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The Lord’s Portion of the Land

45 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you will offer an allotment[a] to the Lord, a holy portion from the land; the length will be 8¼ miles[b] and the width 3⅓ miles.[c] This entire area will be holy.[d] Of this area a square 875 feet[e] by 875 feet will be designated for the sanctuary, with 87½ feet[f] set aside for its open space round about. From this measured area you will measure a length of 8¼ miles[g] and a width of 3⅓ miles;[h] in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. It will be a holy portion of the land; it will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who approach the Lord to minister to him. It will be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.[i] An area 8¼ miles[j] in length and 3⅓ miles[k] in width will be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place for the cities[l] in which they will live.

“‘Alongside the portion set apart as the holy allotment, you will allot for the city an area 1⅔ miles[m] wide and 8¼ miles[n] long; it will be for the whole house of Israel.

“‘For the prince there will be land on both sides of the holy allotment and the allotted city, on the west side and on the east side; it will be comparable in length to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people,[o] declares the Sovereign Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “a contribution.”
  2. Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers). The measuring units here are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard miles (one mile = 5,280 feet), with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes.
  3. Ezekiel 45:1 tc The LXX reads “20,000 cubits.”tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
  4. Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “holy it is in all its territory round about.”
  5. Ezekiel 45:2 tn Heb “500 cubits” (i.e., 262.5 meters); the phrase occurs twice in this verse.
  6. Ezekiel 45:2 tn Heb “50 cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
  7. Ezekiel 45:3 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
  8. Ezekiel 45:3 tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
  9. Ezekiel 45:4 tc The LXX apparently understood “open land” instead of “sanctuary.”
  10. Ezekiel 45:5 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
  11. Ezekiel 45:5 tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
  12. Ezekiel 45:5 tc The translation follows the LXX here. The MT reads “twenty.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:246.
  13. Ezekiel 45:6 tn Heb “5,000 cubits” (i.e., 2.625 kilometers).
  14. Ezekiel 45:6 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
  15. Ezekiel 45:9 sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.

Yahweh’s Portion of the Land

45 “And when you (A)divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer a (B)contribution to Yahweh, a (C)holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of [a]25,000 (D)cubits, and the width shall be [b]20,000. It shall be holy within all its boundary round about. Out of this there shall be for the holy place a square round about [c](E)five hundred by five hundred cubits, and [d]fifty cubits for its [e](F)open space round about. And from this [f]area you shall measure a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of [g]10,000 cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the (G)priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who (H)come near to minister to Yahweh, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. And an area (I)25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession as [h]cities to dwell in.

“And you shall give the (J)city possession of an area [i]5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, alongside the contribution of the holy portion; it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Portion of the Land

“Now the (K)prince shall have land on either side of the holy contribution and the city’s possession of land, adjacent to the holy contribution and the city’s possession of land, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer (L)mistreat My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel (M)according to their tribes.”

‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “(N)Enough, you princes of Israel; put away (O)violence and devastation, and (P)do justice and righteousness. Stop your (Q)eviction of My people,” declares Lord Yahweh.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 45:1 Approx. 7.1 mi. long and 5.6 mi. wide or 11.25 km and 9 km
  2. Ezekiel 45:1 Or with Gr 10,000
  3. Ezekiel 45:2 Approx. 250 yd. or 225 m
  4. Ezekiel 45:2 Approx. 75 ft. or 22.5 m
  5. Ezekiel 45:2 Or pasture land
  6. Ezekiel 45:3 Lit measure
  7. Ezekiel 45:3 Approx. 2.8 mi. or 4.5 km
  8. Ezekiel 45:5 As in Gr; M.T. twenty chambers
  9. Ezekiel 45:6 Approx. 1.4 mi. or 2.25 km