Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 48:21
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, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house [shall be] in the midst thereof.
21, 22. The domain of the prince. The domain of the Levites, priests and city formed a square of 25,000 cubits in the heart of the country. The portion of the prince shall be the land from the E. of this square to the Jordan, and from the W. of it to the sea. The “five and twenty thousand” here is the breadth N. to S.; the prince’s domain shall be of the same breadth and be “over against” the square on the E. and W.
over against the portions ] Or, by the side of the portions, it shall be for the prince; and the holy oblation, and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. The “portions” here are those of the tribes, which run from the Jordan to the sea; the prince’s domain shall run alongside of them, i.e. Judah’s on the N. and Benjamin’s on the S. And the holy oblation lies between the two halves of the prince’s domain.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Or, And the residue shall be for the prince – on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city over against the 25,000 of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the 25,000 toward the west border, over against the portions (of Judah and Benjamin, between which the oblation was included), shall be for the prince; and it shall be that the holy oblation and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. This exactly describes the position of the princes allotments on the borders of the oblations.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. And the residue – for the prince] His portion was alongside that of the Levites, from west to east; these were on each side twenty-five thousand cubits in length, from the east to the west. by twelve thousand five hundred cubits in breadth from north to south. The space both above and below was equal, between the tribe of Judah and that of Benjamin to north and south; and the portion of the Levites, which had Judah and Benjamin to the north and south, and the portion of the prince to the east and to the west. See the map.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The residue of the land, which is a great portion, for it is the remainder of twelve and a half taken out of sixty; so that the remainder will be forty-seven and a half.
On the one side; suppose it be the cast side, there will be twenty-three and three quarters.
On the other side; on the west just as much, twenty-three and three quarters.
Of the possession of the city; the residue of that which is on each side, east and west of the five thousand square area.
Over against the five and twenty thousand; which amounts out of the priests, Levites, and city portion.
Toward the east border of the land of Canaan; all from the east side of the twenty-five thousand to the utmost bounds eastward, shall be the princes portion, and so likewise on the west side westward to the great sea.
Over against the portions for the prince; these twenty-five thousand on both sides lay over against, or run parallel with, the breadth of the princes portion, but the length of the princes portion on each side did exceed the length of the holy portion and the city land, as twenty-three and three quarters exceeds twelve and a half.
The sanctuary; the holy mount.
Of the house; of the temple of God.
In the midst thereof; of the land assigned to the priests, which lay as described, bounded and guarded with the princes portion at east and west ends.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the residue shall be for the prince,…. Not the civil magistrate, but the Prince Messiah; the King, Governor, and Protector of his church and people:
on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city: his portion shall lie on each side of the portion for the sanctuary, the priests and Levites, and for the city and its appurtenances; so that he will be the guardian and preserver of them all; [See comments on Eze 45:7]:
over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border; or, “before the face” x “of the five and twenty thousand of the oblation”, c. that is, next to the tribe of Judah, close by that, and just before the holy oblation of five and twenty thousand reeds, both eastward and westward, should be the portion of the prince on one side:
over against the portions for the prince; or, “over against” these shall be that
for the prince y; parallel with the portions of the several tribes before described shall be that of the prince, which belongs to him:
and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof; that is, the holy oblation of the land for the priests and Levites, and the sanctuary should be between that part of the prince’s portion which lay next to Judah, and that which lay next to Benjamin; of which in the next verse.
x “ante facies”, Pagninus; “ante faciem”, Starckius. y “ex adverso portionum, [id vero] principis erit”, Tigurine version; “juxta portiones, principi erit”, Cocceius, Starckius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
THE PORTION (LAND) OF THE PRINCES
Verses 21-29:
Verses 21, 22 set forth the prince or ruler’s portion of property for him and his sons, to be on the east and on the west and it shall be the holy or sanctified oblation belonging to the princes, in perpetuity. The sanctuary of the house was to be in the midst of it. Then from or excluding the possession of the Levites and the possession of the city, between the border of Judah to the north and Benjamin to the south was for the prince, Eze 34:23-24; Eze 37:24; Eze 45:7-8; Hos 1:11.
Verse 23 begins a description of the land possession territories to the other five tribes to the south of Jerusalem. Benjamin’s portion was from the east to the west of the land, bordering the holy oblation across the north of her border.
Verse 24 assigns Simeon a portion, from the east to the west along the border of Benjamin.
Verse 25 describes the portion of Issachar as extending from the east to the west along Simeon’s border.
Verse 26 further certifies a portion to Zebulon, extending east to west along Issachar’s southern border.
Verse 27 then assigns a portion to Gad along the south border of Zebulon, east to west.
Verse 28 lays out a territorial portion for Tamar at the southern border of Gad southward, from Tamar to the waters of strife in Kadesh and by the river of Egypt westward to the Mediterranean Sea, 2Ch 20:2; Num 20:1; Num 20:13; Psa 106:32.
Verse 29 concludes that “this is (exists as) “the land Israel was to divide, as Divinely prescribed, by lot to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, with the portions as directed by the Lord, through the mouth and pen of Ezekiel, Eze 47:14; Eze 47:21-22.
HERE IN THE HARBOUND COMMENTARY IS A CHART SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE 12 TRIBES
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(21) The residue shall be for the prince.The length of the oblation from east to west is supposed to leave a strip at either end which is assigned to the prince. This strip is to extend from north to south, the whole width of the oblation. The expression over against the portions for the prince is somewhat obscure from its extreme brevity and want of punctuation in our version; it means that the part of the oblation over against the tribe portions shall be for the princei.e., he is to have all that is left of the oblation between it and the portions assigned to the tribes. As already said, this was geographically impossible on the estimate of the length of the cubit here adopted. Even if the cubit were reduced to eighteen inches, which is the smallest estimate that can well be made, the side of the oblation would still be 426 miles long, or more than the distance between the Jordan and the Mediterranean at its northern end. It is quite idle, therefore, to attempt any calculation of the princes portion. The description is necessarily ideal, and no hint is given in the vision of how much was intended for the prince. If it be suggested that the prophet may have had in mind measures following the uneven surface of the ground and the sinuosities of the roads. it can only be replied that such a supposition at once destroys all possibility of following his measures, and is singularly opposed to the whole symmetry of his description, as well as inconsistent with the equality of the measure on the four sides.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The Portion of the Prince ( Eze 48:21-22 ).
“And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy Gift-offering and of what is possessed by the city, in front of the twenty five thousand of the Gift-offering towards the east border, and westward in front of the twenty five thousand towards the west border answering to (connecting with and parallel to) the portions. And the holy Gift-offering and the sanctuary of the house will be in their midst.”
The prince’s portion is on either side of the Gift-offering, stretching from there to the coast and the Jordan, and twenty five thousand cubits deep. Note that this is specifically so that the holy Gift-offering and the sanctuary can be in the midst of his portions. The prince is to have close and favoured relationship with the holy Gift-offering and sanctuary, as he already had by having his own sanctified place in the east porch of the heavenly temple (Eze 44:1-3). He is to be the favoured of Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 48:21. And on the other, &c. And on the other, of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city before the five-and-twenty thousand of the sacred portion, toward the east border: and westward, before the five-and-twenty thousand toward the west border; besides these portions shall be that belonging to the prince: and this shall be the holy portion, &c. Houbigant renders the last clause, and the sanctuary of the temple, and that which shall be reserved for the sanctuary, shall occupy the midst thereof.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 48:21 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, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house [shall be] in the midst thereof.
Ver. 21. And the residue shall be for the prince. ] His occasions are many, and therefore his proportion is very large; yet must he not be regni dilapidator, the waster of the kingdom, by his profuseness, as our Henry III was called, whereby he became ill-beloved of his people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 48:21-22
21The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy allotment and of the property of the city; in front of the 25,000 cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it. 22Exclusive of the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the residue: Eze 48:22, Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24, Eze 37:24, Eze 45:7, Eze 45:8, Hos 1:11
and westward: Eze 48:8-10
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 48:21. Near this reserved territory was a strip that was for the use of the prince, which means some person in a position of leadership or other outstanding relationship to the rest of the nation. This area was to be regarded as an oblation or offering for the sacred service of God.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 48:21. The residue shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other, &c. The princes part shall be extended, both on the east and west side of the several allotments belonging to the priests, the Levites, and the city. Over against the five and twenty thousand, &c. The particle , translated over against, is rendered before, in the parallel text, Eze 45:7, and thus interpreted makes the sense clearer, the words then importing, that the princes portion was to run along eastward and westward, like a frontier before the holy portions; and to extend eastward to Jordan, or the Dead sea, and westward to the great sea, retaining its breadth of twenty-five thousand cubits from north to south.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The prince would receive the rest of this allotment, on the east and west sides of this square and between the boundaries of the tribes of Judah on the north and Benjamin on the south.