Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple: The man took Ezekiel to another part of the Temple complex. For he brought me, see verse 17. The vestibule of the temple is “the entrance room of the Temple” (Good News Translation). Contemporary English Version says “the porch of the temple” (see 8.16).

And measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side: The man measured the jambs of the vestibule, that is, the doorframes of the porch (compare verse 9). They were five cubits on either side, that is, each doorframe was 2.5 meters (8 feet) thick.

And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits: Here Ezekiel refers to the opening or doorway of the Temple’s porch as the gate. This is not the same type of gate that he described in the walls enclosing the outer and inner courtyards. Those were quite large buildings, better described as “gatehouses.” Translators need to be aware of the different way that Ezekiel has used the word in this verse and translate accordingly. Here it is best to use a term such as “opening” (New Living Translation) or “doorway” (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version) instead of gate. The width of this doorway was fourteen cubits, that is, 7 meters (24 feet). As the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation show, the measurement here is missing from the Hebrew text and comes from the Septuagint. It is necessary to include it to fit the rest of the dimensions of the Temple. It was omitted from the Hebrew text by mistake.

And the sidewalls of the gate were three cubits on either side: The walls on either side of the porch’s opening were three cubits, that is, 1.5 meters (5 feet), wide from the doorframes to the outside wall.

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 .