Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
2. In this sacred territory, more particularly, in the half of it assigned to the priests ( Eze 45:3-4), 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. Eze 42:20.
the suburbs thereof ] What the “suburbs” are appears from Num 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, Eze 48:15; Eze 48:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary] See the plan, A. See Clarke on Eze 48:35.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of this whole consecrate portion of twenty-five thousand cubits long, or twelve miles and half, and ten thousand broad, or five miles and little more.
For the sanctuary; for a platform for the sanctuary, both house and courts.
Five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth; five hundred cubits square, which is about one-fourth of a mile square.
Fifty cubits; which amount to twenty-nine yards and half a foot. This bears some proportion to the contents of that square, which is one quarter of a mile in each side; but fifty cubits suburb to that square, that should be supposed to have sides each a mile, a half, and half quarter long.
The suburbs thereof: place round about this the five hundred cubits square mountain of the house.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Of this there shall be for the sanctuary,…. Or temple, the house before described in the preceding chapters:
five hundred in length, and five hundred in breadth, square round about: that is, five hundred reeds square, as is manifest from
Eze 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(2) Fifty cubits round about.In Eze. 42:16-20 the space of 500 reeds square is described, which was for, or belonged to, the sanctuary, to guard it from any profanation; but here we have, still farther, a narrow strip of 50 cubits wide (about 83 feet) of open space outside the wall to prevent the priests houses being built too close to the sacred precincts. The word suburbs is better rendered in the margin, void or open place. The situation of the sanctuary and its surroundings within the priests portion is more definitely fixed in Eze. 48:10 as in the midst thereof.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 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.
Ver. 2. For the suburbs. ] Which hath its name in Hebrew from its being severed from the city, and, as it were, cast out of it. It is better rendered, as in the margin, void places.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
for the sanctuary : i.e. the outer court (Eze 42:15-20). cubits. See App-51.
suburbs = void ground outside the outer court, to prevent contact.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
five hundred in length: Eze 42:16-20
suburbs: or, void places
Reciprocal: Num 35:3 – General Eze 42:20 – five hundred Eze 45:1 – ye shall offer
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 45:2. Within the plot of holy ground described in the preceding verse there was to be a space reserved for the sanctuary (holy place) that was 500 reeds square, and It was to have some “spare space of 50 cubits or 75 feet all around.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 45:2-5. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, &c. If we understand these dimensions of cubits, it exactly agrees with the opinion of the Jews, that the temple stood in an area of five hundred cubits square. And fifty cubits for the suburbs This likewise bears a suitable proportion to the contents of a square of five hundred cubits. And in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place Both the outward sanctuary and the inward oracle, or holy of holies, together with the courts adjoining, shall be placed in the centre or middle of it: see Eze 48:10. And it shall be a place for their houses The priests were divided into twenty-four courses, (1 Chronicles 24.,) who performed the public worship by turns: so the houses were for them to live in who were not in their course of waiting. And the five and twenty thousand of length, &c. The French translation renders the sense plainer, thus: There shall be other five and twenty thousand, &c: see Eze 48:13. This appears to be the true sense of the place, because otherwise there will be wanting ten thousand in breadth to make an exact square of twenty-five thousand: see the following verse. The Levites, being very numerous, (they were reckoned at thirty-eight thousand in Davids time, 1Ch 23:3,) had as large a piece of ground allotted to them as belonged to the temple and the whole priestly order. For twenty chambers Most commentators understand this of several rows of chambers, or ranges of building. The LXX. read, , cities to inhabit: such cities as were allotted to them by Moses, Num 35:2.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Within this area there was to be a space 500 cubits by 500 cubits (about 833 feet by 833 feet). This was the size of the temple complex (cf. Eze 42:20). Surrounding this complex there would be an open space of an additional 50 cubits (83 feet), a kind of green belt. This sacred space would facilitate and illustrate the holiness of the sanctuary area. The temple sanctuary would stand within this 25,000 by 10,000 cubits (8.3 miles by 3.3 miles) area and constitute the most holy part of the land. The Zadokite priests would live in the land outside the open space around the temple complex within this larger area (cf. Eze 48:10-12).