3,856. The Balconies and Cubicles

Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 4:9

The Heichal was wide in front and narrow in back, like a lion. There were balconies that surrounded the building all around, outside the wall of the winding staircase. The lowest balcony was five cubits long and the landing above it was six cubits long. The middle balcony was six cubits and the landing above it was seven cubits. The top balcony was seven cubits. This is as per I Kings 6:6: “The bottom balcony....” In this way three balconies surrounded the building on three sides. The same was true of around the walls of the entry hall from bottom to top. There was one empty cubit, a landing of three cubits, an empty cubit, and a landing of three cubits, continuing in this manner to the top of the wall. We find that the landings surrounded the walls. The width of each balcony was three cubits until the top of the wall, with an empty cubit between each landing and the next. The top landing was four cubits wide.

Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 4:10

All the empty spaces between the walls are called cubicles (Hebrew: תאים). Five such cubicles surrounded the Temple on the north, five cubicles on the south, and three cubicles on the west. There were three levels of cubicles, one above another. Accordingly, there were 15 cubicles in the south – five over five over five. There were likewise 15 cubicles in the north. There were eight cubicles in the west – three over three, with two more over them. We see that there were 38 cubicles altogether.