Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 48:15

"And the five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the five and twenty thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst thereof." — Ezekiel 48:15 (ASV)

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.