Kommentar zu Jechezkiel 41:30

six cubits wide That is the width of the wall of the Heichal, between the Heichal and the hall (from east to west).

the width of the tent the width of the Hall, for it was in the width of the Hall and in the length of the Heichal. (In other commentaries:) The width of the tent - the tent of the entrance.

and the sides of the entrance were five cubits for the Heichal was twenty cubits wide and the width of the entrance was ten. Its sides from here and there are found to be five cubits each.

And he came to the interior to the wall that separated the Heichal from the Holy of Holies.

and measured the pillar of the entrance Its thickness was two cubits. This was not equal to the cubit for the partition.

and the entrance six cubits I cannot explain this except as a reference to its height.

to the face of the Temple on the face of the width of the Temple.

And he measured the wall the western wall.

and the width of the cell [Heb. הַצֵלָע,] apendiz in Old French. The interior of the cell behind it was four amos in measurement, and in the Second Temple it was six (amos). And perforce this Temple is the one of the future, because there was no wall separating the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple.

thirty-three times But in the Second Temple, there were thirty-eight: fifteen in the north, and fifteen in the south - five upon five, and five atop them - and eight in the west. [The term] צֵלָע is synonymous with יָצִיעַ and with תָּא. I say that the cells in the north and the south were arranged as follows: each one was twelve cubits long, totaling sixty cubits for five cells, and five walls of five cubits each, totaling 85. The width of the cleared space was five cubits. Thus you have accounted for ninety cubits of the length of the wall, and so to the south. Those in the west were one on top of another, and a third atop them, and their length across their top was twenty cubits, paralleling the width of the Holy of Holies, making eleven in each row. So did Jonathan render: eleven in a row.

thirty-three times eleven upon eleven, and eleven atop them. So did Jonathan render: eleven in a row, but in the Second Temple etc.... and with תָּא, and no more.)

and they rested upon the inside of the wall The beams of the cells of the top story - their ends on the side toward the cells’ outer wall would rest upon the wall, on its inner side, and puncture it. This is the meaning of “the inside of the wall of the cells” into the side that was toward the interior of the cells; and this is the meaning of “that they might hold therein,” - be fastened securely, po[r]pris in Old French, firmly held.

that they should not be held in the wall of the House Their ends on the side toward the wall of the Heichal rested on, and penetrated the recesses, i.e., the wall of the Heichal protruded into the interior of the cells, as it is stated regarding Solomon’s [Temple] building (I Kings 6:6): “for he made rebatements in [the wall of] the House round about on the outside.” The width of the interior of the nethermost chamber was five cubits, and its upper story was six, for the wall of the Heichal was recessed from above one cubit; therefore the interior of the nethermost one was five cubits wide and the third chamber was seven cubits wide and this was atop the middle one, which had the wall of the Heichal protruding into it one cubit from above and these too were like them. And this is what is meant by “and they would nor be held in the wall of the House”; they did not penetrate into the wall of the Heichal as do ends of other low beams which are fastened onto a high wall, i.e., [builders usually] make holes in the wall and thrust the beams into the holes.

And it became wider And the cells constantly widened as they went upward, as I explained: the middle one was a cubit wider than the lowest one, and the uppermost [one] was a cubit [wider] than the middle one.

and it wound higher and higher [Heb. וְנָסְבָה,] and it was surrounded by a spiral staircase, fiz in Old French. This is a stone structure similar to a pillar, with steps winding around it. It seems to the person who is ascending upon it that he is encircling a stone pillar. In German it is called a wendelstein. This is what is [meant when it is] stated regarding Solomon’s Temple (I Kings 6:8): “and upon winding stairs (לוּלִים) they went up into the middle [chamber].” That too is translated [into Aramaic] as וּבִמְסִיבָתָא, like וְנָסְבָה לְמַעְלָה לְמַעְלָה and it wound higher and higher. The spiral staircase continued to wind higher and higher up to the roof of the uppermost cell, as he proceeds to explain, [so] that the spiral staircase ascended from the nethermost cell to the middle one and from the middle one to the uppermost one.

for the encompassing of the House to the cells.

went upward round about the House: therefore, the widest part of the House was above Therefore, we said, “And it became wider and it wound higher and higher.” The widest part of the House within the cells was above. The uppermost [cell] was wider than all of them.

and so, [from] the nethermost Jonathan rendered: “And so, with the spiral staircase they would ascend from the nethermost to the uppermost through the middle one.” And so they would ascend with the spiral staircase from the nethermost one to the uppermost one by way of the middle one.

And I saw that the House had a height He does not delineate its measurement, but we learn in Tractate Middoth (4:6): “with a height of one hundred cubits.”

the foundations of the cells were the full length of a rod The foundation of the cells was the full length of a rod.

six cubits was its span [Heb. אַצִילָה.] Jonathan renders: span. [The part] of the foundation of the stone wall within the earth was six cubits wide, but [the part] above the earth was five cubits wide, as is delineated in this section in the following verse.

The width of the wall of the cell to the outside The wall of the cells adjoining the Court; i.e., the western wall.

was five cubits And we also learned in Tractate Middoth (4:7), that the wall was five cubits [wide].

and what was left clear And a clear area was left at the northern and southern corners that adjoined the east and the west. For the cells did not encompass the entire House, and the entrances of the cells in the eastern corners led to that cleared area - as is stated in this section: “And the entrance of the cell to the clear space”. The cells had no entrances either to the side of the Court or to the side of the Heichal, but to those in the northeastern [corner] and the southeastern corner, had an the entrance in the wall which opened to the cleared off area. And by that entrance they would enter it, and from it, into the second cell, and from the second into the third, and so on all around, as we learned in Tractate Middoth (4:3): “and an area left over.” Another explanation: left clear Those on the inside of the cells that were toward the side of the House was left clear; i.e., a clear area was left over between the cells and the House, and in the area were the cells’ entrances, as is delineated in this section: “And the entrance of the cell was toward the clear place,” and its width was five cubits, as [Scripture] says: “and the width of the clear area was five cubits,” as I explained above, [i.e.,] that the cells will not be close to the House at all, and there will be a space of five cubits between them and the House. And so did Jonathan render: and an area left over.

for the structure of cells that belonged to the House Opposite the space of the width of the cells in the corner. The words “round about,” written about the clear area, are not referring to [all] four corners, but mean “here and there,” i.e., south and north: the southeastern and the northeastern corners.

And between the chambers was a width of twenty cubits There were chambers in the Outer Court, at the north and at the south of the Inner Court, near its wall. And there was a space twenty cubits wide between the walls of the chambers and the walls of the cells that were around the House. It was not so in the Second Temple edifice, but [it will be so] in the future edifice.

And the entrance of the cell was toward the clear space And the entrances of the outside cells were open to the left over clear area in the corner, as I explained.

And the structure that was before the fortress, etc. The width of the entire structure on the western side - the width of the House and the thickness of the northern and southern wall, with the northern and southern cells, and the thickness of their walls on the north and on the south - equaled seventy cubits, and so too it was in the Second Temple. And so we learned in Tractate Middoth (4:7) about the western wall: “From north to south - seventy cubits,” and it computes the calculation.

the fortress [Heb. הַגִּזְרָה.] Jonathan renders: the fortress. And I say that the tall House was called [the fortress] and that the low cells that were around it were called “the structure.” Menahem, however, (page. 54) interpreted גִּזְרָה as a chamber.

the side that was toward the west. [Heb. דֶרֶךְ יָם, lit. the way of the (Mediterranean) Sea.] The western side.

the side that was toward the west was seventy cubits wide And the width of the structure on the western side, from north to south, was seventy cubits, and here you have the computation: The northern cell was 4 [cubits], and its walls 10, totaling 14. The clear area between the cell and the House was 5 [cubits], totaling 19. The width of the foundation of the walls was included in the interior of the cell and in the clear place. The wall of the Heichal was 6 [cubits], totaling 25, and its interior was 20 [cubits] wide, totaling 45 [cubits]. The southern wall of the Heichal was 6, adding up to 51, and with the 19 [cubits] of the southern cells, the grand total is 70 [cubits].

and the wall of the structure the walls of the cells.

and it was ninety cubits long The length of the structure of the cells and the clear place was ninety cubits [in] the north and [in] the south, not including the depository of the knives, which is not counted because it protruded outward to the north and to the south, and was not the same shape as the rest of the structure. The House was thirty cubits wider in the front than in the back, as we learned (Middoth 4:7): “The Hall exceeded the Heichal by fifteen cubits in the north and fifteen cubits in the south, and that [longer area] was called the Depository of the Knives, because there they stored the knives.” The length of that structure from east to west was ten cubits. This leaves 90 cubits of length with 70 cubits width, for the entire House was 100 cubits long on both sides, as is delineated in this section and in Tractate Middoth (4:6).

And he measured the House, its length was one hundred cubits the grand total, including the extension of the Depository of the Knives. So we learned in Tractate Middoth [concerning the Second Temple] (4:6): “The Heichal was 100 by 100, with a height of 100 cubits. (4:7) From east to west, the Hall’s wall was 5 cubits and its width, 11; the wall of the Heichal was 6 cubits and its length was 40; the partition was 1 cubit; the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits; the wall of the Heichal was 6 cubits; the cell was 6 cubits; and the wall of the cell was 5 cubits.” Above, in this section, [which concerns the Third Temple] as well, all of their measurements are explained in the same way, except for the [single] cubit for the partition, concerning which it is written in this section (verse 3): “two cubits,” but counterbalancing that, it decreases the width of the cell by a cubit, for the cell in the Mishnah was 6 cubits wide and its wall was 5 [totaling 11 cubits], and here its width is 4 and its wall is 6 [totaling only 10 cubits] as it is written (verse 8): “the foundations of the cells were the full length of a rod,” and though higher up it became narrower and recessed a cubit, as it is written (verse 9): “and the wall of the cell was five cubits.”

and the fortress and the structure and its walls The end of the verse explains its beginning, saying that [it is] the sum total [that] was one hundred cubits.

And the width of the front of the House and the fortress to the east was one hundred cubits The fortress and the cell that was behind it that is הַבְּנִיָה, the “structure” - like בִּנְיָן - and the thickness of the walls, all added up to one hundred cubits. For I explained above that the House was thirty cubits wider in front, for the Hall spread out wider than the Heichal and the cells, fifteen cubits to the north and fifteen cubits to the south. Not that the interior of the Hall was wider than the interior of the Heichal, but that the depository for the knives was attached to the Hall on either side.

And he measured the length of the structure before the fortress, which was behind it [Heb. אֲשֶׁר עַל אַחֲרֶיהָ, lit. that was on its back.] Now he returns and measures the length of the House on the south, as he measured it on the north. (I found:) And that is the meaning of “behind it,” i.e., backwards, for he returned and measured by turning around, turning on his heels, toward the west.

and its corners [Heb. וְאַתִּקֶיהָא, and its extremities.] Jonathan renders: its corners; i.e., with the extended section making up the depository for the knives, which was at the corners of the house.

and the Inner Sanctum and the Halls of the Court The end of this verse is not related to its beginning, but is connected to the following verse, and this is its explanation: And the Heichal as well as the Inner Sanctum - which is the Holy of Holies - as well as the Halls of the Court delineated above -(30: 40) “and the Halls round about” - all these had posts, narrowing windows, and “attikim” surrounding the three of them, including the “gizrah,” which is the Heichal, (the Halls), and the Holy of Holies. The three of them had the “sippim,” posts for their entrances, and the three of them had narrowing windows, and the three of them had “attikim.” I do not know what they are. I say, however, that they are a sort of square column protruding into the wall for reinforcement, they are called piliers in French, pillars.

opposite the posts was a wooden board [Heb. שְּׂחִיף עֵץ.] Jonathan renders: a board of cedar wood.

opposite the posts opposite the posts of the entrance, within the interior space framed by the thickness of the entrance, which was covered with wood (not found in all editions). I found.

round about That is to say: here and there, on both sides of the interior of the entrance.

and from the floor until the windows The base of the wall was made into a wall of cedar wood boards opposite it, and it ascended upward until the windows, and the windows were also covered with it. It is thus found that the windows were also closed from the inside, as it is said (here) (40:16): “And closed windows to the house.” (sic) And all this was [done] on the inside because they would spread upon it a gold plating - for the entire inside was spread over with gold - and gold cannot be spread upon stones.

On [the wall] over the entrance on high.

and until the Inner House the Holy of Holies throughout its entirety.

and outward towards the Heichal.

round about on all its walls.

in the Inner One and in the Outer One In the Holy of Holies and in the Heichal.

[made according to] measure. [Lit. measures.] Covered with large boards made to measure.

And [it was] made of cherubim and palm trees And that cedar wood was decorated with cherubim and palm trees.

and the cherub had two faces One, the face of a young lion, and one, the face of a man. This one faced this way, and that one faced that way, and when the palm tree was between one cherub and another cherub, the face of the young lion was toward it from this side, and the face of man from that side, as is stated in this account.

made upon the entire House of the Holy of Holies.

and on the wall of the Temple And so on the wall of the Temple.

a square doorpost [Heb. רְבֻעָה.] I heard that in Solomon’s edifice, the doorpost was fourfold; i.e., it had doorposts on both sides, a threshold below and a lintel above, but I say that the doorposts were square.

like [that] appearance Jonathan rendered: “Its appearance was like the appearance of His Glory” - like the appearance of the Throne of Glory that I saw in the Chariot by the River Chebar; I saw a bright light in the Holy of Holies.

The altar was wood Jonathan renders: “Standing for the altar was the table,” i.e., the table is called an altar because nowadays it atones like an altar.

and its corners its legs; and the words “its length,” mentioned in the verse refer to its roof, the main part of the Table.

and its walls its frames.

And...two doors to each entrance, closing one opposite the other, one on the northern doorpost and one on the southern doorpost.

And the doors had two doors each The entrance of the Heichal had two pairs of doors, as we learned in Middoth (4:1): “It had four doors, two on the inner side and two on the outer side... The outside doors opened [swinging] into the entrance space, overlaying the thickness of the wall.” For it [the wall’s depth] was six cubits, and the door was five cubits wide, measuring half the width of the entrance, and was recessed a cubit within the doorpost, with the result that the thickness of the wall had five cubits exposed, and when the outside door was opened toward the inside, it would cover it; and the inner doors would [swing] open toward the interior of the House, covering up [the area of the doorpost] behind the doors, for the entire House was overlaid with gold except [for the area of the doorpost] the doors. Rabbi Yehudah says: Also the inner doors stayed within the entrance, and were in the form of double doors. And they would fold back upon one another. These were two and a half cubits, and these were two and a half cubits, and a half cubit of the doorpost was here and a cubit and a half of the doorpost here, as it is said: ‘And the doors had two doors [each], two turning doors, etc.’ Now this is its explanation: Both the inner doors and the outer doors stood in the area demarcated by the thickness of the wall. These were recessed one half cubit further in along the doorpost. The inner doors would open toward the outer doors, and the outer doors toward the inner doors. How so? Two doors of five cubits each would open one opposite the other along five cubits width of the thickness of the wall. They were composed of leaves, and at their midpoint they would fold back when they were opened, like the wooden tablets upon which [scribes] write using an iron stylus, which fold up one behind the other. The result is that when they were folded, they [each] stood at two and a half cubits, and when they were opened one against the other, they [together] covered five cubits of the thickness of the wall.

and a wooden beam before the Hall [Heb. וְעָב,] tref in Old French. Poles of cedar wood were attached from the wall of the Heichal to the wall of the Hall so that it should not slant down. So we learned in Tractate Middoth (3:8): And a beam projected from the wall of the House and came to the outside facade of the Hall.

to the sides of the Hall The two sides of the entrance.

and the supports of the House and the beams And he showed me the supports and the beams. And our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Bava Kamma 67a): The צַלְעוֹתהַבַּיִת refer to מַלְטַסִים. And the עֻבִּים refer to מְרִישּׁוֹת. Now what are מְרִישּׁוֹת? They are beams. And what are מַלְטַסִים? They are cedar planks placed at the tops of walls, upon which the ends of the beams are lain.