The building that was facing the temple yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad …: Ezekiel does not describe this building in any detail, and translators will need to find a very general word to describe it. Ezekiel simply calls it a building (“structure” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), which was on the west side, that is, behind and west of the Temple and right up against the west wall of the Temple compound. It was also facing the temple yard, that is, it was facing the free space of the inner courtyard that surrounded the Temple (see verse 10, where it says that space was twenty cubits [10 meters] wide). Temple yard is literally “separate space” (King James Version), so some translations say “separate yard” (English Standard Version), “separate area” (New American Standard Bible), “separating courtyard” (New King James Version ), “private area” (New Century Version), “restricted space” (Block), or “restricted area” (Allen). The Hebrew word for temple yard carries the sense of “cut off,” but it is not clear what is cut off. It may mean that the space was cut off from people, that is, people were not allowed to walk there, because it was a “restricted area” (so Block, Allen). Or it may have the sense that this space cut off, or separated, the west building from the back wall of the Most Holy Place (so New King James Version ). Translators may choose either of these meanings, but given the difficulty of knowing exactly what the Hebrew word here means, it is also acceptable to choose a general expression such as “courtyard” (New International Version, New Living Translation, International Children’s Bible) or “open space” (Good News Translation). The building that was facing the temple yard may be rendered “The building that was separated from the Temple,” “The building that faced the area where people were not allowed to walk,” or “The building that faced the open space of the Temple.”

The west building was seventy cubits broad, that is, 35 meters (116 feet) wide, and its length ninety cubits, that is, 45 meters (150 feet) long. These measurements refer to the internal size of the building. Its width went east to west, and its length went north to south. The wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, that is, its wall was 2.5 meters (8 feet) thick all around. The back wall of the west building, the wall that it shared with the outside wall of the compound, was not as thick as the outside wall, which was six cubits (3 meters) thick (see 40.5).

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 .