Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 40:14: The Third Beit HaMikdash

“Its pillars were 2 cubits.” The pillars were round, treelike structures made from hewn stone. They stood at the end of the vestibule, with one attached to the right wall and the other attached to the left wall. These pillars took the place of doorposts. The diameter of each one was 2 cubits. Thus, including the pillars, the vestibule jutted out 10 cubits from east to west. Each of the pillars was 60 cubits high.¹Yechezkel 40:14. At the top of each pillar, was a coronet resembling a palm tree, as stated in the verse,²Ibid.:16. “On each pillar, a palm-like coronet.”

It appears that Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel maintains that the Courtyard of the Kohanim and the Altar were located beyond the area described here as the Courtyard of the Israelites. According to his understanding, the area measuring 100 cubits by 100 cubits will be solely the Courtyard of the Israelites. The Courtyard of the Kohanim will be in another area. The courtyard (azarah) described in the passage concerning the Altar¹⁰Yechezkel 43:13. will be an actual courtyard – not as Rashi explains in his commentary to that passage.¹¹In that passage, Rashi and others interpret the term azarah – usually, translated as “courtyard” – as referring to portions of the Altar. As mentioned in the main text, Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel and others maintain that its usual meaning also applies here. Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel explains this in his commentary to the verse:¹²Yechezkel 40:14. “From the center of the ground until the lower courtyard were two cubits with a width of one cubit, and from the small courtyard to the larger one were four cubits with a width of one cubit.” He refers to the courtyard as the place where the kohanim would stand, and interprets the phrase, “the lower courtyard” as the area to the east of the Altar.¹³Because it was lower on the mountain of the Beis HaMikdash. The lower courtyard was also the smaller courtyard. The larger courtyard was the area between the Altar and the Ulam. This courtyard was also the upper courtyard because it was higher up the slope of the mountain. The Altar was positioned between these 2 courtyards.

“From the center of the ground” – i.e., from the ground – “until the lower azarah⁵See the end of sections 26-27. – i.e., until the upper surface of the first level, the foundation of the Altar, “were two cubits with a width of one cubit.”⁶Yechezkel 43:14.