Poles of cedar were attached from the wall of the Sanctuary to the wall of the vestibule, to prevent it from collapsing. Gold chains were attached to the ceiling beams of the Sanctuary [from] where the young <i>Kohanim</i> would climb and see the crowns, as it says "The crowns will be be a remembrance for Helem, for Tuviah, for Yedayah and for Chen the son of Tzefaniah in the Sanctuary of Hashem. (Zechariah 6:11) There was a golden vine at the doorway to the Sanctuary, supported by poles, and anyone who offered a donation of a [gold] leaf, a grape, or a cluster would hang them on it [the vine]. Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Tsadok said: Once, three hundred <i>Kohanim</i> were commissioned to clear it away [to someplace else].
Bartenura on Mishnah Middot
שלא יבעטו (so that the walls would not bulge)- so that the walls would not bend/incline to fall from the weight of their height, and these [cedar] beams would continue from this wall to that wall support the two walls (of the hall containing the golden altar and the hall leading to the interior of the Temple).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Middot
There were poles of cedar wood stretching from the wall of the Sanctuary to the wall of the Porch to prevent it from bulging. There were chains of gold fixed in the roof beams of the Porch by which the priestly initiates used to ascend and see the crowns, as it says, “And the crowns shall be to Helem and to Toviyah and to Yedaya and to Hen the son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the Temple of the Lord” (Zechariah 6:14). A golden vine stood at the door of the Sanctuary trained on poles, and anyone who offered a leaf or a grape or a bunch used to bring it and hang it there. Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok said: on one occasion three hundred priests were commissioned [to clear it].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Middot
ורואין את העטרות – in the windows of the hall containing the golden altar (i.e., Hekhal).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Middot
כל מי שהוא מתנדב – [donating] gold to the hall containing the golden altar (i.e., Hekhal), and he wants that the gold that he donated will be placed in the Heikhal because it was entirely covered in gold., he made from that gold that he donates in the image of a single berry or a leaf or a cluster [of grapes] and hangs it on it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Middot
ונמנו עליה שלש מאות כהנים – because of the heaviness of the gold was great that was there, three-hundred Kohanim were needed to carry it and to remove it from place to place. And this is one of the places tha,t the Sages spoke of in the language of exaggeration in rhetorical speech (see Talmud Hullin 90b), and not exactly three-hundred Kohanim, but Rabbi Eliezer B’Rabbi Tzadok did not intend other than to inform that there was a lot of gold that was donated there.
