Description and usage
The entrance hall was a kind of foyer or anteroom that extended across the entrance of a large building. The entrance hall of the Temple stood higher than the rest of the Temple, and it may not have had a roof. While the biblical text considers it part of the internal space of the sanctuary, it may have served as a kind of forecourt, a transition from the outside courtyard to the inside of the building. Several of the passages above do not refer to the entrance hall of the Temple. JDG 3:23 and 1KI 7:6; 1KI 7:7; 1KI 7:8 refer to the entrance halls of palaces, while some of the passages in Ezekiel (EZK 40:7; EZK 40:8; EZK 40:9, EZK 40:15; EZK 40:16; EZK 40:17; EZK 40:18; EZK 40:19; EZK 40:20; EZK 40:21; EZK 40:22; EZK 40:23; EZK 40:24; EZK 40:25; EZK 40:26; EZK 40:27; EZK 40:28; EZK 40:29; EZK 40:30; EZK 40:31; EZK 40:32; EZK 40:33; EZK 40:34; EZK 40:35; EZK 40:36, EZK 40:39; EZK 40:40; EZK 46:2, EZK 46:8) refer to the entrance halls of the Temple gates.
Translation
In many languages the only approximate equivalent for the Hebrew word ’ulam may be a small hall inside the entrance to a house. This could be misleading since this word refers to a very large hall, which was even wider than the main building. It may be necessary to add a modifier of size, saying “large entry hall.”