Middos 1:7 - 1:8

אחד פתוח לחיל – the opening that is in the north of the House of the Hearth was open to the Khel/the place within the fortification of the Temple, and the one in the south was open to the Temple courtyard.

פשפש קטן (a small wicket) – a small gate within the large gate [by which they entered to patrol].

שבו נכנסים לבלוש את העזרה (to patrol the Temple courtyard) – that they would enter each morning on the path of the same wicket to examine/search over each of the Temple vessels that were in the Temple courtyard that all of them were in their [appropriate] place. For this is taught in the Mishnah of Tractate Tamid [Chapter 1, Mishnah 3]: “He took the key and opened the wicket and entered from the House of the Hearth into the Temple courtyard, etc.,” – these walk on the covered place in front o the house in an easterly direction and those walk on the covered place in front of the house in a westerly direction. They would examine and go until they meet to the place where they make the cakes, they arrived, both sets say “Shalom; everything is peaceful/in order,” meaning to say, that all the Temple vessels are in their places in peace/in order.

לבלוש – it is the Aramaic translation of “and he searched,” and examined.

בית המוקד כיפה – the building of the House of the Hearth was not an upper chamber, but rather an arch, ARKUVLAT in the foreign language made on the land.

מוקף רובדים של אבן (surrounded by stone pavements between steps in the Temple hall, landing) – porticos/colonnades of hewn stone around were sunk in the wall and came out from the wall into the House of the Hearth to the side of the ground, and on top of them were other short stones than then that also came out from the wall, and they were similar to steps one on another.

זקני בית אב – the priestly division of duty/guard was divided into seven priestly divisions according to the days of the week, each one working his day, and the elders of the priestly division of that day would sleep there on those stone pavements.

ופרחי כהונה – young men whose hair of their beards begins to flower, and they were guards.

איש כסתו בארץ – that they were not permitted to lie there on beds, but rather onl on the ground, in the manner that the guards of the courtyards of the kings would do.

כסתו – the language of pillows and cushions.