These are the dimensions of the altar by cubits: This is a minor heading showing that Ezekiel is about to talk about “the measurements of the altar” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation). For altar see the comments on 6.4 and 8.16.

By cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): Even though all the measurements in the previous three chapters have been in cubits, Ezekiel repeats the information he gave in 40.5 (see the comments there). If translators want to retain cubit, they may render the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth as “When I speak of a cubit, I mean here a normal cubit plus a handwidth.” But for translators who do not use cubits but convert all measurements into metric or imperial figures, this phrase is not appropriate, and translations have handled it in different ways; for example, Good News Translation has “using the same unit of measure as in measuring the Temple,” Contemporary English Version says “According to the official standards,” New International Reader’s Version uses “The standard measurement I am using is 21 inches,” New Century Version translates “using the measuring stick,” and in a footnote New Living Translation (1996) says “In this chapter, the distance measures are calculated using the Hebrew long cubit, which equals 21 inches or 53 centimeters.” Of these renderings, Good News Translation is the best, but it would also be acceptable to omit this phrase entirely (so Buk Bibel).

Its base shall be one cubit high, and one cubit broad: Instead of base, the Hebrew text has “gutter” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation), or “trench” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The altar’s gutter was one cubit high, and one cubit broad, that is, 50 centimeters (20 inches) deep and wide. This gutter was dug into the ground around the base of the altar, presumably to catch the blood from the animals that were being killed for the sacrifices.

With a rim of one span around its edge: The gutter had a rim … around its edge, presumably on the outside to stop the blood from overflowing (compare Good News Translation “a rim at the outside edge” and Contemporary English Version “a … ledge on the outer rim”). This rim was one span, or half a cubit, that is, 25 centimeters (10 inches). This measurement probably refers to how high the rim was, even though Ezekiel does not say so. He does not say how wide it was.

And this shall be the height of the altar: Revised Standard Version and most other translations follow the Septuagint here, which is probably correct. This reading does not involve changing the Hebrew letters, except to change a word break by reading one letter with the previous word instead of the next word. So this clause just involves a change of focus from the bottom of the altar to how high it was. A possible model for this reading is “Now, with respect to the height of the altar.” Another reading, which is not reflected in the translations, makes no change to the Hebrew and simply concludes the description of the bottom of the altar: “This was the base of the altar” (compare New American Standard Bible “and this shall be the height of the base of the altar,” even though this rendering tries to have it both ways). The Hebrew word for “base” usually refers to a curved surface like a hump or a “bulge” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote), often referring to the curved back of an animal or person. Here it refers to the hump of soil that made up the bottom of the altar. We recommend the reading in Revised Standard Version.

See verse 17 for models of verses 13-17.

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 .