Two Buildings Near the Temple
At the south[c] side of the Temple there was an identical building not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. 11 In front of the rooms there was a passageway just like the one on the north side. It had the same measurements, the same design, and the same kind of entrances. 12 There was a door under the rooms on the south side of the building, at the east end where the wall began.
13 The man said to me, “Both these buildings are holy. In them the priests who enter the Lord’s presence eat the holiest offerings. Because the rooms are holy, the priests will place the holiest offerings there: the offerings of grain and the sacrifices offered for sin or as repayment offerings. 14 When priests have been in the Temple and want to go to the outer courtyard, they must leave in these rooms the holy clothing they wore while serving the Lord. They must put on other clothes before going out to the area where the people gather.”
The Measurements of the Temple Area
15 When the man had finished measuring inside the Temple area, he took me out through the east gate and then measured the outside of the area. 16 He took the measuring rod and measured the east side, and it was 840 feet. 17-19 Then he measured the north side, the south side, and the west side; each side had the same length, 840 feet,[d] 20 so that the wall enclosed a square 840 feet on each side. The wall served to separate what was holy from what was not.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 42:4 Some ancient translations 168 feet long; Hebrew a way of 20 inches.
- Ezekiel 42:9 One ancient translation where the wall of the courtyard began; Hebrew in the breadth of the wall of the courtyard.
- Ezekiel 42:9 One ancient translation south; Hebrew east.
- Ezekiel 42:17 Verses 16-19 in Hebrew are unclear.