Ezekiel 45:3

3 From this holy portion,^[a] you will measure off an area eight and one-third [miles]^[b] long and three and one-third [miles]^[c] wide, in which the sanctuary, the most holy place,^[d] will stand.^[e]

Ezekiel 45:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 45:3

And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of
five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand
Not that the sense is, that of and according to the cubit measure last mentioned, this length and this breadth should be measured; but "after this measure", as Starckius renders it, and as the particle is rendered, ( Daniel 11:23 ) ( Nehemiah 13:21 ) and which Sanctius mentions; and Jerom seems to have understood it in this light: and the sense is, that after he had finished the measure of five hundred reeds square, and fifty cubits round, he should proceed to measure the rest of the twenty five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: and in it shall be the sanctuary, and the most holy place;
that is, in the midst portion of land, consisting of the above measures, be the holy place, and the holy of holies; this is, but a further explanation of the two preceding verses.

Ezekiel 45:3 In-Context

1 "When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you must set aside a donation to the Lord, a holy portion of the land, eight and one-third [miles] long and six and two-thirds [miles] wide. This entire tract of land will be holy.

2 In this area there will be a square [section] for the sanctuary, 875 by 875 [feet], with 87 and a half feet of open space all around it.

3 From this holy portion, you will measure off an area eight and one-third [miles] long and three and one-third [miles] wide, in which the sanctuary, the most holy place, will stand.

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

5 There will be [another area] eight and one-third [miles] long and three and one-third [miles] wide for the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns to live in.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit this measured [portion]
• [b]. Lit 25,000 [cubits]
• [c]. Lit 10,000 [cubits]
• [d]. Ezk 43:12
• [e]. Lit be