Ezekiel 48 Study Notes

48:1-29 The tribal allotments of Israel in the coming age will begin at the northern frontier with Dan. Since the tribe of Levi was not to receive land (v. 28), Joseph’s two sons Manasseh and Ephraim would inherit land just as they had done throughout Israel’s history (Gn 48:8-22). The order of the tribes listed here has no conformity to any other such list in Israel’s history. The tribes that originated through the handmaids of Jacob’s wives will be placed on the outer extremities. The tribes that originated from Jacob’s wives Rachel and Leah will be given land in the center of the nation (cp. Gn 35:23-26). Judah and Benjamin will occupy the privileged positions next to the land’s special sacred portion. Ezekiel 48:8-22 enlarges and expands on 45:1-8.

48:15 The site of Jerusalem, with the surrounding open land, was exactly fifty times that of the temple (42:20).

48:21 What will belong to the prince includes twenty-five thousand cubits from both the eastern and western borders. This area will lie between the borders of Judah and Benjamin. The prince will have a higher rank than the average Israelite, yet his role will be below that of priests and Levites.

48:30-34 The names of the city gates adhere more to Israel’s conventional genealogical traditions.

48:35 The city was square, as is the city in Revelation (specifically, it is a cube; Rv 21:16). They appear to be identical. In many ways the presence of God is the object of the final vision, and perhaps of the book of Ezekiel as a whole. It is the emphatic resolution to the tragic event of God leaving his people in Ezk 8-11 (esp. 10:18-19; see Is 60:14; Jr 23:6). It also fulfills the prophetic promises about the reality of God’s presence among his people in Zion (Is 1:26; 62:2; Zch 8:3). The name The Lord Is There reverses Ezk 10:18-19. This conclusion to chaps. 40-48 communicates the truth that the meaning of human existence is found in the knowledge and worship of God.