Ezekiel
Ezekiel 48
1“Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath (and they shall have their sides east and west), Dan, one portion.
2“By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion.
3“By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naphtali, one portion.
4“By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion.
5“By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion.
6“By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one portion.
7“By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.
8“By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand reeds in width, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the middle of it.
9“The offering that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in width. 10For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in width, and toward the east ten thousand in width, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in the middle of it. 11It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. 12It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a most holy thing, by the border of the Levites.
13“Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in width. All the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the width ten thousand. 14They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to Yahweh.
15“The five thousand that are left in the width, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for pasture lands; and the city shall be in the middle of it. 16These shall be its measurements: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. 17The city shall have pasture lands: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty. 18The remainder in the length, alongside the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be alongside the holy offering. Its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city. 19Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. 20All the offering shall be a square of twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand. You shall offer it as a holy offering, with the possession of the city.
21“The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it. 22Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the middle of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion.
24“By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion.
25“By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion.
26“By the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion.
27“By the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion.
28“By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook, to the great sea.
29“This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord Yahweh.
30“These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure; 31and the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.
32“At the east side four thousand and five hundred reeds, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.
33“At the south side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.
34“At the west side four thousand and five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.
35“It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’
Commentary
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What others are saying
4 commentators · 53 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry1
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
We have here a further account of the city that should be built for the metropolis of this glorious land, and to be the receptacle of those who would come from all parts to worship in the sanctuary adjoining. It is nowhere called Jerusalem, nor is the land…
John Gill35
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
Now these are the names of the tribes,.... That shall inherit the land; and an account is given of each of the portions of it they shall have for an inheritance; by which are meant, not the twelve tribes of Israel literally, among whom the land was never so…
And by the border of Dan,.... Next to it, just by it, closely adjoining to it; for it should be observed, that these tribes, and their inheritances, are contiguous to each other; which denotes the union of true Christians, or believers in Christ, with each…
And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali. Close to the tribe of Asher and his inheritance, in the same direction from east to west, lay the part assigned to the tribe of Naphtali: such Christians who are…
Adam Clarke7
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
Now these are the names of the tribes - See the division mentioned Num 34:7-12, which casts much light upon this.
The oblation - This was a portion of land twenty-five thousand cubits in length, by ten thousand broad; in the center of which was the temple, which must be destined for the use of the priests, the Levites, and the prince.
And the five thousand that are left - The territory of the Levites was twenty-five thousand square cubits, Eze 48:20, But their city was only four thousand five hundred square cubits, see Eze 48:13 and Eze 48:16; there remained, therefore, ten thousand cubits…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown10
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
Asher--a tribe of which no one of note is mentioned in the Old Testament. In the New Testament one is singled out of it, the prophetess Anna.
Manasseh--The intercourse and unity between the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, and the nine and a half west of it, had been much kept up by the splitting of Manasseh, causing the visits of kinsmen one to the other from both sides of the Jordan…
Ephraim--This tribe, within its two dependent tribes, Manasseh and Benjamin, for upwards of four hundred years under the judges held the pre-eminence.
World English Bible — Public domain