Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 42:3: The Third Beit HaMikdash

“Between the chambers [and the House], there was [a space] twenty cubits around the House to either side.”¹Yechezkel 41:10. There were chambers built in the outer courtyard²Here, the phrase “the outer courtyard” does not apply to “the Women’s Courtyard” that surrounded the entire inner courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash, but to the portion of the courtyard that is separated from the Altar. The area directly around the Altar was surrounded by a wall and called “the inner courtyard.” Although the Twenty Cubit Space described here is outside that wall, it is fit to have sacrifices of the most sacred order cooked and eaten within it. Therefore, it is also referred to (Yechezkel 42:3) as “the inner courtyard” in certain contexts. to the north and the south of the cells, as will be explained in sec. 71. This verse explains that there was a space of 20 cubits between the cells and those chambers. The words סָבִיב סָבִיב, which literally mean, “all around,” is translated as, “to either side,” i.e., to the north and to the south, as explained above³See sec. 64-69. with regard to the munach.

The 20 cubits between the cells and the chambers on each side include: a) 15 cubits equal to the length that the Beis HaChalifos protruded beyond the Sanctuary on the northern and southern sides and b) an additional 5 cubits. This entire space is referred to as “the inner courtyard,” as it is written:⁴Yechezkel 42:3. “Opposite the twenty [cubits] of the inner courtyard.”

Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel offers a different explanation of this passage, stating that the term עליונות refers to the highest story, i.e., the third story. It was narrower than the others. Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel interprets the term אַתִּיקִים as “chambers,” for he understands the verse,²¹Yechezkel 42:3. אַתִּיק אֶל פְּנֵי אַתִּיק בַּשְּׁלִשִׁים as meaning, “There was one chamber on top of another chamber, three, one on top of each other.” The meaning of the word בשלשים in that verse means that there were three stories of chambers. Therefore, when the narrative states,²²Ibid.:5. “The upper chambers were narrowed,” it is indicating that the highest story was the narrowest of the three. This is the direct opposite of the side-chambers built around the Sanctuary. In that instance, the upper chambers were wider than the lower ones. In this instance, by contrast, the upper ones were narrower than the lower ones. The narrative gives the reason for this, כִּי יוֹכְלוּ אַתִּיקִים מֵהֵנָּה מֵהַתַּחְתֹּנוֹת. Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel interprets this as meaning that the inner space of the lower and middle stories took up more of the structure because it was wider below. The narrative gives a further rationale: “For they had three stories; they did not have pillars.”