Ezekiel 48:1-29

Division of the Land

1 "Now ¹these are the names of the tribes: from the northern extremity, beside * the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, toward the north beside * Hamath, running from east to west, ²Dan, one portion.

2 "Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, ³Asher, one portion.

3 "Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, ⁴Naphtali, one portion.

4 "Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, ⁵Manasseh, one portion.

5 "Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, ⁶Ephraim, one portion.

6 "Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, ⁷Reuben, one portion.

7 "Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, ⁸Judah, one portion.

8 "And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the allotment which you shall set apart, 25,000 * * cubits in width, and in length like one of the portions, from the east side to the west side; and the ⁹sanctuary shall be in the middle of it.

9 "The allotment that you shall set apart to the LORD shall be 25,000 * * cubits in length and 10,000 * in width.

Portion for the Priests

10 "The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the ¹⁰priests, toward the north 25,000 * * cubits in length, toward the west 10,000 * in width, toward the east 10,000 * in width, and toward the south 25,000 * * in length; and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in its midst.

11 "It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the ¹¹sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray as the ¹²Levites went astray.

12 "It shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy place, by the border of the Levites.

13 "Alongside the border of the priests the Levites shall have 25,000 * * cubits in length and 10,000 * in width. The whole length shall be 25,000 * * cubits and the width 10,000 *.

14 "Moreover, they ¹³shall not sell or exchange any of it, or alienate this choice portion of land; for it is holy to the LORD.

15 "The remainder, 5,000 * cubits in width and 25,000 * * in length *, shall be for ¹⁴common use for the city, for dwellings and for open spaces; and the city shall be in its midst.

16 "These shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 * * * cubits, the south side 4,500 * * * cubits, the east side 4,500 * * * cubits, and the west side 4,500 * * * cubits.

17 "The city shall have open spaces: on the north 250 * cubits, on the south 250 * cubits, on the east 250 * cubits, and on the west 250 * cubits.

18 "The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be 10,000 * cubits toward the east and 10,000 * toward the west; and it shall be alongside the holy allotment. And its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.

19 "The workers of the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.

20 "The whole allotment shall be 25,000 * * by 25,000 * * cubits; you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city.

Portion for the Prince

21 "The ¹⁵remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy allotment and of the property of the city; in front of the 25,000 * * cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 * * toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it.

22 "Exclusive of the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.

Portion for Other Tribes

23 "As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, ¹⁶Benjamin, one portion.

24 "Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, ¹⁷Simeon, one portion.

25 "Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, ¹⁸Issachar, one portion.

26 "Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, ¹⁹Zebulun, one portion.

27 "Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, ²⁰Gad, one portion.

28 "And beside the border of Gad, at the south side toward the south, the border shall be from ²¹Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh *, to the brook of Egypt, to the ²²Great Sea.

29 "This is the ²³land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, and these are their several portions," declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 48:1-29 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.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 1:1
• 2. Joshua 19:40-48
• 3. Joshua 19:24-31
• 4. Joshua 19:32-39
• 5. Joshua 13:29-31; Joshua 17:1-11
• 6. Joshua 16:5-9; Joshua 17:8-10, 14-18
• 7. Joshua 13:15-21
• 8. Joshua 15:1-63; Joshua 19:9
• 9. Isaiah 12:6; Isaiah 33:20-22; Ezekiel 45:3, 4
• 10. Ezekiel 44:28; Ezekiel 45:4
• 11. Ezekiel 40:46; Ezekiel 44:15
• 12. Ezekiel 44:10, 12
• 13. Leviticus 25:32-34; Leviticus 27:10, 28, 33
• 14. Ezekiel 42:20; Ezekiel 45:6
• 15. Revelation 21:16
• 16. Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 45:7; Ezekiel 48:22
• 17. Joshua 18:21-28
• 18. Joshua 19:1-9
• 19. Joshua 19:17-23
• 20. Joshua 19:10-16
• 21. Joshua 13:24-28
• 22. Genesis 14:7; 2 Chronicles 20:2; Ezekiel 47:19
• 23. Ezek 47:10, 15, 19, 20
• 24. Ezekiel 47:13-20

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "at the hand of"
• [b]. Or "the entrance of Hamath"
• [c]. Lit "at the hand of"
• [d]. Lit "and there shall be to it an east and west side"
• [e]. Or "contribution", and so throughout the ch
• [f]. Lit "offer"
• [g]. Or possibly "reeds", and so throughout the ch
• [h]. Lit "first" or "first fruits"
• [i]. Lit "in front"
• [j]. Or "pasture land"
• [k]. Or "pasture land"
• [l]. Or "exactly as"
• [m]. Lit "offer"
• [n]. Lit "fourth"
• [o]. Or "possession"
• [p]. Or "possession"
• [q]. Or "possession"
• [r]. Or "possession"
• [s]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD