Ezekiel 45:1-9

Consecration of the Land

1 “When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you are to set aside a portion for the LORD, a holy portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. ^[a] This entire tract of land will be holy.

2 Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, ^[b] with 50 cubits ^[c] around it for open land.

3 From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits, ^[d] and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ^[e]

4 It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the LORD. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

5 An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live. ^[f]

6 As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, ^[g] adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Portion

7 Now the prince will have the area bordering each side of the area formed by the holy district and the property of the city, extending westward from the western side and eastward from the eastern side, running lengthwise from the western boundary to the eastern boundary and parallel to one of the tribal portions.

8 This land will be his possession in Israel. And My princes will no longer oppress My people, but will give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

9 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’

Ezekiel 45:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 45

This chapter treats of the division of the land in future time, and the persons and uses for which it is to be made; one part being for the sanctuary, and the priests that serve in it, and for their houses for them to dwell in, Eze 45:1-4, another for the Levites and their chambers, Eze 45:5, and another for the city, for the Israelites in common, Eze 45:6, and the last for the prince; and of the situation and extent of it, Eze 45:7,8 and of the righteous administration of civil government in the time of the spiritual reign of Christ, in abstinence from violence and exactions, and doing justice, for which orders and directions are given, Eze 45:9-12, then of the oblations of the people of the land, Eze 45:13-16, and next of those that are to be prepared by the prince, Eze 45:17, and the times of the offering of them, at the beginning of the year, on the feasts of the passover and tabernacles, Eze 45:18-25, the rules for which are so different from the Mosaic law, as show the abrogation of that; and that all this is to be understood in a spiritual and evangelic sense.

Footnotes

• [a] LXX; the holy portion was to be approximately 8.3 miles long and 6.6 miles wide (13.3 kilometers long and 10.7 kilometers wide). Hebrew 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 wide. See also verses 3 and 5 and Ezekiel 48:9.
• [b] 500 (long) cubits is approximately 875 feet or 266.7 meters.
• [c] 50 (long) cubits is approximately 87.5 feet or 26.7 meters.
• [d] The portion was to be approximately 8.3 miles long and 3.3 miles wide (13.3 kilometers long and 5.3 kilometers wide); similarly in verse 5.
• [e] Or the Holy of Holies
• [f] LXX; Hebrew their possession, twenty chambers
• [g] The property of the city was to be approximately 1.7 miles wide and 8.3 miles long (2.7 kilometers wide and 13.3 kilometers long).