And the five thousand that are left - The territory of the Levites was twenty-five thousand square cubits, Eze 48:20, But their city was only four thousand five hundred square cubits, see Eze 48:13 and Eze 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, Eze 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 Eze 45:6, and the map FF.

And the residue shall be for the prince,.... Not the civil magistrate, but the Prince Messiah; the King, Governor, and Protector of his church and people:

on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city: his portion shall lie on each side of the portion for the sanctuary, the priests and Levites, and for the city and its appurtenances; so that he will be the guardian and preserver of them all; See Gill on Eze 45:7,

over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border; or, "before the face" (x) "of the five and twenty thousand of the oblation", &c.; that is, next to the tribe of Judah, close by that, and just before the holy oblation of five and twenty thousand reeds, both eastward and westward, should be the portion of the prince on one side:

over against the portions for the prince; or, "over against" these shall be that

for the prince (y); parallel with the portions of the several tribes before described shall be that of the prince, which belongs to him:

and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof; that is, the holy oblation of the land for the priests and Levites, and the sanctuary should be between that part of the prince's portion which lay next to Judah, and that which lay next to Benjamin; of which in the next verse.

(x) "ante facies", Pagninus; "ante faciem", Starckius. (y) "ex adverso portionum, id vero principis erit", Tigurine version; "juxta portiones, principi erit", Cocceius, Starckius.

The five thousand rods, apportioned to the city out of the twenty-five thousand square, are to be laid off in a square of four thousand five hundred, with the two hundred fifty all around for suburbs.

profane--that is, not strictly sacred as the sacerdotal portions, but applied to secular uses.