Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district means adjacent to the sacred area mentioned in verse 1. Good News Translation says “Next to the holy area,” and Contemporary English Version is similar with “Next to my sacred land.”

You shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long: God tells Ezekiel to set aside there a piece of land for the city of Jerusalem. The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, referring to Ezekiel and the Israelites. The city refers to “the city of Jerusalem” (Contemporary English Version). New International Version renders you shall assign for the possession of the city as “You are to give the city as its property.” The area for Jerusalem will be five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long, that is, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide and 12.5 kilometers (8 miles) long. This is half the size of the sections that will belong to the priests and the Levites.

It shall belong to the whole house of Israel means Jerusalem’s area will available for all the people of Israel. For house of Israel, that is, the Israelites, see the comments on 3.1.

A model for this verse is:

• You must give the city an area of land next to the holy area [or, the area set aside for me]. It will be 2.5 kilometers wide and 12.5 kilometers long, and it will belong to all the people of Israel.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .