Comentario sobre Midot 4:4

התחתוה חמש – from outside the wall of the winding staircase which is the outer wall of the Holy [of Holies], there were extensions/wings of the building, which are balconies surrounding the Temple from three directions – west, north and south, and these extensions/wings of the building were at the bottom, second story and third decks (see Genesis 6:16 – and the construction of Noah’s ark) . The lowest (i.e., bottom) wing/extension was five cubits wide, and the paved level space/terrace that was on it, which is the ceiling that was over the lowest, which is the floor of the lowest/bottom deck , six [cubits] by a cubit wide, because the wall of the winding staircase would go and become narrower towards the top, for when it reached to the paved level space between steps in the Temple/the landing/terrace, that is on top of the lowest deck, it would enter inwards by one cubit, and on that cubit that protrudes, they would place the beams of the extension/wing of the building, it was found that the lowest extension/wing was wider one cubit more from the bottom, that is, that one cubit that enters the wall inside. And similarly, when he reaches the landing/terrace that is upon the middle [wing], which is the floor of the third [level], the wall would become narrow and enter inwards one cubit, in order that the head of the beam would be placed on that cubit, that the middle wall protrudes and goes outside more than the upper wall, and it is found that the upper extension/wing is one cubit wider from the middle one and two cubits wider than the lowest one. And that is what is stated (I Kings 6:6): “for he (i.e., Solomon) had provided recesses around the outside of the House so as not to penetrate the walls of the House,” meaning to say that he would lessen and deduct in the thickness of the walls by one cubit from outside in the terrace/landing of the middle floor, and another cubit in the terrace/landing of the highest, in order that there would be room for him to place the heads of the beams of the landing/terrace, in order that he would not have to hold on to the walls of the house to make holes in the wall and to insert there the heads of the beams.

The [chamber] of the lowest [story] was five cubits wide and at the ceiling six cubits. The mishnah's explanation of the size of the cells is based on I Kings 6:6. The bottom story's cells were each five cubits in breadth. In the walls of the Hekhal they would reduce the thickness of the wall by a cubit at this point so that the ceiling of the cell could rest on the point where the wall was brought in. This is also referred to in the continuation of the above verse from I Kings. This would mean that at the point of the ceiling the cell was one cubit broader.

The [chamber] of the middle [story] was six cubits wide and at the ceiling of seven. The second story was one cubit broader, matching the breadth of the ceiling of the first story. Again, the wall was brought in to accommodate the planks for the ceiling of the cell. This would make it seven cubits at the point of the ceiling.

The [chamber] of the top [story] was seven cubits wide, as it says, "The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle one 6 cubits wide and the third 7 cubits wide" (I Kings 6:6). Similarly, the third story was the breadth of the ceiling of the second story. As stated above, this matches the verse in I Kings that describes Solomon's Temple. We should emphasize that this is another example where either the Second Temple was patterned after the First Temple, or the rabbis at least imagined that it was.