And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls: The doors leading into the main room of the Temple from the porch were decorated in the same way as the walls of the Temple. For the nave, see Ezek 41.1; for were carved, see verse 17; and for cherubim and palm trees, see verse 18.

And there was a canopy of wood in front of the vestibule outside: The Hebrew word rendered canopy is a technical building term whose exact meaning is uncertain. Whatever it was, it was made of wood, and it either stood in front of the vestibule outside, like a “screen” (Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible) that went across in front of the porch, or it was a “roof” (New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version) or “covering” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) over the front of the porch. If it were a screen, it provided a barrier to stop people from looking into the Temple. If it were a roof or covering, it was like a veranda to provide shelter from the rain and sun and wind (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project) for the priests as they entered the Temple to undertake their duties. We prefer the first interpretation, but since the meaning of this Hebrew term is so uncertain, translators may chose to follow an interpretation already found in an existing translation that is familiar to the readers. For the vestibule, that is, the porch of the Temple, see 40.48.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .