The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits: The outside walls of the side rooms were 2.5 meters (8 feet) thick.

And the part of the platform which was left free was five cubits: The part of the platform which was left free is literally “[there was a space] which was unoccupied [on the side] of the structure of the side rooms, which belonged to the house [that is, the Temple]” (similarly Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). This phrase refers to a space, “terrace” (Good News Translation, New King James Version ), “verandah” (Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible) between the outside walls of the side rooms and the edge of the raised platform. Although the Hebrew text here does not mention how wide this space was, the ancient Syriac translation mentions that it was five cubits, that is, 2.5 meters (8 feet), as does the Hebrew at the end of verse 11. There does not seem to have been a wall here, so we do not know what bounded the space—it may have had special paving, or perhaps it was the area under the overhanging side rooms.

Between the platform of the temple and the chambers of the court was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the temple on every side: Between the platform of the temple and the chambers of the court refers to the area of the inner courtyard that was between the edge of the raised platform and the priests’ rooms described in 40.44-46. This area had a breadth of twenty cubits round about the temple on every side, that is, the inner courtyard was 10 meters (34 feet) wide from the edge of the raised platform on the north, west and south sides of the Temple.

A model that combines verses 9-10 is:

• The outer wall of the side rooms was two and a half meters thick. On the raised platform there was a terrace two and a half meters wide all around the side rooms of the Temple. It was ten meters between the edge of the platform and the rooms for the priests.

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 .

Below these chambers was an entrance on the east side: Below these chambers means “on the ground floor of the three-story building of rooms.” Allen says “At the base of these rooms” (similarly Block), and New Revised Standard Version has “At the foot of these chambers” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). An entrance refers to an opening to the walkway on the northern side of the building. On the east side means the opening faced east.

As one enters them from the outer court: This opening provided access to the rooms from the outer courtyard. New Century Version says “so that a person could enter them from the outer courtyard.”

Where the outside wall begins: The entrance to the walkway was at the point where the screening wall (see Ezek 42.7) began. This rendering of verse 10a follows the Septuagint (which reads literally “at the head/beginning of the wall of the courtyard”) instead of the Hebrew, which reads “in the breadth of the wall of the court” (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). Since the Hebrew text here makes very little sense either with verse 9 or with the rest of verse 10, it is better to make a small change to the Hebrew to make sense of the passage, as in Revised Standard Version.

A model for combining verses 9-10a is:

• At the base of the building of rooms, at the point where the [screening] wall started, was an opening through which a person could go from the outer courtyard into the rooms. This opening faced east.

On the south also: This rendering follows the Septuagint. The Hebrew reads “in the direction toward the east” (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). In the light of verse 13, which speaks about a building of rooms on both the north and south sides of the Temple, most translations assume that a scribe who copied the Hebrew made a mistake here and accidentally copied the word for “east” from the previous verse instead of the word for “south.” “East” would place the building directly on the site of the Temple itself, which is impossible, but “south” fits the likely plan of the Temple very well. Therefore we recommend that translators follow the Septuagint here (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation), rather than try to make sense of the Hebrew.

If we are right that verses 10b-12 speak about rooms on the south side of the Temple, which were a mirror image of the rooms on the north that Ezekiel has just been describing, it may be acceptable for translators to summarize these verses as follows:

• On the south side of the Temple there was a building of rooms that were a mirror image of [or, exactly the same as] those on the north side. Even the walkway and the entrance on the south side were the same.

The following details prove that the two buildings of rooms were the same:

1. Opposite the yard means the building was next to the restricted area at the back of the Temple itself (see Ezek 42.1).
2. And opposite the building means it was close to the west building at the back of the Temple (see Ezek 42.1).
3. There were chambers with a passage in front of them refers to the half-meter walkway in front of the building (see Ezek 42.4).
4. They were similar to the chambers on the north is literally “[they were] like the appearance of the rooms that were in the direction of the north” (similarly New King James Version ), so Ezekiel states explicitly that these rooms looked the same as the ones to the north.
5. Of the same length and breadth means the dimensions of the two buildings’ rooms were the same.
6. With the same exits … and doors: It is not known how exits are different from doors. However, the Hebrew word rendered doors is a general term for “openings,” so it might include windows. The Hebrew text includes the word “all” with exits (see Revised Standard Version footnote). The word “all” stresses how similar the south rooms were to those on the north.
7. And arrangements: Their “design” (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible), “layout” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “plan” (NJKV, New American Bible) was the same as that of the north building’s rooms.
8. And below the south chambers was an entrance on the east side, where one enters the passage: Revised Standard Version changes the Hebrew text here to make the beginning of verse 12 refer to the opening of the walkway in the same terms as the description in verse 9. Even though the Hebrew of verse 12 is complicated (see the literal rendering below), it draws the comparison in more detail in the following way:

• “And like the doors of the rooms which were on the south side”: The doors to the rooms were on the south side of the south building, just as the doors to the northern block of rooms were on the north side of the building (see Ezek 42.4).

• “[There was] an opening at the head/beginning of the walkway … which faced east, through which a person could enter [the rooms]”: Both buildings of rooms had an eastern-facing opening to a narrow walkway that ran along the side of the building. The opening led into the outer courtyard (see Ezek 42.9).

• “A walkway that fronted onto a matching wall”: Revised Standard Version changes this phrase to read and opposite them was a dividing wall. The Hebrew phrase here adds more detail about the walkway and fits into the previous clause where the three dots are. The “matching wall” is the equivalent to the screening wall on the north side (see Ezek 42.7). However, the Hebrew word rendered “matching” is only found here in the Old Testament, and its meaning is uncertain. We believe “matching” is a good guess.

Those translators who do not wish to summarize verses 10b-12 as suggested above may find the following model useful:

• On the south side [of the Temple] there was a building of rooms, [just like on the north side]. These rooms [also] faced the building and the restricted space [at the back of the Temple]. 11 They had a walkway in front of them. They looked the same as the rooms on the north side. Their dimensions [or, Their length and width] were the same. So were their plans, doors, and openings. 12 Their doors were on the south side of the building, [just like the other building had doors on the north side]. There was a walkway between the building and an equivalent wall [or, fronting onto a matching wall]. There was an opening at the beginning of the walkway through which a person could enter [the rooms]. The opening faced east.

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 .