Præsternes værelser i den ydre forgård
1Derpå førte han mig ud i den nordlige del af den ydre forgård, hvor der lå en stor bygning ikke langt fra bygningen i baggården. 2Bygningen var 50 m lang og 25 m bred og havde tre etager. 3Syd for bygningen var der den 10 m brede åbne plads i den indre forgård,42,3 Jf. 41,10. Bygningens sydlige mur var åbenbart bygget sammen med muren, der adskilte den indre og ydre forgård, så man fra bygningen kunne se ind over den åbne plads i den indre forgård. og nord for bygningen var der en flisebelagt åben plads, og der var en svalegang i tredje sals højde. 4Den flisebelagte strækning nord for bygningen var 5 m bred og 50 m lang, og der var døre ind til bygningen fra nordsiden. 5-6Værelserne på den øverste etage var ikke så brede som på de nederste, fordi der skulle være plads til svalegangen. Bygningen var nemlig ikke konstrueret med søjler, som svalegangen kunne hvile på. 7De nederste værelser i den del af bygningen, der vendte mod øst, var afskærmet af en mur på 25 meters længde, 8for den side, der vendte mod øst, var 25 m, mens den side, der vendte ind mod templet, var 50 m. 9Da muren afskærmede den nederste del af bygningen, kunne præsterne gå ind i den fra øst uden at blive set fra den ydre forgård.42,9 Teksten er uklar, men vi gætter på, at muren skulle afskærme præsterne, indtil de havde skiftet tøj, jf. v. 14.
10På den sydlige side af templet var der en tilsvarende bygning ikke langt fra bygningen i baggården. 11Der var en passage foran den sydlige bygning svarende til passagen foran den nordlige bygning, og de to bygninger var lige lange og brede og havde ens udgange og døre. Det hele var bare spejlvendt. 12Præsterne gik ind i bygningen fra den østlige side via en passage, som kom fra templet, og som var afskærmet af muren ud mod den ydre forgård.
13„Værelserne i både den nordlige og sydlige bygning er særligt indviede værelser,” forklarede han. „De præster, som forretter altertjeneste for Herren, opbevarer og spiser deres del af de hellige offergaver her, både afgrødeofrene, syndofrene og skyldofrene, for disse værelser er hellige. 14Når præsterne har været inde i templet, må de ikke komme ud i den ydre forgård, før de har taget deres særlige tjenestedragt af. Den er jo indviet til tjenesten i helligdommen. De må skifte til noget andet tøj, før de bevæger sig ud blandt folket.”
15Da han var færdig med opmålingen inde på tempelområdet, førte han mig ud gennem den ydre østport og gav sig til at måle udenfor. 16-20Muren omkring tempelområdet var 250 m på alle fire sider, mod vest, mod nord, mod øst og mod syd. Den gik hele vejen rundt om tempelområdet og adskilte således det hellige område fra det alment tilgængelige.
The Rooms for the Priests
1Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side. 2The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.42:2 That is, about 175 feet long and 88 feet wide or about 53 meters long and 27 meters wide 3Both in the section twenty cubits42:3 That is, about 35 feet or about 11 meters from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery faced gallery at the three levels. 4In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits42:4 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew and one cubit long.42:4 That is, about 18 feet wide and 175 feet long or about 5.3 meters wide and 53 meters long Their doors were on the north. 5Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. 6The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. 7There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. 8While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. 9The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.
10On the south side42:10 Septuagint; Hebrew Eastward along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall, were rooms 11with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north 12were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.
13Then he said to me, “The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings42:13 Or purification offerings and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy. 14Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.”
15When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate and measured the area all around: 16He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.42:16 See Septuagint of verse 17; Hebrew rods; also in verses 18 and 19.42:16 Five hundred cubits equal about 875 feet or about 265 meters; also in verses 17, 18 and 19. 17He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits42:17 Septuagint; Hebrew rods by the measuring rod. 18He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 19Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 20So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.
