·the·highest" (עַל־הָעֶלְיוֹנָ֖ה, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 175: upward, upward, upward, upward, upward. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·it·was·wide" (וְֽרָחֲבָ֡ה), "and·wound·around" (וְֽנָסְבָה֩), "winding·of·the·house" (מֽוּסַב־הַ֠בַּ֠יִת). The root מעל appears 5 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "therefore" (root על, 272x in Ezekiel); "to·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "for" (root כי, 114x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upward', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 5 words.
Rashi
And it was broad. And the sides went on widening upward, as I have explained: the middle one was a cubit broader than the lower one, and likewise the upper one was a cubit broader than the middle one.
And it ascends spirally, upward, upward. The spiral ascent they call a “Witz” in the vernacular is a structure of stones, like a pillar, with steps ascending within it, and one who ascends them resembles one walking around and encircling a stone pillar. In the Ashkenazic language, it is called a “Schwindelstein.” It is what is meant in the description of Solomon’s building, and in the Talmudic passage: “They ascend to the middle one,” even this is interpreted as “and in its spiral ascent,” just as it says, “And it ascends spirally, upward, upward.” Likewise, the spiral ascent goes upward to the roof of the upper chamber, as he explains and proceeds to state that the spiral ascent rises from the lower chamber to the middle one, and from the middle one to the upper one.
"the house is surrounded" – by the sides:
"From above, from above, all around, all around the House; therefore, the breadth of the House from above." Thus far is what we have stated: "And it was wider from above, from above." The breadth of the House within the side chambers at the uppermost level was wider than all the others.
And so it is with the lower one. Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated: “And so, through a spiral staircase, they ascend from the lower to the upper, by way of the intermediate.” And so they ascend, through a spiral staircase, from the lower to the upper, by way of the intermediate.
Radak
“And it was broad and ascending upward, upward, to the sides.” The “sides” [refers to the fact that] wherever they ascended upward, they became wider at the place where they were situated against the wall, as it is stated in Kings: “The lower gallery was five cubits wide, and the middle one six cubits wide,” etc. And what is meant by “and it was ascending” is that they ascended upward to the sides via a spiral ramp, as it is stated in Kings: “And by a spiral ramp they ascended to the middle one, and from the middle one to the third.” A spiral ramp, or helix, is a structure like a hollow column made in the form of steps all around, and one who ascends in it ascends by way of a circuit. And so we learned in the tractate Middot: “There was a spiral ramp from the northeastern corner to the northwestern corner, by which they ascended to the roofs of the chambers. One would ascend in the spiral ramp with his face toward the west, and he would walk along the entire north side until he reached the west. When he reached the west, he would turn his face toward the south, and he would walk along the entire west side until he reached the south. Then he would turn his face toward the east, and he would walk along the south side until he reached the entrance of the upper chamber, which opened toward the south.” For the house was spiraling upward. The helix, or spiral ramp, is called “spiraling,” and one would ascend upward, upward, to the uppermost level.
Therefore, the upper part of the house was wide. Therefore, its accent is on the final syllable: "Therefore," because they held onto the wall of the house, it was wide for the upper part of the house; the uppermost of the sides was wider than all the others.
And likewise, the lower one ascends to the upper one via the middle one. As its Targum [renders it]: “And likewise, in the circular arrangement, they ascend from the lower to the upper through the middle path.”
Metzudat David
And it was broad. This means that the structure of the side-chambers proceeded to widen, for the middle ones were wider than the lower ones by the amount of the reduction in the thickness of the house wall, and likewise the upper ones were wider than the middle ones.
"And it went around." It was constructed with ascending steps, rising higher and higher, in order to reach the sides that were above.
“Ki musav” – this refers back to the beginning of the verse, which said “and it was broadened,” and he explains here to say that because the wall of the house was rounded above, above, with a reduction in the thickness of the wall, in order to place there the beams of the ceiling, as stated above; and for additional clarification, he said “all around the house on all three sides,” and therefore the middle section of the sides of the house above was broadened relative to the lower sections, and the upper sections relative to the middle section.
And so it is with the lower one. [The word] "and it ascended" refers to the ascent, to say that likewise, in that ascent, the one ascending went up from the lower one to the upper one by way of the middle one, and there was no other ascent for it, as the Targum [translates]. Or, "and it ascended" refers to the ascent explained below in the calculation of the width of seventy cubits, and the meaning is that the ascent rose upward to go through it upward to the sides, meaning to the sides standing above, because their height reached the height of the upper sides. And regarding this it said, "and so it is with the lower one," etc., and the meaning is: and likewise, the one ascending went up to the upper one from the lower one by way of the middle one, meaning that besides the path that existed to the upper one from the ascent, there was also a path from the lower one to the upper one by way of the middle one to ascend there by means of steps. (And in the western sides there was only that path of ascent, because there was no ascent [structure] there.)
Metzudat Zion
And it went around. The term is derived from the root “to go around,” and it refers to the structure of the spiral stairs, which were in the shape of a column, and one who ascended them would circle around the column as he walked. Or perhaps it refers to the structure of the surrounding chamber, which is called a “surrounding” room because it encircled all the sides from north to south.
On the upper one. To the upper one:
“L’tichonah” – “to the middle,” like “and the middle bar” (Exodus 26:28). And the lamed comes in place of a bet, like “you sat on the throne” (Psalms 9:5). And it means: by the middle way.
Malbim
"And it was broadened and ascended upward, upward to the sides." Now he explains in what manner one ascended to the middle and upper galleries. In Solomon’s construction, one ascended by means of spiral staircases (balulim). But in the future construction, it will be in a different manner: the wall will broaden in the construction on the outside, like a ramp and ascent, such that the stones of the wall will protrude two or three cubits outward and rise accordingly, upward, upward, like a ramp and an incline upon which they will ascend in steps up to the upper side. And this is what it says: "And it was broadened," meaning that the wall was broadened and a ledge protruded from it outward; "and ascended upward," meaning that this ascent and incline will rise upward until one enters into the sides, for the house was inclined upward. That is to say, not only did they ascend to the sides by means of such an incline that broadened from the wall, but also to the entire height of the house all around. When they wished to ascend to the roof of the house or to the upper rooms within it, they ascended by means of such an incline. For such a ramp inclined all around the house in the wall surrounding the house on the outside, where the stones broadened from the wall and rose upward, like a ramp and steps, up to the roof of the house. And our Sages of blessed memory already stated (Zevachim 63a) that all the ramps of the Temple were three cubits in length for every cubit of height. Accordingly, to ascend to a height of one hundred cubits, the ramp would circle a length of three hundred cubits. And after it stated (in verse 8) that he saw the height of the house all around, which implies that it would be much higher than previous houses, if it were two hundred cubits high, it would need to encircle six hundred cubits in order to reach the height of the roof. Thus, the house was inclined, ascending upward, upward to the top of the roof, all around the house, circling the house several times. When he reached the incline at the end of the southern side toward the east, he circled from there to the east, and then to the north and west, and returned to the south. And this is what it means by "all around, all around." Therefore, "the breadth of the house was upward," meaning that it was therefore not possible to reach there by means of spiral staircases as in the First Temple, because it was very, very high. Only because the breadth of the house—that is, the wall was broadened—was found from it, providing breadth to serve as a ladder, ramp, and steps, thereby it was possible to ascend by means of it upward. And similarly, from the lower one he ascends to the upper one, to the middle one. Now he explains from which side of the upper sides was the entrance through which one enters via the incline from the outside into the side. He says: when he ascended from the lower side to the upper side, he entered through an entrance fixed in the middle side of the upper ones, that is to say, in the third side of the five sides that were in length. And the explanation of the verse is: when he ascends from the lower one to the upper one, he will arrive at the entrance that is in the middle side of the upper sides.
I saw also that the house had a raised basement round about; the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six cubits to the joining.
verse value 4283
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "six" (שֵׁ֥שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·I·saw" (וְרָאִ֧יתִי, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "foundation" ((מיסדות)), "foundations·of" (מוּסְד֤וֹת), "the·sides" (הַצְּלָעוֹת֙). The root סביב appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·house" (root בית, 159x 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 5 and 8 words. Full calculation: וְרָאִ֧יתִי [and·I·saw] (627) + לַבַּ֛יִת [to·the·house] (442) + גֹּ֖בַהּ [height] (10) + סָבִ֣יב [around] (74) + סָבִ֑יב [around] (74) + (מיסדות) [foundation] (520) + מוּסְד֤וֹת [foundations·of] (516) + הַצְּלָעוֹת֙ [the·sides] (601) + מְל֣וֹ [fullness·of] (76) + הַקָּנֶ֔ה [the·reed] (160) + שֵׁ֥שׁ [six] (600) + אַמּ֖וֹת [cubits] (447) + אַצִּֽילָה [joining] (136) = 4283.
Rashi
And I saw the height of the house. He did not specify its measurement, but in the tractate Middot we learned: “Its height was a hundred cubits.”
The bases of the ribs were the full length of the reed. The foundation of the ribs was solid like a reed.
“Six great cubits (atzilah).” The Targum renders: “a space.” The foundation of the side wall, which was within the ground, was six cubits wide, but above the ground its width was five cubits, as is explained in the matter in the subsequent biblical verse.
Radak
And I saw the house, its height, all around. He said that he saw the height of the Temple but did not specify how much, and in the Second Temple they made its height one hundred cubits.
The foundations of the sides. It is written with a yod and read with a vav, and the letters aleph, heh, vav, and yod are interchangeable. He said that he saw the foundations of the sides, which were six cubits wide.
“Noble.” Its meaning is “large,” from the phrase “and the nobles of the children of Israel,” whose meaning is “great ones.” And Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated it as “spacious,” meaning that there was spaciousness in its width of six cubits. And there are those who explain it from the phrase “from beneath the nobility of your hands,” which is the armpit, because the other cubits are measured from the head of the thumb, called a cubit, up to the joint that separates the upper arm from the forearm, whereas these cubits extended up to the armpit.
Metzudat David
And I saw the house. I saw that the house had a height rising above the side chambers; so it was all around on all its sides.
The foundations of the ribs. The foundation of the walls of the ribs, which was built into the ground, was filled with reeds. And to add clarification, he said "six great cubits," meaning "great cubits," that is to say, large cubits, each consisting of six handbreadths, for such was the measure of the reed, as stated above.
Metzudat Zion
Mussadot. From the word "yesod":
Melo. The vav comes in place of an aleph, and the meaning is: a complete reed.
Aztillah. This means "great," and it is in the sense of "and to the nobles of the children of Israel" (Exodus 29).
Malbim
And I have seen that the house had height all around; until now, he had not paid attention to the height of anything, only by looking at the winding ramp of the house which went around the house up to the roof, through this he saw that the house was very high, for when it encircled a length of three hundred cubits, it had already risen in height by one hundred cubits, and after the winding ramp returned around the house several times in its circumference, he knew that it was high by several hundred cubits. The foundations of the side walls were full of the reed, six cubits of excellence. It is known that the Temple stood on top of a mountain, and the closer one approached the Temple, the higher the mountain rose, and they needed to ascend by steps (as stated above, section 40). He saw that on the side of the walls, the foundation rose six cubits, which they leveled after the foundation was already built, and they made them level up to the walls, and therefore from the outside, the foundation of the walls appeared, which protruded from the ground by six cubits. And this was on the outside, for inside the chamber, the foundation was absorbed into the ground. And since the foundation of the side wall was six cubits wide, he saw from the outside the foundation up to the height of the full reed, which was excellent and distinct from the rest of the wall in that its width was six cubits, and the width of the wall was only five. (And there is a difference between this and what is stated in 1 Kings (6:8), according to what I explained there, see there, for there they leveled the ground before they began to build the foundation, therefore they began to build the side chamber from the place where they leveled the ground, and here they leveled the ground after the construction, and the foundation of six cubits was revealed), and it will not be difficult for you how they ascended to the winding ramp which began after the foundation which was six cubits high from the ground. For on the western side, the foundation extended beyond the wall up to the entrance of the side chamber, and from the entrance they went there up to the beginning of the winding ramp.
The breadth of the outer wall which belonged to the side-chambers was five cubits; and so that which was left by the structure of the side-chambers that belonged to the house.
verse value 4737
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "breadth" (רֹ֣חַב, 3 letters) and the longest is "which·to·the·side" (אֲֽשֶׁר־לַצֵּלָ֛ע, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "which·to·the·side" (אֲֽשֶׁר־לַצֵּלָ֛ע), "to·the·outside" (אֶל־הַח֖וּץ), "left" (מֻנָּ֔ח). The root אשר appears 3 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which·to·the·side" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·the·outside" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "structure·of" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: רֹ֣חַב [breadth] (210) + הַקִּ֧יר [wall] (315) + אֲֽשֶׁר־לַצֵּלָ֛ע [which·to·the·side] (721) + אֶל־הַח֖וּץ [to·the·outside] (140) + חָמֵ֣שׁ [five] (348) + אַמּ֑וֹת [cubits] (447) + וַאֲשֶׁ֣ר [and·which] (507) + מֻנָּ֔ח [left] (98) + בֵּ֥ית [structure·of] (412) + צְלָע֖וֹת [sides] (596) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + לַבָּֽיִת [to·the·house] (442) = 4737.
Rashi
The width of the wall that is adjacent to the side, facing outward. The partition of the cells that is adjacent to the courtyard is the western partition.
Five cubits. And so we learned in the tractate Middot that that wall is five [cubits]:
“And that which was lying” — there was an empty space situated in the northern and southern corners adjacent to the east, because the cells did not encircle the entire house. And to that empty space opened the doors of the cells in the eastern corners, as stated in the matter: “And the opening of the side was toward the lying place.” For they had no doors to the cells neither toward the courtyard side nor toward the temple side, but only those in the northeastern and southeastern corners had their door in the wall, opening broadly into that lying place. And through that door one entered into it, and from it into the second cell, and from the second into the third, and so on around. For thus we learned in the tractate Middot: “Three doors 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 the Targum likewise says so: “And that which was lying” — “and the place that was left.”
Another interpretation: “And that which was lying” — namely, those on the inner sides, from the sides toward the house of the lying place. An empty space was left between the cells and the house, and in that place were the doors of the cells, as is explained in the matter: “And the opening of the side was toward the lying place.” And its breadth was five cubits, as it says: “And the breadth of the place of the lying was five cubits,” as I explained above, that the cells should not be adjacent to the house at all, but there should be air space between them. And the house was five cubits. And so does the Targum say: “And the place that was left.”
“a house of ribs that is in the house.” Opposite the air space of the width of the ribs, at the corner of the angle. “All around, all around”—as it is written regarding “the place that is laid”—does not mean in the four corners as its plain sense would imply, but rather means from here and from there: the southern and northern [sides]; the southeastern corner and the northeastern corner.
Radak
"The broad wall that is at the side toward the outside is five cubits." He stated that the width of the side wall from the outside is five cubits.
"And that which is laid in the house of the sides, which is in the house." He said: But the wall of the sides, which is on the side of the Heichal (Holy Place), which is the inner wall for the side, was not level; rather, it was as if a place was laid for the roof of the sides, as we explained that the wall was narrowing and continuing. Therefore, he did not see fit to state its measurement for it. Therefore, he said, "And that which is laid." Meaning: it was as it was for each side according to the place of its laying.
Metzudat David
Rachav. The thickness of the wall of the side facing outward was five cubits, and the foundation beneath it projected outward by one cubit.
"And that which lay" — it lay in an empty space for the construction of the side walls that were adjacent to the House, and they were located at the southeast and northeast corners, between the Chamber of the Change and the side walls, as stated in the commentary on the Construction of the House, and as can be seen in the diagram.
Metzudat Zion
"And that which." The Targum: "And the place," and this is the Aramaic translation of "place."
Monach. From the language of setting down and abandoning:
"House of ribs." Just as in the phrase "to a house of ribs," which means to a structure of ribs.
Malbim
The width of the wall: It has already been explained (verse 6) that the side chambers were arranged side by side, meaning that they were divided along their length into two tiers, one on the outer side and one on the side of the Temple. There were two walls: the wall of the side chamber on the outer side, and the wall separating the side chambers on the inside. And this is what is meant by “the width of the wall which was for the side chamber on the outside was five cubits.” Similarly, the width of the wall which was situated between the side chambers—namely, the central wall placed in the middle of the side chambers, separating them in length from east to west between the side chambers on the outside and the side chambers on the inside—was also five cubits. Included in this is also the fact that the width of the walls separating the five side chambers was likewise five cubits, as all this is encompassed in what is stated: “the wall which was situated between the side chambers belonging to the house.” All the walls separating the side chambers, whether those separating them in length or those separating them in width, were five cubits thick.
And between the chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
verse value 2369
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 37 letters. The shortest word is "breadth" (רֹ֣חַב, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·rooms" (הַלְּשָׁכ֜וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around, around. The root סביב appears 3 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "and·between" (root בין, 145x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel). Full calculation: וּבֵ֨ין [and·between] (68) + הַלְּשָׁכ֜וֹת [the·rooms] (761) + רֹ֣חַב [breadth] (210) + עֶשְׂרִ֥ים [twenty] (620) + אַמָּ֛ה [cubits] (46) + סָבִ֥יב [around] (74) + לַבַּ֖יִת [to·the·house] (442) + סָבִ֥יב [around] (74) + סָבִֽיב [around] (74) = 2369.
Rashi
And between the chambers was a width of twenty cubits. The chambers were in the outer courtyard, to the north of the inner courtyard, adjacent to its upper story. And there was a separation of twenty cubits between the width of the partitions of the chambers and the partitions of the cells that surrounded it. And the Temple was not so in the construction of the Second Temple, but only in the construction of the future Temple.
Radak
And between the chambers the width was twenty cubits. If he said this regarding the sides, that they too are called chambers, he said that there were chambers all around the house, and the width between one chamber and another was twenty cubits. And in the Second Temple, the cells, which are the sides, were thirty-eight: fifteen in the north, fifteen in the south, and eight in the west. Those in the north and those in the south were five upon five, and five upon them; and those in the west were three upon three, and two upon them. And Rabbi Shlomo, of blessed memory, explained that “the width” refers to the space between the partitions of the chambers and the partitions of the cells that surround the house.
Metzudat David
"And between the chambers." Chambers were built in the open space opposite the side chambers, as it is stated, "And he brought me to the chamber, etc." (below, 42). Therefore, he said "the open space between the chambers," meaning the chambers built opposite the space between the side chamber and the foundation of the wall of the side chamber, which is also called by the name "chamber" (for the term "chamber" is a general name for all the rooms). This open space was twenty cubits wide, and it was opposite the changing room, and five cubits further on, opposite the thickness of the wall of the inner courtyard, as stated in the commentary on the construction of the Temple, and as can be seen in the diagram.
“Around, etc.” – This means on the northern and southern sides.
Malbim
And regarding the chambers, it will be explained well (in Siman 42) that they sanctified twenty cubits of the outer courtyard adjacent to the inner courtyard from the outside, so that they would be holy with the holiness of the Temple Court, to eat there the Most Holy Things. And in those twenty cubits stood the chambers (opposite the entire length of the wall of the inner courtyard, which extended one hundred cubits), and their width from south to north, including their walls, was twenty cubits (as will be explained there, verses 13–14). And this is what it says: “Between the chambers, the width was twenty cubits all around the house,” meaning all around the wall surrounding the inner courtyard, which were distant twenty cubits from the inner courtyard that surrounds the house. And even though he is now speaking about the cells, how did he skip to speak about the chambers that stood in the outer courtyard? Because this matter is an introduction to what he will say in the following verse:
And the doors of the side-chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south; and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.
verse value 4008
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 65 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָד֙) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "opening" (פֶּ֤תַח, 3 letters) and the longest is "north" (הַצָּפ֔וֹן, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 494: and·entrance·of, and·entrance. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·the·leftover" (לַמֻּנָּ֔ח), "to·the·south" (לַדָּר֑וֹם), "the·leftover" (הַמֻּנָּ֔ח). The root פתח appears 3 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "way" (root דרך, 105x in Ezekiel); "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·south', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 7 words.
Rashi
"And the opening of the side is for the place where it is set. And the openings of the outer cells are open to the place where it is set, which is empty in the corner, as I have explained."
Radak
"And the opening of the side chamber was to the place that was situated" – this refers to the place that was situated, namely, an empty space before the side chamber. There, its opening was: one opening to the north, one opening to the south, one opening to the gallery in the north, and one opening to the gallery in the south. And regarding the outer one, it says: "And the width of the place that was situated was five cubits round about" – the width of that empty space was five cubits. And in the cells that were in the Second Temple, there were two and three openings for each and every one: one cell to the right, and one cell to the left, and one cell above it, and one for the spiral staircase, and one for the wicket door, and one for the Sanctuary.
Metzudat David
And "the side opening" is a technical term. The side openings located in the southeast and northeast corners were open toward the empty space that existed in those corners, and the remaining side openings were open to one another.
"The way of the north." This means: toward the side that stands at the northern corner.
And "wide": from west to east.
“Saviv saviv.” This means: on the northern side and on the southern side.
Malbim
"And the opening of the side chamber faced the *monach*." It has already been explained that the side chambers were arranged side by side, with five side chambers on each side close to the House, and five side chambers on the outer side, with a wall separating them along their length. And he already referred to this wall by the name *monach* (as stated in verse 9), "and the *monach* of the side chambers." And the term *monach* encompasses both the wall separating the side chambers adjacent to the House from the side chambers on the outer side, and the cavity of the outer side chamber. See that the opening of the side chamber—meaning the side chamber adjacent to the House, which is simply called "side chamber"—was open toward the *monach*, that is, toward the side chamber next to it on the outer side. And there was one opening on the north side and one opening on the south side. Now, he did not specify in which location the opening was, nor did he specify where the opening of the outer cell was toward the outside. However, we can understand this on our own, that this opening was necessarily in the side chamber opposite the porch in the east. For it is taught in Zevachim (page 55b): Rabbi Yosi, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: "There were two *peshefin* (small openings) in the House of Exchange, and their height was eight [cubits], in order to validate the entire Temple Court for the consumption of Most Holy Things and for the slaughter of Lesser Holy Things." And the House of Exchange was opposite the porch. And there was an opening open there from the porch to the cell next to it, and from the cell to the *monach*, which is the cell on the outer side, and from the cell on the outer side to the outside. (In what is stated, "and the opening of the side chamber faced the *monach*," it is also included that there was also the opening toward the outside there, for surely the openings were aligned. Although one could say that in what is stated, "opening of the side chamber," the side chamber on the outer side is also included, and that the two side chambers were open facing the *monach*, which is the cavity of the outer side chamber, one opposite the other, so that their openings would be aligned opposite the opening of the *pesef* to the porch.) And by this, the entire inner area from the cells up to the wall of the inner court (which was ten cubits) was validated for the slaughter of Lesser Holy Things, for we require [the verse] "and they shall slaughter at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting." (And since in the Third Temple we do not find the matter of the House of Exchange, where the porch extended fifteen cubits beyond the width of the Sanctuary on each side, for the cells were from the western wall to the end of the wall of the porch, and from the cells to the wall of the inner court there was a space of ten cubits evenly opposite the porch and opposite the Sanctuary, there is no need for what is answered there, see what is written there, "And what about the sides? Bring them in through the corner.") And from the fact that he preceded and said, "and between the chambers the width is twenty cubits," which does not belong here, for these chambers stood in the outer half, and he is now dealing with the inner half, it is clear that also the opening of these chambers, which were open toward the wall of the inner court (as will be explained in section 43), was also aligned opposite the *pesef* of the porch and opposite the opening of the cell, until one could see from the opening of the chamber to the opening of the porch opposite it. And therefore, those twenty cubits, which were sanctified with the sanctity of the Temple Court, were validated for the slaughter of Lesser Holy Things and the consumption of Lesser Holy Things (for although in the conclusion in Zevachim page 56 it is stated that consumption does not require the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, nevertheless, since he explained in section 43, chapter 13, that in these chambers they consumed Most Holy Things, similarly they slaughtered there Lesser Holy Things, as they were equal in this regard, and therefore their openings were aligned one opposite the other up to the opening that entered the porch). Therefore, he preceded the counting of the chambers, meaning that the opening of the chambers to the inner court was aligned opposite the opening of the side chamber to the *monach*. And this was both on the north side and on the south side, for also on the south side there were the twenty chambers (as stated in section 43, verses 12-13). "And the width of the place of the *monach* was five cubits." Meaning, the width of the cavity of the outer cell was five cubits. For he already said (in verse 5) that the width of the cavity of the inner side chamber was four cubits, and he still had not explained the width of the cavity of the outer side chamber, which is the place of the *monach* (meaning that it was added and placed upon the House, for the inner side chamber belonged to the House itself, as on the western side it was within the cavity of the wall itself, but the outer side chamber was placed and attached to the House, and therefore this cavity is called the place of the *monach*. And also since the wall between the side chambers is called by the name *monach* (as stated above, verse 9), the cavity next to it is also called by the name place of the *monach*). And now the width of the cells and their walls is explained explicitly, that the walls of the cells were each five cubits, and the cavity of the inner cell was explained (in verse 5) that it was four cubits, and the outer cavity, which is the place of the *monach*, was five cubits.
And the building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.
verse value 5138
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 79 letters. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁר֩, 3 letters) and the longest is "five·cubits" (חָמֵשׁ־אַמּ֥וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 210: breadth, breadth. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·structure" (וְהַבִּנְיָ֡ן), "way·of·the·sea" (דֶּֽרֶךְ־הַיָּ֗ם), "seventy" (שִׁבְעִ֣ים). The root בנין appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root גזרה ("a cutting") in Ezekiel. First appearance of the root פאה ("side·of") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 3 words.
Rashi
“And the building which was toward the front of the Gizrah, etc.” The width of the entire building toward the western direction—the width of the house and the thickness of the northern and southern walls, together with the northern and southern cells and the thickness of their walls to the north and to the south—was seventy cubits wide. And so it was in the Second Temple. And so we learned in the tractate Middot: “In the western wall, from north to south, seventy cubits,” and the calculation tallies.
The Gizrah. The Targum translates it as “bztora” (a structure), and I say that the high building is called so, and the low chambers surrounding it he calls “building.” Menachem interprets “gizra” as meaning a chamber.
“Corner of the path of the sea.” A western wind:
The width is seventy cubits. The width of the structure from north to south is seventy cubits, and here is the calculation: the northern chamber is four, and its walls are ten, making fourteen; and five for the empty space between the chamber and the House, making nineteen. The width of the foundation of the walls was absorbed into the interior of the chamber and the empty space, and the wall of the Temple is six, making twenty-five; and its interior width is twenty, making forty-five; and the southern wall of the Temple is six, making fifty-one; and the nineteen of the southern chambers, totaling seventy.
“And the wall of the building” – the walls of the cells.
And its length was ninety cubits. The length of the structure of the chambers, and that which lay to the north and south, was ninety cubits, excluding the Chamber of Changes, which is not counted among them, because it projected outward to the north and to the south, and was not equal to the rest of the building; for the house was wider in front by thirty cubits more than in the rear, as we learned: “The porch exceeded the Temple by fifteen cubits to the north and fifteen cubits to the south.” And it was called the Chamber of Changes, because there they stored the knives. And the length of that structure from east to west was ten cubits. There remained ninety cubits of length in a width of seventy [cubits], for the entire house was a hundred cubits long from one side to the other, as is explained in the matter and in the Mishnah of Middot.
Radak
And the structure which was in front of the *gizrah* [partition/section], on the side of the way of the sea [i.e., the west], was seventy cubits wide. Is it possible that he said this regarding the measurements of the upper chambers which were above the House, and he measured their width along the west as seventy cubits, and the walls were included in the count, and he said that the width of each wall was five cubits? And this is what he said, “And the wall of the structure was five cubits.” And on the side of the east their width was one hundred cubits, as he said. And he called the upper chamber a *gizrah* [partition/section] because it was as if it had been cut off from the House above. And so did Jonathan translate: *gizrah* as *bizruta*, which is a matter of height, like “great and *bizrot* [strongholds/heights] in the heavens.” Or we may explain it regarding the House itself, as Rabbenu Shlomo [Rashi] of blessed memory explained, and it would be arranged according to what was in the Second Temple, as we learned in the Mishnah of Middot. And he said that the structure which was in front of the *gizrah*—meaning the *gizrah*, which is the Heichal (Sanctuary), together with the structure which was to the north and to the south—its width along the west was seventy cubits, and from the east one hundred cubits, because there were thirty cubits extra, for the Ulam [porch] extended beyond the Sanctuary fifteen cubits on this side and fifteen cubits on that side, which were the Chamber of the Knives. And so we learned there: “From north to south: seventy cubits. The wall of the winding ramp five, and the winding ramp three, the wall of the inner chamber five, the inner chamber six, the wall of the Holy Place six, and its interior twenty cubits, the inner chamber six, the wall of the inner chamber five, the Chamber of the Water Drain three cubits, and the wall five. And the Ulam extended beyond it fifteen cubits on the north and fifteen cubits on the south, and it was called the Chamber of the Knives, where the knives were stored. The Sanctuary was narrow behind and wide in front, resembling a lion, as it is said, ‘Woe, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! For as the lion is narrow behind and wide in front, so the Sanctuary was narrow behind and wide in front.’ This is the Mishnah taught there. And what he said that the Ulam extended beyond the Sanctuary fifteen cubits on this side and fifteen cubits on that side—this does not mean that the interior space of the Ulam was wider than the interior space of the Sanctuary, but rather that the Chamber of the Knives was attached to the Ulam on this side and on that side.”
And its length was ninety cubits. The length of the wall up to the Chamber of the Changes.
Metzudat David
And the structure: The annexes and the wings that stood before the Temple, on this side and on that side, to the north and to the south.
“Corner of the way of the sea.” This means that the width of the house, together with the annexes and the wings on this side and on that side, was seventy cubits at the western corner. And here is the calculation: the width of the house is twenty, and the two walls are twelve; a wing on this side and a wing on that side, each is four; their walls are twelve at the place of the foundations; an annex on this side and an annex on that side, each is three; beyond the foundation of the wall of the wing, their walls are twelve at the place of the foundations. This makes seventy cubits. And it will be clarified further in the commentary on the construction of the house in the last chapter.
"And the wall of the building." The thickness of the side walls and the annex walls.
“Round about, round about.” This means that there is a single measurement for all the walls of the annexes and the wings that are around, namely, the walls that face outward, from one wing to the next.
And its length. The length of the House, from the foundation of the western side wall to the Chamber of the Exchange, was 90 cubits. Here is the calculation for you: the side wall at the place of the foundation is 7 cubits; the side [wall] is 4 cubits; the wall of the Holy of Holies is 6 cubits; the interior space of the Holy of Holies is 20 cubits; the partition separating the Sanctuary from the House of the Assembly is [included]; the interior space of the Sanctuary is 40 cubits; the wall of the Sanctuary is 6 cubits; and from there to the wall of the Chamber of the Exchange is 6 cubits. This makes 90 cubits. See the commentary on the Construction of the House in the final section.
Metzudat Zion
And the structure is a general term for the sides and the surrounding parts.
“Toward the face of.” “Before”:
The decree. Targum Jonathan renders it as “b’tzuratā” (in its form), and regarding the house it states that it is high, elevated above the side walls and the surrounding structures, for “tzar” denotes the concept of height, as it is written, “Great and fortified in the heavens” (Deuteronomy 1:28), for a high structure is a fortress and a stronghold.
Pe'ah. A corner and a side:
Malbim
And the structure which is before the main building, etc., and the wall of the structure. Here three names appear: the main building (Gzerah), the structure (Binyan), and the wall of the structure. And so it says in the subsequent verse: “the main building and the structures and their walls.” There, the term Gzerah is specific to the Ulam, the Heichal, and the Kodesh Kodashim together with their surrounding walls. Their width from north to south was thirty-two cubits (twenty for the width of the chamber and twelve for the two walls), and their length from west to east was ninety cubits (from the beginning of the western wall of the Kodesh Kodashim to the end of the eastern wall of the Ulam, as will be explained). It is called by the name Gzerah because it was cut off and separated on its own within the Kodesh. And it was very high, unlike the chambers surrounding it, which were only fifteen cubits high.
The Binyan, or the structures, refers to the chambers that were attached to the Gzerah on the north and south. They were nineteen cubits on each side (the two walls of the chambers were ten cubits, the outer chamber five cubits, and the inner chamber four cubits, as stated above in the previous verse, totaling nineteen). After that was the wall of the inner courtyard, which was ten cubits distant from the chambers, and its width was five cubits. These are called the walls of the structure, as it says: “and the wall of the structure was five cubits.” This means the wall of the inner courtyard that surrounded the structure of the chambers.
Now, the chambers extended from the beginning of the eastern wall of the Ulam to the end of the western wall of the Kodesh Kodashim, which is ninety cubits. Opposite the western wall of the Kodesh Kodashim was one chamber extending opposite the wall alone, which is a length of thirty-two cubits, and its width was ten cubits (that is, five cubits for the width of the wall and five cubits for the width of its chamber), and the length of its chamber was twenty-two (because ten cubits were taken up by the thickness of the wall on this side and that side). And there remained on the western side nineteen cubits on this side and nineteen cubits on that side, lacking the structure of the chambers.
Outside of the aforementioned Gzerah and Binyan, the wall of the inner courtyard surrounded the Ulam, the Heichal, and the Kodesh Kodashim. It was a square of one hundred by one hundred on every side, including the thickness of the walls. It was in this manner: on the eastern side it extended along the wall of the Ulam with a width of one hundred cubits, and on the western side it joined the wall of the chamber that was behind the Kodesh Kodashim. And all of this is called by the name “wall of the structure,” as stated above.
Based on this, we come to the explanation. Now, he measured here six measurements. (Measurement 1) The structure which is before the Gzerah on the western side, opposite the western wall of the Kodesh Kodashim. It was seventy cubits wide, because the Gzerah, which is the width of the house and its walls, is thirty-two cubits, and the chambers (which extended to the end of the thickness of the western wall) were nineteen cubits on this side and nineteen cubits on that side, totaling seventy cubits. And the wall of the structure is the wall of the inner courtyard (which surrounded the entire structure, one hundred cubits square around, as stated above). Its width was five cubits, and it was all around on all four sides (Measurement 2). And its length was ninety cubits, the length of the structure before the Gzerah from east to west, ninety cubits, because the chambers extended from the beginning of the wall of the Ulam to the end of the western wall, which is ninety cubits (because the western wall of the Kodesh Kodashim is six, its chamber twenty, the wall between the Kodesh Kodashim and the Heichal two, the chamber of the Heichal forty, the wall of the Heichal six, the chamber of the Ulam eleven, and its wall five, totaling ninety).
And he measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, a hundred cubits long;
verse value 2539
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "length" (אֹ֖רֶךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·her·walls" (וְקִ֣ירוֹתֶ֔יהָ, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 221: length, length. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·structure" (וְהַבִּנְיָה֙), "and·her·walls" (וְקִ֣ירוֹתֶ֔יהָ). The root ארך appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel); "length" (root ארך, 44x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: וּמָדַ֣ד [and·will·measure] (54) + אֶת־הַבַּ֔יִת [the·house] (818) + אֹ֖רֶךְ [length] (221) + מֵאָ֣ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּ֑ה [cubits] (46) + וְהַגִּזְרָ֤ה [and·a cutting] (226) + וְהַבִּנְיָה֙ [and·structure] (78) + וְקִ֣ירוֹתֶ֔יהָ [and·her·walls] (737) + אֹ֖רֶךְ [length] (221) + מֵאָ֥ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּֽה [cubits] (46) = 2539.
Rashi
And he measured the house, a length of a hundred cubits. In total, including the length of the House of the Changes. And so we learned in the tractate Middot: The Temple was 100 by 100, with a height of 100. From east to west: 100. The wall of the Ulam [porch] was five [cubits thick], and its width was eleven. The wall of the Temple was six [cubits thick], and its length was forty. One cubit was for the Terakkin [the space between the outer and inner walls], and twenty cubits were for the Holy of Holies. The wall [of the Holy of Holies] was six [cubits thick], and the cell was six [cubits wide], and the wall of the cell was five [cubits thick]. And even above, the matter is described in this manner regarding the measurements of all of them, except for the cubit of the Terakkin, which is written in this matter as two cubits. And corresponding to this, he reduces the width of the cell by one cubit. For the cell in the Mishnah has a width of six and its wall is five, whereas here its width is four and its wall is six, as it is said: “And the foundations of the sides were full [of the reed],” and above it narrows and constricts by one cubit, as it is said: “And the wall of the side was five cubits.”
"And the Gizrah, and the building, and its walls." The end of the verse explains its beginning, to say that the total is one hundred cubits.
Radak
“And he measured the house, its length a hundred cubits, and the gizrah and the building.” According to our interpretation, he measured the house by itself, and the gizrah by itself. And according to the interpretation of Rabbi Shlomo, of blessed memory, what is stated “and he measured the house” means that he measured the gizrah together with the building and its walls, [and the total] length [was] a hundred cubits.
The building. A noun on the pattern of “simlah” (a garment); and so we learned in the tractate Middot: The Temple was one hundred cubits by one hundred cubits, with a height of one hundred cubits. The solid base (otem) was six cubits, and its height forty cubits; a cubit of molding, two cubits of the drip-chamber (beit dilfa), a cubit of ceiling, and a cubit of plaster; the height of the upper story forty cubits; three cubits of parapet, and a cubit of the raven-guard (kalah orev). Rabbi Yehudah says: the raven-guard was not part of the measure; rather, the parapet was four cubits. From east to west, it was one hundred cubits: the wall of the porch was five cubits, the porch itself was eleven cubits, the wall of the Temple was six cubits, and its interior was forty cubits. one cubit for the traksin [partition], twenty cubits for the Holy of Holies: the wall of the Temple was six cubits, and the wall of the chamber was five cubits.
Metzudat David
"And he measured." Now, he measured until he completed the Chamber of the Exchange and the Hall, and it was a hundred cubits. For the western wall of the Chamber of the Exchange, together with the space, was five cubits, and the eastern wall was five cubits, according to the measurement of the wall of the Hall; thus, it makes a hundred. See the commentary on the construction of the house.
"And the section, etc." Here, the beginning of the verse is explained to mean that "the section" refers to the House and the Ulam, and "the building" refers to the western side and the wall; between all of them was a length of one hundred cubits.
Metzudat Zion
And the building. It is the rib:
And its walls. [These are] walls:
Malbim
And he measured the house (the third measurement): after having measured the length of the structure upon the front, namely the length of the chambers on the two sides of the house, which were only ninety cubits, he measured the length of the house itself from east to west, and it was one hundred cubits. For opposite the house itself, ten cubits extended beyond the western wall, which is the chamber whose length was thirty-two cubits across the width of the house including its walls, and its width was ten cubits (five cubits for the wall and five cubits for the interior space, as stated above). (The fourth measurement): And the front, since initially he had measured only the width of the front and the structure, which was only seventy cubits, now he measured the front and the structure, which are the chambers, together with their walls, and the two walls of the inner courtyard, which were ten cubits distant from the chambers, and five cubits for the width of the wall; thus fifteen cubits on this side and fifteen cubits on that side, added to the seventy cubits, and they were one hundred cubits. And this measurement he measured on the western side from north to south, and therefore he called it "length," since this measurement could only be measured in the area from opposite the wall of the Holy of Holies to the east, not in the area from the western wall to the west, for there the chambers were not on the north and south sides. And thus this measurement amounted to only ninety cubits. Consequently, the measurement from north to south, which amounted to one hundred, is called "length" in contrast to the area from east to west, which is only ninety, in which is the structure of the chambers, and that is the width.
also the breadth of the face of the house and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits.
verse value 1275
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 28 letters. The shortest word is "face" (פְּנֵ֨י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·a cutting" (וְהַגִּזְרָ֛ה, 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): "to·the·east" (לַקָּדִ֖ים). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "face" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). Full calculation: וְרֹ֩חַב֩ [and·breadth·of] (216) + פְּנֵ֨י [face] (140) + הַבַּ֧יִת [the·house] (417) + וְהַגִּזְרָ֛ה [and·a cutting] (226) + לַקָּדִ֖ים [to·the·east] (184) + מֵאָ֥ה [hundred] (46) + אַמָּֽה [cubits] (46) = 1275.
Rashi
And the width of the front of the House and the Ghezera facing east is one hundred cubits. The Ghezera and the chamber behind it, which is built like a building, and the thickness of the walls—all of this amounts to one hundred cubits, as I explained above: that the House extends beyond its front by a width of thirty cubits, in that the Ulam (porch) widens from the Heichal (Holy Place) and from the chambers, fifteen cubits to the north and fifteen cubits to the south. And it is not that the void of the Ulam is wider than the void of the Heichal, but rather that the Beit HaChalifot (chamber of exchange) is attached to the Ulam on this side and on that side.
Radak
“And the breadth of the face of the house and the gizrah.” According to our explanation, this is correct, for the “house” is the Heichal (Holy Place), and the “gizrah” is the upper chamber. But according to the explanation of Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki, of blessed memory, the “house” is the gizrah. If so, what does it mean when it says “the house and the gizrah”? The matter is explained above.
Metzudat David
"And the breadth of the front of the house." This means the width of the chambers that are in front of the house, together with the building of the Ulam, which is the hall of the house standing between the chambers on this side and on that side. On the eastern flank it was one hundred cubits, for the chamber extended fifteen cubits beyond the foundation of the walls of the annex on this side and on that side.
Malbim
And “width” (the fifth measurement): Now he intends to measure in such a way that he will find a count of one hundred cubits both from east to west, even when he draws the measuring line along the sides of the house opposite the chambers. Initially, he had measured only ninety cubits. He first measured the width of the front of the house; the “front” is the eastern side (and the west is called the “rear”). He measured from south to north along the eastern side, from the wall of the inner courtyard at the southern end to the opposite wall at the northern end. (And he now calls this “width,” since now he will also find one hundred cubits from east to west, as stated in the subsequent verse; thus, from south to north is the width, corresponding to from east to west.) And he informed us that there were also chambers on the sides of the porch, and there the count was one hundred cubits.
And he measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at the back thereof, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, a hundred cubits. Now the temple, and the inner place, and the porches of the court,
verse value 3681
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 82 letters. The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁ֨ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "length·of·the·structure" (אֹֽרֶךְ־הַ֠בִּנְיָ֠ן, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 46: hundred, cubits. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "length·of·the·structure" (אֹֽרֶךְ־הַ֠בִּנְיָ֠ן), "at·its·back" (עַל־אַחֲרֶ֧יהָ), "gallery" ((ואתוקיהא)). The root פה appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "cubits" (root אמה, 85x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root אתוק ("and·its·galleries") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'cubits', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 4 words.
Rashi
And he measured the length of the building toward the face of the section that is behind it. Now he returns and measures the length of the house to the south, just as he measured to the north. I found: this refers to “and behind it,” "and behind it," meaning that it is behind, i.e., he returned and measured from its heel toward the west.
“U’tikya.” The Targum [renders it as] “corners,” meaning together with the extent of the interchange space located in the corners of the house.
"And the inner sanctuary and the chambers of the courtyard." The end of this verse is not connected to its beginning, but rather is linked to the verse that follows it, and so is its interpretation: "And the inner sanctuary," which is the Holy of Holies, and likewise "the chambers of the courtyard" which are expounded above, and the chambers all around, surrounding all these thresholds and the sealed windows and the *atikim* around all three—whether the sanctuary, or the chambers, or the Holy of Holies—for all three had thresholds and doorposts for their doorways, and for all three there were sealed windows, and for all three there were *atikim*. And I do not know what they are, but I say that they are like square pillars protruding from the wall for reinforcement, and they are called "pilasters" in the vernacular.
Radak
And he measured the length of the building facing the structure that was behind it, and its length was one hundred cubits, and its length, from here and from there, was one hundred cubits. Just as he measured the length of the house and the length of the structure, so too he measured the length of the building that was in front of the structure to the east, and that which was behind it to the west.
And its length was from one end to the other. To the north and to the south were the chambers and the side rooms that were in it, and their length was a hundred cubits.
“V’etukiyah.” It is written with a vav after the tav, and read with a yod; the letters aleph-he-vav-yod are interchangeable. The aleph is written as a continuation after the he. “V’etukiyah” is a comprehensive term encompassing both the chambers and the apartments; for each individual one, it is called “etuk.” And Jonathan rendered it as “v’zuytah.”
“Mipo” (from here). Both are written with a vav:
"And the inner sanctuary and the porticoes of the courtyard." Its accent extends until "the measurements" at the end of the third verse, meaning that even though the measurements of the length and width of the House are stated in general terms, the inner sanctuary, which is the Holy of Holies, and likewise the porticoes of the sanctuary, and likewise all that is enumerated for each of them, had their own distinct, known measurements.
Metzudat David
And he measured the length of the building. Now he measured the length of the sides in front of the house on the southern side:
"Which is behind it." This means that he turned on his heel to walk backward toward the west, for initially he measured the western side, and thereafter he walked from west to east to measure the northern side, and thereafter he measured the eastern side, and now he returned to walk backward toward the west and measured the southern side.
And its corridors, from here and from here. This means that he measured the sides together with the width of the chamber of exchange standing at the corners on this side and on that side, and between them—namely, the sides and the chamber of exchange—were one hundred cubits.
"And the Temple, etc." – This is connected to the subsequent verse to teach that the construction of the Temple, as well as the construction of the inner part, is the House of the Holy of Holies, and likewise the porticoes of the inner courtyard, as it is stated, "And the porticoes all around" (above, 40). For all of these were the thresholds, etc.
Metzudat Zion
“V’atikyeha.” The Targum: “its corners.” And concerning the “House of Exchange” it is said that they stood at the corners of the house, on this side and on that side, leaning against the structure of the porch.
Malbim
And he measured, (the sixth measurement) now he stretched the measuring line from east to west and measured the length of the building, which is the chambers, namely the chambers called the building as mentioned above. Initially, he found there only a measurement of ninety cubits, because he measured only until the end of the chambers. But now he also measured that which was behind them, and the Targum translates it: “from there and from there,” for it will be explained (in section 43) the meaning of the word “ateq,” which is a structure built at height upon pillars, or where beams are placed on the roofs of two buildings standing opposite each other, with beams laid from one to the other, and upon them a structure is built at height. It is clarified here that on the western side there were found ateqim, meaning that after there was an empty space from the chamber that stood behind the western wall up to the wall of the inner courtyard—there being a gap of twenty-nine cubits between them, because the northern and southern chambers were missing there, as mentioned above—they stretched beams from the roof of the chamber behind the Holy of Holies to the wall of the inner courtyard opposite it, or from the western wall of the inner courtyard to the roofs of the northern and southern chambers, and they built upon them at height a structure called an ateq. Thus, the building was filled in at the top, whereas it was empty below. With this in view, he stretched the measuring line from the eastern wall through the building, which are the chambers extending from east to west, until that which was behind them, that which is behind the chambers on the western side, where the building, which is the chambers, ended. But there were found ateqim from here and from there, meaning the ateqim on the northern side and on the southern side. And thus, there too the count was one hundred cubits along the entire stretch from east to west, for opposite the building, which are the chambers, were the one hundred cubits together with the ateqim that extended to the end of the one hundred cubits. And opposite the Temple itself was the inner Temple and the porticoes of the courtyard, meaning the Holy of Holies together with its portico, namely the chamber behind the wall of the Holy of Holies, which was ten cubits, and it too was one hundred cubits with it. And with this calculation, he found one hundred cubits on every side.
the jambs, and the narrow windows, and the galleries, that they three had round about, over against the jambs there was a veneering of wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows; and the windows were covered;
verse value 5377
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 83 letters. The shortest word is "tree" (עֵ֖ץ, 2 letters) and the longest is "up·to·the·windows" (עַד־הַֽחַלּוֹנ֔וֹת, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around, around. 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "the·thresholds" (הַסִּפִּ֡ים), "window" (וְהַחַלּוֹנִ֣ים), "the·closed" (הָ֠אֲטֻמ֠וֹת). The root חלון appears 3 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·the·land" (root ארץ, 176x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel); "tree" (root עץ, 25x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'around', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 4 words.
Rashi
“Opposite the threshold, which was covered with wood.” The Targum: “A plank of cedar.”
"Opposite the threshold, opposite the doorposts, within the hollow of the thickness of the doorway, he covered it with wood." (variant reading) I found:
"Saviv saviv." That is to say, from this side and from that side, on both sides of the opening's void.
“And the earth up to the windows.” From the base of the wall, a wall of cedar planks was constructed opposite it, rising upward to the windows, and even the windows were covered with it. I found that the windows were also sealed from within, as it is stated here: “And windows tightly closed to the house” (here; variant reading). And all of this was on the inside, because plaster was applied over it, covered with gold, for the entire house was plastered with gold, and one cannot apply gold plaster over stones.
Radak
The side-posts, the sealed ones. We have explained it:
And the galleries stood around the three of them. For the three directions, the galleries were [positioned to the] west, north, and south, as we explained above.
“Opposite the threshold, which is covered with wood all around.” Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated: “Opposite the threshold, which is covered with cedar planks.” And “planks” means boards, as it says in the Mishnah: “One may make a roof-covering with boards.”
"And the earth up to the windows." This means from the earth up to the windows.
"And the windows were covered." They were covered from above:
Metzudat David
“Around all three of them.” For all three structures mentioned in the preceding verse, there were doorposts, sealed windows, and recesses. That is to say, all of them had one and the same appearance and form. (The recesses of the Temple and the House of the Sanctuary were located in the spaces between the beams, and the windows were situated at a height above the beams.)
“Opposite the threshold.” The mezuzah was covered with a cedar wood panel, so that it would be easy to plate it with gold, for it is difficult to plate stone with gold.
“Round and round.” In all the surroundings of the mezuzah:
“And the earth.” Similarly, from the floor of the house up to the windows, and also above the windows, were covered with cedar boards.
Metzudat Zion
The side-posts. The doorposts of the entrances:
The sealed ones: those sealed off by a clear and pure partition.
And the *atikin*: They are like square pillars protruding from the outside of the wall, broad at the bottom and tapering as they ascend, constructed for strength; and so too, "an *ateq* opposite an *ateq*" (below, 42).
Shachaf. It refers to a plank, and so too the Targum translates it as “cedar planks.”
Malbim
The "sephim" [thresholds]: behold, upon the structure of stones, they covered with wooden planks all around on the inside, in order to plate it with gold, for it is not possible to plate gold upon stones, as was indeed the case in Solomon’s Temple: first he built a structure of stones, and afterwards he built upon the stones a lining of wooden boards all around on the inside, and afterwards he plated gold upon the wood. And in the vision shown to Ezekiel, He did not yet show him the plating of the gold, but only showed him the plating of the wood upon the stones, which is the preparation for the plating of the gold; as if he saw that the House stood built of stones, and covered with wood, and it was not yet completed in its entirety, for they had not yet plated it with gold, because they were still engaged in its construction. And behold, upon the walls they covered with broad boards and planks of wood; but near the thresholds, and likewise near the closed windows, and likewise near the recesses, it was not possible to cover with broad planks, for there the construction enters and exits [in shapes that are] square, round, and triangular. And likewise the recesses, which are built upon round stone columns (as their matter will be explained in Chapter 43), it is not possible to cover them with planks. See that around these three [items]—namely, opposite their thresholds—they covered with wood, namely, thin pieces of wood like twigs and branches, adhered together, according to the measure of the windows, where the construction enters and exits and is not uniform. But from the ground up to the windows, meaning up to the height of the windows, and the windows, meaning between window and window, were covered with broad wood. For the wood covering did not cover all the stones; rather, it was split into twigs in the places where they wished to plate with gold, and between them the stones were visible.
to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and without, and on all the wall round about within and without, by measure.
verse value 2929
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 61 letters. The shortest word is "opening" (הַפֶּ֡תַח, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·to·all·the·wall" (וְאֶל־כׇּל־הַקִּ֨יר, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 74: around, around. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·above" (עַל־מֵעַ֣ל), "and·unto·the·house" (וְעַד־הַבַּ֩יִת֩), "and·to·the·outside" (וְלַח֜וּץ). The root פנימי appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·above" (root על, 272x in Ezekiel); "and·unto·the·house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "around" (root סביב, 112x in Ezekiel). Full calculation: עַל־מֵעַ֣ל [to·above] (240) + הַפֶּ֡תַח [opening] (493) + וְעַד־הַבַּ֩יִת֩ [and·unto·the·house] (497) + הַפְּנִימִ֨י [inner] (195) + וְלַח֜וּץ [and·to·the·outside] (140) + וְאֶל־כׇּל־הַקִּ֨יר [and·to·all·the·wall] (402) + סָבִ֧יב [around] (74) + סָבִ֛יב [around] (74) + בַּפְּנִימִ֥י [in·the·inner] (192) + וּבַחִיצ֖וֹן [and·in·the·outer] (172) + מִדּֽוֹת [stature] (450) = 2929.
Rashi
"On the lintel of the door." In terms of height:
"And until the inner chamber." The entire chamber is the Holy of Holies, up to its entirety.
And outside. To the side of the Temple:
"Saviv saviv. In all its walls:"
"In the inner and the outer." In the Holy of Holies and in the Sanctuary.
Measures. It was covered with large planks, made according to a measure:
Radak
“Upon the lintel of the door.” This refers to that which was placed above the door.
“And to the inner chamber, and outward.” That is to say: outward from it.
“And to all the wall all around, all around, on the inside.” In the inner chamber, which is the Holy of Holies, and the outer chamber, which is the Sanctuary.
Middot. For each one individually among the matters mentioned, there are known measurements, yet he did not mention them all in detail, but only some of them.
Metzudat David
“On the lintel of the doorway.” This means on the wall that is above the doorway and extends to the inner chamber; this area is the Holy of Holies, while the area outside it is the Holy Place. Throughout the entire wall, whether in the inner part, which is the Holy of Holies, or in the outer part, which is the Holy Place, everything was covered with wooden boards, all made to the same measure, each like the other. The matter is stated in a doubled manner to indicate that there was no empty space without cedar boards, for the entire house was overlaid with gold, and thus there was a need for the boards.
Malbim
“Upon the area above the entrance” – that is to say, they also covered broad wooden boards upon the wall above the door, extending up to the ceiling. This covered both the inner sanctuary and the outer court – that is to say, in the inner sanctuary and in the outer court, it was covered with wood so that it would be prepared for gilding there with gold. And all the rest of the wall – he saw that throughout the entire wall, both in the inner sanctuary and in the outer court, there were measurements – that is to say, he saw that upon the wooden boards covering the walls, measurements and dimensions were inscribed. The builder had measured there and marked out, according to the measure, the openings that he was destined to make there in gold: triangles, squares, circles, and other flat shapes that he had prepared by measurement on the wood, in various dimensions according to the art of design.
And it was made with cherubim and palm-trees; and a palm-tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;
verse value 3409
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "face" (פָּנִ֖ים, 4 letters) and the longest is "between·cherub" (בֵּין־כְּר֣וּב, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 258: to·cherub, to·the·cherub. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·made" (וְעָשׂ֥וּי), "palm·tree·figure" (וְתִֽמֹרָה֙), "between·cherub" (בֵּין־כְּר֣וּב). The root כרוב appears 4 times in this verse. 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·made" (root עשה, 214x in Ezekiel); "face" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "and·two" (root שנים, 37x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'palm·tree·figure', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְעָשׂ֥וּי [and·made] (392) + כְּרוּבִ֖ים [cherubim] (278) + וְתִמֹרִ֑ים [palm·tree·figure] (696) + וְתִֽמֹרָה֙ [palm·tree·figure] (651) + בֵּין־כְּר֣וּב [between·cherub] (290) + לִכְר֔וּב [to·cherub] (258) + וּשְׁנַ֥יִם [and·two] (406) + פָּנִ֖ים [face] (180) + לַכְּרֽוּב [to·the·cherub] (258) = 3409.
Rashi
And cherubim and palm trees were made. And that cedar was engraved with cherubim and date palms:
And there were two faces on each cherub: one face like that of a lion, and one face like that of a man. One face was turned this way, and the other face was turned that way. When the palm tree was between one cherub and the next, the lion’s face was facing one way, and the human face was facing the other way, as stated in the matter.
Radak
“And cherubim and palm trees were made.” The wall was adorned with paintings of cherubim and palm trees, as it had been in Solomon’s construction. And “palm trees” – we have already explained that this refers to the form of date palms.
And the cherubim had two faces each, as it is written: “the face of a man and the face of a lion.”
Metzudat David
"And made cherubim." Upon those tablets was engraved the form of cherubim and palm trees, and the gold overlay was raised in the places of the protrusions of the figures and sunken in the places of their depressions, and thus the figures appeared on the gold overlay.
"And a palm tree between cherub and cherub." A cherub was engraved on this side and a cherub on that side, and between them was a palm tree:
And the cherubim had two faces. Each cherub had two faces: one was the face of a man, and the other was the face of a lion cub, which is a young lion. And because the form of their bodies was like that of a man, they were called "cherubim," even though they also had the face of a lion cub.
Metzudat Zion
The cherubim. The face of a child, for the Targumic translation of "child" is "rabya."
And date-palms. The form of a date-palm tree:
Malbim
And it was made; also, behold, it was made on the wood, projecting as cherubim and palm trees, upon which plates of gold were hammered, as it is stated (1 Kings 6:32): “And he overlaid the cherubim and the palm trees with gold.” And a palm tree was arranged between two cherubim. And each cherub had two faces: the face of a man and the face of a lion. Each cherub had the face of a man on one side and the face of a lion on the other side. And the faces were turned toward the palm tree, so that the face of the man and the face of the lion that were in the chariot were to the right; for all four of them, their faces were each toward his brother. And they were carved into the wall opposite the palm tree, which alludes to the center. And this was made throughout the entire house. And it is explained that [this description] is from the ground, meaning that the cherubim and the palm trees were already made and completed from the ground up to above the doorway. For he saw it as if they were still engaged in the work and not yet finished with all the carvings that were destined to be made. For regarding the other carvings, he saw only their measurements (as stated in verse 17), that they measured their area and quantity, and they had not yet been made. Only the cherubim and the palm trees had already been made. And even they were not completed throughout the entire height of the house, but only up to above the doorway. For above the doorway, there were measurements (as stated in verse 17), meaning above the surface of the doorway; that is, up to the ceiling they were not yet made. And they were already made on the wall of the sanctuary, for in the sanctuary the cherubim were already completed throughout the entire wall.
so that there was the face of a man toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm-tree on the other side; thus was it made through all the house round about.
verse value 3293
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 55 letters. The shortest word is "man" (אָדָ֤ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·face·of·young·lion" (וּפְנֵי־כְפִ֥יר, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 681: toward·the·palm-tree, toward·the·palm-tree. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·face·of·young·lion" (וּפְנֵי־כְפִ֥יר), "to·all·the·house" (אֶל־כׇּל־הַבַּ֖יִת). The root איל appears 3 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "toward·the·palm-tree" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "made" (root עשה, 214x in Ezekiel); "and·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·here', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words. Full calculation: וּפְנֵ֨י [and·face·of] (146) + אָדָ֤ם [man] (45) + אֶל־הַתִּֽמֹרָה֙ [toward·the·palm-tree] (681) + מִפּ֔וֹ [from·here] (126) + וּפְנֵי־כְפִ֥יר [and·face·of·young·lion] (456) + אֶל־הַתִּמֹרָ֖ה [toward·the·palm-tree] (681) + מִפּ֑וֹ [from·here] (126) + עָשׂ֥וּי [made] (386) + אֶל־כׇּל־הַבַּ֖יִת [to·all·the·house] (498) + סָבִ֥יב [around] (74) + סָבִֽיב [around] (74) = 3293.
Rashi
It is made for the entire House. "For the House of the Holy of Holies":
Radak
“And the face of a man toward the palm tree, and the face of a lion toward the palm tree.” The cherub was turned toward two sides: the face of a man on this side and the face of a lion on that side. And the palm tree that was between the cherub and the cherub, the face of a man from the cherub on one side and the face of a lion from the cherub on the other side were turned toward it.
Both are written with a vav:
Metzudat David
"And the face of a man." The cherub on this side turned the face of the man toward the palm tree, and the cherub on this side turned the face of the lion toward the palm tree on this side, and the face of the man was turned toward the palm tree on this side; and so it would revolve and go on.
It was made. In this image, it was made all around the house:
From the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm-trees made; and so on the wall of the temple.
verse value 2839
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "opening" (הַפֶּ֔תַח, 4 letters) and the longest is "the·cherubim" (הַכְּרוּבִ֥ים, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·above" (עַד־מֵעַ֣ל), "palm·tree·figure" (וְהַתִּמֹרִ֖ים). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "done" (root עשה, 214x in Ezekiel); "from·the·land" (root ארץ, 176x in Ezekiel); "opening" (root פתח, 39x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'done', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: מֵהָאָ֙רֶץ֙ [from·the·land] (336) + עַד־מֵעַ֣ל [to·above] (214) + הַפֶּ֔תַח [opening] (493) + הַכְּרוּבִ֥ים [the·cherubim] (283) + וְהַתִּמֹרִ֖ים [palm·tree·figure] (701) + עֲשׂוּיִ֑ם [done] (426) + וְקִ֖יר [and·wall·of] (316) + הַׄהֵׄיׄכָֽׄלׄ [palace] (70) = 2839.
Rashi
And the wall of the Temple. And similarly, to the wall of the Temple:
Radak
From the ground. These paintings were on the walls from the ground up, and what is stated “up to above the door” refers to the eastern wall, which contained the door; and in the door itself there were no paintings on the doorposts or the lintel, and it is stated that they were above the door.
"And the wall of the Temple." And similarly, "to the wall of the Temple." And I am astonished: why did he mention this? For he already said, "It was made all around the entire house." Perhaps what he mentioned by "the house" refers to the House of the Holy of Holies, and afterwards he said, "and the wall of the Temple." But since he said "the entire house," everything is included in the general term, and there was no need to specify a particular detail.
The Temple. It is dotted, perhaps for this reason, and it is one of the fifteen dotted words in the Bible:
Metzudat David
From the ground. From the floor of the house up to the wall above the door, the forms of the cherubim and the palm trees were made.
And the wall of the Temple. And so it was with every wall of the Temple; the matter is repeated to teach that there was no empty space devoid of engravings.
As for the temple, the jambs were squared; and the face of the sanctuary had an appearance such as is the appearance.
verse value 1879
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 32 letters. The shortest word is "squared" (רְבֻעָ֑ה, 4 letters) and the longest is "palace" (הַהֵיכָ֖ל, 5 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "doorpost" (מְזוּזַ֣ת), "squared" (רְבֻעָ֑ה). The root מראה appears 2 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·face·of" (root פנים, 150x in Ezekiel); "apartness" (root קדש, 70x in Ezekiel); "sight" (root מראה, 40x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root מזוזה ("doorpost") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'squared', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 4 words. Full calculation: הַהֵיכָ֖ל [palace] (70) + מְזוּזַ֣ת [doorpost] (460) + רְבֻעָ֑ה [squared] (277) + וּפְנֵ֣י [and·face·of] (146) + הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ [apartness] (409) + הַמַּרְאֶ֖ה [sight] (251) + כַּמַּרְאֶֽה [as·the·vision] (266) = 1879.
Rashi
"A square mezuzah." I heard regarding Solomon's Temple that there was a square mezuzah, which had mezuzot on both sides, a threshold below, and a lintel above; and I say that the mezuzot were square.
“Like the appearance, like the appearance.” The Targum: “Its vision is like the vision of its glory, like the appearance of the throne of glory that I saw in the chariot by the Kebar River, and I saw a shining light in the Holy of Holies.”
Radak
"The Temple had a square doorpost." The tav is in place of a he, and similarly, "Give yourself no respite" and "A wound that does not cease" and "Wisdom and knowledge" and others like them. Its meaning is that the doorpost of the entrance to the Temple was square, for some make doorposts round. And Jonathan translated it as "the Temple, whose doorposts are square," and he said "doorpost" in a general sense, for he spoke of both doorposts.
And the face of the Holy Place, the appearance like the appearance. And the entrance of the Holy of Holies, which is the face of the Holy Place, the appearance that I saw in its doorposts, is like the appearance that I saw in the doorpost of the Temple. And the Targum: “And the face of the house of the cherubim, its appearance was like the appearance of the precious one.”
Metzudat David
The Temple had a square doorpost. The doorpost of the Temple was not round, but rather in the shape of a square. Its thickness was six cubits, but its width was not so; for the doorpost, together with the wall beside the entrance, was only five cubits, as stated above.
"And the face of the Holy." This means: the entrance of the Holy of Holies; he saw its appearance as the appearance that he had seen at the entrance of the Temple. This refers to the form of the doorposts, which were not round but rather in the shape of a square. Or, alternatively, it means: within, in the interior space of the Temple, which is called the Holy.
The appearance. It is the lamp that distributes its light to the entire house; it was like the appearance, meaning like the ordinary lamp of light that every person has standing near the table, for so did that lamp stand near the table. See the commentary on the construction of the house.
Metzudat Zion
Square. Quadrilateral, and it means that it is not round, but its sides were not equal.
Malbim
"The Temple had four doorposts" – this means that at each entrance there were four doorposts, because it had two doors, with two doorposts on each side. See in Kings another explanation: that in the Temple there was a fourth door that had a doorpost, because up to the Temple there was the outer courtyard, the inner courtyard, the porch, and the entrance to the Temple was the fourth entrance, and the Holy of Holies was the fifth doorpost. And this is what is said in Kings there, that the Holy of Holies was the fifth doorpost. "And the face of the Holy Place was like the appearance of a mirror" – this means that when one looked at the face of the Holy Place, it appeared to him like a mirror and a glass in which the forms opposite it would be seen in the mirrors of the armies. And in this mirror and glass he saw like the appearance – namely, like the appearance of the Chariot. For the vision that brought him to the Land of Israel was in the mirror of the Chariot, as it is stated (Ezekiel 40:2), "In the mirrors of God He brought me" (and similarly he states in chapter 43:3). And he saw that the mirrors of the Chariot that he saw in the vision were imprinted on the face of the Holy of Holies, until the divine appearance appeared there as if one were looking in a mirror and a glass.
The altar, three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits, was of wood, and so the corners thereof; the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were also of wood; and he said to me: ‘This is the table that is before Hashem.’
verse value 5999
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 82 letters. Notable word values: "to·it" (ל֔וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "tree" (עֵ֣ץ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·his·corners" (וּמִקְצֹֽעוֹתָיו֙, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 233: and·his·length, and·his·length. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "two·cubits" (שְׁתַּֽיִם־אַמּ֗וֹת), "and·his·corners" (וּמִקְצֹֽעוֹתָיו֙), "and·his·walls" (וְקִירֹתָ֖יו). The root עץ appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 427x in Ezekiel); "that" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "to·me" (root אל, 204x in Ezekiel). First appearance of the root מקצוע ("and·his·corners") in Ezekiel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'tree', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 7 words.
Rashi
“The altar is wood.” The Targum: “To correspond to the altar, the table,” meaning that the Table is called an altar, for it atones in this era like the altar. So I have heard.
And its extremities. (Its legs, its top, and its length are written in the Scripture: its top, which is [the term] "and its legs," and its length written in the Scripture is its top, as it should be written [in the text]: "its top" [not "its legs"].) The body of the table:
And its walls. Its frames:
Radak
The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length was two cubits. This altar does not resemble either the altar that Moses made, or the altar that Solomon made, or the altar that the exiles made. And behold, the altar is mentioned again with a different measurement, and it is possible that this altar is the inner altar that Moses made of gold. And it says, "This table"—the verse calls the altar a "table," and Jonathan [ben Uzziel] translated it as "corresponding to the altar, a table of wood," indicating that his intention was that it spoke about the table and mentioned the altar because it was opposite the altar. And in the exposition of our Sages of blessed memory, it begins with the altar and ends with the table: Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Eliezer both say: "When the Holy Temple was standing, the altar atones; and now, a person’s table atones."
"And its corners shall be for it." This refers to the corners of the table, meaning they are included in its measurement.
"And its length and its walls were of wood." Rashi explained that "its length" refers to the body of the table, and "its walls" refers to its frames. However, this phrasing is not found, for length and width are not the essence of the object about which one would say it is of wood, silver, or gold. The correct interpretation in my view is that "and its length" is connected to the preceding phrase, "and its corners were with it," and "and its length" is stated as if to say "along with its length," as we have explained, for its corners are counted as part of its measurement of length. And behold, he did not mention the width of this altar that he saw, or of the table.
Metzudat David
"The altar." This teaches that the Table stood opposite the altar, as Targum Yonatan renders: the Table was made of wooden planks, and it was overlaid with gold.
“And its corners were its own.” This means that the legs at the four corners were drawn out from it [the main body], not that they were made separately and then joined to the table. Or, it means that the legs at the four corners belonging to it, as well as its length—which is its top, namely the surface of the table—and also its sides, which are the fixed panels running from leg to leg beneath the table’s top, all were made of wood, and the wood was overlaid with gold.
"And He spoke unto me." The angel who spoke with me:
"This is the table that is before the Lord." This means: What you saw standing before the House of the Lord is the Holy of Holies; behold, this is the table.
Metzudat Zion
"and its corners." The term "corners" is similar to "and the corners of the Tabernacle" (Exodus 26).
Malbim
"The altar was of wood." This shows him the inner altar, which was made of wood, for even Moses' altar was of wood and overlaid with gold. Yet to Ezekiel, He did not show him the gold overlaying in anything; he saw only the wood that was destined to receive the overlaying. And he saw that it was three cubits high and two cubits long, and presumably its width was also thus, since we require it to be square, and it would be in the future much larger than that of Moses. "And its horns were of itself." For in Moses' altar, its roof, its walls, and its horns—these horns are the corners, and its length is the roof, where the length is measured, and its walls are the walls where the height is measured—all these were of wood. "And He spoke to me," referring to this table that is before the Lord. For from the vessels of the Temple, He showed him only the altar. He did not show him the table and the menorah because He showed him only that which was abolished in the days of the destruction and will return in the future, which is the altar, for only then will He delight in sacrifices of righteousness, not in the oil of destruction. But the menorah, which indicates the light of the Lord, and the table, which indicates the abundance of food that issues from Him, were not abolished even in this present era. And already the last of the prophets saw a golden menorah, all of it, with a bowl on its top, which is the light of the Lord that flows constantly upon the seven branches of the Sefirot, as explained there. And this is what it says: that the table, which He did not show him in the Temple, is because it stands before the Lord even in the time of destruction. And all flesh upon the King's table always eat, and from His goodness they are satisfied. Therefore, it is not found among the vessels hidden for the future Temple, for it stands above. And He informed him thereby that the measure and dimension of the table would be like the measure of the altar. And He also told him on the condition that the altar is wood, not overlaid, and it is not fit to kindle upon it the incense of spices, because it is in the place of the wooden table, before which the Showbread is always.
Cross-references: Exodus 25:25; Exodus 25:30; I Kings 7:48
Verse structure: 4 words, 20 letters. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·the·temple" (לַהֵיכָ֖ל), "and·for·the·sanctuary" (וְלַקֹּֽדֶשׁ). 4 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·for·the·sanctuary" (root קדש, 70x in Ezekiel); "and·two" (root שנים, 37x in Ezekiel). Full calculation: וּשְׁתַּ֧יִם [and·two] (756) + דְּלָת֛וֹת [doors] (840) + לַהֵיכָ֖ל [to·the·temple] (95) + וְלַקֹּֽדֶשׁ [and·for·the·sanctuary] (440) = 2131.
Rashi
“And two doors.” For each entrance, the doors are set opposite one another: one on the northern doorpost and one on the southern doorpost.
Radak
“And two doors for the Holy Place and for the Holy of Holies.” For the entrance to the Holy Place there were two doors, and likewise for the Holy of Holies, which is the inner sanctum. In stating “two,” it is known that one does not make a single door for an entrance; rather, he said “two” because of the double doors, as it is said:
Metzudat David
“And two doors.” They were fixed within the thickness of the doorposts: one door was drawn inward, and the other outward.
And to the Holy Place. This is the Holy of Holies.
Malbim
“And two doors: for the entrance to the Temple, and likewise for the entrance to the Holy of Holies, there were two doors—one door on the inside and one door on the outside.”
And the doors had two leaves [apiece], two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other.
verse value 8388
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 56 letters. Verse gematria: 8388 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "one" (אֶחָ֔ת, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·the·doors" (לַדְּלָת֑וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 840: doors, doors, doors. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "to·the·doors" (לַדְּלָת֑וֹת), "turning" (מוּסַבּ֣וֹת), "to·door" (לְדֶ֣לֶת). The root דלת appears 5 times in this verse. 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "one" (root אחד, 104x in Ezekiel); "and·two" (root שנים, 37x in Ezekiel); "to·the·other" (root אחר, 30x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·doors', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 9 words. Full calculation: וּשְׁתַּ֥יִם [and·two] (756) + דְּלָת֖וֹת [doors] (840) + לַדְּלָת֑וֹת [to·the·doors] (870) + שְׁ֚תַּיִם [two] (750) + מוּסַבּ֣וֹת [turning] (514) + דְּלָת֔וֹת [doors] (840) + שְׁ֚תַּיִם [two] (750) + לְדֶ֣לֶת [to·door] (464) + אֶחָ֔ת [one] (409) + וּשְׁתֵּ֥י [two] (716) + דְלָת֖וֹת [doors] (840) + לָאַחֶֽרֶת [to·the·other] (639) = 8388.
Rashi
“And two doors for the doors.” For the entrance of the Sanctuary, there were two pairs of doors, as we learned in the Mishnah in Masechet Middot: “It had four doors, two on the inside and two on the outside.” The outer doors opened inward into the doorway to cover the thickness of the wall, which was six cubits wide, while the width of each door was five cubits, which is the measure of half the width of the doorway. When they were inserted one cubit inside the doorpost, it turned out that five cubits of the thickness of the wall remained exposed, and when the outer door was placed in the doorway on the inside, it covered that exposed part. The inner doors opened inward into the house to cover the area behind the doors, since the entire house was plastered with gold, except for the area behind the doors. Rabbi Yehuda says that even the inner doors stood within the doorway, and they were folded back like a “struma” (a folding tablet), these two and a half cubits and those two and a half cubits, with half a cubit of the doorpost here and half a cubit of the doorpost there, as it is stated: “And two doors for the doors,” meaning two doors folded back, “doors,” etc. And this is its interpretation: both the inner and the outer doors stood within the thickness of the wall, and both these and those were inserted half a cubit inside the doorpost. The inner doors opened toward the outside, and the outer doors opened toward the inside. How so? Two doors, each five cubits wide, opened opposite each other within the five-cubit width of the thickness of the wall. They were made of planks, and opposite their midpoint, they were folded back when opened, like wooden tablets upon which one writes with an iron stylus, which fold one behind the other. It turns out that when they were folded, they stood at two and a half cubits, and when they were opened opposite each other, they covered five cubits of the thickness of the wall.
Radak
“Two doors for the two doors, two doors are turning; two doors for one door, and two doors for the other.” Our Sages of blessed memory expounded this in Tractate Middot: The entrance to the Holy Place was twenty cubits high and ten cubits wide, and it had four doors—two on the inside and two on the outside, as it is stated, “Two doors for the Holy Place and for the Holy of Holies.” The outer doors opened inward into the doorway to cover the thickness of the wall, while the inner doors opened inward into the chamber to cover the space behind the doors, since the entire chamber was overlaid with gold, except for the area behind the doors. Rabbi Yehuda says: They stood within the doorway, and like a folding bed, they folded back behind them. These were two and a half cubits, and these were two and a half cubits, leaving half a cubit and the doorpost on this side, and half a cubit and the doorpost on that side, as it is stated, “Two doors for the two doors, two doors are joined; two doors for one door, and two doors for the other.” The meaning of “folding bed” is that the author of the Arukh writes that in Greek, a thing that is reversed is called “astruchi.” And in Genesis Rabbah, regarding the verse “But Jacob went out,” our Sages say: Like a folding bed, the doors folded back behind them. Jacob stood behind the door until Esau entered, and then he went out. Hence the verse says, “But Jacob went out,” meaning he went out but did not truly go out.
Two [doors] for one door. With it there were two, and so for the other:
Metzudat David
“And two doors for the doors.” This means that each door was divided into two parts, and they were fixed opposite one another: one part on the northern doorpost and the other, opposite it, on the southern doorpost. When they were closed, they sealed the entire space of the doorway.
“Two were the doors that revolved.” This means that these two doors revolved, each half turning around the other half. And he added to explain and say, “Two for one door,” etc. This implies that each part of each door was further divided into two by means of hinges, and it folded back upon itself, with one half wrapping around the other half. Thus, in each part there was a quarter of the door. And when they were unfolded and closed, they sealed the entire space of the doorway. See the commentary on the construction of the House.
Metzudat Zion
“Mosavot.” The word is derived from the root “savav,” meaning “to turn” or “to surround.”
Malbim
And two doors for the doors, and for each of the two doors there were two doors, each five cubits high. Two doors were hinged, and each door of the two doors, both the inner and the outer, was composed of two panels so that it could be folded in two, because the outer doors opened inward and the inner doors opened outward, both opening into the space of the doorway, since the entire space was only six cubits wide. Therefore, each was folded in two, and by this means they could stand when opened next to each other. This is according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda in the tractate Tamid, even though the Rambam ruled according to the Sages. In the future Temple, it will be like Rabbi Yehuda, as this is the straightforward meaning of the verse, for even according to Rabbi Yehuda, the Second Temple was not exactly like the Third Temple. In the Second Temple, the doors were recessed half a cubit into the thickness of the doorway, as is necessary according to the Mishnah, whereas in the Third Temple they will stand at the beginning of the doorway (as appears from what is written in verse 1 regarding the width of the sanctuary; see there). And the folding occurred after three cubits of the doorway; the two cubits were folded over the three, and thus they covered the thickness of the doorway. And Rabbi Yehuda derived from the verse only that they were folded, not that they were identical in every respect, for the Third Temple will be different from the Second Temple.
And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick beams of wood upon the face of the porch without.
verse value 4741
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 70 letters. The shortest word is "tree" (עֵ֛ץ, 2 letters) and the longest is "on·doors·of" (אֶל־דַּלְת֤וֹת, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "and·made" (וַעֲשׂוּיָ֨ה), "to·them" (אֲלֵיהֶ֜ן), "on·doors·of" (אֶל־דַּלְת֤וֹת). The root עשה appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "as" (root אשר, 341x in Ezekiel); "on·doors·of" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "and·made" (root עשה, 214x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·walls', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַעֲשׂוּיָ֨ה [and·made] (397) + אֲלֵיהֶ֜ן [to·them] (96) + אֶל־דַּלְת֤וֹת [on·doors·of] (871) + הַהֵיכָל֙ [palace] (70) + כְּרוּבִ֣ים [cherubim] (278) + וְתִמֹרִ֔ים [palm·tree·figure] (696) + כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר [as] (521) + עֲשׂוּיִ֖ם [done] (426) + לַקִּיר֑וֹת [to·the·walls] (746) + וְעָ֥ב [and·darkness] (78) + עֵ֛ץ [tree] (160) + אֶל־פְּנֵ֥י [upon·face·of] (171) + הָאוּלָ֖ם [porch] (82) + מֵהַחֽוּץ [from·the·outside] (149) = 4741.
Rashi
"And a beam of wood before the porch." (And "beam" is *trif* in the vernacular, meaning the beams of our houses. (SAA)) The cedar pillars were fixed from the wall of the Holy Place to the wall of the Porch, so that it would not kick. Thus we learned in the Mishnah of Middot: "And this is the 'beam' that goes out from the wall of the house and comes to the front of the porch from the outside."
Radak
“And they made for them [the curtains] for the doors of the sanctuary.” The pronoun precedes the knowledge, for “for the doors of the sanctuary” means “for them.” Similarly, “And they shall bring the offering of the Lord,” and “And you shall see the child,” and similar verses.
cherubim and date palms. What he said, "and it is made," is in the feminine form, corresponding to the word "form," as if he had said, "and the form of cherubim is made."
“to the gates of the Temple.” The word “to” (el) here functions like “upon” (al), and there are many verses like this.
“And thick cedar wood before the porch, from the outside.” Its meaning is: thick wood, and [the word] “thick” is read without construct state, just as it says, “And thick [wood] before their faces,” and it says, “And the thick [wood].” And our Sages of blessed memory call it “a beam that was built in the wall.” And this “thick [wood]” was placed in the structure, in the wall of the porch, on its face, from the outside, facing the altar. And so it was in the construction of Solomon’s Temple: “carved cedars.” Our Sages of blessed memory said: “They were built within the walls.” And Jonathan the Targumist translated: “And the lintel of the wood.” And Rashi, of blessed memory, explained that this “thick [wood]” is what our Sages of blessed memory said in the tractate Middot: “And cedar pillars were fixed from the wall of the sanctuary to the wall of the porch, so that one would not kick [against it].” And what is said, “from the outside,” means that the pillars projected from the outer wall of the porch to the shoulders of the porch, on both sides of the entrance.
Metzudat David
"Upon them." Just as it says "upon them," and then it goes on to explain: "on the doors of the Temple," and similarly, "on the doors of the Holy of Holies" were engraved the forms of cherubim and date palms, just as they were engraved on the walls.
"And the cedar beam." A very thick beam of wood was fixed in the structure of the wall of the Temple, extending toward the face of the wall of the Ulam, from the outside, toward the inner courtyard. This served to strengthen the structure so that it would not bulge outward or topple over due to its great height.
Metzudat Zion
"And a thick tree." Like "and a thick tree."
Malbim
“and made for them” – see that “for them” refers to the doors of the Heichal. (For what is stated in the previous chapter, “and two doors for the doors,” does not apply to the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, for this was only in the Heichal alone, for the entrance to the Holy of Holies was only two cubits wide. Therefore, it is said that what is stated, “two doors,” and what is stated, “and made for them,” refers only to the doors of the Heichal.) They were made like cherubim and date palms, as they were made for the walls, alternating between a cherub and a cherub, and two faces, etc. (as stated above in verses 18–19). “And thick wood before the porch” – this means that although the porch did not have a lintel above it, there were thick pieces of wood over the entrance like a ceiling, as it is stated (Middot 3:7): “Five amlatrot of beams were above the entrance of the porch, etc.” Thus, the uppermost one was thirty cubits high, and these amlatrot protruded over the entrance from the outside.
And there were narrow windows and palm-trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch; there were also the brackets of the house, and the thick beams.
verse value 3731
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 53 letters. Verse gematria: 3731 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "from·here" (מִפּ֣וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "window" (וְחַלּוֹנִ֨ים, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Ezekiel. Unique to this verse in Ezekiel (hapax): "on·sides·of" (אֶל־כִּתְפ֖וֹת), "and·sides·of" (וְצַלְע֥וֹת), "and·darkness" (וְהָעֻבִּֽים). The root פה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "on·sides·of" (root איל, 238x in Ezekiel); "house" (root בית, 159x in Ezekiel); "from·here" (root פה, 52x in Ezekiel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'porch', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְחַלּוֹנִ֨ים [window] (150) + אֲטֻמ֤וֹת [closed] (456) + וְתִֽמֹרִים֙ [palm·tree·figure] (696) + מִפּ֣וֹ [from·here] (126) + וּמִפּ֔וֹ [and·from·here] (132) + אֶל־כִּתְפ֖וֹת [on·sides·of] (937) + הָאוּלָ֑ם [porch] (82) + וְצַלְע֥וֹת [and·sides·of] (602) + הַבַּ֖יִת [house] (417) + וְהָעֻבִּֽים [and·darkness] (133) = 3731.
Rashi
“On the shoulders of the porch.” To the two sides of the entrance:
"And the beams of the house, and the pillars." He showed me the beams and the pillars. And our Sages of blessed memory said: "The beams of the house" refers to the *maltasin*, and "the pillars" refers to the *marishot*. What are *marishot*? They are beams. And what are *maltasin*? They are cedar beams placed on top of the walls to rest the ends of the beams upon them.
Radak
“Windows, and the rafters of the house, and the beams.” Our Sages of blessed memory explained: “The rafters of the house” refers to the *maltasin*, and “the beams” refers to the *marishin*. The term *maltasin* denotes a wooden lintel placed in the walls upon which the ends of the beams rest; and the *marishin* are large beams.
Metzudat David
And the windows were sealed. In the hall, there were windows sealed with a transparent and clear partition:
"and date-palms." There were capitals in the shape of date-palm trees on the shoulders of the hall, on this side and on that, above the doorposts, as was the case with all the doorposts.
“And the beams of the house.” This means that He also showed me the beams of the house, which are the beams laid across the walls, and the thick ones are the ceiling beams, which are somewhat thick.
Metzudat Zion
Shoulders. Side and side:
"And the sides." They are the walls that rest upon the tops of the partition walls, and upon them are placed the ends of the ceiling beams. This is from the language of "side" and "flank," for they are at the sides of the house.
"והעובים" – these are the ceiling beams, which are somewhat thick.
Malbim
And there were sealed windows, aside from what he saw: windows in the Temple itself, as it is stated in verse 16 (for the windows of the Temple were certainly above fifteen cubits, since up to fifteen cubits the side chambers surrounded the Temple). He saw that there were stopped-up windows (and on both sides of each window there were palm motifs for ornamentation) facing the shoulders of the porch that were on both sides of the entrance, on the eastern side of the porch entrance. And likewise there were windows facing the sides of the house, that is, the side chambers that surrounded the house on every side. And likewise there were windows facing the thick beams, that is, above, near the ceiling, where they placed thick beams; there too were stopped-up windows, except for the windows that were in the middle of the Temple, and there were windows upon windows.
Rashi
Radak
Metzudat David
Malbim