Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west …: God begins his description of the land that will be set aside for special use in exactly the same way as he described the allocations to each of the tribes. The special land will be immediately south of Judah’s land, it is the next one in the series. It shall be the portion which you shall set apart, that is, it must be set aside “for special use” (Good News Translation), “as a special gift” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version) for God. Translators may describe this land as a “holy area” (New Century Version) or “sacred reserve” (Revised English Bible). It will be twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, that is, about 12.5 kilometers (8 miles) wide “from north to south” (Good News Translation), and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, that is, it will extend from the eastern border of the country (probably the Jordan River) to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. This is the only allocation of land where God gives any specific measurements. We must assume that the other allocations are all the same width, or their width depends on the length of the allocation so that all the allocations are equal in area (see 47.14).

With the sanctuary in the midst of it: The Temple compound will be “within this section” (Good News Translation). Depending on how this section is divided between the priests and the Levites (see verses 10-14), in the midst of it may be translated “in the center of that strip of land” (New International Reader’s Version; similarly New International Version, New Living Translation) or “in the middle of this area” (New Century Version). Before deciding on which rendering to choose here, see the comments on verse 10.

A model for this verse is:

• “South of the territory of Judah will be the section of land that you will set aside for my [God’s] use. It will be about 12.5 kilometers from north to south and will extend from east to west across the country just the same as the territories for each tribe. The Temple will be in the middle of this section.

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 .