Da porch wuz paht of da entrance to da Real Real Spesho Place of da temple. Befoa 2023, da New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in English wen say dat da “porch in front was 20 cubits long . . . and its height was 120.” (2 Chron. 3:4, NWT-E) An odda translations wen say dat da porch wuz “120 cubits” high too, dass one 175 foot towa!

But da 2023 New World Translation in English wen say about da porch of Solomon’s temple, “Its height was 20 cubits,” dass about 30 feet tall. a We go look at some reasons why had get change.

In 1 Kings 6:3, dey no tell da height of da porch. In dat verse, Jeremiah wen write how long an how deep da porch wuz, not how high. Den in da chapta afta dat, he wen describe odda awesome stuff about da temple, like da big roun watta tank, da ten watta cart, an da two big pos dat wuz outside da porch. (1 Ki 7:15-37) If da porch wuz really way moa tall den da res of da temple, den how come Jeremiah neva talk about how tall wuz? Even hundreds of years layta, Jewish writas wen say dat da porch wuzn’t moa tall den da res of da temple.

Guys dat kno plenny about dis kine stuff doubt dat da temple walls could hold one 120 cubit tall porch. Supa tall stone an brick towas from long time ago, like temple gates in Egypt, wuz wide at da bottom an wen come moa narrow at da top. But Solomon’s temple wuz diffren. Da guys dat study all dis believe dat da walls wuzn’t moa den 9 feet thick. Theodor Busink, one guy who study old architecture, wen say, “From how thick da wall of da [temple’s entrance] wuz, da porch couldn’t a been 120 cubits [tall].”

2 Chronicles 3:4 maybe wen get copied wrong. Even tho some old writings wen say “120” in dis verse, odda old copies we trus like da fifth-century Codex Alexandrinus an da sixth-century Codex Ambrosianus, wen say “20 cubits.” How come da guys dat wen copy wen make da mistake an write “120”? In Hebrew, da words fo “hundred” an “cubits” kinda look da same. So maybe da guys dat wen make da copies wen write da word “hundred” instead of “cubits.”

Even tho we try fo undastan all dese details an show how Solomon’s temple really wuz, we focus on wat da temple wen point to, dass da great spiritual temple. We so tankful dat Jehovah wen invite all his peopo fo worship him at dat temple!​—Heb 9:11-14; Jesus Show 3:12; 7:9-17.