Ezekiel 45:2

Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. No JFB commentary on these verses....

Verse Ezekiel 45:2. _OF THIS THERE SHALL BE FOR THE SANCTUARY_] See the plan, A. Ezekiel 48:35....

The “sanctuary” here probably means the whole temple precincts. SUBURBS - literally, as margin. To mark out more distinctly the sacred precincts, a vacant space of fifty cubits was left on all sides....

EXPOSITION From the sustenance of the priests (Ezekiel 44:29-26), the new Torah naturally passes in the present chapter to the maintenance of the temple service as a whole, setting forth in the first section of the chapter (Ezekiel 45:1) the portions of land that should be allotted respectively to the sanctuary, _i.e._ for the temple buildings, and the priests' and Levites' houses (Ezekiel 45:1), to the city and its inhabitants, that they might be able to discharge their religious and civil obligations on the one hand to the temple, and on the other hand to the state (Ezekiel 45:6), and to the prince to e

OF THIS THERE SHALL BE FOR THE SANCTUARY,.... Or temple, the house before described in the preceding Chapter s: FIVE HUNDRED IN LENGTH, AND FIVE HUNDRED IN BREADTH, SQUARE ROUND ABOUT: that is, five hundred reeds square, as is manifest from Ezekiel 42:16, and this denotes the largeness, perfection, and stability of the church of Christ, which the sanctuary was a type of: AND FIFTY CUBITS ROUND ABOUT FOR THE SUBURBS THEREOF; which were a void place of fifty cubits round about the sanctuary, measuring from the wall to that; this was done in reverence to the holy place, and to show that we should not rush hastily into the house of God, and church of Christ, but first pass through the suburbs or open place. Cubits being here mentioned, show that reeds are to be understood where the kind of measure is not expressed....

CHAPTER 45 _ 1. The portions of the priests, the Levites, of the whole house of Israel, and the prince (Ezekiel 45:1) _ 2. Concerning the prince (Ezekiel 45:9) 3. The feast of Passover and the feast of tabernacles (Ezekiel 45:18)...

THE PRIESTS. (_Their estates._) A rectangular space, roughly eight miles by three, in the centre of which was the sanctuary, is to be reserved for the priests. Immediately north of this was an area of similar extent for the Levites (Ezekiel 45:5), and south of it lay the city with its adjacent territory, occupying an area of about eight miles by two (Ezekiel 45:6) the whole thus forming a square. East of this, stretching to the Jordan, and west to the Mediterranean, were the domains of the prince (Ezekiel 45:6). (In Ezekiel 45:5 for twenty chambers read, with LXX, cities to dwell in.)...

FOR THE SANCTUARY: i.e. the outer court (Ezekiel 42:15). cubits. See App-51. SUBURBS. void ground outside the outer court, to prevent contact....

In this sacred territory, more particularly, in the half of it assigned to the priests (Ezekiel 45:3), shall the sanctuary be situated, a square of 500, surrounded by a free space of 50 cubits on all sides. The 500 are certainly cubits, cf. Ezekiel 42:20. _the suburbs thereof_ What the "suburbs" are appears from Numbers 35:4; it is an open space around the walls of an enclosure, a city or building, held to belong to the building or city, but not occupied by it. It is the liberties of a city or the precincts of an edifice, Ezekiel 48:15; Ezekiel 48:17

_5. THE APPORTIONMENT OF THE SACRED PORTION OF THE LAND_ (_45:1-8_) TRANSLATION (1) Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the border thereof round about. (2) Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length, square round about; and fifty cubits for the suburbs thereof round about. (3) And of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy. (4) It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, that come near to minister unto the LORD; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuar...