Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 48

The closing chapter of Ezekiel is mainly occupied with the distribution of the land in detail. Beginning at the north, a portion is assigned to each of seven tribes (Ezekiel 48:1–7); then the "oblation" is described, with its parts for the Levites, the priests and Temple, the city and those that serve it, and for the prince (Ezekiel 48:8–22), and lastly portions for the remaining five tribes. The chapter and the book close with an account of the size and the twelve gates of the city, the whole ending with its name, The LORD is there.

The distribution of the land is entirely different from that made under Joshua, nor is it easy to trace any historical reasons for it, except that the central portion, containing the Temple, the land of the priests and the prince, is flanked by the two tribes of the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin. The chapter can best be understood by the aid of a small map, the outline of which is traced from Dr. William Smith’s ancient atlas. This might be drawn with the lines between the tribes perpendicular either to the general course of the Jordan, or to the general coast-line of the Mediterranean.

The latter would give a little more width for the oblation, but still not enough, and would leave no space at all on the west for the prince. The former arrangement is on the whole preferred. It will be seen that the tribes are not arranged either according to their seniority or their maternity. The territory falling to each tribe was much smaller than previously, partly because of the large space occupied by the "oblation" (fully one-fifth of the whole), and partly because the remainder was to be divided among the whole twelve tribes, instead of among only nine and a half. The portion thus given to each tribe was rather less than two-thirds that assigned, on the average, by Joshua.

These are his sides east and west.—Lit., The east side, the west side, shall be to him, meaning that the portion of Dan stretches across the country from the eastern to the western boundary. The same applies to all of them. The original portion of Dan was at the west of Benjamin, but a part of the tribe, having conquered Laish and settled at the extreme north, Dan is now the most northern of the tribes. Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, and Ephraim are brought near enough to their old places to be north of the sanctuary.

In length as one of the other parts.—The oblation, which has been already spoken of in Ezekiel 45:1-7 in a different connection, is here (Ezekiel 48:8–22) more exactly described. Its whole width is again stated as 25,000 reeds, and its length from the eastern to the western boundaries of the land as one of the other parts, without taking into account the varying distance between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. It cannot, however, be so placed as not to exceed that distance.

The oblation.—This is the same word as is translated offering in Ezekiel 48:8. It is used in this passage in three different senses:

1. As including the whole strip from the Jordan to the Mediterranean and 25,000 reeds wide;
2. For that part of this set aside for the priests and for the Levites;
3. For the most sacred part of this, appropriated to the priests and Temple, 25,000 reeds from east to west, and 10,000 from north to south.

This last portion, although in the middle, is mentioned first on account of its special sacredness.

In the midst thereof.—The whole connection shows that this is to be understood strictly; the sanctuary was to be not merely within the priests’ portion, but in its centre.

Sons of Zadok.—See Note on Ezekiel 40:46.

As the Levites went astray.—That the Levites were far more affected than the priests by the general apostasy may be reasonably inferred from the fact that at the restoration less than 400 Levites, and as many Nethinims, returned (Ezra 2:40–58; Nehemiah 7:43–60), while there were 4,289 of the priests.

MAP OF PALESTINE,
Showing the Divisions among the Tribes.

Shall not sell of it.— The Levites’ portion (Ezekiel 48:13) was of the same size as that of the priests; this contrasted with their situation under the law, where they had nearly three times as many cities. Furthermore, the restriction from Leviticus 25:34, that they might not even temporarily alienate the fields attached to their cities, is here extended to their whole land on the express ground that it is “first-fruits.”

The five thousand that are left. —The two strips of territory for the Levites and the priests, each 10,000 reeds wide, when deducted from the whole width of the oblation, leave a strip 5,000 reeds wide and 25,000 reeds long, which is here apportioned to the city and its suburbs. It is called “profane” in contrast to the “holy” possession of the Levites (Ezekiel 48:14) and the “most holy” of the priests (Ezekiel 48:12), though it was still a part of the oblation.

The measures. The city itself is to be an exact square of 4,500 reeds, and according to Ezekiel 48:17, was to have “suburbs,” or rather an open space on all sides of 250 reeds. The whole was, therefore, 5,000 reeds—a little less than ten miles—square, the exact width of the space that was left of the oblation, and leaving 10,000 reeds on each side of it.

Shall be for food.— This piece of land, only four times the size of the city itself, would seem a very insufficient provision for raising all the food required for the labourers of the city. But here, as everywhere, it is to be remembered that the description is ideal.