Hebrew word · H1508

גִּזְרָה

hagizrah

cutting|separation

From the root gāzar, "to cut, cut off, decree". In Ezekiel 41:12–15 and 42:1, 10, 13 it is a technical architectural term for "the separated (cut-off) area": the restricted open yard directly west of the sanctuary building, with a large building (binyan) behind it.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a cutting, polishing, separation

1a) cutting, polishing

1b) separation, separate place

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 42:13

Range of meaning

From the root gāzar, "to cut, cut off, decree". In Ezekiel 41:12–15 and 42:1, 10, 13 it is a technical architectural term for "the separated (cut-off) area": the restricted open yard directly west of the sanctuary building, with a large building (binyan) behind it. The word occurs elsewhere only at Lam 4:7, where it seems to mean the cut or polished form of a gem or body.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT "the separate place" keep the idea of a zone cut off for restriction. NASB "separate area" and ESV "yard" are similar. BSB (and NIV) "temple courtyard" makes it a generic courtyard and loses the idea of separation, which is the theme of this whole section of Ezekiel (see 42:20, "to make a separation between the holy and the common").

How it drifted

Modern translations swap a puzzling technical term for an easy word, "courtyard". The result reads smoothly but loses the point.

Used elsewhere in the period

Attested only in Ezekiel's temple vision with this meaning. HALOT gives "separate area, restricted area". The Vulgate describes it as a "separated building" (aedificium separatum), and ancient translators were unsure whether it was a yard or a structure.

Where it appears

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:7 גִּזְרָתָֽם׃ ס polishing their

    Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.

Ezekiel · 7

  1. Ezekiel 41:12 הַגִּזְרָ֜ה the separate place

    Now the building that faced the temple courtyard on the west was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, with a length of ninety cubits.

  2. Ezekiel 41:13 וְהַגִּזְרָ֤ה and the separate place

    Then he measured the temple to be a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long.

  3. Ezekiel 41:14 וְהַגִּזְרָ֛ה and the separate place

    The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.

  4. Ezekiel 41:15 הַגִּזְרָ֜ה the separate place

    Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court,

  5. Ezekiel 42:1 הַגִּזְרָ֛ה the separate place

    Then the man led me out northward into the outer court, and he brought me to the group of chambers opposite the temple courtyard and the outer wall on the north side.

  6. Ezekiel 42:10 הַגִּזְרָ֛ה the separate place

    On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court were chambers adjoining the courtyard and opposite the building,

  7. Ezekiel 42:13 הַגִּזְרָה֒ the separate place

    Then the man said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the temple courtyard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy.

    Here: A technical term found only in Ezekiel's temple vision. It means "the cut-off, separated area": the restricted zone west of the sanctuary building (41:12–15). It is not the general courtyard.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.