Hebrew word · H197

אוּלָם

'ulam

porch

A vestibule, entrance hall or columned porch. It was an architectural term for the front hall of a monumental building; its origin is uncertain, possibly linked to an Akkadian word for 'front'.

Appears 34 times in 29 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A hall or porch of the temple

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 44:3

Range of meaning

A vestibule, entrance hall or columned porch. It was an architectural term for the front hall of a monumental building; its origin is uncertain, possibly linked to an Akkadian word for 'front'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'porch' is the older word. BSB 'portico' is better. 'Vestibule' or 'entrance hall' is clearest.

How it drifted

'Porch' now suggests a small attached deck at the front door of a house, while this is a large stone hall in a monumental complex.

Used elsewhere in the period

Solomon's temple had an 'ulam at its front (1 Kings 6:3), and his palace had halls called by this word (1 Kings 7:6-7). Ezekiel 40:8-9 measures the east gate's own 'ulam at eight cubits deep and says it lay on the side facing the temple.

From the study of Ezekiel 8:16

Range of meaning

The ʾûlām is the porch or vestibule on the temple's east front. The mizbēaḥ ('place of slaughter/sacrifice') is here the great bronze altar of burnt offering in the inner court.

Against the English

'Porch' (KJV, WEB, YLT) can make a modern reader picture a house veranda. BSB's 'portico' and 'vestibule' are closer to a monumental columned entrance hall.

How it drifted

English 'porch' has shrunk to mean a small domestic entryway.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Kings 6:3; 7:21 (the porch with the pillars Jachin and Boaz). Joel 2:17: 'between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep'. 2 Chronicles 24:21 (cf. Matthew 23:35): Zechariah was stoned 'in the court of the house of Yahweh', the zone Jesus calls 'between the sanctuary and the altar'.

From the study of 1 Chronicles 28:11

Range of meaning

The front entrance hall or vestibule of a large building: the temple (1 Kings 6:3), palace halls such as the Hall of Pillars and the Hall of the Throne (1 Kings 7:6–7), and the gate structures in Ezekiel's visionary temple (Ezekiel 40).

Against the English

KJV, YLT and WEB say 'porch'. BSB and NIV say 'portico'. Today 'porch' suggests a small veranda by a front door. The temple ulam was a massive hall, 20 cubits wide and 10 deep (about 9 × 4.5 m), and its pillars stood about 18 cubits high (1 Kings 6:3; 7:15).

How it drifted

English 'porch' (from Latin porticus) once meant a grand colonnaded entrance as well. It has shrunk to mean a small domestic structure.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint renders the word in various ways and sometimes simply transliterates it (ailam). Its origin is debated. Some lexicons tentatively link it to an Akkadian word meaning 'front'.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 10
  1. 1 Kings 6:3 וְהָאוּלָ֗ם and the porch

    The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.

  2. 1 Kings 7:6 אוּלָ֤ם וְאוּלָם֙ [the] porch of, and a porch

    Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico.

  3. 1 Kings 7:7 וְאוּלָ֤ם אֻלָ֥ם and [the] porch of, [the] porch of

    In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.

  4. 1 Kings 7:8 לָֽאוּלָ֔ם כָּאוּלָ֖ם to the porch, like the porch

    And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

  5. 1 Kings 7:12 וּלְאֻלָ֥ם and to [the] porch of

    The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.

  6. 1 Kings 7:19 בָּֽאוּלָ֑ם in the porch

    And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.

  7. 1 Kings 7:21 לְאֻלָ֖ם of [the] porch of

    Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz.

1 Chronicles · 1
  1. 1 Chronicles 28:11 הָאוּלָם֩ the porch

    Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, storehouses, upper rooms, inner rooms, and the room for the mercy seat.

    Here: The monumental entrance hall at the front of the temple, flanked by the bronze pillars Jachin and Boaz (1 Kings 6:3; 7:21). It is named first because it is the front of the building, so the list runs from the entrance to the innermost room.

2 Chronicles · 5
  1. 2 Chronicles 3:4 וְהָאוּלָ֡ם and the porch

    The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

  2. 2 Chronicles 8:12 הָאוּלָֽם׃ the porch

    At that time Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD he had built in front of the portico.

  3. 2 Chronicles 15:8 אוּלָ֥ם [the] porch of

    When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.

    Here: The entrance hall at the front of Solomon's temple, flanked by the bronze pillars Jachin and Boaz (1 Kgs 7:21). The altar stood in the courtyard facing it.

  4. 2 Chronicles 29:7 הָאוּלָ֗ם the porch

    They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn incense or present burnt offerings in the Holy Place of the God of Israel.

  5. 2 Chronicles 29:17 לְאוּלָ֣ם to [the] porch of

    They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the house of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Ezekiel · 17
  1. Ezekiel 8:16 הָֽאוּלָם֙ the porch

    So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

    Here: The monumental entrance hall on the east front of the temple, flanked by the bronze pillars Jachin and Boaz (1 Kings 7:21).

  2. Ezekiel 40:7 אוּלָ֥ם [the] porch of

    Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep.

  3. Ezekiel 40:8 אֻלָ֥ם [the] porch of

    Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside;

  4. Ezekiel 40:9 אֻלָ֤ם וְאֻלָ֥ם [the] porch of, and [the] porch of

    it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple.

  5. Ezekiel 40:15 אֻלָ֥ם [the] porch of

    And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits.

  6. Ezekiel 40:39 וּבְאֻלָ֣ם and [were] in [the] porch of

    Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered.

  7. Ezekiel 40:40 לְאֻלָ֣ם [was] to [the] porch of

    Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico.

  8. Ezekiel 40:48 אֻלָ֣ם אֻלָ֔ם [the] porch of, a porch

    Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side.

  9. Ezekiel 40:49 הָאֻלָ֞ם the porch

    The portico was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and ten steps led up to it. There were columns by the side pillars, one on each side.

  10. Ezekiel 41:15 וְאֻֽלַמֵּ֖י and [the] porches of

    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,

  11. Ezekiel 41:25 הָאוּלָ֖ם the porch

    Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico.

  12. Ezekiel 41:26 הָֽאוּלָ֑ם the porch

    There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.

  13. Ezekiel 44:3 אֻלָ֤ם [the] porch of

    Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

    Here: The entrance hall of the gate building. Ezekiel 40:8-9 places it at the end facing the temple, so reaching it does not mean walking in from outside through the gate God used.

  14. Ezekiel 46:2 אוּלָ֨ם [the] porch of

    The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be shut until evening.

  15. Ezekiel 46:8 אוּלָ֤ם [the] porch of

    When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way.

Joel · 1
  1. Joel 2:17 הָאוּלָם֙ the porch

    Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

    Here: The great entrance hall at the front of the temple building, the threshold of the sanctuary itself. The priests stand with their faces toward God's house.

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