Ezekiel 48

1 Now these are the names of the tribes: from the north end, from the west on the way of Hethlon to the way into Hamath, in the direction of Hazar-enon, with the limit of Damascus to the north, by Hamath; and on the limit from the east side to the west side: Dan, one part.
2 And on the limit of Dan, from the east side to the west side: Asher, one part.
3 And on the limit of Asher, from the east side to the west side: Naphtali, one part.
4 And on the limit of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side: Manasseh, one part.
5 And on the limit of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side: Ephraim, one part.
6 And on the limit of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side: Reuben, one part.
7 And on the limit of Reuben, from the east side to the west side: Judah, one part.
8 And on the limit of Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the offering which you are to make, twenty-five thousand wide, and as long as one of the parts, from the east side to the west side: and the holy place will be in the middle of it.
9 The offering you will give to the Lord is to be twenty-five thousand long and twenty-five thousand wide.
10 And for these, that is the priests, the holy offering is to be twenty-five thousand long to the north, ten thousand wide to the west, ten thousand wide to the east and twenty-five thousand long to the south; and the holy place of the Lord will be in the middle of it.
11 For the priests who have been made holy, those of the sons of Zadok who kept the orders I gave them, who did not go out of the right way when the children of Israel went from the way, as the Levites did,
12 Even for them will be the offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, on the limit of the land given to the Levites.
13 And the Levites are to have a part of the land equal to the limit of the priests', twenty-five thousand long and ten thousand wide, all of it together to be twenty-five thousand long and twenty thousand wide.
14 And they are not to let any of it go for a price, or give it in exchange; and the part of the land given to the Lord is not to go into other hands: for it is holy to the Lord.
15 And the other five thousand, measured from side to side, in front of the twenty-five thousand, is to be for common use, for the town, for living in and for a free space: and the town will be in the middle of it.
16 And these will be its measures: the north side, four thousand five hundred, and the south side, four thousand five hundred, and on the east side, four thousand five hundred, and on the west side, four thousand five hundred.
17 And the town will have a free space on the north of two hundred and fifty, on the south of two hundred and fifty, on the east of two hundred and fifty, and on the west of two hundred and fifty.
18 And the rest, in measure as long as the holy offering, will be ten thousand to the east and ten thousand to the west: and its produce will be for food for the workers of the town.
19 It will be farmed by workers of the town from all the tribes of Israel.
20 The size of the offering all together is to be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you are to make the holy offering a square, together with the property of the town.
21 And the rest is to be for the prince, on this side and on that side of the holy offering and of the property of the town, in front of the twenty-five thousand to the east, as far as the east limit, and to the west, in front of the twenty-five thousand, as far as the west limit, and of the same measure as those parts; it will be the property of the prince: and the holy offering and holy place of the house will be in the middle of it.
22 And the property of the Levites and the property of the town will be in the middle of the prince's property; between the limit of Judah's part and the limit of Benjamin's part will be for the prince.
23 And as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side: Benjamin, one part.
24 And on the limit of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side: Simeon, one part.
25 And on the limit of Simeon, from the east side to the west side: Issachar, one part.
26 And on the limit of Issachar, from the east side to the west side: Zebulun, one part.
27 And on the limit of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side: Gad one part.
28 And on the limit of Gad, on the south side and to the south of it, the limit will be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the stream, to the Great Sea.
29 This is the land of which distribution is to be made by the decision of the Lord, among the tribes of Israel for their heritage, and these are their heritages, says the Lord.
30 And these are the outskirts of the town: on the north side, four thousand five hundred by measure;
31 And the doors of the town are to be named by the names of the tribes of Israel; three doors on the north, one for Reuben, one for Judah, one for Levi;
32 And at the east side, four thousand five hundred by measure, and three doors, one for Joseph, one for Benjamin, one for Dan;
33 And at the south side, four thousand five hundred by measure, and three doors, one for Simeon, one for Issachar, one for Zebulun;
34 At the west side, four thousand five hundred by measure, with their three doors, one for Gad, one for Asher, one for Naphtali.
35 It is to be eighteen thousand all round: and the name of the town from that day will be, The Lord is there.

Ezekiel 48 Commentary

Chapter 48

- Here is a description of the several portions of the land belonging to each tribe. In gospel times, behold all things are become new. Much is wrapped up in emblems and numbers. This method God has used to state mysterious truths in his word, not to be more clearly revealed till the proper time and season. But into the church of Christ, both in its state of warfare and triumph, there is free access by faith, from every side. Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven for all believers. Whoever will, may come, and take of the water of life, of the tree of life, freely. The Lord is there, in his church, to be nigh unto them in all they call upon him for. This is true of every real Christian; whatever soul has in it a living principle of grace, it may truly be said, The Lord is there. May we be found citizens of this holy city, and act agreeably to that character; and have the benefit of the Lord's presence with us, in life, in death, and for evermore.

Chapter Summary

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.

Ezekiel 48 Commentaries

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