יחזקאל, פרק מ׳, פסוק י״א

Measuring the future Temple requires precise attention to both the solid structures and the empty spaces within them. The exact dimensions of the passageways reveal a clear distinction between the physical walls of a building and the functional space where people walk. The primary approach among commentators is that the initial measurement of ten cubits refers specifically to the open space between the doorposts. Rather than measuring the entire gate complex—which includes the structural framework and thresholds—this dimension focuses solely on the open entryway used for coming and going [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. Because it accounts only for the open air between the posts, this spot marks the narrowest point of the entire gate [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

When determining the thirteen-cubit measurement of the gate, commentators offer different perspectives on the direction and location of the surveyed area. One approach suggests the measurement runs from east to west, spanning from the outer threshold to the inner one. This total is reached by combining two thresholds of six cubits each, along with a single-cubit gap between them [מלבי״ם, רד״ק, אברבנאל].

Another perspective argues that the measurement runs from north to south, focusing on the interior hall of the gate. In this view, the space begins with the ten-cubit entrance and expands inward by a cubit and a half on each side, creating a wider interior space of thirteen cubits [רש״י, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This latter approach is noted as the most precise understanding of the dimensions [אברבנאל].

Following this second view, a conceptual question arises: if both dimensions are measured from north to south, why is the first classified as width and the second as length? Commentators explain this through a fundamental rule of biblical measurements, where the largest dimension of any given space is always classified as its length. For the entrance itself, its height is its greatest dimension, making the horizontal distance between the doorposts the width. However, once inside the inner hall, the north-to-south span of thirteen cubits is greater than its east-to-west depth of eight cubits. Therefore, within the hall, that same north-to-south direction is categorized as the length [רש״י, מצודת דוד, אברבנאל].