Ezekiel 45:6

6 And ye shall give the possession of the city, five thousand reeds of breadth (five thousand rods of breadth), and five and twenty thousand of length, by the separating of the saintuary, to all the house of Israel. (And ye shall make a possession for a city, five thousand cubits in breadth, and twenty-five thousand in length, beside the separated place for the sanctuary, for all the house of Israel.)

Ezekiel 45:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 45:6

And ye shall appoint the possession of the city,
&e.] Which is something distinct from the house or temple, which was as the frame of a city, being so large, and consisting of so many parts, ( Ezekiel 40:2 ) and seems also different from the city in ( Ezekiel 48:30 Ezekiel 48:35 ) , the measures of the one and of the other not agreeing. Starckius thinks that this city prefigures the academies that should be among Christians, in which the priests or ministers of the word should teach those that came out of all parts unto them; but I am rather of opinion that the civil state of the people of God is here meant, as it will be in the spiritual reign of Christ; when all civil power and authority will not as yet be put down, only it will come into the hands of the saints, and be administered by Christian kings and princes. Five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against
the oblation of the holy portion;
five thousand reeds in breadth are allowed less for the civil than the church state; and though they are contiguous, and there is a connection between them, yet are separate from each other; the material temple was in the city of Jerusalem; but the holy portion, in which the sanctuary shall be, is without the city, and the city over against that; hence John seems, to have borrowed his idea and language, "I saw no temple therein", ( Revelation 21:22 ) , though speaking of another city: the church and the world shall be no more mixed together; Christ's kingdom is not of this world, nor to be fixed on a civil establishment: it shall be for the whole house of Israel;
they shall all be under one and the same form of government; I do not say they shall be all under one temporal king or prince; but all Christian kings and princes shall exercise the same kind of rule and government; so that, as their church state will be uniform, their civil state or polity will be alike.

Ezekiel 45:6 In-Context

4 An hallowed thing of the land shall be to (the) priests, the ministers of the saintuary, that nigh to the service of the Lord; and a place shall be to them into houses, and into the saintuary of holiness. (A hallowed portion of the land shall be for the priests, the ministers, or the servants, of the sanctuary, who come near to serve the Lord; and a place shall be for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary.)
5 Soothly five and twenty thousand of length shall be, and ten thousand of breadth; but the deacons that minister to the house, they shall have in possession twenty chambers. (And twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be for the Levites, who serve in the Temple; and there will be suburbs there for them to live in.)
6 And ye shall give the possession of the city, five thousand reeds of breadth (five thousand rods of breadth), and five and twenty thousand of length, by the separating of the saintuary, to all the house of Israel. (And ye shall make a possession for a city, five thousand cubits in breadth, and twenty-five thousand in length, beside the separated place for the sanctuary, for all the house of Israel.)
7 And ye shall give a portion to the prince on this side and on that side, beside the separating of the saintuary, and beside the possession of the city, against the face of (the) separating of the saintuary, and against the face of (the) possession of the city (And ye shall give a portion to the prince on this side and on that side, beside the separated place for the sanctuary, and the possession for the city, facing the separated place for the sanctuary, and the possession for the city); from the side of the sea till to the sea, and from the side of the east till to the east, shall be of the possession of the prince. Forsooth the length by each of the parts, from the west end till to the east end of the land,
8 shall be (the) possession to him in Israel; and the princes shall no more rob my people, but they shall give (the rest of) the land to the house of Israel, by the lineages of them. (shall be his possession in Israel; and then the princes shall no more rob my people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel, by all their tribes.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.