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Ezekiel 48

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The Division of the Land: Northern Tribes 1–7

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
And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, Asher, one portion.
3
And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, Naphtali, one portion.
4
And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, Manasseh, one portion.
5
And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, Ephraim, one portion.
6
And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, Reuben, one portion.
7
And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, Judah, one portion. ​

The Sacred Central Offering (Oblation) 8–22

8
And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the oblation which ye shall offer, five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. ​
9
The oblation that ye shall offer unto Jehovah shall be five and twenty thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth.
10
And for these, even for the priests, shall be the holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Jehovah shall be in the midst thereof.
11
It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, that have kept my charge, that went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. ​
12
And it shall be unto them an oblation from the oblation of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.
13
And answerable unto the border of the priests, the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14
And they shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first-fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy unto Jehovah. ​
15
And the five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the five and twenty thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst thereof. ​
16
And these shall be the measures thereof: 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.
17
And the city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18
And the residue in the length, answerable unto the holy oblation, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable unto the holy oblation; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that labor in the city.
19
And they that labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall till it.
20
All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city. ​
21
And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city; in front of the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward in front of the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, answerable unto the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy oblation and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. ​
22
Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.

The Division of the Land: Southern Tribes 23–29

23
And as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin, one portion. ​
24
And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon, one portion.
25
And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar, one portion.
26
And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun, one portion.
27
And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad, one portion.
28
And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, unto the great sea. ​
29
This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

The Gates and Name of the Holy City 30–35

30
And these are the egresses of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure; ​
31
and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one. ​
32
And 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
And 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 round about: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Jehovah is there. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 48

Verse 1

a portion for Dan — The twelve tribes get strips running 'from the east side unto the west side', and the first lies on the northern line drawn in Ezek 47:15–17: Hethlon, Hamath, Hazarenan, 'the border of Damascus'. Dan's old coast 'went out too little for them', and they went up to take Leshem (Josh 19:47).

Verse 7

a portion for Judah — Judah's strip is the last before the holy oblation (v.8); the prince's land lies 'between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin' (v.22). The tribe of the sceptre (Gen 49:10) lies nearest the sanctuary on the north, as Benjamin does on the south (v.23).

Verse 8

the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it — 'Offering' is terumah, a heave offering, from the verb rum, to lift up: land raised from the common allotment for the LORD, 25,000 on each side (v.20). 'Reeds' is supplied by the KJV. The sanctuary in the midst keeps the promise of Ezek 37:26, 'my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore'.

Verse 11

the sons of Zadok — Ezek 44:15 gives the ground: they 'kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me'. The verb ta'ah, to wander, occurs three times in this one verse: Israel strayed, the Levites strayed, and Zadok's sons did not. Their portion is the priests' oblation of vv.9–10.

Verse 14

they shall not sell of it — Three verbs close every exit: makar, to sell; mur, to exchange; and abar, to pass over to another hand. It is 'the firstfruits of the land' (reshith), holy to the LORD, as Lev 25:23 had set the principle: 'The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine.'

Verse 15

a profane place — Chol means common, not consecrated; it is the opposite of qodesh, holy. The 5,000 strip left beside the priests' and Levites' allotments is for the city, 'for dwelling, and for suburbs'. Ezek 42:20 and 44:23 draw the same line between the holy and the profane.

Verse 20

foursquare — The holy oblation is 25,000 by 25,000: the priests' 10,000 and the Levites' 10,000 (vv.9–13) plus the city's 5,000 (v.15) make the breadth equal the length. The city itself is square too (v.16), as the city in Rev 21:16 'lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth'.

Verse 21

for the prince — 'The residue' (v.21) on the east and west of the holy oblation and the city's possession belongs to the prince, 'between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin' (v.22). Ezek 45:8 had given him his possession in Israel, so that 'my princes shall no more oppress my people'.

Verse 23

Benjamin shall have a portion — 'The rest of the tribes' are Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun and Gad (vv.23–27), the first strip south of the oblation. In Joshua, Jerusalem is counted in Benjamin's list (Josh 18:28), while the Jebusites of Jerusalem remained among Judah (Josh 15:63).

Verse 28

the waters of strife in Kadesh — The southern line of Gad repeats Ezek 47:19 almost word for word. Meribah (strife) recalls Num 20:13, 'This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD', named Meribah-Kadesh in Deut 32:51. Tamar and 'the river' complete the border to 'the great sea'.

Verse 29

divide by lot — The verb is naphal, to fall, as in Ezek 47:14: 'this land shall fall unto you for inheritance'. There the LORD says he 'lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers'. The lot decides the places, but the gift rests on his oath. 'Portions' (machlaqah) are the divisions drawn.

Verse 30

the goings out of the city — Totsa'oth is plural, 'outgoings', meaning the exits by which the city is entered and left. Each of the four sides is 'four thousand and five hundred' (v.16), and each side carries three gates (vv.31–34). 'Measures' (middah) is tagged behind the KJV word here, as in vv.16 and 33.

Verse 31

one gate of Levi — There are three gates on each side, twelve in all, and each carries a tribe's name (vv.31–34). Joseph has one gate for Ephraim and Manasseh, who hold strips (vv.4–5), so Levi, whose portion lies within the holy oblation (v.13), is counted. Rev 21:12–13 gives the same pattern: twelve gates, three on each side, with the names of the twelve tribes.

Verse 35

The LORD is there — This is one Hebrew compound: the divine name with shammah, 'there'. It occurs nowhere else in the KJV. The glory had left the city (Ezek 11:23) and returned by the east gate (Ezek 43:2–5), to dwell 'for ever' (Ezek 43:7). The perimeter is four sides of 4,500 (v.16), 'eighteen thousand' in all.