Ezekiel 45:6

6 “ ‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits^[a] wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.

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Ezekiel 45:6 in Other Translations

KJV

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.

ESV

6 "Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

NLT

6 “Adjacent to the larger sacred area will be a section of land 8 miles long and 1 miles wide. This will be set aside for a city where anyone in Israel can live.

MSG

6 "To the south of the sacred reserve, measure off a section seven miles long and about a mile and a half wide for the city itself, an area held in common by the whole family of Israel.

CSB

6 "As the property of the city, you must set aside an area one and two-thirds [of a mile] wide and eight and one-third [miles] long, adjacent to the holy donation [of land]. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

Ezekiel 45:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 45:6

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, ( Ezekiel 40:2 ) and seems also different from the city in ( Ezekiel 48:30 Ezekiel 48:35 ) , 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", ( Revelation 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Ezekiel 45:6 In-Context

4 It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the LORD. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.

5 An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.

6 “ ‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.

7 “ ‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions.

8 This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.

Cross References 1

1. Ezekiel 48:15-18

Footnotes 1

[a]. That is, about 1 2/3 miles or about 2.7 kilometers