Ezekiel 40:6

The threshold. After measuring the surrounding wall the man entered the gateway. On the outside of the entrance, ascending to it, were steps, seven in number, as is stated in connexion with N. and S. gateways (Ezekiel 40:22; Ezekiel 40:26). Thus the gateway was elevated above the ground outside, and on the same level with it was the outer court. Again, from the outer court an ascent of eight steps went up to the gateway leading into the inner court (Ezekiel 40:31), and the inner court was on the same level as the gateway. Finally, an ascent of ten steps led up to the entrance to the house itself (Ezekiel 40:49), which thus stood on a raised platform above the inner court which surrounded it. According to Ezekiel 41:8 the ten steps to the house were equal to six cubits of elevation; if the steps leading up to the gateways were of the same dimensions they would together amount to nine cubits, so that the elevation of the house above the level outside the surrounding wall (Ezekiel 40:5) would be 15 cubits. The whole structure formed three terraces, each rising above the other inwards.

the threshold The space between the steps and the guardrooms is called threshold, being just the breadth of the wall, 6 cubits. Fig. 1 a.

and the other threshold This is no translation of the original, which syntactically is scarcely translateable. The words are probably a gloss suggested by the fact that there was a second threshold (Ezekiel 40:7). The definition "broad" is suspicious, because, though in general the smaller dimension might be named breadth, and the larger one length, the prophet going from E. to W. calls measurements in that direction "length" (Ezekiel 40:7), and the direction N. to S. "breadth," even should it be the larger dimension (Ezekiel 40:11). The words are wanting in LXX. Read Ezekiel 40:6 thus: and he measured the threshold of the gate one reed.