Introduction: Continuation of the Description of the Eastern Gate
Chapter 40 in Yechezkel is a chapter of measurements: the man whose appearance was like bronze leads the prophet through the future Beit HaMikdash and measures before him the wall, gates, guard-rooms, and chambers. In the section before us, we continue the description of the eastern gate - the guard-rooms to its right and to its left, the dimensions of the gate's interior space, the posts (*eilim*) and palm-tree decorations (*timorim*), and from there to the outer courtyard, the chambers, the pavement, and the width of the courtyard. We will proceed verse by verse, guided by the commentary of the Malbim.
The Gate's Guard-Rooms: Three on This Side and Three on That Side
וְתָאֵי הַשַּׁעַר דֶּרֶךְ הַקָּדִים שְׁלֹשָׁה מִפֹּה וּשְׁלֹשָׁה מִפֹּה מִדָּה אַחַת לִשְׁלָשְׁתָּם וּמִדָּה אַחַת לָאֵילִם מִפֹּה וּמִפּוֹ׃ (י) - "And the guard-rooms of the gate toward the east were three on this side and three on that side; the three had one measure, and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side." (10)
Now the prophet speaks of the guard-rooms of the eastern gate. One who enters comes from the east, and therefore he sees the outer guard-rooms. There are also inner guard-rooms, but the text is not dealing with them here. The guard-rooms we mentioned - three on the right and three on the left - are the ones "toward the east," facing the one who enters from the east: three to the north side and three to the south side.
"The three had one measure" - and this we have already seen: the interior space of each room was six cubits by six cubits, all having the exact same dimensions. "And the posts had one measure on this side and on that side" - the pillars (*eilim*) were also all of one uniform measure.
Let us visualize the layout: between each room stood a partition wall five cubits thick, with a passageway between the rooms. One entering the gate stands beneath a covered hall-like structure, and can turn to his right toward the three rooms on the north side, walking from room to room through their openings, and likewise to his left toward the three rooms on the south side. Furthermore, in the final room there was an exit to the outside, allowing one to leave the rooms not only back into the gate passage but also out the other side. At this exit, there were once again *eilim* (posts) - two pillars supporting an arch, just as there were *eilim* at the main entrance of the gate. Their dimensions were one cubit by one cubit, rounded on both sides.
As an aside: the text alternates between writing *mipoh* with a *hei* and *mipu* with a *vav*, but according to *peshat* there is no practical difference between them. Certainly, on the level of *sod* (esoteric meaning), every single detail of the Beit HaMikdash contains profound hints, and this chapter contains a great many instances of *keri* and *ketiv* (read versus written traditions), which are well known to be filled with deep secrets. Here, however, we are studying the plain meaning (*peshat*) in order to clearly understand the architectural layout of the Temple, and the Malbim himself does not delve into these matters here; thus, *mipoh* and *mipu* are equivalent for our purposes.
The Width and Length of the Gateway
וַיָּמָד אֶת־רֹחַב פֶּתַח־הַשַּׁעַר עֶשֶׂר אַמּוֹת אֹרֶךְ הַשַּׁעַר שְׁלוֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה אַמּוֹת׃ (יא) - "And he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway, ten cubits; the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits." (11)
Now he measures the gate itself, the eastern gate. Its width is ten cubits, and its length is thirteen cubits. At first glance, this raises a question: did we not already measure the gate's width earlier and find it to be eight cubits? Based on what we explained, however, this is readily understood: the total opening of the entrance was ten cubits wide, but because pillars (*eilim*) stood on the right and on the left, each measuring one cubit, the remaining clearance of the opening was eight cubits. The actual width of the opening was ten cubits.
Likewise with the length: the interior space of the gate itself is thirteen cubits. Earlier, we counted six cubits and another six cubits, which were the two thresholds - six cubits leading up to the door, the door itself occupying one cubit, and six cubits in the inner section. Taken together, this yields a total space of thirteen cubits. Here, the verse counts the space in its entirety: one who enters sees before him a length of thirteen cubits - divided into six, one, and six - and a width of ten cubits from right to left.
The Border of the Cells and Their Walls
וּגְבוּל לִפְנֵי הַתָּאוֹת אַמָּה אֶחָת וְאַמָּה־אַחַת גְּבוּל מִפֹּה וְהַתָּא שֵׁשׁ־אַמּוֹת מִפּוֹ וְשֵׁשׁ אַמּוֹת מִפּוֹ׃ (יב) - And there was a border before the cells of one cubit, and a border of one cubit on this side; and the cell was six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side. (12)
Now the text speaks about the side where the cells adjoin the outer wall. Someone arriving from the outside first sees the wall of the cells rather than the main wall itself (although the cells did not reach the full height of the wall, so the wall remained visible above them). From our perspective, the cell wall is an inner wall, while on its other side it forms the main wall itself.
"And a border before the cells of one cubit" - this refers to the border of the cells on their inner side, facing west. This seems difficult at first glance: after all, the wall itself was thirteen cubits thick, so why does the verse speak here of only one cubit? Rather, the wall itself was thirteen cubits thick, and beyond that was an additional one-cubit ledge protruding toward the cells - not along the entire length of the wall, but only where the cells stood - and it served as the western side of the cell. "And a border of one cubit on this side" - one such cubit on the north and one such cubit on the south, a wall connecting into the main wall.
"And the cell was six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side" - the Malbim explains that this cannot refer to the interior space of the cell, for the interior space was already counted earlier as six cubits by six. Rather, it refers to the walls: between each cell stood a dividing wall of five cubits, but the four outer walls - the wall of the rearmost cell on the right and that on the left, as well as the walls of the front cells adjacent to the gate on the right and left of someone entering - were not dividing walls but outer walls, and their thickness was six cubits rather than five: one extra cubit. This is the meaning of "and the cell was six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side": the wall of the cell on this side was six cubits and on that side was six, and likewise for the cells on the other side.
From the Roof of One Cell to Its Roof: A Width of Twenty-Five Cubits
וַיָּמָד אֶת־הַשַּׁעַר מִגַּג הַתָּא לְגַגּוֹ רֹחַב עֶשְׂרִים וְחָמֵשׁ אַמּוֹת פֶּתַח נֶגֶד פָּתַח׃ (יג) - And he measured the gate from the roof of one cell to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits, door facing door. (13)
The three cells on each side belong to the gate, and they were therefore called "the cells of the gate." Why are they called a ta (cell)? The word ta is related to the root ata, which means to come - as in "the watchman said, the morning comes (ata voker)," or the Aramaic phrase "went and came (azal ve-ata)" - an expression of arrival and entry. The cell is the space through which people arrive and enter, from the gate on the right and from the gate on the left. Therefore, when Scripture says "and he measured the gate," it means that he measured the cells, which are the gate cells.
The measurement here is width rather than length: not the length of the three cells, but rather, from the point where one enters, how far one advances until completing the cell and the wall. This is the calculation: the wall itself is thirteen cubits, plus one cubit for the protrusion of the wall toward the cells - making fourteen. The cell itself is six cubits - bringing it to twenty. And the outer wall of the cell, whose thickness is visible to anyone approaching from outside, adds another five cubits - totaling twenty-five. This is "a width of twenty-five cubits."
"Door facing door" - the Malbim explains that all the cells were open toward one another. Someone entering from the gate turns right and enters a cell, from there through a doorway into the next cell, from there through an entrance into the third cell, and from there to the outside. The same applied to the left. Thus, one could enter from the gate into the cells to the right and left, and one could also do the reverse: enter from the outermost cell and proceed cell by cell until reaching the interior space of the gate. Entry was possible from both sides.
As an aside regarding the scriptural wording: one should not attach special significance to the word being vocalized "door facing patach" with a kamatz, for a segolate noun appearing at the end of a verse or at an etnachta pause takes a kamatz under pause. Examples include "no silver (efes kasaf)" rather than kesef, or lacham rather than lechem. This rule is not absolute, but it holds in most instances. By contrast, in "and the Children of Israel observed the Passover (et ha-Pasach)," one might question the pause form, since it appears neither at the end of a verse nor at an etnachta. In any event, this is the general rule of grammar, and it accounts for the vocalization here as well.
The Sixty Posts: A Substitute for the Soreg
וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת־אֵילִים שִׁשִּׁים אַמָּה וְאֶל־אֵיל הֶחָצֵר הַשַּׁעַר סָבִיב סָבִיב׃ (יד) - "He made posts of sixty cubits, and the gate was toward the post of the courtyard all around."
The chambers extend forty cubits on each side of the gate, as we will see in the next verse, followed by the wall. Now he makes posts (ailim) extending from the place where the chambers end, standing in a straight line with the chambers. That is: one who arrives and sees chambers to his right and to his left, and does not enter through the gate but walks along the outside of the chambers - once the chambers end, the posts begin. And what were these posts? A beautiful decorative structure in the form of arched gateways, continuing in a straight line with the chambers, on both the right and the left.
And how many were there? Sixty posts, meaning sixty such arches. The Malbim offers several possible explanations, stating that there was an interval of one cubit between each post. Thus, each post was one cubit, and between the sixty posts there were fifty-nine spaces - a total of one hundred and nineteen cubits. And likewise to the right side, and likewise to the left side.
The Malbim explains: according to this calculation, it turns out that these arches covered the entire wall, from the eastern wall to the west on this side, and up to the southern on this side and northern on that side. Anyone arriving would see them covering the wall to his right and to his left. Their purpose was to serve as a replacement for the Soreg (lattice barrier). As is well known, the Beis HaMikdash had a Soreg designed to keep non-Jews from entering inward, bearing inscriptions - and as mentioned in the Chanukah derashos, the matter of the Soreg inscribed with a warning that no foreigner may approach was one of the things that incensed Titus. Some say this barrier existed on all sides, but the Malbim says this Soreg was only on the eastern side.
"And the gate was toward the post of the courtyard round about" - the Malbim explains that the hinge of the gate was set between the two thresholds of the gate. As recalled, there was a threshold for one entering from the outside and a threshold for one coming from the inside, six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side, with the door in the middle having a thickness of one cubit. Until now, we did not know which way the gate opened, outward or inward; the verse therefore comes to teach that it opened toward the courtyard, inward, swinging on its hinge. It was not two doors, but one single gate leaf, ten cubits wide matching the width of the entranceway, standing in the middle, swinging open toward the right side on its hinge.
And the post of the courtyard was fixed at the entrance of the vestibule (Ulam), standing face-to-face, a post on this side and a post on that side, indented by one cubit. One entering inward from the vestibule sees a post on the right and a post on the left, forming an arched doorway with pillars on either side. And the door would swing open and reach almost up to the post, but not completely - there remained a gap of one cubit, and only after it stood the pillars on the right and left inside.
And the reason for this, explains the Malbim: had the door reached all the way to the edge, it would have blocked the windows and doorways of the inner chambers, for as we will see later, the inner chambers also had windows facing outward as well as doors. Therefore, the door reached almost to the edge, leaving a one-cubit clearance, and within that cubit were the doorway and window.
The Eiton Gate - Fifty Cubits
וְעַל פְּנֵי הַשַּׁעַר הָאִיתוֹן עַל־לִפְנֵי אֻלָם הַשַּׁעַר הַפְּנִימִי חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה׃ (טו) - "And from the front of the entrance gate to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate were fifty cubits."
We have already explained that the three chambers on the right and the three chambers on the left are considered part of the gateway structure. This name is mentioned in our Kinos: "Desolate are Eiton and Tadi" - Eiton and Tadi were two gates in the Beis HaMikdash. And why was it called Sha'ar Ha-Eiton? Not from the modern Hebrew word for newspaper (iton), but as we explained regarding the ta (chamber) - from the Aramaic root "asa" (אתא), meaning coming or entering. Sha'ar Ha-Eiton is the gate through which one enters, the entrance gate.
And what was its dimension? Fifty cubits - the chambers together with the gate. And this is the calculation: the wall of the outermost chamber was six cubits, the chamber itself another six - that makes twelve. Two dividing walls in between, five and five - that makes twenty-two. Another two chambers, each six cubits - that makes thirty-four. And another six cubits for the final wall before the gate, since we saw that the walls at the ends were thicker, six cubits rather than five - that makes forty. And the gateway itself was ten cubits - making fifty. And likewise on the other side: forty on the right, forty on the left, and the gateway ten cubits.
The Malbim notes that two points are conveyed here. Until now we have spoken of the chambers on the outside, and we already mentioned that opposite them were chambers on the inside as well. Therefore, the verse tells us: the fifty-cubit measurement applies not only to the outer chambers. "And from the front of the entrance gate" - one approaching from the outside sees fifty cubits before him; "to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate" - one looking from the direction of the vestibule, from the inside, likewise sees chambers of the same length of fifty cubits including the gate. Thus, what was visible from the outside was also visible from the inside. The Malbim also mentions here that we will see further on that there was a paved terrace on the interior - an elevated, paved area - which also extended beyond the chambers, protruding outward, and he will explain this more fully later on.
Closed Windows and Palm Trees
וְחַלּוֹנוֹת אֲטֻמוֹת אֶל־הַתָּאִים וְאֶל אֵלֵיהֵמָה לִפְנִימָה לַשַּׁעַר סָבִיב סָבִיב וְכֵן לָאֵלַמּוֹת וְחַלּוֹנוֹת סָבִיב סָבִיב לִפְנִימָה וְאֶל־אַיִל תִּמֹרִים׃ (טז) - And there were closed windows to the guardrooms and to their posts inward within the gate round about, and likewise for the vestibules; and there were windows round about inward, and upon each post were palm trees. (16)
"And there were closed windows to the guardrooms" - windows made to bring light into the guardrooms. And what does "closed" (atumot) mean? The Malbim explains that they were sealed with glass, meaning closed within a glass frame. Some explain "closed" in the sense of the "windows broad within and narrow without" (shekufim atumim) in Shlomo's Temple, which were wide on one side and narrow on the other, so that it was easy to see out from one side and not from the other, teaching you that Hashem does not need its light; but here the Malbim interprets it as a glass window.
And the windows were "to the guardrooms," meaning in the eastern wall of the guardrooms. One approaching from the outside did not see a solid, windowless wall, but rather a wall with windows - three windows, one for each guardroom. Thus, each guardroom of six cubits by six cubits received a window opening to the outside, through which light entered the guardrooms.
"And to their posts" (el eleihemah) - the Malbim explains that beside the doorways stood two posts, and "eleihemah" means those posts. We have already explained that the guardrooms had doorways on both sides, doorway facing doorway facing doorway all the way to the outside on the right and on the left, and the guardroom adjacent to the gate also had a doorway, so that anyone entering through the gate could see to the right and to the left all the way to the end, to the outdoors, through these doorways. The verse comes to teach that besides the doorways, there were also windows facing outside, to the right and left, and there were also windows inside, in order to let in light.
"And likewise for the vestibules" - the windows facing the vestibule of the gate were also open to the courtyard. Lest one think that there were windows only for someone approaching from the outside, even one looking from within, from inside the Courtyard, saw windows in the inner guardrooms, and these windows opened toward the courtyard, and likewise round about.
"And upon each post were palm trees" - both on the posts of the courtyard and on the posts of the guardrooms there were timorim, meaning decorations in the shape of a date palm, from the word tamarim. Even on the sixty posts we saw from the outside, those arches that began where the guardrooms ended to indicate that one must not enter further, there were decorations above them. Likewise, in the illustrated depictions one finds decorations of date palms and palm trees, which were part of the splendor of the Beit HaMikdash.
The Outer Courtyard: Thirty Chambers and a Pavement
וַיְבִיאֵנִי אֶל־הֶחָצֵר הַחִיצוֹנָה וְהִנֵּה לְשָׁכוֹת וְרִצְפָה עָשׂוּי לֶחָצֵר סָבִיב סָבִיב שְׁלֹשִׁים לְשָׁכוֹת אֶל־הָרִצְפָה׃ (יז) - Then he brought me into the outer courtyard, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement made for the courtyard round about; thirty chambers faced the pavement. (17)
Now he brings him to the outer courtyard. Having entered through the eastern gate, the great area called the Outer Courtyard opens up before us. Here the verse counts thirty chambers. The Malbim notes that there is a difficulty in understanding where they were located, for the chambers stood to the right and left of one entering from the eastern gate, and the length of the area there was thirty-four cubits - how could thirty chambers fit into thirty-four cubits?
Rather, there are two possibilities, and the verse intends both. One possibility is that it refers to all three gates. Just as the eastern gate has chambers to the right and to the left, so too there is a northern gate and a southern gate, each with chambers to the right and left. It follows that the verse is counting all the chambers of the three gates together: five on the right and five on the left at the eastern gate, five and five at the northern gate - making twenty, and five and five at the southern gate - making thirty: ten chambers at each gate.
Another possibility is that the chambers themselves were three stories high. Thus, the ten chambers of a single gate, multiplied by three stories, amount to thirty. The Malbim explains that the calculation is precise in both ways: if we count all the gates but only their ground-level chambers, we reach thirty; and if we count at the eastern gate alone, including the upper-story chambers, we likewise reach thirty. Therefore, Scripture simply states "thirty chambers" to encompass both calculations, for whichever way one counts, the figure is exact.
וְהָרִצְפָה אֶל־כֶּתֶף הַשְּׁעָרִים לְעֻמַּת אֹרֶךְ הַשְּׁעָרִים הָרִצְפָה הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה׃ (יח) - And the pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. (18)
The pavement is already located on the inside, in the outer courtyard. After entering through the eastern gate, the chambers are to the right and left, and in front of them is a pavement - an area slightly elevated above the general floor level of the outer courtyard, which is termed the pavement (ritzpah). Its length ran "corresponding to the length of the gates," matching the extent of the chambers.
And since the width of the chambers was four cubits, while the width of the pavement was six cubits, the chambers occupied four cubits of the pavement, leaving an additional two cubits of open pavement running along their front for their entire length. In other words: one who enters through the eastern gate, after passing through the outer wall, sees the chambers to his right and left, and in front of them, westward, an additional two cubits of paved walkway along their entire length. This is the meaning of "and the pavement was by the side of the gates."
Why is it called "the lower pavement"? The Malbim explains: further on we will see that along the wall of the outer courtyard facing the Ulam and the Heichal there was also a pavement and chambers, just as in the courtyard of the Ezrat Yisrael, within the inner courtyard. There, one ascends to a higher elevation, and that is called the upper pavement. Therefore, Scripture emphasizes here "the lower pavement," indicating that this refers to the pavement at the initial entrance, the floor of the outer courtyard, which corresponds to Ezrat Nashim (the Women's Courtyard).
One Hundred Cubits from the Outer Courtyard to the Inner Courtyard
וַיָּמָד רֹחַב מִלִּפְנֵי הַשַּׁעַר הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה לִפְנֵי הֶחָצֵר הַפְּנִימִי מִחוּץ מֵאָה אַמָּה הַקָּדִים וְהַצָּפוֹן׃ (יט) - Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court on the outside, one hundred cubits eastward and northward. (19)
Now he measures the width of the open space of the Ezrat Nashim from east to west. The prophet enters from the east, and directly before him lies the Ezrat Nashim; he seeks to know its dimensions - how far one must advance westward to reach the inner courtyard. Picture an inverted letter chet, with its crossbar at the bottom, and inside it another inverted chet: the inner one is the inner courtyard, and the outer one is the outer courtyard into which we have entered. And what is the distance between the wall of the outer courtyard (the Ezrat Nashim) and the wall of the inner courtyard? One hundred cubits.
Why does the verse say "from the front of the lower gate," and why "eastward and northward"? The Malbim explains: one could not measure from wall to wall directly at the point of entrance, because to the right and left stand the chambers behind the walls, which take up space, and the measurement would therefore not be open space wall-to-wall. In order to measure from the wall itself, one had to walk to the right and bypass the chambers until reaching the actual outer perimeter wall; from there, one could measure straight across to the outer wall of the inner courtyard, yielding an exact wall-to-wall measurement. This is what the verse hints at: after forty cubits to the right and left, where the chambers came to an end, that is where he measured from.
"Eastward and northward" - after measuring on the eastern side where he entered, he also measured on the northern side and found that there too, from the northern wall to the inner courtyard, it was one hundred cubits. Later we will see that from the southern wall to the inner courtyard was likewise one hundred cubits. Thus, that inner chet stands equidistant on all sides from the outer chet: one hundred cubits to the right, one hundred cubits to the left, and one hundred cubits straight ahead for one entering through the eastern gate.
In summary:
In this section, the prophet completed the delineation of the eastern gate complex: three guard-cells (ta'im) on this side and three on that side of identical dimensions, doorway facing doorway straight through to the outer exit, posts (eilim) at the entrance and exit; the width of the gateway opening being ten cubits and the length of its covered entryway thirteen; the border ledge of one cubit protruding from the wall, outer walls six cubits thick, and a total width of twenty-five cubits from the roof of one cell to the opposite roof. The sixty cubits of posts beyond the cells served as an equivalent to the Soreg on the eastern side; the gate doors opened inward and swung on their hinges to within one cubit of the post so as not to obstruct the windows of the innermost cells; and the entire length of the gate complex with the cells was fifty cubits - outside and inside alike. Glass-sealed windows admitted light into the cells, and palm trees decorated the posts. From there we entered the outer courtyard, which contained thirty chambers (whether counted across the three gates or across three stories) with the lower pavement in front of them, and the courtyard extended one hundred cubits on every side up to the inner courtyard. Everything is measured, everything is precise, just as the prophet was commanded: "Look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your heart."