Ezekiel 48:1-34

1 These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern border, on the Hethlon road, from Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enon (which is on the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion.
2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion.
3 Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion.
4 Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion.
5 Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion.
6 Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion.
7 Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.
8 Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion that you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the middle of it.
9 The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in width.
10 These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring twenty-five thousand cubits on the northern side, ten thousand cubits in width on the western side, ten thousand in width on the eastern side, and twenty-five thousand in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the middle of it.
11 This shall be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did.
12 It shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites.
13 Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. The whole length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and the width twenty thousand.
14 They shall not sell or exchange any of it; they shall not transfer this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15 The remainder, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand in length, shall be for ordinary use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the middle of it shall be the city;
16 and these shall be its dimensions: the north side four thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four thousand five hundred, the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand five hundred.
17 The city shall have open land: on the north two hundred fifty cubits, on the south two hundred fifty, on the east two hundred fifty, on the west two hundred fifty.
18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be ten thousand cubits to the east, and ten thousand to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.
19 The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.
20 The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be twenty-five thousand cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.
21 What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the twenty-five thousand cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the twenty-five thousand cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple in the middle of it,
22 and the property of the Levites and of the city, shall be in the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.
23 As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion.
24 Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion.
25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion.
26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion.
27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion.
28 And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, from there along the Wadi of Egypt to the Great Sea.
29 This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, says the Lord God.
30 These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure,
31 three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel.
32 On the east side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.
33 On the south side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.
34 On the west side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.

Ezekiel 48:1-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 48

In this chapter an account is given of the portions of the twelve tribes in the land of Israel; seven to the north of the sanctuary, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah, Eze 48:1-7, between which and Benjamin lay the holy portion of the land, for the sanctuary and the priests of it, and for the Levites, and for the city and its suburbs, and for the prince, Eze 48:8-22 then the portions of the other five tribes to the south of the sanctuary, Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad, Eze 48:23-29, after which the city is described by its outlets, north, east, south, and west; by its twelve gates, three at each point; by its circumference and by its name, Eze 48:30-35.

Footnotes 8

  • [a]. Compare 47.15: Heb [by the side of the way]
  • [b]. Cn: Heb [and they shall be his]
  • [c]. Gk Compare verses 2-8: Heb [the east side the west]
  • [d]. Compare 45.1: Heb [ten]
  • [e]. One Ms Gk: Heb [of the descendants]
  • [f]. Gk: Heb [ten]
  • [g]. Heb lacks [of Egypt]
  • [h]. One Ms Gk Syr: MT [their gates three]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.