Ezekiel 45:1-8

1 And when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer a heave-offering unto Jehovah, a holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand [cubits], and the breadth ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.

2 Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred [reeds] by five hundred, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.

3 And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the holy of holies.

4 This is the holy [portion] of the land; it shall be for the priests who do the service of the sanctuary, who draw near to serve Jehovah, and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary.

5 And [a space of] five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall the Levites, who do the service of the house, have for themselves, for a possession, for their habitations.

6 And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand in breadth, and five and twenty thousand in length, alongside of the holy heave-offering: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

7 And the prince shall have [his portion] on the one side and on the other side of the holy heave-offering and of the possession of the city, over against the holy heave-offering, and over against the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward; and in length answering to one of the portions [of the tribes] from the west border unto the east border.

8 As land shall it be his for a possession in Israel; and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

Ezekiel 45:1-8 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]. Cf. ch. 42.16.
• [b]. Lit. 'gates of habitation.'
• [c]. i.e. domain.