The circumference of the city shall be eighteen thousand cubits refers to the distance around the “perimeter” (Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible), that is, the outside of the city. This distance will be eighteen thousand cubits, that is, about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles). This figure is the result of adding the lengths of the four walls, that is, 4,500 cubits multiplied by four equals 18,000 cubits.

And the name of the city henceforth shall be, The LORD is there: God gives the city a new name. Henceforth may be rendered “from that day on” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “from that time on” (New International Version), or “from now on” (Good News Translation). The new name will be The LORD is there, which renders the Hebrew expression Yahweh shammah. Although this Hebrew name still sounds similar to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim in Hebrew), the importance of the name lies in its meaning: The LORD is there. In 43.1-9 Ezekiel described how God returned to the Temple to live there forever. Here, at the climax of the book, God describes how his presence will extend beyond the Temple and into the city itself. This is symbolic of the total and complete restoration of the nation and people of Israel. They will be perfectly at one with their God. Some translators try to show readers the similarity between the new name and the name Jerusalem; for example, they say “From now on the name of the city will be Yahweh-shammah, which means the LORD is there.” But most common language translations only give the meaning of the name, saying “The-LORD-Is-Here” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant) or “The LORD Is There” (New Living Translation, New Century Version).

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 .