Ezekiel 48:35

King James Version (KJV)

It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there - It would have been better to have retained the original words: -

שמה יהוה

Yehovah Shammah .

This is an allusion to the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, which was in the first, but most certainly was not in the second temple; but Ezekiel tells us that the Divine Presence should be in the city of which he speaks; and should be there so fully and so powerfully, that it should give name to the city itself; and that the very name, Jehovah shammah, should remind all men of the supereminently glorious Being who had condescended to make this city his habitation.

Two points must be considered here: -

That the prophet intended that, when they should be restored, they should build the temple, and divide the land as he here directs, if the thing could be found to be practicable.

That he had another temple, another holy city, another Promised Land, in view. The land of Immanuel, the city of the New Jerusalem; and his temple, the Christian Church, which is the house of the living God, 1 Timothy 3:15, in which the presence of Christ shall ever be found; and all its inhabitants, all that believe on his name, shall be temples of the Holy Ghost. Nor can there be any reasonable doubt that the prophet here, by the Spirit of God, not only points out the return of the Israelites from the Babylonish captivity, and what was to befall them previously to the advent of Jesus Christ; but also the glorious spread of the Gospel in the earth, and the final conversion of the tribes of Israel by the preaching of that Gospel.

In conclusion, I think it necessary to state, that there are but few of the prophets of the Old Testament who have left a more valuable treasure to the Church of God than Ezekiel. It is true, he is in several places obscure; but there is a great proportion of the work that is in the highest degree edifying; and several portions that for the depth of the salvation predicted, and the accuracy and minuteness of the description, have nothing equal to them in the Old Testament Scriptures. On such portions, I have felt it my duty to be very particular, that I might be able to point out spiritual beauties and excellencies in this book which are beyond all praise; while I passed slightly over prophecies and symbols which I did not fully understand; but have left to time, by the fulfillment of the events, to prove to successive generations with what heavenly wisdom this much neglected prophet has spoken. And I take this opportunity to recommend this book to the serious perusal of every pious man; and while he wonders at the extent of the wisdom by which Ezekiel has fathomed the depth of so many Divine mysteries, let him give God the glory for this additional testimony to the unsearchable riches of Christ, and that plenary salvation which he has purchased for, and freely offers to, the vilest of the vile, and to the whole of the descendants of Adam.

Masoretic Notes

Number of verses, 1, 273.

Middle verse, Ezekiel 26:1.

Masoretic sections, 29.

Was this helpful?

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

The circuit of the city walls, a square of 4500 reeds, was 18,000 reeds, not quite 37 English miles. The circuit of Jerusalem in the time of Josephus was reckoned by him to be about four miles.

The name … - The manner of expressing a spiritual meaning by giving a name to a city, a people, or the like, is familiar to the prophets (see Ezekiel 43:15 note). Jerome explains it: “The name of the city shall be no longer Jerusalem (“the vision of peace”), but Adonai-shama (“the Lord is there”) (rather, Jehovah-shammah, “Jehovah is there”), because Yahweh will never again withdraw from it, as He once withdrew, but will hold it as His everlasting possession.” The visible presence of God‘s glory, once represented in the tabernacle and in the temple, had departed, and should not return in the same form. Yet Ezekiel in “visions of God” sees a temple reconstructed to receive the glory of the divine presence, a prophetic vision fulfilled in Emmanuel (“God with us”), who tabernacled among men John 1:14. Compare Romans 9:25; Revelation 21:2-3.sa180

Was this helpful?

SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

35. Eighteen thousand. The circumference of the city is 18,000 cu., about 5.8 mi. (9.3 km.). This does not include the “suburbs” mentioned in v. 17.

The city of the future, the New Jerusalem, which John saw coming down from God out of heaven (Rev. 21), shows striking similarities to the city of Ezekiel’s vision. Ezekiel describes the city that might have been; John, the one that will be. The figure of the nation of Israel, constituting God’s people and divided into 12 tribes, is carried through the Bible story. The New Jerusalem, whose inhabitants are redeemed from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, is shown with the names of the 12 tribes inscribed upon its gates. In Bible figure the redeemed, no matter of what race, are represented as being assigned a place among one of the 12 tribes (Rom. 9-11; Gal. 3:29).

The picture of Israel in the land of Babylon, about to be delivered and restored to its own land, with the associated destruction of Babylon, forms the imagery for a large section of the book of Revelation. The figure is used to describe the Israel of God in their final struggles against the powers of evil, again termed Babylon, followed by the destruction of Babylon and the glorious deliverance of the church. See on Jer. 50:1.

The Lord is there. With these fitting words, by which the new city is designated, the prophet Ezekiel brings his prophetic messages to a close. It had fallen to his lot to announce the withdrawal of the divine presence because of the moral corruption of his people. It became his privilege also to announce the remedy for sin; and to declare, in vivid imagery, the glorious prospect of the future that might have been realized if Israel had accepted the divine remedy so graciously offered to them (see pp. 26-32).

Whether Ezekiel lived to see a few of his countrymen return under the beneficent decree of the Persian king cannot be known. Could he have known that his writings would be preserved in the Sacred Canon, he might have taken comfort in the prospect that some future generation would take hold of the message his fellow captives had despised.

The challenge is for us. The new Israel of God is about to enter a land far more glorious than that immediately offered to Ezekiel’s generation. Entrance, again, is based upon certain prerequisites. Already there has been a delay in complying wholeheartedly with the conditions. This time, however, there cannot be an indefinite postponement, for no longer is the restoration to be on a national basis. When the moment arrives, God will gather from all lands those who have made personal preparation. These will inherit the rich promises, and dwell in the city, prefigured in Ezekiel’s prophetic imagery, and divinely named, “The Lord is there” (Rev. 21; 22).