This entire area—including the sacred lands and the city—is a square that measures 8-1/3 miles on each side.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the offering shall be a square of twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer it as a holy offering, with the possession of the city.
- KJV All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
- BSB The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits by 25,000 cubits. You are to set apart the holy portion, along with the city property.
- NKJV The entire district shall be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall set apart the holy district with the property of the city.
- NASB The whole allotment shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand cubits; you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The whole offering, including the city, forms a perfect square of twenty-five thousand units. The dedicated central district is complete and symmetrical.
Overview
Combining the holy portions and the city, the total district is a perfect square, presented as a holy offering to God. The squared completeness again signals divine order and wholeness at the center of the land. This God-centered, perfectly ordered heart of the nation foreshadows the new creation, ordered wholly around God's presence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Heb 12:17For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.
- Rev 21:16The city is square, and its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 48:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.