The doorposts of the nave were squared: The Hebrew here reads literally “[As for] the main room, the doorpost was square.” In Hebrew the spelling of the singular word for “doorpost” is exactly the same as the plural, except for the vowels, so most scholars think that the singular is a mistake and understand the word as plural doorposts. So the renderings of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are acceptable. Were squared means that the posts themselves were square, not round or five-sided, as the doorposts in Solomon’s Temple had been (see 1 Kgs 6.31). Probably this difference was the reason why Ezekiel commented on the doorposts. Some scholars think that it was the doorframe and the doors themselves that were square or rectangular; for example, New International Version renders this clause as “The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe” (similarly Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version, New American Bible). Other scholars think that there were four rebated doorframes, each built inside another that was slightly larger, so that the first doorframe had another doorframe inside it, the second doorframe had another inside it, and so on, until there were a total of four doorframes, each slightly smaller than the one outside it (compare the comments on 1 Kgs 6.31).
And in front of the holy place was something resembling an altar of wood …: The holy place refers to “the Most Holy Place” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version; see Ezek 41.4). According to Revised Standard Version and most other translations, “In front of the Most Holy Place was something that looked like an altar of wood” (New Century Version; similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). However, this rendering actually involves changing the Hebrew text, which is literally “And [as for] the face/front of the Most Holy Place, the resembling thing [was] like the resembling thing. The altar of wood….” The Hebrew implies that the doorposts of the Most Holy Place were like the doorposts of the main room of the Temple. New Living Translation (1996) reflects the Hebrew by rendering verse 21 as “There were square columns at the entrance to the Holy Place, and the ones at the entrance of the Most Holy Place were similar” (similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New American Standard Bible).
An altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad: Next Ezekiel describes an altar in detail. Altar may be rendered “table [or, platform] where people offer gifts to worship God” (see 6.4). It was made of wood, but he does not say what sort of wood. It was three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad, that is, 1.5 meters (5 feet) high, 1 meter (3 feet) long, and 1 meter (3 feet) wide. The Hebrew text does not say how wide it was, giving only its height and length (so Good News Translation, New Century Version, King James Version / New King James Version, Revised English Bible), but the Septuagint included the width, so Revised Standard Version and many other translations have done the same. It is reasonable to assume that the altar was square, so it is acceptable to follow Revised Standard Version in this regard.
Its corners, its base, and its walls were of wood: It is not known what was so distinctive about the altar’s corners that Ezekiel should mention them. They may have been “corner-posts” (Revised English Bible) that stuck up above the top of the altar like the horns of a bull; these were called the “horns” of the altar (see Exo 30.2). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh thinks the altar had a rim around the top, like the rim around the edge of the table of the sacred bread in Exo 25.25. If so, it would be more appropriate to render corners as “edges around the top.” We cannot be certain, so translators will do well to remain rather general. Instead of its base, which follows the Septuagint, the Hebrew text has “its length” (New King James Version , New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Its base makes much more sense in this context and does not involve a big change to the Hebrew text. Its walls refers to the altar’s “sides” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version).
He said to me, “This is the table which is before the LORD”: Ezekiel’s guide seems to identify this altar with the table in the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple on which the sacred bread was offered to God (see Exo 25.23-30; 1 Kgs 7.48), but Ezekiel makes no mention of the sacred bread. There was another item of furniture in the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple, namely, the altar of incense, which looked quite similar to the altar described here (see Exo 30.1-10; 1 Kgs 7.48), but it is unusual for an altar to be called a table. Since Ezekiel does not explain the function of this altar/table, we cannot be confident whether it was modeled on either of the earlier items of sacred furniture.
A model for verses 21-22 is:
• 21 The doorposts of the Holy Place were square. As for the Most Holy Place, its doorposts were the same. 22 A wooden altar was there. It was 1.5 meters high and 1 meter long [and 1 meter wide]. Its corners [or, edges], base, and sides were also made of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that stands [always] in the presence of the LORD.”
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 .