Ezekiel 48:5-15

5 South of Manasseh is Ephraim,

6 and then Reuben,

7 and then Judah, all of whose boundaries extend from east to west.

8 “South of Judah is the land set aside for a special purpose. It will be 8 miles wide and will extend as far east and west as the tribal territories, with the Temple at the center.

9 “The area set aside for the LORD ’s Temple will be 8 miles long and 6 miles wide.

10 For the priests there will be a strip of land measuring 8 miles long by 3 miles wide, with the LORD ’s Temple at the center.

11 This area is set aside for the ordained priests, the descendants of Zadok who served me faithfully and did not go astray with the people of Israel and the rest of the Levites.

12 It will be their special portion when the land is distributed, the most sacred land of all. Next to the priests’ territory will lie the land where the other Levites will live.

13 “The land allotted to the Levites will be the same size and shape as that belonging to the priests—8 miles long and 3 miles wide. Together these portions of land will measure 8 miles long by 6 miles wide.

14 None of this special land may ever be sold or traded or used by others, for it belongs to the LORD ; it is set apart as holy.

15 “An additional strip of land 8 miles long by 1 miles wide, south of the sacred Temple area, will be allotted for public use—homes, pasturelands, and common lands, with a city at the center.

Ezekiel 48:5-15 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers].
• [b]. As in one Greek manuscript and the Greek reading in 45:1 : 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 20,000 [cubits] [10.6 kilometers] wide; Hebrew reads 25,000 [cubits] long and 10,000 [cubits] [3 miles or 5.3 kilometers] wide. Similarly in 48:13b . Compare 45:1-5 ; 48:10-13 .
• [c]. Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long by 10,000 [cubits] [5.3 kilometers] wide; also in 48:13a .
• [d]. See note on 48:9 .
• [e]. Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long by 5,000 [cubits] [2.65 kilometers] wide.