Ezekiel 48:15 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof. And the five thousand that are left - The territory of the Levites was twenty-five thousand square cubits, Ezekiel 48:20, But their city was only four thousand five hundred square cubits, see Ezekiel 48:13 and Ezekiel 48:16; there remained, therefore, ten thousand cubits square to be divided, of which five thousand cubits in breadth, by twenty-five thousand in length, on the east and west sides, were reserved for a sort of second city; or for suburbs where laymen might dwell who were employed by those priests and Levites who lodged in the temple and in the city, Ezekiel 48:18. And another space of one thousand cubits in breadth, by twenty-five thousand in length, which extended only from north to south, was for fields and gardens appointed for the support of those lay servants. On which we may remark, there was no cultivated land between the portion of the Levites and that of the prince, but only on the east and west sides. See Ezekiel 45:6, and the map FF.