Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 45:6
And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy [portion]: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
6. The city possesses a strip of land 5000 cubits broad and 25,000 long, running parallel to the portion of the priests, cf. Eze 48:15. The city shall stand in the midst of this tract, which it entirely covers N. to S., cf. Eze 48:16-17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This portion is to belong to the whole people, not to be subject to the encroachments made by the later kings of Judah Jer 22:13. The Levites portion 10,000 reeds, the priests portion 10,000 reeds, and the city portion 5,000 reeds. make in all 25,000 reeds from north to south. The measure of each of these portions from east to west has been defined to be 25,000 reeds (Eze 45:1 note), and thus we have a square of 25,000 in all.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Ye shall appoint] See the plan, FF. See Clarke on Eze 48:35.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Appoint; order and measure out.
The possession; land to be a possession to the citizens of Jerusalem, and to be the contents of the city.
Five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long; about two miles and half broad, and twelve miles and half long, measured by the cubit, as Eze 45:3 directs.
Over against the oblation of the holy portion: this must run along parallel in length with the holy portion, though but half its breadth.
For the whole house of Israel: as the chief and capital city, to which the tribes resort, it must be large enough to entertain them too; and was to be framed with twelve gates to twelve streets, for the twelve tribes, as Eze 48:31. as Eze 48:31; Eze 48:31.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And ye shall appoint the possession of the city, e.] Which is something distinct from the house or temple, which was as the frame of a city, being so large, and consisting of so many parts, Eze 40:2 and seems also different from the city in Eze 48:30, the measures of the one and of the other not agreeing. Starckius thinks that this city prefigures the academies that should be among Christians, in which the priests or ministers of the word should teach those that came out of all parts unto them but I am rather of opinion that the civil state of the people of God is here meant, as it will be in the spiritual reign of Christ; when all civil power and authority will not as yet be put down, only it will come into the hands of the saints, and be administered by Christian kings and princes.
Five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion; five thousand reeds in breadth are allowed less for the civil than the church state; and though they are contiguous, and there is a connection between them, yet are separate from each other; the material temple was in the city of Jerusalem; but the holy portion, in which the sanctuary shall be, is without the city, and the city over against that; hence John seems, to have borrowed his idea and language, “I saw no temple therein”, Re 21:22, though speaking of another city: the church and the world shall be no more mixed together; Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, nor to be fixed on a civil establishment:
it shall be for the whole house of Israel; they shall all be under one and the same form of government; I do not say they shall be all under one temporal king or prince; but all Christian kings and princes shall exercise the same kind of rule and government; so that, as their church state will be uniform, their civil state or polity will be alike.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) The possession of the city.This portion, more particularly described in Eze. 48:15-20, is there called a profane place, though still constituting a part of the oblation. It was the same length and half the width of either of the other portions, and was for the city, and for a common possession of the nation, to supply food for those who serve the city out of all the tribes of Israel (Eze. 48:18-19). Nothing is anywhere said to identify this city with Jerusalem, and, indeed, it is described as in a different position geographically (see map). Jerusalem, like the ark, appears to have faded from the prophets sight in this vision of the future Church.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“And you will appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty five long, side by side with the gift-offering of the holy portion. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.”
‘The city’ is also deliberately and specifically established outside ‘the holy portion’. To a people who thought of Jerusalem as ‘the holy city’ this would come as a jolt. It was no longer the holy city. It was for the people, and could only be seen as representing ‘the whole house of Israel’. But it was not for the chosen of Yahweh, for the priests or Levites, who had their own portions, and were to live outside the city, and need never enter it. However we look at it Jerusalem had been de-sanctified and degraded, although still superior to territory outside the holy portion, something that has already been apparent elsewhere in Ezekiel.
It should be noted that for literalists this can only be in complete contradiction to the words of other prophets. However, once we recognise what Ezekiel is doing, turning thoughts from the earthly to the heavenly, it ceases to be so. What he is visualising is a holy portion of land connected with the heavenly temple, (which land can later be compared with the new Jerusalem), a land of holiness, away from any earthly city with its prospective earthly temple, a land where His own especially chosen ones will be with Him outside the camp.
The Old Testament constantly makes clear that cities are the source of a large part of the evil in the world, commencing with Cain’s encampment (Gen 4:17), moving on to the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), and then on to Nineveh and Great Babylon, both of which are roundly condemned, along with other great cities. Now Ezekiel is attempting to cancel out the influence of ‘the city’. It is not condemned, but it is no longer central, nor is it seen as containing the heavenly temple. While it still symbolises the people as a whole, ‘the whole house of Israel’, it is as secondary to that which pertains to God. The people are being wooed away from concentrating on Jerusalem.
And yet the whole area now occupied in Eze 45:1-5 is twenty five thousand by twenty five thousand, (five squared times a thousand by five squared times a thousand) also representing the perfect covenant relationship. As we have already seen, central to the area is the heavenly sanctuary, that which is most holy (Eze 45:3), then there is ‘the holy portion’ of the priests, the sons of Zadok (Eze 45:1), the equivalent of the inner court of the temple, which surround the heavenly temple; then there is the portion of the Levites; and then the portion of ‘the city’, this latter representing the whole lay house of Israel. These are all joined in unity in the covenant around the heavenly temple, turning the thoughts of all towards the heavenly temple at its centre. Israel is being wooed from earth to heaven. Given that Ezekiel did not appreciate fully the reality of a heavenly world available to redeemed man, or Jesus’ later conception of the Kingly Rule of God present among men, he was reaching to it as best he could. It was the nearest that he could get to such ideas, given the conceptual limitations of his time.
This area which lies foursquare and sums up the people of God at their various levels of commitment, with God at their centre, can then be compared with the city that lies foursquare in Rev 21:16. That was a similar, although more advanced, conception. There it was described as the new heavenly Jerusalem, for the old Jerusalem was no longer a problem. But to Ezekiel Jerusalem was a problem. He wanted to get over the fact that it was no longer important except as representing the people of Israel and must not therefore be given prominence in any way. His thoughts were in the heavens, and especially on the heavenly temple. With our wider understanding of heavenly realities we recognise that he was feeling for the idea of the eternal kingdom.
So to repeat. Eze 45:1-6 depict a foursquare area of land which is seen as temple-like. In its centre is what is most holy, the sanctuary. This is surrounded by the holy portion, which is like the inner court. And then on the outside are the Levites, and ‘the city’ which represents the people, comprising the outer court. Its size in multiples of five emphasises its strong relationship with the new everlasting covenant mentioned by Ezekiel earlier (Eze 37:26) and central to it is its relationship with the heavenly temple of Yahweh, to which Ezekiel sees they must in some way become attached. It is the ideal kingdom of God, and it is of a heavenly nature.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 45:6. It shall be for the whole house of Israel “This shall be the capital city, to which all the tribes shall resort upon the solemn festivals; which shall have twelve gates, according to the number of the twelve tribes of Israel.” See Lowth, Rev 11:1.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 45:6 And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy [portion]: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
Ver. 6. And ye shall appoint the possession of the city. ] After the church service settled, and the ministry provided for. Aristotle’s a advice is , first take care of divine things – that is the best policy.
It shall be for the whole house of Israel.
a Polit., lib. vii. cap. 8.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 45:6
6You shall give the city possession of an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, alongside the allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
Eze 45:6 the city This area (5,000 by 25,000 cubits) is further described in Eze 48:15-18; Eze 48:30-35. It is a holy area for all the house of Israel, similar to the courts of Herod’s temple.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the whole house of Israel. Compare Eze 48:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the city: Eze 48:15-18, Eze 48:30-35
Reciprocal: Eze 45:1 – the length Eze 48:19 – shall serve Zec 2:2 – unto
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 45:6. This verse designates a strip of land to lie alongside that which is assigned to the priests, and it was to be for the use Of the whole house of Israel, something like an open campus or common grounds.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 45:6. And ye shall appoint the possession of the city, five thousand broad, &c., over against (or by the side of, see Eze 48:14) the oblation of the holy portion This must run parallel in length with the holy portion, though but half its breadth, by which means these three portions made an exact square. It shall be for the whole house of Israel The capital city, to which all the tribes shall resort upon the solemn festivals, and shall have twelve gates, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, Eze 48:31. This portion appointed for the city, considered separate from the other portions, was a rectangle, containing an area of about seventeen miles in circuit; which, according to Josephus, was more than four times the circuit of Jerusalem: see Bell. Jud., 5. 4:3, where that city is stated to be thirty-three stadia in circumference.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Another parcel of land 25,000 by 5,000 cubits (about 8.3 miles by 1.7 miles), apparently immediately to the south, would contain the city of Jerusalem, and all the Israelites would have access to it. Later Ezekiel clarified that the city itself would occupy the center of this portion of land, and suburbs, or city lands, would flank it on the east and west (cf. Eze 48:15; Eze 48:17-19).