Endnote 2 – Queries & Comments

Here is an example. Herbert Danby’s translation (London: Oxford University Press, 1993) of the standard text in Middot 2, 3 reads: “All the entrances and gates that were there were twenty cubits high and ten cubits wide. … ”

The “ancient version” based on the vast majority and also reliable texts omits the words “and gates.” This apparently small difference is very important. Middot informs us that the gate clearance was ten cubits wide, while Josephus (The Jewish War 5.202) states: “And each gateway had two doors, [and] each [gateway] was thirty cubits in height and fifteen in breadth” (my translation of the Greek; words in brackets are assumed and do not appear in the Greek). It would appear that Josephus refers to the dimensions of the complete gate including jambs, lintel and entablature. This is one of the examples in which Middot and Josephus can be reconciled.