“Between the chambers [and the House], there was [a space] twenty cubits around the House to either side.”¹ 41:10. There were chambers built in the outer courtyard² but to the portion of the courtyard that is separated from the Altar. The area directly around the Altar was surrounded by a wall and called “the inner courtyard.” Although the Twenty Cubit Space described here is outside that wall, it is fit to have sacrifices of the most sacred order cooked and eaten within it. Therefore, it is also referred to (Yechezkel 42:3) as “the inner courtyard” in certain contexts. to the north and the south of the cells, as will be explained in sec. 71. This verse explains that there was a space of 20 cubits between the cells and those chambers. The words סָבִיב סָבִיב, which literally mean, “all around,” is translated as, “to either side,” i.e., to the north and to the south, as explained above³ with regard to the munach.

footnotes: ¹ Yechezkel ² Here, the phrase “the outer courtyard” does not apply to “the Women’s Courtyard” that surrounded the entire inner courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash, ³ See sec. 64-69.

The chambers (referred to as לְּשָׁכוֹת) mentioned here are those mentioned in sec. 71. That term can also be used to refer to the cells, because it is a general term that can refer to all the rooms in the Beis HaMikdash, regardless of their particular nature.

The 20 cubits between the cells and the chambers on each side include: a) 15 cubits equal to the length that the Beis HaChalifos protruded beyond the Sanctuary on the northern and southern sides and b) an additional 5 cubits. This entire space is referred to as “the inner courtyard,” as it is written:⁴ 42:3. “Opposite the twenty [cubits] of the inner courtyard.”

footnotes: ⁴ Yechezkel

“And He brought me through the entranceway… to the Holy Chambers… that faced northward. Behold, there was a place at its western flanks. And he said to me, ‘This is the place where the kohanim will cook the guilt-offering and the sin-offerings, where they will bake the meal-offering, so as not to bring them out to the Outer Courtyard, [lest] they mingle with the people.”⁵ 46:19-20, translated according to Targum Yonason and Rashi. Although the verse only mentions the northern side, it is logical to assume that the Twenty Cubit Space on the southern side was consecrated for the same purpose. After all, why should one side be different from the other?

footnotes: ⁵ Yechezkel

It is, however, possible to explain that meat from the sacrifices of the most sacred order is more often found in the north because these sacrifices must be slaughtered there.⁶ 47a. It is even possible to say that just as for all time, the north was designated as the place where these sacrifices must be slaughtered, in the Ultimate Future, it will also be designated as the place where they must be eaten.⁷ 42:13 specifically states that these sacrifices can be eaten in the Twenty Cubit Space on the south.

footnotes: ⁶ See Zevachim ⁷ This hypothesis requires explanation for Yechezkel