Ezekiel 45:6 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And ye shall appoint the possession of the city, five thousand broad, &c., over against (or by the side of, see Eze 48:14) the oblation of the holy portion This must run parallel in length with the holy portion, though but half its breadth, by which means these three portions made an exact square. It shall be for the whole house of Israel The capital city, to which all the tribes shall resort upon the solemn festivals, and shall have twelve gates, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, Ezekiel 48:31. This portion appointed for the city, considered separate from the other portions, was a rectangle, containing an area of about seventeen miles in circuit; which, according to Josephus, was more than four times the circuit of Jerusalem: see Bell. Jud., 5. 4:3, where that city is stated to be thirty-three stadia in circumference.