Sefer Yechezkel, chapter 42. "Then he brought me out into the outer court by the way toward the north, and he brought me into the chamber that was opposite the separate space and opposite the building toward the north." The Malbim explains that in effect all the pesukim that this chapter deals with will be about the places located between the inner court and the outer court. When we speak of the outer court, we enter through the eastern gate, we come into the outer court, and from there we then have an entrance into the inner court. The inner court is divided into a square court within which the altar was located, and this part of the court was the court in which the Kohanim were, and before it there was also the Ezras Yisrael, and then the innermost part is already the place where the Ulam was, where the Heichal was and the Kodesh HaKodashim. These are already the more inner places, and the Malbim collectively calls them all the inner court.
Says the Malbim, the space of the outer court from north to south, he makes a calculation, whoever wishes may study it inside, but he calculates that it was 326 amos. That was the space from north to south. Says the Malbim, and when we make the calculation from the side of the eastern part to the side of the western part, we get 313 amos. If we add to this also the 13 amos that were at the end, here too we reach a total of 326 amos. Says the Malbim, the space from the inner court to the outer wall, as we will soon see, was 113 amos. In a moment we will see how it is calculated, but the space from the inner court to the outer court, to the wall of the outer court, was a space of 113 amos.
Says the Malbim, now we will explain what the buildings in the court were, and in effect this is what our chapter will teach us now, what there was between the inner court and the outer court, in effect in the outer court, what the structures there were. We will see that we had a chamber that was 50 by 100, we will see that we had another chamber that was 50 by 50, we will see that there were differences between them, there were gaps between them, there was a path between them, we will see atikim, which are in effect a kind of galleries that connected them from above and by means of which one could ascend to the height, all these things our chapter will teach us.
Says the Malbim, we already saw above in chapter 41, in pasuk 10, that between the chambers there was a width of 20 amos around the Bais. Around the Bais there was a width of 20 amos, which means adjacent to the inner court. Up to 20 amos and outward there were chambers, and these chambers were open on the one side inward and on the other side outward. It was possible through these chambers to go out from the inner court outward, and it was also possible to go out from these chambers even further outward to the outer court. That is, one going out from the inner court to the chamber, and from the chamber outward to the outer court. These chambers were called the chambers of the twenty. And the reason is because of their width, the width of the walls, which was 20 amos. Their length continued along the entire 100 amos of the wall of the Ulam and the Heichal, and their entrances, as we said, were open, open both to the Ulam and the Heichal and also open outward to the outer court.
Opposite the chambers of the 20, pay attention, there stood in the outer court, now we are going more toward the west. I am now speaking of the side that is closer to the Heichal, the Kodesh HaKodashim and so on. There was there, whoever has a diagram in hand can see, there was there a long chamber whose length was 100 amos and whose width was 50 amos. This chamber is called the chamber of the hundred. The chamber of the hundred, its length 100 amos and its width 50 amos. After that, a bit further down, when we go slightly more toward the east, then there, adjacent to it, was the chamber of the 50. Since this chamber that was adjacent to it was a chamber shorter than it in length, but of the same width. Indeed they were not drawn one after the other, that is in a perfectly straight line as we will see further on, but in any case we understand that their width was the same width.
Now, there was also a path of 10 amos between the chamber of the 20 and the chamber of the 100. That is, the chamber of the 20 was not adjacent to the chamber of the 100. The 20 that was adjacent to the Heichal was not adjacent to the chamber of the 100, but rather there was a path there through which one could pass. This path, its width was 10 amos. It was a path, a kind of walkway, that constituted a passage between the chambers, that is the chamber of the 100, and the chamber of the 20, the chamber of the 20 being adjacent to the Heichal and to the Ulam and the Kodesh HaKodashim.
Says the Malbim, on the other side of the chambers of the 100, which was toward the wall of the outer court, that is, if now I continue and go out further and move away from the chamber of the 100, I reach the side of the outer court. So the gap between the chamber of the 100 and the completely outer wall was a gap of 33 amos. Says the Malbim, if now we make the calculation, we arrive at a calculation like this: from the chamber of the 100 to the outer wall, 33 amos. The chamber of the 100 itself, its width 50, its length 100. How much is 33 plus 50? We got 83. The passage, we said, is another 10, we got together 93. And the chamber of the 20 is another width of 20, we got 113. Here is what the Malbim told us at the beginning, that from the outer wall of the Heichal to the outer wall of the outer court, we have exactly 113 amos, and these are the chambers located between them.
Says the Malbim, besides this, in the four corners of the outer court there are courts that these courts are called keturos courts. We will not elaborate and will not go into them now. Keturos means courts that are not roofed, without a ceiling. And in all four corners there were keturos courts. The size of these keturos courts was 30 by 40 amos. We will see this in chapter 46, where we will see a reference to these courts, but whoever looks at the diagram can see that in the four corners there are keturos courts, these are the courts located in the corners of the outer court.
Says the Malbim, when we make a calculation from the keturos courts, the keturos court is 30 amos. And we said that from the wall of the court, courts there, to what is called the chamber of the 100, we said there are 33 amos. So then there is another surplus of three amos, and this in effect was the passage between the keturos courts and the court of, and the chamber of the 100. The chamber of the 100 was 33 from it to the wall, the keturos courts were 30. So between them there was a passage of three amos, yes? And this too can be seen in the diagram, that there is some narrow passage between the keturos courts and the chamber of the 100, and this is the 3 amos that we just spoke of.
Says the Malbim, another thing one must know, that on the two sides where the chamber of the 100 stood, and also on the two sides where the chamber of the 20 stood, there were atikim. What in effect are atikim? Atikim, as we explained, is when there are two structures and we draw beams from structure to structure, we can upon these beams make an additional structure. And this additional structure is a kind of gallery and the like, this structure is called atikim. These atikim were between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20. For the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, both of them, their length was 100 amos. Between them, we said, there was a width of 10 amos. They stretched between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, they stretched beams at the beginning and at the end. Pay attention, the atikim did not cover everything, but only at the beginning and at the end, and in the diagram too one can see that there is a strip at the beginning and a strip at the end. These were atikim, meaning a kind of gallery upon which another structure was built. These atikim were not made with pillars to the floor, because if they had been made with pillars to the floor, that would have narrowed the passage. We said that the passage is 10 amos. If you made pillars and upon them built the gallery, that would have blocked the passage. Therefore this gallery, these atikim, were built only by placing beams between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, they stretched beams, and these beams are what they built the atikim upon, but without the atikim having beams to the ground.
Says the Malbim, and this is what is written, "Then he brought me out into the outer court by the way toward the north." He brings me out to the outer court. Since he was in the inner court, he now goes out to the outer court, but he says, from where do I go out? I go out from the north side. I can go out to the outer court and go toward the east, I can go toward the west. "And he brought me into the chamber that was opposite the separate space and opposite the building toward the north." That is, he takes me more toward the west. The meaning of this is, to the chambers of the 20 and the chambers of the 100 that were drawn more toward the west. So he brings me out of the inner court outward and leads me more toward the west, to these chambers that were drawn more opposite the Heichal. Yes, when I say Heichal I mean the Heichal, the Ulam, the Kodesh HaKodashim. I do not want to repeat this again and again, so when I mean the more final part of the Beis HaMikdash, I call it Heichal, and the meaning is in effect everything that was there. And these chambers, the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, were drawn opposite the Heichal. And from there he takes me to the north, through the entrance of the court, which, as we said, was behind the chamber. Behind the chamber there was an entrance, and the entrance was a narrow entrance of the width of one amah, from there he brings me out toward the north. "Along the length of a hundred amos was the north entrance, and the width was fifty amos."
He says, from there I enter the chamber of the 100. Because in the chamber of the 100, just as in the chamber of the 20 there was an entrance toward the north, the chamber of the 100 is opposite it, so it too had an entrance toward the south. So one going out of the chamber of the 20 sees an entrance facing him in the chamber of the 100, and enters directly there into the chamber of the 100 through this entrance, as we said, an entrance of the width of a tefach.
"Opposite the twenty that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery facing gallery in three tiers." Now he says, he tells us that he found that there were four atikim there. And we already explained the matter of the atik, that it is in effect some kind of gallery that is built upon, connecting between two existing structures. He says, I see that there are two atikim that were opposite the 20 that belonged to the inner court, and besides this he says there were two atikim also opposite the pavement. What does this mean? Just as we now explained that there were atikim between the 20 and the chamber of the 100, the chamber of the 100 also continued, from it there also continued atikim to the outer court. These are the atikim that extend from here. Only I did not entirely understand from the Malbim, since the chamber of the 100 was opposite the keturos courts at its edge. So it was not so clear to me whether the atikim were above the keturos courts, whether the atikim were in front of the keturos courts, but in any case he says, just as there were atikim that connected between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, so too there were atikim that connected from the chamber of the 100 outward toward the outer wall of the Beis HaMikdash, meaning the outer wall of the gate of the outer court, there were atikim also that extended toward that direction, so that it comes out that there were four atikim. Now understand, everything I am explaining to you now for the north side, the whole calculation was exactly the same also for the south side. He will say this explicitly later on. But we simply take one side and explain it, because that is what the Navi does. And afterward he will tell us that just as you see the chambers and the atikim that you have on the north side, so too exactly it was also on the south side.
Now he tells us, these atikim were in three tiers. What does "in three tiers" mean? Every atik was three. Because we know that the chambers were in three levels. They were built three stories. So too the atikim were atikim to the height of three stories. That is, between chamber and chamber there was an atik, from the next chamber above it between chamber and chamber an atik, and the chamber above it too between chamber and chamber an atik. And then it comes out then that there were also three stories in the atikim, which means the beams connecting between the chambers, these galleries, were also in three levels.
"And before the chambers was a walk of ten amos in width to the inner part, a way of one amah, and their entrances were toward the north." Now he explains to us how much the distance was between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, which we mentioned earlier. We mentioned the matters verbally, now we see them inside. He tells us, know that between the chamber of the 20 and the chamber of the 100 there was a gap of 10 amos, which is 10 amos through which one could walk. And through these 10 amos too one would go out from the chamber of the 20 to the chamber of the 100, through an entrance that was of the width of an amah. This is what he says, "a way of one amah, and their entrances were toward the north." The entrance of the chamber of the 20 was toward the north. And the entrance on the south side, says the Malbim, is not called an entrance because it was only of the width of an amah, therefore he does not mention it as an entrance. In contrast, the entrance from the chamber of the 20 and outward was an entrance that was wider.
"And the upper chambers were shorter, for the galleries consumed from them, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building." When we speak of atikim, then here the Malbim explains in effect in what manner they built the atikim. In order to build the atikim, you need to build them on the walls of the building. How would they build this? They would make, for example, for the sake of the matter, the lower wall of the width of two amos. And so too the wall opposite it of the width of two amos. Now we are speaking of there being three stories. So the wall above it, pay attention, it is already of the width of an amah and a half. What comes out then? It comes out then that it leaves us some recess on the outside, it leaves us some protrusion, that the lower wall protrudes half an amah more than the upper wall. The wall above it is already not of the width of an amah and a half, it is of the width of an amah. And then it comes out that it too leaves us another half amah of space. Now, from the outside you see a place, a thick lower wall, an upper one thinner, an upper one thinner. From the inside everything was equal. From the inside the width was the same. Only on the outside there were these differences. What did this thing in effect give us? It gave us the possibility to place the beams of the atikim upon these protrusions. Because in effect the wall that is on the second story was narrower, so it was possible to place upon the wall of the first story half an amah, to place those beams, and then by means of this it was possible to make those galleries by means of these beams. But if not, then we would have been obligated to pierce the walls in order to insert the beams. In order not to create such a situation, he made the lower wall wider, the upper one a bit narrower, the upper one a bit narrower, and in the places, in these recesses that were created, upon them he placed the atikim. Says the Malbim, and thus there were three stories. In effect by means of this it comes out that we also have three tiers for the atikim as well, that the atikim too are built to a height of three stories. And this is what is written, "for the galleries consumed from them." "Consumed," explains the Malbim, is from the term of eating. That is, the atik was eating, eating means taking a part, this is the sense of eating. The atik was eating a part of the chamber that is above, and a part of the chamber that is even further above. What does this mean? Why was it eating from it? Because it was necessary to place the beams upon the wall, so it was necessary to reduce somewhat the width of the wall above it, so it comes out that the atik ate from it. This is what the pasuk says here, "and the upper chambers were shorter, for the galleries consumed from them, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building." From the lower and the middle by way of building, as we explained, that he built them somewhat narrower, and then by this the building was somewhat shortened due to those atikim.
"For they were in three tiers, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the building was reduced from the lower and the middle from the ground." Why was it necessary to do it in this way? He explains to us why he did not build the atikim as they are always built. And the way to build is by beams that are drawn from the ground and upon them one builds that gallery. Why here did he build the gallery in this way? The answer is, it tells you, "for they were in three tiers," they were built three stories, "and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts." They had no pillars like it is customary to make in courts. "Therefore the building was reduced from the lower and the middle from the ground." That is, he did not want to erect pillars, and this I already explained earlier, because if he had erected pillars, he would have shortened the width. For the atikim, we are speaking of them being in a place whose width is 10 amos. And also from the court of the 100 outward toward the outer wall, indeed 33 amos, but he did not want to reduce the length there either, to reduce the width. And since this is so, he did not use pillars at all, but built the atikim as I said directly on the sides, and consequently by means of this it was not necessary to bring pillars down to the ground, and consequently the building was not reduced. Therefore "the building was reduced from the lower and the middle from the ground." "Therefore reduced," "reduced" means diminished, yes? Like "to draw off from the spirit," to give and grant to someone else. So here too it is "reduced," the meaning is diminished somewhat from the chambers, from the wall of the chambers, so that they could widen the atikim, so that the atikim would have something to rest upon, on the recess, on the protrusion of the side walls.
"And a wall that was on the outside opposite the chambers, toward the outer court in front of the chambers, its length was fifty amos." Now he will speak with us about the wall that was on the outside opposite the chambers, a wall of 50 amos. That is, says the Malbim, in order to understand these matters, we need to preface an introduction. Says the Malbim, just as we understand that we have this court, these chambers that are 50 by 100, we must know that there were also afterward chambers of 50 by 50. The chambers of the 50 by 50, these were the chambers that were more opposite the Ezras Kohanim. Not opposite the Heichal. The chambers of the 100 by 50 were opposite the Heichal. The chambers of the 50 by 50 were opposite the Ezras Kohanim. Now, the Kohanim could eat outside the azarah, even though normally the place where the Kohanim are permitted to eat the holy meat is only within the azarah, kodshei kodashim are eaten only within the azarah. Nevertheless, they sanctified a part also outside the azarah of the width of 20 amos. And this part that they sanctified of the width of 20 amos outside the azarah, the Kohanim can eat also in this part. Therefore, for this purpose, they would make a wall that was on the outside opposite the chambers, toward the outer court in front of the chambers. They made a wall that this wall would be of the width of 50 amos, and this wall separated, made a division between the sanctified part for eating kodshei kodashim and the part that is not sanctified. So this wall in effect was intended to apply to the part that is closer to the azarah, to the inner court, to apply to it, to this place to apply to it a status of holiness, a place where one can eat kodshei kodashim, because in the outer court one could not eat kodshei kodashim, only in the inner court. But by sanctifying another 20 amos around and making a wall for this so that they would not err and go beyond this, this wall, its length was 50 amos and the width, as we said, this place was 20, there one can eat kodshei kodashim. This place we will see that he will call later the wall of the ginah or the fence of the ginah. What does this in effect mean? We are not speaking of a garden, there were no flowers there. Ginah is from the term to protect (lehagen). This wall was a wall whose function was to protect that the Kohanim would not go out of the inner azarah, would not go outward and distance themselves right into the outer court. It was a wall that protected, that this wall guarded that they could only go out up to 20 amos, and within these 20 amos, as I said, there it was indeed permitted to eat kodshei kodashim, because this was truly sanctified with the law of the inner court.
"For the length of the chambers that belonged to the outer court was fifty amos, and behold, opposite the Heichal it was a hundred amos." Now he explains to us that these chambers, although they resemble the chamber of the 100 in width, since the chamber of the 50 too is of width 50 and the chamber of the 100 too is of width 50, nevertheless the difference between them was in length. Since the length of the chamber that is the chamber of the 100, its length is 100, and the length of the chamber of the 50 is 50 by 50. So it comes out then that its length is as its width, 50. But the chamber of the 100, its length is 100 and its width is 50.
"And below these chambers was the entrance from the east, as one goes into them from the outer court." Says the Malbim, we already saw that one who goes out from the Ezras Yisrael through the Ulam, and walks, the Malbim incidentally calls the Ezras Yisrael the entire place that is called the inner court in which also the Kohanim worked, all of this he calls Ezras Yisrael, this is not specifically the Ezras Yisrael, the place that is adjacent to the Ezras Yisrael. Says the Malbim, one who goes out through the Ulam, goes outside, and walks from south to north to the chamber of the 50, we said that it was open of the width of one amah. And at the head of the chamber of the 50 there was also an entrance, and from there he would enter the chamber of the 50. And there opposite him in the chamber of the 50 itself there was also an entrance, through which he would go out to the court, toward the outer entrance located on the north side. Now he explains to us that one who comes from east to west, and enters through the eastern gate and arrives and enters through the eastern gate of the outer court and walks toward the west, he would walk to the chambers below, that is, the meaning is from the east side where they were on the slope of the mountain, for the more one ascended toward the west, the mountain becomes higher and higher, yes? Har HaBayis is a mountain. When we come and look, everyone speaks, when I now look from the direction of Har HaZeisim and I go up on Har HaBayis, then I am going up toward the west. Says the Malbim, the meaning of toward the west is toward the sea, yes? Says the Malbim, so from the east side where they were on the slope of the mountain, one would ascend toward the west, "and below these chambers was the entrance from the east," meaning one who comes from the direction of kadim, one who comes from the direction of the east, "as one goes into them from the outer court," he would come from the side of the outer court.
"In the width of the wall of the court toward the east, in front of the separate space and in front of the building, were chambers." Nevertheless, he could not arrive from the east to the west, except by the width of the wall of the court. The meaning of this is, as we explained, here there was a narrow place, that this narrow place is in effect between the chamber of the 50 and the fence of the ginah, yes? Which was a narrow place. This narrow place was a width of 10 amos. And so too between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, there too we said there was a narrow place, that this narrow place was of the width of 10 amos. Now, if we look, and you can see this in the diagram that you have, the chamber of the 50 was not drawn in a straight line after the chamber of the 100. It was not straight after it, but rather the chamber of the 50 was drawn a bit outward. What this means is that when you enter between the chamber of the 50 and the inner court, you pass, but then you cannot continue and pass also to the 10 amos between the chamber of the 100 and the Heichal. You cannot continue and pass the 10 amos, you have the wall of the chamber of the 100. You get stuck at the wall of the chamber of the 100, because the chamber of the 100 is closer to the Heichal than the chamber of the 50. What did one have to do? One had to make an entrance, that this entrance would enter through the fence of the ginah as we explained earlier, and through this entrance he would pass and enter into the 10 amos separating between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the Heichal. So it comes out then that he goes and takes diagonally through the entrance and passes from there to the chamber of the Heichal. He could not enter directly, because there was no walkway that would lead him and take him directly.
Explains the Malbim, why was it built thus? Why in effect did they not make the chambers be one after the other? Why was it necessary to do that the chamber of the 100 would be closer and the chamber of the 50 would be further, and then we have a problem with the passage, the passage is not in one continuation? Says the Malbim, because as he already explained above, the outer court protruded 13 amos outward more than on the side of the Heichal. On the side of the Heichal, the width of the court was less by 13 amos. And in contrast, on the side of the inner court, it protruded 13 amos more. What this thing necessitated, that on the side of the inner court, meaning what is called the Ezras Yisrael, the Ezras Kohanim, it was necessary to distance the chamber of the 50 another 13 amos outward. At the same time as on the side, outward I mean toward the wall of the outer wall. In contrast, on the side of the Heichal, there it was not necessary to distance it another 13 amos outward, it was more inward. It was closer to the Heichal. And therefore this thing created a situation that when you pass between the chamber of the 50 and the azarah, and the Ezras Kohanim, when you pass in the middle through these 10 amos, you encounter the wall of the chamber of the 100, because the chamber of the 100 was closer and adjacent to the Heichal than the chamber of the 50 close and adjacent to the inner court. Says the pasuk in Yechezkel: "And a way before them was like the appearance of the chambers that were toward the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were according to their arrangements and according to their entrances." Says the Malbim, since he had not yet taught us that also between the chamber of the 50 and the wall there were also 10 amos, which we mentioned earlier verbally, that between the chamber of the 50 and the wall, that this wall up to there we said it was permitted to eat the kodashim, there too there were 10 amos. Therefore he says "and a way before them was like the appearance of the chambers." Know that there was also a way like the appearance of the chambers that we spoke of earlier between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, there was a way of 10 amos, so too here a way between the chamber of the 50 and the inner court, there was also a way whose width was of the width of 10 amos. Only the difference was in length. That the way that was at the chamber of the 100 was a way of 100. And in contrast at the 50 the way was only of length 50, because here too it is only along the length of the chamber, and the length of the chamber was 50. Besides this he says, know that in everything they were equal. It tells you "according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were according to their arrangements and according to their entrances," the meaning is everything was equal, as we saw above regarding the entrances and how they would go out from one to another, all of this was equal, both in the chamber of the 50 and in the chamber of the 100.
"And like the entrances of the chambers that were toward the south was an entrance at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall corresponding, the way toward the east as one comes to them." Says the Malbim, he wanted to tell us here that everything that was on the north side of the outer court, since everything we have explained until now was on the north side, know that exactly the same was also on the south side. Just as you saw the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 50, and just as we spoke of the keturos courts and of the way of 10 amos separating between the chambers, everything that you saw until now that was toward the north, so by calculation exactly the same was also on the other side of Har HaBayis toward the south. "And like the entrances of the chambers that were toward the south was an entrance at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall corresponding," as we explained that it was necessary to pass through the fence of the ginah in order to enter the continuation of the way that was between the chamber of the 100 and the chamber of the 20, everything was exactly the same, as it was in the north so too it was in the south.
"And he said to me: The chambers of the north and the chambers of the south, which are in front of the separate space, they are the holy chambers where the Kohanim who are near to Hashem shall eat the most holy things; there they shall place the most holy things, and the minchah and the chatas and the asham, for the place is holy." He now explains to him what these chambers serve for, yes, the chambers of the 20, yes, that were sanctified with the holiness of the azarah, the meaning is what was adjacent to the azarah and we said was sanctified with the holiness of the azarah, this is the 20 amos, why in effect were they sanctified? He tells him that the chambers of the north and the chambers of the south which are in front of the separate space, these are the chambers of the 20, to exclude the chambers of the 100 and the chambers of the 50. The chambers of the 100 and the chambers of the 50 were chol. The chambers of the 20 that were between the inner court and outward, they were kodesh. Kodesh that we say one can eat there kodshei kodashim. He says, they are the holy chambers where the Kohanim who are near to Hashem shall eat the most holy things. There they would eat the kodshei kodashim, which means a place of the stringent kodashim, which means an olah and communal shelamim, minchah, chatas, asham, all these are kodshei kodashim. There in this place they could eat, because they gave this place the holiness of the inner court as we explained, and therefore there they could eat. Says the Malbim, we will see further on in chapter 44, that only the Kohanim from the sons of Tzadok who did not serve idolatry, only they will be fit for the service. The Kohanim who served idolatry will not be fit for the service, because as is known, just as a Kohen who murdered a soul is no longer fit for the service, even though it was inadvertent, so too a Kohen who ever served idolatry is no longer fit for the service. So those Kohanim are no longer fit for the service, only the Kohanim from the sons of Tzadok, they did not serve idolatry. They too alone, only they shall eat the kodshei kodashim. Therefore he says "the Kohanim who are near to Hashem." What is "who are near to Hashem"? These are the sons of Tzadok, those who did not serve idolatry, they were near always and forever. Only they shall eat the kodshei kodashim. "There they shall place the most holy things" and so on. And whoever is not fit to serve, as is known, is also not fit to eat. Except for those with blemishes. Those with blemishes are the exception, that those with blemishes are not fit to serve, but they are indeed fit to eat kodshei kodashim. But in contrast, the rest, whoever is not fit to serve is not fit to eat, so it comes out then that only the Kohanim, the sons of Tzadok, who were fit for the service because they did not serve idolatry, only they shall eat the kodesh there, because only they are permitted in eating. "There they shall place the most holy things, and the minchah and the chatas and the asham, for the place is holy," for as we explained that these 20 amos they sanctified with the holiness of the inner court.
"When the Kohanim enter, they shall not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister, for they are holy; they shall put on other garments and approach that which is for the people." Another thing that these chambers served for, regarding the entering of the Kohanim and their going out. He says, so that the Kohanim would not go out immediately from the kodesh, which is the inner court, to the chol, which is the outer court, they made for them the chambers to be in the middle, so that there they would lay the garments and put on chol garments. It is forbidden for a Kohen to wear kodesh garments when he goes outside. The kodesh garments were intended only for serving, and if not then he in effect commits meilah with the garments. It is forbidden for a Kohen to use them for the purpose of chol. Therefore what they would do, the kodesh garments they would lay there in the chambers, so it comes out then that these chambers, the chambers of the 20, served for another thing. And the additional thing is, besides eating, also for the purpose of removing the garments, there they lay the kodesh garments, put on the chol garments, and with this go outside. And when they would enter, then there they would put on the kodesh garments, lay the chol garments, and then enter inward to the inner court to perform the service, because as is known a Kohen who performed the service in chol garments has profaned it. That is, a Kohen in order to perform the service must serve specifically in kodesh garments. And this is truly one of the problems for those who always dream of how to renew the service in the Beis HaMikdash, one of the central problems is the garments. How, from where do we have garments that are garments of kehunah? What will you say, we will make garments of kehunah? The garments of kehunah must have shaatnez in them, this is the matter, they must have shaatnez. So how will we do it? There is a prohibition of wearing shaatnez, only when the Kohen serves in the Beis HaMikdash. Who told you that you are a Kohen? And who told you that you can do so? Perhaps you are left only with the prohibition of shaatnez? And since this is so, this whole subject is a subject that from a practical standpoint the gedolei Yisrael say cannot be implemented.
"And when he had finished the measurements of the inner Bais, he brought me out toward the gate whose face is toward the east, and he measured it all around." Says the Malbim, after we finished the measurements of the inner Bais, he brings me out through the wall, as we saw the fence of the ginah, he brings me out through there outside, through the eastern gate, to the wall around Har HaBayis. He brings him out through the eastern gate, because if you remember, through there he entered, so from there he brings him out, and now he wants him to measure the wall around the Beis HaMikdash. This is what he says, "and he measured it all around." And now I see the angel measuring the wall from the outside.
"He measured the east side with the measuring rod, five hundred rods, with the measuring rod all around." He measures the east side, and begins to measure, since now he went out from the east side, so this is the first side that he measures. So at the beginning he measured the east side, and he measures it from the south to the north. This is the eastern side for now. Afterward, "he measured the north side, five hundred rods, with the measuring rod all around." Afterward he measures the northern side, from east to west. That is, after he is now facing east, he turns right and goes toward the north, and now measures the outer part of the outer court. "The south side he measured five hundred rods with the measuring rod." Seemingly it is not understood, because if we say that he begins to turn, then the next part that he needs to measure was the western part. And here we see that the western part he does not measure. Right away in the next pasuk he jumps to "the south side he measured." Right away he jumps to measure the south side. What about the western part? Says the Malbim, from this we see that just as in the wall of the Ezras Nashim, the northern and southern and eastern sides were equal regarding their gates and the cells and the halls, and the western side was different from them, because regarding the western side there were no cells and no halls and none of what we saw on the sides that we had on the northern, southern and eastern sides. Says the Malbim, therefore too he does not mention to us the measurement of the western wall. Also in Har HaBayis the western side was different in its buildings, in its gates. And therefore the Navi, when he measures also the other matters of the wall, he passes over, skips the western side and measures the south side, since he wants to see whether the south is equal to the north in all its matters. And then, "he turned around to the west side and measured five hundred rods with the measuring rod." And now he does not continue and go back from south to west, but rather he goes around the eastern and northern side until he comes again to the west. That is, the logic was, after, well, you already went toward the south, come go back, measure what you are missing. You are missing the west side, go back, measure it. Why did he leave it for the end? We already explained, because it was different in its essence from the rest. And he wanted to see that the north is identical to the south. Alright, now you finished with the south, go back, measure the west. No. Like encircling a Sefer Torah. He went and returned to the east, and again to the north, and then arrived at the west again, and now measured the west. This is what he wants to tell us, "he turned around to the west side and measured five hundred rods with the measuring rod." One needs to understand seemingly now, I think why, why does he say "turned around" necessarily in such an interpretation? Seemingly one could also say that "turned around" means he himself turned around, the angel turned around and returned to the south side. Apparently the Malbim understands that "turned around" is always in the meaning of encircled. Therefore he explains that "turned around" is encircled, and not as we say and express in our language "turned around" from the term to spin around. He spun around in his place and returned to the south. No, but rather "turned around" like encircling, going and surrounding.
"On the four sides he measured it; it had a wall all around, its length five hundred and its width five hundred, to make a division between the holy and the profane." Incidentally, from here the expression "to make a division between the holy and the profane," its source is from here. Says the Malbim, "on the four sides he measured." That is, he measured the wall that the wall surrounded all four sides, and the length is 500 rods, and if we make a calculation this is 3,000 amos. It comes out then, says the Malbim, that if we divide this into strips, we get 36 strips of 500 by 500, which is the measure of the first Har HaBayis. Says the Malbim, if you make a calculation, then it comes out for you, if we said 36 strips, 36 strips of 500 by 500, then it comes out then that it comes out thus: for Am Yisrael, one strip. If so, how many are we left with? With 35 strips of 500 by 500. Says the Malbim, 35 is intended for the 70 nations. Which means each nation, each two nations receive a strip. And then it comes out that "My firstborn son is Yisrael." Am Yisrael is the firstborn, it receives a strip of 500 by 500. In contrast the nations, two nations receive a strip of 500 by 500, it comes out that they receive half of Am Yisrael, because in total we said there are 36 such strips, and then consequently one sees here the superiority of Yisrael over the nations.