Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 46:19: The Third Beit HaMikdash

“And He brought me through the entranceway… to the Holy Chambers… that faced northward. Behold, there was a place at its western flanks. And he said to me, ‘This is the place where the kohanim will cook the guilt-offering and the sin-offerings, where they will bake the meal-offering, so as not to bring them out to the Outer Courtyard, [lest] they mingle with the people.”⁵Yechezkel 46:19-20, translated according to Targum Yonason and Rashi. Although the verse only mentions the northern side, it is logical to assume that the Twenty Cubit Space on the southern side was consecrated for the same purpose. After all, why should one side be different from the other?

“Their entrances [opened] to the north.”¹⁷Ibid.:4. Thus, the chambers opened toward the Outer Courtyard. This is evident from the fact that the verse specifically mentions the entrances in the north. In his commentary to the verse,¹⁸Ibid. 46:19. “And he brought me through the entranceway.” Rashi states that these chambers also had entrances to the Twenty Cubit Space between them and the main edifice of the Beis HaMikdash. This can be concluded from the above verse, that states: “And he brought me through the entranceway… to the chambers,” implying that Yechezkel was brought through the entranceway leading to the Twenty Cubit Space, and from there to the chambers. Similarly, in sec. 73, it will be demonstrated that there were entrances to the chambers from the entranceway. See the end of that section.