The court of the priests. — See 1 Kings 6:36; 1 Kings 7:12, “the inner court;” Jeremiah 36:10, “the higher court.”
And the great court. — ‘Azârâh, “court,” a late word, common in the Targums for the classical hâqçr, which has just occurred. The ‘azârâh was the outer court of the temple. It is not mentioned at all in the parallel narrative. The LXX. calls it “the great court;” the Vulg., “the great basilica.” The Syriac renders the whole verse: “And he made one great court for the priests and Levites, and covered the doors and bolts with bronze.” (Comp. Note on 2 Chronicles 4:3 for this plating of the doors with bronze.) The bronze plated doors of Shalmaneser’s palace at Balawat were twenty-two feet high, and each leaf was six feet wide.