Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 40:45: The Third Beit HaMikdash

“Outside the inner gate, there were chambers for the singers, inside the Inner Courtyard, on the flank of the Northern Gate, facing southward.”¹Yechezkel 40:44. This verse implies that the Chambers of the Levites who would sing were outside the inner space of the gate’s vestibule, within the Inner Courtyard, on the side of the gate – i.e., behind the gate, as Radak explains. The entrance to these chambers was to the south. This is the meaning of the verse,²Ibid.:45. “This chamber that faces south is for the kohanim, the guardians of the watch of the House.” Although the verse uses the term kohanim, Rashi comments: “It appears to refer to the Levites who were singers.” Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel explains that the Levites are called kohanim in this verse because a kohen is one who serves, and the Levites served through song.