(3) Of this measure.--If the Hebrew text of Ezekiel 45:1 be preserved unchanged, we must understand this to refer to the whole oblation of 25,000 reeds broad which was in the prophet's mind, though he does not speak of it until afterwards; this verse will then be a repetition of the latter part of Ezekiel 45:1, for the sake of specifying that the sanctuary was to be within it. The territory here assigned to the priests, more than 47 miles long by nearly 19 broad, with only one square mile deducted for the sanctuary, is enormously larger than the 13 cities assigned for their residence in Joshua 21:19, and is also considerably larger than that given (Ezekiel 48) to any of the tribes. It has been suggested that, as Ezekiel makes no mention of the tithes, this large territory may have been given to the priests for their support instead of the tithes; but the law of tithes was a very ancient institution (see Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:22), and was important for the good of the people as well as for the support of the priests. It is unlikely that Ezekiel would have introduced so radical a change without any allusion to it. The enlargement of the priests' possessions is quite in proportion to the enlargement of the sanctuary, and both seem designed in this symbolical vision to set forth the prominence of the Divine worship, and its precedence over all other things.
Verse 3. - And of this measure shalt thou measure. As above explained, if מִן, "of," be taken as equivalent to "from," i.e. deducted from, then the whole "measure" in ver. 1 must have been 25,000 × 20,000 reeds; but if, as Ewald translates, it may signify "after," "according to," then the text in ver. 1 will not require to be altered (see on ver. 1), and the present verse will be merely a reiteration of the statement in ver. 1 that the priests' portion should be 25,000 × 10,000 reeds, preparatory to the additional notification that in it should be the sanctuary and the most holy place, or rather, the sanctuary which is most holy (Revised Version). The exact position of the sanctuary in the priests' portion is afterwards stated to have been in the midst (see Ezekiel 48:8).
45:1-25 In the period here foretold, the worship and the ministers of God will be provided for; the princes will rule with justice, as holding their power under Christ; the people will live in peace, ease, and godliness. These things seem to be represented in language taken from the customs of the times in which the prophet wrote. Christ is our Passover that is sacrificed for us: we celebrate the memorial of that sacrifice, and feast upon it, triumphing in our deliverance out of the Egyptian slavery of sin, and our preservation from the destroying sword of Divine justice, in the Lord's supper, which is our passover feast; as the whole Christian life is, and must be, the feast of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand,.... Not that the sense is, that of and according to the cubit measure last mentioned, this length and this breadth should be measured; but "after this measure", as Starckius renders it, and as the particle is rendered, Daniel 11:23 and which Sanctius mentions; and Jerom seems to have understood it in this light: and the sense is, that after he had finished the measure of five hundred reeds square, and fifty cubits round, he should proceed to measure the rest of the twenty five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth:
and in it shall be the sanctuary, and the most holy place; that is, in the midst portion of land, consisting of the above measures, be the holy place, and the holy of holies; this is, but a further explanation of the two preceding verses.
and in it shall be the sanctuary, and the most holy place; that is, in the midst portion of land, consisting of the above measures, be the holy place, and the holy of holies; this is, but a further explanation of the two preceding verses.