Ezekiel 45:4

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 45:4. _THE HOLY PORTION_] See the plan, A. Ezekiel 48:35....

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

THE HOLY PORTION OF THE LAND SHALL BE FOR THE PRIESTS, THE MINISTERS OF THE SANCTUARY,.... That is, the rest of it, which is not for the sanctuary, shall be for the use of the priests that minister in holy things in the sanctuary; either the ministers of the Gospel, who shall have a sufficient maintenance from the churches of Christ, as the priests had under the law: or it may be meant of all the saints, who are priests unto God, and serve and worship him in his sanctuary; who shall all be satisfied with the goodness and fatness of his house, the word and ordinances, and the blessings of grace conveyed by them: WHICH SHALL COME NEAR TO MINISTER UNTO THE LORD; these sons of Zadok, these faithful ones, in the worst of times; see Ezekiel 44:15: AND IT SHALL BE A PLACE FOR THEIR HOUSES; in this large spot shall be many congregated churches, houses of the

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.)...

SHALL BE. it [shall be]. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ with. _eth_. Jehovah Himself. App-4.I....

Read: AN HOLY PORTION OF THE LAND IS IT, IT SHALL BE FOR, &c. _holy place for the sanctuary_ Lit. _a sanctuary for the sanctuary_. The use of "sanctuary" in the sense of sacred territory can hardly be supported by evidence, though the idea of a sacred territory around a sacred house or locality is a common one in the East. LXX. reads: a place for houses set apart for their sanctity, i.e. possibly: houses set apart for them (the priests), they being holy. No satisfactory emendation has been proposed....

_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...

THE LANDS FOR THE PRIESTS, LEVITES, PRINCE, AND CITY The division of the whole country is described in ch. 48, which includes the substance of the present passage, and shows the position of these lands in relation to those of the tribes. The holy portion (Fig. 7, _a b g h_) was to be 25,000 cubits long (_a b, g h_) and 20,000 cubits broad (_a g, b h_). The sanctuary (_s_) was to occupy a square of 500 cubits each way, with a border on every side of 50 cubits more. The holy portion was to be subdivided into a portion (_e f g h_) 25,000 by 10,000 cubits, containing the sanctuary, and allotted to the priests; and a portion (_a b e f_) of the same size, allotted to the Levites. Alongside the priests, portion was to be a strip (_g h c d_) 25,000 by 5,000 cubits, for the city and the people. These three portions would form a square of 25,000 cubits each way, and E. and W. of this the possessio...