Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageFor they rose in three tiers without supporting pillars like those of the outer courts; and so each upper story stepped back further from the earth than the one below it.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GFor they were threefold — three storeys — and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper storey was set further back from the ground than the lower and the middle.
KJV
King James VersionFor they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleFor they were arranged in three stories, and unlike the courts, they had no pillars. So the upper chambers were set back further than the lower and middle floors.
Footnotes
The absence of pillars (עַמּוּדִים, ammudim) is architecturally significant: unlike the outer courts where colonnaded porticos were structurally supported, these tiered priestly chambers cantilevered inward as they rose, each floor stepped back to compensate for the load previously borne by pillars. The result is an architectural humility — each ascending level yields ground rather than claiming it. Theologically, this inverted logic (higher = smaller, more recessed) contrasts with human palace-building conventions where height signals dominance. In YHWH's sanctuary, ascent means contraction toward the Most Holy Place, not expansion.
