Ezekiel 48:35

Eze 48:35 [It was] round about eighteen thousand [measures]: and the name of the city from [that] day [shall be], The LORD [is] there.

Ver. 35. It was round about eighteen thousand measures.] See on Eze 48:32 Rev 21:16.

The Lord is there.] Jehovahshammah. This is the true Church’s name, and the true Christian’s happiness, such as no good can match, no evil overmatch - viz., that wheresoever he is, there God is, and therefore there heaven is; like as where the king is, there his court is. This very name implies God’s everlasting being with his Church, according to those precious texts of Scripture, every syllable whereof droppeth myrrh and mercy. {Lev 26:11-12 Mat 18:20; Mat 28:20 Joh 14:23 1Co 15:28 Rev 7:14-17; Rev 21:3-5; Rev 22:3-6} This is the truth of that which the temple, while it stood as a type or figure, did represent, "This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell." {Psa 132:14} God will not forsake his Church as he did the synagogue, but have it up to heaven to him, {Rev 21:1-3} where are crowns, sceptres, kingdoms, beatiful visions, unutterable ecstacies, sweetest varieties, felicities, eternities; and all because Jehovah-shammah, the Lord is there; to him be glory and praise everlasting. Amen. So be it.

Soli Deo Gloria

The Jews, having finished a book, add - Benedictus qui dat fatigato robur.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 48:35. The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there — It is very frequently said in Scripture, that a person or thing should be called by a certain name, when it was to be invested with qualities which might entitle it to that denomination. Thus Isaiah, foretelling the coming of the Messiah, says, His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, because he was to possess the qualities which should serve as a foundation for all those titles. In like manner, 2Sa 12:25, it is said, that Solomon should be called Jedidiah, or, the Beloved of the Lord; and, Isa 1:26; Isa 62:4; Isa 62:12, that Jerusalem should be called The City of Righteousness, The Faithful City, Hephzibah, or the Lord’s Delight, Sought Out, A City not forsaken. Not that it was to quit its ancient name, and assume all these; but it was to be crowned with the favours of heaven in such a manner as to draw upon itself all these honourable titles. Here the prophetic declaration, that the name of the city should be THE LORD IS THERE, might be intended to signify, 1st, That the captives, after their return, should have manifest tokens of God’s presence with them, and of his residence among them, both in his ordinances and in his providences; so that they should have no occasion to ask, as their fathers did, Is the Lord among us or not? for they should see and acknowledge that he was among them of a truth. And then, though their troubles should be many and threatening, they would be like the bush which burned, but was not consumed, because the Lord was there. More especially it was meant to signify, 2d, That the gospel church should have the presence of God in it; though not in the Shechinah, or cloud of glory, as of old, yet in a token no less sure, namely, that of the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces. Where the gospel is faithfully preached, gospel ordinances duly administered, and God worshipped in the name of Jesus Christ only, it may be truly said, The Lord is there; for, faithful is he that hath promised, and will fulfil his word, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. The Lord is in his church, to rule and govern it, to protect and defend it, and graciously to own, accept, and bless his sincere worshippers, and to show himself nigh unto them in all that they call upon him for. This should engage us to keep close to the communion of saints, and not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; for where two or three are met in the name of Jesus, he is there. Nay, the Lord is present with and in every true and genuine Christian: God dwells in him, and he in God. It may be truly said of every one who has a living principle of grace in his soul, The Lord is there. And, as this is the chief privilege, glory, and happiness of the church militant, that the Lord is present with and in her; Song of Solomon , 3 d, It is the principal blessing of the church triumphant. That the pure in heart shall there see God; shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads; that God himself, who sits on the throne, shall be with them, and dwell among them, (Rev 7:2, and Rev 21:3,) is the crowning blessing of the heavenly city, and the consummation of the felicity of all its inhabitants. For in his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. Let us therefore give all diligence to secure to ourselves a place in that city, that we may be for ever with the Lord.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

48:35 To cap off the whole vision, the city was given a new name, The Lord Is There. Although the Lord had once departed from Jerusalem and ordered its destruction because of its gross idolatry and bloodshed, the new city was so much a part of the new order of things that it could receive that name. This also implied that the bloody city condemned in earlier chapters had now been replaced by a holy city, fit for God to dwell among representatives of all twelve of Israel’s tribes (cp. Isa 4:2-6; Zech 14:20-21). Thus the prophecy of Ezek 37:26-27 finally reaches its conclusion and its fulfillment, as God establishes his sanctuary in the midst of his people forever, just as he promised.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, Jehovah Shammah.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Lord is there--Jehovah-Shammah. Not that the city will be called so in mere name, but that the reality will be best expressed by this descriptive title (Jer 3:17; Jer 33:16; Zac 2:10; Rev 21:3; Rev 22:3).

Next: Daniel Introduction

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 35. 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: -

יהוה שמה

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: -

1. 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.

2. 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, 1Ti 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 fulfilment 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, Eze 26:1.

Masoretic sections, 29.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN OF EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE

As I utterly despair of making the prophet's description of this temple intelligible without a plan, I have introduced one drawn up with great labour and skill by Dom. August. Calmet, where the measurements, distances, gates chambers, courts, inclosures, c., are all carefully entered as far as they could possibly be ascertained from Ezekiel's description which, it must be allowed, though wondrously circumstantial, is in several respects obscure. But by referring to the places, both in Kings and Chronicles, as well as in this prophet, where the same things are mentioned, this obscurity will be considerably diminished, if not entirely removed. At the same time, for a description of the temple in general, I beg leave to refer the reader to Ezek 48:1; Ezek 6:38, at the end, where this subject is considered at large.

THE PLAN

[Let it be observed that the Hebrew cubit is]

[about twenty inches and a half.]

AAAA The first inclosure, or wall of six hundred cubits i.e., one thousand and twenty-five royal feet in length on each side, Eze 45:2; and six cubits or ten feet three inches high, and as many in breadth, Eze 40:5.

BBBB The court of the Gentiles, or first court fifty cubits in breadth, or eighty-five feet five inches, Eze 40:2.

CCCC The outward wall of the court of Israel, or inclosure, five hundred cubits square, i.e. eight hundred and fifty-four feet two inches. This wall might be thirty cubits high, taken from the level of the threshold of the gate.

DDDD The court of Israel, one hundred cubits, or one hundred and seventy feet ten inches broad, Eze 40:19.

EEEE The outer wall, or inclosure of the court of the priests, two hundred cubits, or three hundred and forty-one feet eight inches square, is supposed to be thirty cubits, or fifty-one feet three inches in height.

FFF The court of the priests, one hundred cubits, or one hundred and seventy feet ten inches square, Eze 40:7; Eze 41:14-15.

G The Sanctuary, or Holy of Holies, twenty cubits, or thirty-four feet two inches square, Eze 41:4; 1Kg 6:2.

H The holy place, forty cubits long by twenty broad, or sixty-eight feet two inches long by thirty-four feet two inches broad, Eze 41:2, and 1Kg 6:2.

I The vestibule or porch, twenty cubits in breadth, by ten (or according to Ezekiel, eleven) cubits in length, i.e., thirty-four feet two inches long by seventeen feet one inch broad, Eze 40:48; 1Kg 6:3.

K The altar of burnt-offerings, twelve cubits, or twenty feet six inches square, according to Ezekiel, Eze 43:12-13, c., or ten cubits high by twenty broad, i.e., seventeen feet one inch high, and thirty-four feet two inches broad, according to 2Ch 4:1.

LLL The wall of separation which encompassed the Temple, and the altar of burnt-offerings, of which the Scriptures do not give the dimensions. It was twenty cubits from the buildings in the court of the priests, and five from the Temple, Eze 41:9-10. Josephus makes it three cubits high, Antiq. lib. viii. c. 2.

MMMMMM Gates of the court of Israel, and of the court of the priests, all of the same dimensions, Eze 40:1; Eze 40:22; Eze 40:36. Each of the porches was fifty cubits long, i.e., eighty-five feet five inches (as much as the depth of the aisles, Eze 40:15) and twenty-five cubits, or forty-two feet eight inches and a half in breadth in the opening, and sixty cubits high, i.e., one hundred and two feet six inches, Eze 40:14. On each side of the porches there were three chambers, each six cubits square, Eze 40:6. And the separations between the three chambers were five cubits in thickness, Eze 40:6.

NNNNNNNN Galleries around the court of Israel, Eze 40:5-38. I place there thirty pillars on a line of two hundred cubits in length, which is the same proportion as those given for one hundred cubits long, 1Kg 7:2-4, for the court of the palace of Solomon.

OOOOOOOO Chambers or apartments round the court of Israel there were thirty on both sides of the gate, or fifteen on each side, Eze 40:17.

PPPP The kitchens of the Temple, forty cubits, or sixty-eight feet four inches long by thirty cubits, or fifty-one feet three inches broad, Eze 45:21-24.

Q The north gate of the court of the priests, where the victims were prepared, and where they slew the animals designed for sacrifice, Ezek 40:38; Ezek 40:39.

RRRR Galleries around the court of the priests, Eze 42:3.

SSSSSS Apartments continued round the court of the priests. The aisle, which was to the south of the eastern gate, was for the priests employed as guards of the Temple, Eze 40:45. The aisle on the north side of the said gate was appointed for the singers, Eze 40:44; the aisle that was on the eastern side of the south gate was for the priests employed about the altar, Eze 40:46; the aisles which were to the west of the north gate and of the south gate, contained the halls where the priests ate, Eze 42:13.

TT The kitchens of the court of the priests were those where they dressed the trespass-offering, sin-offering, and the meat-offerings, forty cubits, or sixty-eight feet four inches long, and thirty cubits, or fifty-one feet five inches broad, Eze 46:20. He speaks only of that on the north.

VVVV Flights of steps which led to the court of the people. In each flight there were seven steps, Eze 40:22-26.

XXX Flights of steps which led to the court of the priests; in each there were eighty steps, Eze 40:31; Eze 40:34; Eze 40:37.

YY A flight of steps which led to the porch of the Temple, eight steps in each, Eze 40:49.

aaa Chambers about the Temple, thirty-three in number, Ezekiel makes them four cubits in breadth, Eze 41:5; but in 1Kg 6:5-6, they are stated to be five cubits in the lower stage, six in the second, and seven in the third.

bb Flights of steps opposite to the chambers, which were continued round the temple, Eze 41:7, and 1Kg 6:8.

c The steps of the altar of burnt-offerings turned toward the east, Eze 43:15-16.

dddd Tables of hewn stone, which were in the portico of the north gate of the priests' court, where they slew, flayed, and cut up the victims. Each table was one and a half cubits square, Eze 40:38; Eze 40:39-41.

The great walls of the temple were all six cubits, or ten feet three inches thick. These walls were: 1. That which formed the first inclosure; 2. The wall of the court of Israel: 3. The wall of the court of the priests; and, 4. The walls of the Temple. But the outward wall of the thirty-three chambers, which were round the holy place and the sanctuary, was only five cubits broad, and fifteen high; i.e., eight feet six inches and a half in thickness, and twenty-five feet seven inches and a half in height, Ezek 41:9; Ezek 41:12.

All the gates of the two courts, that of Israel and that of the priests, are of the same dimensions. The wall where was the opening was six cubits, or ten feet three inches in thickness. The gate was eight cubits, or thirteen feet eight inches wide; and the opening of the gate was one cubit, and the gate was thirteen cubits, or twenty-two feet two inches and a half high, Eze 40:9; Eze 40:11.

The western gate of the Temple is not mentioned by Ezekiel, because, according to his plan, the king's palace was not to be near the temple; and consequently this gate, which was the gate of the king, did not exist. But this was not followed, as we find that, after the return from Babylon, there were gates on the western side of the Temple, according to Josephus; and before the captivity the western gate did most certainly exist, see Eze 43:8; 2Kg 11:6; 2Kg 16:18; 1Ch 9:24; 1Ch 26:16; 1Ch 26:18.

1. The gate of the porch of the holy place was fourteen cubits wide, i.e., twenty-three feet eleven inches, Eze 40:48; 1Kg 6:3.

2. The gate of the holy place was ten cubits, or seventeen feet one inch wide, Eze 41:1-2.

3. The gate of the sanctuary was six cubits or ten feet three inches wide. The wall of the separation was only two cubits, Eze 41:1; Eze 41:3.

4. The east gate of the court of the priests was shut all the week, and was not opened but on the Sabbath and new moons, according to Ezekiel. It was there that the king had his seat, a sort of tribunal, Eze 44:2-4; Eze 46:1-2, c.

Calmet observes, with respect to his plan, that he assigns only two galleries to the apartments which were around the court of Israel but those which were around the court of the priests had three, Eze 42:3; Eze 42:5-6. There is another difference between the palace (atrium) of the court of the priests, and that of the court of Israel. The walls of the first were built with three rows of hewn stones and one of cedar alternately, 1Kg 6:36; but this is not said to be the same in the structure of the outward court, or that of the people.

In the Old Testament we find no mention of the court of the Gentiles. Only two courts are mentioned there, one of the priests, the other of the people; one the inner, the other the outer court; but it is certain that such a court did exist, and is here marked BBBB.

The height of the aisles, or apartments that were around the two courts, is not mentioned any where in the Scriptures; but they are here fixed at thirty cubits; for the temple was not higher, neither was Solomon's palace. See 1Kg 7:2.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN FOR THE DIVISION OF THE LAND OF CANAAN,

ACCORDING TO EZEKIEL'S VISION, Eze 48:1-35

A The Temple of the Lord, five hundred cubits square, Eze 45:2.

BB The city of the Levites, four thousand five hundred cubits square, and eighteen thousand in compass, Eze 48:16.

cccc Suburbs of the city of the Levites, two hundred and fifty cubits in breadth, Eze 48:17.

dddd The twelve gates of the Levitical city, four on each side, Eze 48:31-34.

EE City of the lay persons or workmen employed in the service of the priests and of the Levites, five thousand broad by twenty-five thousand cubits long, Eze 45:6.

FF Cultivated ground for the maintenance of the lay artisans, Eze 48:15.

GG Portion of the prince of Israel, twenty-five thousand cubits long by twelve thousand five hundred broad, Eze 48:21.

The whole extent of the land from Kadesh-barnea south to Hethlon or Hamath north, was about two hundred and twenty miles, its mean breadth about one hundred.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(35) Round about eighteen thousand.—The circuit of the city, not including its “suburbs,” or open space, was 4 x 4,500 = 18,000 reeds, or something over thirty-four miles. Josephus reckoned the circuit of Jerusalem in his day at four miles.

Measures.—This word is rightly supplied from Eze_48:30; Eze_48:33. On the symmetry of the city and its gates and the names of the gates, comp. Rev_21:12; Rev_13:16.

The Lord is there.—With this name of the city Ezekiel closes his vision and his book. It is a most fitting close; for the object has been to depict, under the figures of the Jewish dispensation, the glories of the Church of the future. The culmination of this glory must ever be that the Lord, according to His promise (Joh_6:56), will dwell in the believer, and the believer in Him. Imperfectly as this may be carried out here on earth, the effect of the Gospel is to bring about ever more and more fully its realisation; and the closing book of the volume of Revelation, catching the echoes of Ezekiel’s prophecy, looks forward to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem “coming down from God out of heaven,” and declares, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God” (Rev_21:2-3).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35. The whole circumference of the city was 18,000 cubits, or some-what under six miles. Josephus (Bell. Jud. Eze_48:4; Eze_48:3) reckoned the bounds of Jerusalem in his day at 33 stadia, or about four miles. For measures, cubits.

The Lord is there] Cf. Rev_21:3, “And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.” The prophet beheld the Lord forsake his temple (11), and he beheld him again enter it (43); now he abides in it among his people for ever. The covenant ran that he should be their God and they his people; this is perfectly fulfilled in his presence among them. The end in view from the beginning has been reached.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Eze 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 Joh 1:14. Compare Rom 9:25; Rev 21:2-3.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Lord is there. This name is here given to the city; that is, the Church of Christ; because the Lord is always with her till the end of the world, Matthew xxviii. 20. (Challoner) --- He always adorns the Church triumphant [in heaven]; (Apocalypse xxii.) but has deserted the synagogue, Matthew xxiii. 38. (Worthington) --- Jerusalem certainly never bore this name, nor is it requisite that she should, if the prophecy had been literally understood. It would suffice, if she could justly claim such a prerogative. See Isaias vii. 14., and 2 Kings xii. 25. The Church of Christ possesses God for ever. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Round measuring all four squares.

Eighteen thousand measures, or cubits, at which proportioned measures it was about five miles in compass; if the measures were reeds, it would be thirty miles and three hundred and twenty-five yards in compass of the walls, which cannot be conceived credible; whereas the other is the proportion the city might have been built to, if the sins of the Jews had not prevented.

The name, by which it shall be called, known, and which shall be the honour of it and its glory. From that day; from the day of the Lord’s restoring this people, and rebuilding their city, and re-establishing his worship, and their thankful, holy, and pure worshipping of God there, from the day that such unmatched mercy produceth a suitable return unto God, from that day it shall be said of Jerusalem,

The Lord is there; the Lord, who, as his name alone is Jehovah, so is the only true God, faithful to promise, rich in mercy, glorious in majesty, righteous in his judgments, wise and holy in his government, whose presence makes us happy, whose withdrawing from us leaves us to misery. This God will, by his favour and presence, repel enemies and protect his people, bring with him the confluence of all good to persons, families, and cities; this God will be there to dwell, govern, defend, prosper, and crown. The people is blessed that is in such case, for their God is the Lord, Psa 144:15. Such was the case of typical, earthly Jerusalem, though not long; such is and shall be for ever the case of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God, the true church and temple of God. Such is the case of every true sincere believer, who may, wherever he is in his way of duty, still write, Jehovah-shammah, My God is here; and it is best to be where he is, till he bring me within the gates of the glorious city, where inconceivable light and love from the immediate presence of God give every one an eternal demonstration that הנה שׁמה To him be glory for ever.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

35. “It shall be eighteen thousand… round about: and the name of the city from that day shall be Jehovah-shammah.” If the city were eighteen thousand reeds in circumference, it would measure nearly thirty-six miles; if we should supply “cubits” instead of “reeds,” as we believe should be done (see notes Eze_45:1-5; Eze_48:8-9), its circuit would be nearly six miles. At the beginning of the Christian era its circumference was calculated by Josephus to be about four miles (Bell. Jud., v, Eze_5:4). At the present time its circuit is about two and a half miles.

The Lord is there — For the meaning of Jehovah see notes Eze_6:7; Eze_6:14; Eze_12:16; Eze_12:20; Eze_13:9; Eze_13:21; Eze_13:23; Eze_28:26; Eze_34:27; Eze_34:30, etc. The new city receives a new name in accordance with its new character. (Compare Jer_23:6; Rev_21:3; Rev_21:10-21.) It is now in truth a holy city, worthy to be called by the holy name of its holy God. Nevermore will Jehovah depart (11). He has returned to abide with his own forever (Eze_37:26; Eze_37:28; Eze_43:4; Eze_43:7). The Lord is there “to dwell, govern, defend, prosper, and crown.” “Such is the case of every true believer, who may, whenever he is in the way of duty, still write ‘Jehovah-shammah,’ My God is here.” — Wesley.

As he pens the closing words of these comments the writer is oppressed with the sense of their inadequacy. The study of Ezekiel resembles the prophet’s vision of the divine stream — the farther one goes the deeper he wades. Yet we may say, with Duhm, “One need not be ashamed of his own weakness, even if these prophecies always remain greater than their interpreter” (Die Theologie der Propheten).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The entire circuit of the city should, according to the above measurement of the walls, be eighteen thousand reeds, i.e. 18, 000 6 (cubits) 1.5 (feet) = 162, 000 feet = 30 miles. Josephus ("Wars," 5:4. 3) reckoned the circuit of Jerusalem in his day to be thirty-three stadia, or four miles. The name of the city from that day should be, The Lord is there. It is debated whether "from that day" ( should be connected with the preceding or the succeeding words, and likewise whether hMv should be translated" there" or "thither." The Authorized and Revised Versions, Ewald, Havernick, Hengstenberg, Schroder, and Smend agree that belongs to the antecedent clause, but differ as to whether it should be understood as equivalent to "from this time forth," i.e. for all time to come (Ewald), or "from henceforth," i.e. from that clay on, i.e. from the day of the city"s building (Hengstenberg), which seems the most natural interpretation. Kliefoth and Keil prefer to conjoin "from that day" with the clause following, and expound the prophet"s statement as saying that the city"s name should be, "Henceforward Jehovah is there, or thither." Ewald, Hitzig, Keil, and Smend, with the two English Versions, decide for "there," Havernick, Hengstenberg, Kliefoth, and Schroder for "thither," as the sense of hM; v; That "thither" is the ordinary import of hMv is undoubted; but that by Ezekiel. (see Eze_23:3 Eze_33:29, Eze_33:30) and others (Jer_18:2; Psa_122:5; 2Ki_23:8) it is used as "there" is also correct (see Gesenius, "Lexicon," sub rose). Happily, whichever rendering be adopted, the difference in significance is not material. If "there," the sense is that Jehovah will henceforth reside in the city; if "thither," that he will henceforth direct his regards towards the city. To object against the former view that Jehovah was in the future to reside in the temple rather than in the city is hypercritical, since, if Jehovah should make the temple his peculiar habitation, it would be for the sake of the city; if the latter view be taken, Kliefoth"s explanation must be set aside that" from this day on Jehovah would direct himself towards the city; that the city and all concerning it may come to pass." As Keil observes, the name Jehovah Shammah was not to be given to the city before but after it was built. (comp. Isa_60:14)

NOTE.

On the significance of the temple-vision.

The substance of what has been ascertained in the foregoing Exposition may thus be set forth.

1. According to the vision shown to the prophet, on returning to take possession of their Own land in accordance with promises previously given, (Eze_34:13 Eze_36:24:37:12, Eze_36:21, Eze_36:25) the tribes of restored and reunited Israel should first separate from the soil a holy heave, or terumah, as a portion for Jehovah. (Eze_45:1-8) This terumah they should divide into three parallel tracts: assigning that on the north, two-fifths of the whole, to the Levites for chambers anti for lands; that in the middle, also two-fifths of the whole, to the priests, for the sanctuary, which should occupy its center, and for houses in which they might reside; and that in the south, one-fifth of the whole, for the city, which also should stand in its middle, for dwellings and for suburbs. (Eze_48:15) Two strips of equal area on either side of the terumah, one extending westward to the Mediterranean and another eastward to the Jordan, should be handed over as a portion for the prince, out of which he should provide burnt, meat, and drink offerings in the feasts, new moans, sabbaths, and other solemnities of the house of Israel. (Eze_45:17) The remainder of the laud they should partition among themselves, allotting to each tribe an equal portion, which should extend from east to west across the entire breadth of the territory between the river and the sea, and be parallel to the holy oblation, but locating seven tribes north and five south of the terumah.

1. On returning to their own land, they should find that Jehovah had again, according to premise, established amongst them his sanctuary, (Eze_37:26, Eze_37:27) a description of which the prophet gives. It is noticeable that no indication is furnished by the prophet that the people should erect an edifice after the pattern and according to the measurements of the house shown, but simply a statement made that such should be the sanctuary in which they should Worship.

2. On finding themselves once more in possession of the land which had been given to their fathers, and of a sanctuary prepared for them by Jehovah, the people of Israel should thenceforward serve him in accord-ante with the ordinances prescribed in the new Torah (Ezekiel 44-46); should appear before him in the yearly feasts of the Passover and Tabernacles, in the monthly feasts of the new moon, in the weekly feasts of the sabbath, and in the daily ritual of sacrifice; should devolve upon the Zadokite (i.e. upon faithful) priests the duty of ministering at the altar, upon the Levites, to which rank the apostate (or unfaithful) priests of the monarchy should be reduced, that of attending to the sanctuary, or of serving the priests; and upon the prince that of providing the requisite sacrificial victims for the public festivals; the people for this purpose paying him the sixtieth part of their corn, the hundredth part of their oil, and the two-hundredth head of their flocks annually as a heave offering.

3. When Israel, thus revived and regenerated, restored and reunited, should serve Jehovah with a pure cultus, faithfully per. forming his commandments and walking in his ways, there should flow from the temple, as the habitation of Jehovah and the central institution of the land, down to the Jordan valley and into the Dead Sea, a miraculously increasing river, which should clothe the banks along its course with never-fading beauty and never-failing fertility, and on reaching the sea should render its waters salubrious, so that living creatures and fishes of every kind should swarm therein.

The question, therefore, which remains is What significance should be attached to this temple-vision? The answer will de-pond on whether the principle of interpretation applied to it is literal or metaphorical, historical or typical, actual or symbolical. Round these two methods of interpretation the different views that have been entertained of this temple-vision may with sufficient accuracy be grouped.

I VIEWS WHICH GROUND THEMSELVES ON A MORE OR LESS LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION. The only point which all the views in this class have in common is that they regard Ezekiel as having furnished the sketch of a new constitution for Israel, civil as well as, but chiefly, religious, to be actually put in force at some time in the future, either immediately subsequent to the exile or afterwards, by the erection of a temple, the institution of a worship and a division of the land in accordance with the specifications furnished by Ezekiel.

1. That the "temple-vision" was designed, in whole or in part, to provide a new constitution for the exiles who should return from Babylon when the seventy years of captivity had run their course, is a view which has always commanded support.

(1) It was favored by Villalpandus, who saw in Ezekiel"s "house" only a reminiscence of the Solomonic temple which the prophet, having conjured up before his imagination, placed on paper that it might serve as a model for the future shrine which the home-returning Israelites should erect; but inns-much as Ezekiel"s "house," while exhibiting not a few correspondences with Solomon"s temple, at the same time discovered too many differences from that edifice to admit of being regarded as its exact transcript, critics soon perceived that the explanation of Villalpandus would require to be modified.

(2) Accordingly, Grotius substituted for the temple as first constructed by Solomon, the same edifice as it existed in Nebuchadnezzar"s time immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem. This, that scholar thought, would account for the variations from Solomon"s temple which were perceptible in Ezekiel"s "house;" but, as Kliefoth properly observes, while changes must undoubtedly have passed upon the temple (both upon the building and in its ritual) between the dates of its erection and of its demolition, these were little likely to be of such a character as to render it the harmonious and symmetrical structure it appears in Ezekiel"s vision.

(3) A third suggestion was then advanced by Eichhorn, Dathe, and Herder, and adopted by Hitzig, that Ezekiel"s temple was not so much modeled after Solomon"s as freely imagined and presented to the exiles as an ideal sketch of the new religious and civil order which should be established in Palestine after the return item captivity; while to the objection that no such order was established by the Jews who came back from Babylon, it was replied that that was not the fault of Ezekiel, but of the people, and no detraction from the splendor of the ideal which had been held up before them, but only an indication of their inability to convert that ideal into reality. This view, however, besides being open to the objections to be afterwards urged against it in common with others, has this difficulty of its own to contend with, that in introducing the subjective element of fancy as the primal source of the "vision," it directly conflicts with the prophet"s statement that the vision was expressly shown him by supernatural agency.

(4) Closely allied to the preceding views, and in fact combining them, are those of Ewald, Kuenen, Wellhausen, Smend, Robertson Smith, Canon Driver, and their followers in Germany and in England. "Ezekiel may for a long time," writes Ewald ("Die Propheten des Alten Bundes," vol. 2. p. 531), "have pondered with burning desire and lively recollection on the institutions of the fallen temple and kingdom: what appeared to him great and glorious therein may have deeply engraven itself upon his heart as the model of a future restoration; with such historical memories he may have compared the Messianic expectations and demands in detail, and thus in spirit have projected for himself the most vivid pictures of the best constitution and arrangement of the details at the hoped-for restoration of the kingdom." Kuenen ("The Religion of Israel," 2:114) calls the passage now alluded to "a complete plan for the organization of the new Israel." Wellhausen ("Geschichte Israels," p. 62) speaks of the whole "vision" as "a program for the future restoration of the theocracy." Smend styles Ezekiel "a lawgiver, who outlines a complete life-ordinance for the Israel of the future." Robertson Smith ("The Old Testament in the Jewish Church," p. 374) characterizes his Torah as "a sketch of ritual for the period of restoration." Canon Driver ("An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament," p. 273) says that Eze_40:48, give "the constitution of the restored theocracy," but adds (p. 274) that, "though the details are realistically conceived, it is evident that there is an ideal element in Ezekiel"s representations which in many respects it was found impossible to put into practice." Thus, while presenting different shades of opinion, the interpreters and critics just mentioned, from Villalpandus downwards, are unanimous in regarding the "vision" as having been at once a temple plan, a cultus Torah, and a land act for the post-exilic age; but against this understanding of the "vision," in the judgment of such scholars and expositors as Havernick, Fairbairn, Keil, Kliefoth, Wright, and Plumptre, the objections that may be urged are too numerous to admit of the belief that Ezekiel had any such intention as it supposes, viz. an intention to prepare beforehand a new constitution for the restoration era, which he believed to be at hand. These objections are the following:

(1) If Ezekiel actually did intend to leave behind him a program for the coming age, a constitution for the new theocracy which he foresaw should arise, it is, to say the least, remarkable that no suspicion of this appears to have crossed the minds of any of the post-exilic leaders, such as Zerubbabel, Joshua, Ezra, or Nehemiah, all of whom, besides, lived so close to Ezekiel"s time that they must have been aware of it had any such intention existed.

(2) Nor is it simply that the post-exilic leaders gave no indication that they regarded it as binding on them to carry out the wishes of Ezekiel as these were set forth in this temple-vision; but in proceeding with their work of restoration, in the reconstruction of the temple, in the reorganization of the worship, and in the redistribution of the land, they went back to the state and condition of things which had existed in pre-exilic times, building their new temple on the exact foundations of the old, (Ezr_3:8-13) fashioning their worship in accordance with the prescriptions of the Levitical (or so-called priest-) code (which, "in its main stock," Driver, "An Introduction," etc., p. 135, admits existed, though in unwritten form, in pre-exilic times), and dividing their territory, if net after the land act of Moses, still less after that of Ezekiel.

(3) Add to this that, had the post-exilic leaders been desirous of following the directions of the "vision," they would have found it in many points quite impracticable. Not to speak, at least in this connection (see below), about the "very high mountain" or the "temple-river," which one scarcely sees how they could have improvised, it may be asked how they could have laid out on the summit of Moriah the precincts of the temple, which were 500 reeds (i.e . 3000 cubits, or 4500 feet) square, or a compass of over three miles and a half; or measured off the terumah, which enclosed an area of 2500 square miles or nearly twice as large as the whole of Judaea (see Conder"s "Handbook to the Bible," p. 273); or divided the territory (which they did not possess) from the entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt? Assuredly, if Ezekiel"s plan was thus one which could not have been carried cut, even had he meant it, Ezekiel may be credited with having had sufficient sense not to mean it.

(4) Then on the literal hypothesis, what is to be made of the "very high mountain" on which the temple was seen to rest, and of the river that increased without receiving any tributaries along its course; and of the sea, whose waters were rendered salubrious and made to teem with fish by the flowing into them of the temple-stream? A hill whose maximum elevation above the sea was not more than 2528 feet could hardly have been represented as a "very high mountain;" a water-canal or spring could scarcely have been made to do duty for a freely flowing river; while a visit to the Dead Sea will convince the most skeptical that its waters are today as unwholesome and fatal to life, both vegetable and animal, as they ever were. Considerations such as these are sufficient to indicate that the prophet never intended his language to be taken literally, or his "house" to be regarded as a new temple, his Torah as a new ritual, and his territorial distribution scheme as a new land act for the returned exiles.

(5) If more be needed to demonstrate that the prophet, in writing down these temple-measurements, sacrificial ordinances, and land arrangements, was not drafting a new constitution, for post-exilic Israel, it may be found in this, that he removed the temple so completely beyond the precincts of the city. Whatever significance may have lain in that as a symbol (to be considered in the sequel), it is obvious that no Jewish patriot could have been expected to acquiesce in such an arrangement (already it has been seen that they did not), on the supposition that it was meant to be actually put in force; and hence it may be almost pronounced certain that, whatever notions may have lurked in the prophet"s mind regarding it, he never seriously proposed it as a model to be copied by the builders of the post-exilic age.

2. A second view deserving mention, if less extended, is that of those who, while finding in the temple-vision a new constitution for restored and reunited Israel, and while conceding that in some small measure or degree it may have been put in force subsequent to the exile, nevertheless anticipate the coming of a golden age, when it will receive an exact and complete fulfillment, when the soil of Palestine will be divided, the temple erected at Jerusalem, and the worship of Jehovah established therein precisely as here outlined by Ezekiel.

(1) It is not difficult to understand how this idea should from the first have been favored by Jewish interpreters, who still expected Messiah, and believed that when he came he would not only replace the Jewish people in their own land, but set up the precise civil and religious arrangements that are here sketched.

(2) But besides these, not a few Christian millenarians have embraced this interpretation, holding, as they do, not only that Jesus is the Messiah, but that in connection with and prior to his second coming which they consider will introduce the thousand years" reign of the risen saints upon the earth all the details of this vision will be carried out: the Jews, who shall then have become converted to Christianity, will return to their own land, which they will divide amongst themselves as here represented, erect a temple after the specifications here laid down, and institute a worship in accordance with the Torah here enjoined. Of this view a representative may be found in M. Baumgarten, who thinks that the points of contact between Ezekiel"s temple and Solomon"s are too numerous and close for one to resolve the whole picture into symbol and allegory, and who asks how, when Israel has returned to her God, she ought to give expression to her faith and obedience, if not in the forms and ordinances which Jehovah has given to them these forms and ordinances being those embodied in Ezekiel"s temple-vision (see Herzog"s "Real-Encyclopadie," art. "Ezechiel"). But against this view, whether in its Jewish or Christian form, which expects a future glorification of the land, people, and religion of Israel, serious and insurmountable difficulties press.

(3) The objections already mentioned as declaring against the former view of a program for the pest-exilic ago speak with equal force against this, which simply transfers the building of the temple, the institution of the ritual, and the dividing of the land to a future Messianic age, either with the Jews, that of a first, or with the millenarians, that of a second, coming. It is true the advocates of this theory experience no difficulty in dealing with any of the unusual phenomena which ordinarily hamper the literal interpretation, such as the rapidly increasing river, the sweetening of the waters of the Dead Sea, and the exceeding high mountain, because they anticipate such a glorification of Palestine in the Messianic, or millennial, era as will not only admit of all these things being, but show them actually to be, realized. The passages of Scripture, however, which are supposed to promise the future external glorification of Canaan are, neither in the Old Testament (Isa_2:2-4 Isa_4:2-6 Isa_9:1-6 Isa_11:12; Jer 31; Amo_9:8-15; Zec_14:8 Joe 3; Mic_7:9-13) nor in the New (Rom_11:15; Act_3:19-21; Rev_7:1-8 Rev_14:1-5 Rev_22:1, Rev_22:2) so clear and decisive that their literal interpretation cannot be disputed, as in reality it is, to the extent even of denial, by the majority of Bible students; and accordingly, to claim these as substantiating the proposition that Canaan is ultimately to undergo such a transformation as to render the realization of Ezekiel"s vision possible, is simply to beg the question at issue.

(4) In addition to this, the view undergoing examination is exposed to all those difficulties which tell against the millenarian doctrine in general, and this in particular, that the Jews will yet as a nation return to their own land. Were they to do so, it would not infallibly follow that they would re-erect a temple, worship Jehovah, and divide up the soil as here directed; but it is certain they would do neither of these things if they never did return; and that they never will return (as a nation) to occupy Palestine may at least be regarded as the more probable alternative of the two. Unless resort is to be had to miracle, it is not easy to discern how, after the Jews have renounced their unbelief and become Christian, they are to be prevented from intermingling with Christians and so losing one of their national characteristics, or how the tribal divisions which have for centuries been lost are again to be recovered, or how the land is to be rendered capable of sustaining them. Nor can one detect a sufficient reason for restoring the national existence of Israel in the closing years of the Christian dispensation, if not for the purpose of reintroducing the special worship of Judaism; and this, it should now be emphasized, occasions the greatest of all difficulties that impinge against the theory under review. For

(5) If Israel as a nation is, in some golden era or millennial period towards the close of time, to return to her old land, re-erect her old temple, and reinstitute her old worship, what shall then (or even now) be said of the truthfulness of those passages of Scripture which teach that the Levitical system of tabernacle (or temple) and altar, of priest and sacrifice, of type and symbol, of external commandment and visible ceremonial, was from the first provisional in its nature, intended to serve as a shadow of good things to come, and designed to be set aside for ever when the higher and more spiritual system of the gospel had been inaugurated by the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah? (see Hebrews 5-10; and comp. Joh_4:21-24; Col_2:17; Gal_3:23-25) The simple suggestion that in the glorious millennial era, when Christianity as a system of religion will be near the culmination of its triumphed progress through the centuries, the Church of God, either in whole or in part, should return to the beggarly elements of Judaism, and set up the worship of God by means of bloody offerings and all the paraphernalia of altars and priests, is too ridiculous to be entertained for a moment by any one who has attained to a proper conception of the spiritual nature of that religion which mankind eighteen centuries ago received from Jesus Christ. "The whole teaching of the New Testament," writes Plumptre (unpublished manuscript notes), "and especially of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is opposed to the thought that the revival of a local sanctuary at Jerusalem, sacred above all other sanctuaries, the object of devout pilgrimages from all quarters of the world, with the perpetuation of annual sacrifices offered by the priests of the house of Aaron, living under the old ceremonial conditions, forms part and parcel of what we are to expect in the future history of Christendom. We are compelled, if we would be true to that higher teaching, to say that the visions of Ezekiel, like those of the Apocalypse, which in part reproduce them, can receive only, as symbols of the truth, a spiritual and not a literal fulfillment." To this the weighty utterance of Delitzsch (Luthardt"s Zeitschrift flit kirkliche Wissensehaft, 1880-1881, p. 289) may be added: "The New Testament Divine worship knows of a central sanctuary neither in Jerusalem nor upon Gerizim, and the religion of Jehovah, after it has. become the religion of humanity, will never again return back into its chrysalis condition, and the setting up again of animal sacrifices as memorials of Christ"s death would be, in face of the offering which was made upon the altar of the cross, (Heb_10:11-14) a return out of the essence into the shadow, out of the spirit into the letter, out of the law of freedom into the law of the "elements of the world," of which Christ was the end. A Christian world-cathedral belonging to Israel converted to Christ and again assembled in Jerusalem a monument such as this of the history of salvation having reached its final aim, a finger-post like this directed heavenward towards God the All-merciful will necessarily be of another sort than the temple of Old Testament prophets still fast bound in shadow work.

II VIEWS WHICH GROUND THEMSELVES ON A SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION. A literal interpretation being impossible, the only alternative is to have recourse to the method of symbolic exposition; and, in addition to what has been already said, some things suggest themselves as strongly corroborative of this conclusion. First, there is the circumstance that the temple-plan, the ritual Torah, and the land act formed three successive parts of one extended "vision," which was shown to the prophet while in a state of "trance" or ecstasy, and were thus, as to mode of communication at least, totally unlike the tabernacle model, the Levitical code, and the land arrangements which were directly exhibited or imparted to Moses without the intervention of a "vision." Besides, the obvious correspondence of this closing vision to the earlier vision or visions (Ezekiel 8-11.), in which were represented the desecration and destruction of the first temple, lends countenance to the inference that here also, as there, the tableaux presented to the prophet"s inward eye were designed as symbols. Secondly, there is the absence of any instruction to the prophet, like that given to Moses, to see that all things were made, either by himself or others, according to the pattern which had been shown to him in the mount, From the beginning to the end no hint is discoverable that the prophet or his countrymen were expected to replace the building Nebuchadnezzar had overthrown by one fashioned after the pattern now disclosed. Thirdly, without emphasizing as strongly as Kliefoth does the numbers three, seven, and twelve, that run through the whole, the obvious symmetry maintained alike in the temple-buildings, sacrificial ordinances, and land arrangements, speaks for a symbolic as against a literal interpretation; and this impression is confirmed rather than weakened by observing that in respect both of the temple and the city, only (or principally) ground-measurements are recorded, while no allusion whatever is made to either building materials or architectural details. Fourthly, there are portions of this "vision" to which a symbolic interpretation must of necessity be assigned, as e.g. the temple-river and the healing of the waters of the sea; and this fact alone should be held as decisive, unless it should emerge that there are other portions to which a symbolic exposition is inapplicable. Fifthly, antecedent passages in Ezekiel, to which this temple-vision palpably looks back, declare more or less strongly for a symbolic interpretation. One of these has already been referred to, Ezekiel 8-11. Another is Eze_20:40-41, concerning which it may suffice to quote Plumptre"s words in this Commentary: "The fact that Israel itself is said to be the "sweet savor" (Revised Version) which Jehovah accepts (comp. 2Co_2:15; Eph_5:2; Php_4:18) suggests a like spiritual interpretation of the other offerings, though the literal meaning was probably dominant in the prophet"s own thoughts." A third is Eze_37:26-28, in which a literal interpretation can be maintained only at the expense of truth, Sixthly, the analogy of similar prophetic adumbrations of Israel"s future supports the idea that here also the writer"s thought clothes itself in a symbolic dress. Let the pictures given by Jeremiah, Ezekiel"s contemporary, (Jer_31:38-40 Jer_33:17-22) by Isaiah, (Isa_60:1-22) Joel, (Joe_3:18) Haggai, (Hag_2:7-9) and Zechariah (Zec_6:9-15 Zec_8:1-8 Zec_14:8-21) be attentively studied, and the conviction will be hard to resist that one and all they were designed in figurative language to foreshadow the spiritual blessings of a future time; and if such was the prophetic style generally, it seems reasonable to infer that Ezekiel. like his predecessors, contemporaries, and successors, was accustomed to use the same. Seventhly, the symbolic interpretation admits of being carried out, which is more than can be affirmed of the literal; and this consideration should decide the question as to how the "vision" should be understood in favor of the former rather than of the latter mode of exposition.

But now assuming the symbolic method of interpretation to have been fully vindicated as the only one properly applicable to the temple-vision, a fresh inquiry rises Of what was the vision meant to be symbolic? And the reply to this may be stated in terms so general as to unite all who favor the ideal or allegorical method of interpretation. It may be said that the vision was designed to symbolize the great and gracious blessings Jehovah purposed at a future time, when he had turned again the captivity of Israel, to bestow upon his Church. So far as the terminus owl quern of this period of blessing is concerned, it is agreed by all expositors that that is the consummation of all things, when Israel"s last and mightiest enemies, Gog and Magog, shall have been destroyed; only then do interpreters fall out when the terminus a quo is required after. Some, like Diedati, Greenhill, and Hengstenberg, find the point of departure in the return from Babylon; others, as Luther, Calvin, Cocceius, Pfeiffer, Fairbairn, Havernick, Kliefoth, and Currey, begin with the Incarnation; while a third group, of whom Keil may be regarded as the representative, restrict the "vision" to the times of the consummation, i.e. to the perfect service of God in the heavenly world.

1. It seems impossible to doubt that the "vision" had a reference to the times immediately subsequent to the exile. Without conceding to Hengstenberg that the whole prophecy, with the exception of Eze_47:1-12, was destined then to receive fulfillment, or to Wellhausen that it was expressly composed as a new constitution for pest-exilic Judaism, it may be granted that the exiles in Babylonia were intended to derive from it the hope and promise of a return to their own land, a re-erection of their fallen temple, and a reinstitution of their ancient worship. Indeed, it is hard to see how they could have failed to deduce such an inference from a perusal of the prophet"s words. Forming, as the "vision" did, the last and culminating note of crenellation addressed to the exiles, if the picture it held up before their minds was not a mere ignis fatuus intended to mislead if it represented (even symbolically) any underlying reality then thatreality could only have been that in the future, it might be Aim and distant, Israel and Judah, once more united and enlarged by accessions from the Gentiles, or the Church of God whom they represented, should serve Jehovah with a pure cultus in a land he had prepared for and given to them: and not a large amount of insight would be required to conclude that if Israel and Judah had any such destiny before them in the future, then assuredly their exile must terminate and their divided tribes be once more united in the old country. Whatever may have been the true significance of that picture, if it symbolized anything in which Israel and Judah were to have a share, it could not but occur, at least to the prophet himself and the more thoughtful of his first readers, that it prognosticated the dawning of brighter days, when Jehovah should turn again the captivity of his people, and re-establish them in their own land.

2. Similarly, the view of those who find in the vision a symbol of the Christian Church as a whole, or, in the words of Kliefoth, "the Christian Church in its origin, its development and influence in the world, and its completion in the hereafter," has much to support it. That Ezekiel perfectly understood the significance of his own "vision" is not asserted, and is not likely to have been the case; (see 1Pe_1:11) all that is wished to be affirmed by those who adopt this view is that Ezekiel"s picture of a new temple, a new worship, and a new land pointed to a state and condition of things which first began to be realized when the Christian dispensation was established by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and certainly there are few particulars in which the import of the symbol (looked at in this light) cannot be at once and clearly traced. Without claiming it as a point in favor of this view that the vision makes no mention of any building materials, inasmuch as the Christian Church is composed of "lively stones," or believing and gracious souls, (1Pe_2:5) the entrance into the temple of the glory of God (Eze_43:1-6) found and still retains its counterpart in the perpetual inhabitation of the Church by the Spirit of Christ. (Eph_2:21, Eph_2:22) The awful sanctity with which the temple was surrounded, increasing as one approached it from the outside, beginning with the holy terumah, and advancing successively to the priests" portion in the midst of which the temple stood, to the precincts five hundred reeds square which encompassed the court, to the suburbs or "void places" which ran round the outer wall, to the seven steps which conducted into the gateway, to the outer court, to the eight steps leading up to the inner court, and finally to the ascent by which access was gained to the "house, all this fitly symbolized the superior holiness which should belong, and in point of fact does belong, to the Church of God under the gospel. So the absence of both high priest and great Day of Atonement in Ezekiel"s temple was an adumbration of the time when the ever-living High Priest of the house of God having put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, all Jehovah"s worshippers should be priests in their own right, whose services should be acceptable through Jesus Christ. The daily sin offering, and the similar offerings on the solemn feast-days, meant that in the Church of the future there should be a constant remembrance of the great Propitiation that had been offered once for all, and an ever-renewed appropriation of the same by those who worshipped. The greater symmetry and fullness in the burnt offerings and meal offerings served to typify the more thorough self-consecration of Jehovah"s worshippers, and their more intimate fellowship with him in the new dispensation. That the prince should be charged with the responsibility of providing victims for all the public festivals, and on the occasion of their celebration should enter and retire from the temple courts in their midst, was a foreshadowing of the truth that all the offerings of s Christian worshipper must be presented through Christ, who thus, as it were, ideally approaches the heavenly throne surrounded by his people. The miraculously flowing river rising in the temple, and increasing in width and depth as it flows, creating life and beauty wheresoever it comes, was an easily understood picture of the spiritually healthful and vivifying influences of the gospel The equal division of the land among the tribes, and the introduction of the sons of the stranger to equal privileges with the Israelite, may have been designed to intimate that when the new condition of things arrived to which the vision looked forward, i.e. when the Christian era dawned, the distinction between Jew and Gentile should no more exist, (Eph_2:14-16) and all the members of the new Israel should share alike in the inheritance of which Canaan was the earthly emblem. The separation of the temple from the city may have pointed to the fact that in that coming age the Church should be an institution altogether distinct from and no longer identical with the state, as under the Hebrew dispensation it had been. These, with other instances that might be given, show how easily the whole symbol may be understood of the Christian Church on earth, which was the view commonly entertained by the Reformed theologians, who did not, except indirectly, employ it as typical of the kingdom of God in its perfect or heavenly condition.

3. This, however, is the view taken of the vision by both Kliefoth and Keil, the first of whom does not, while the second does, exclude all allusion to the present or historical condition of the Christian Church. In the vision Kliefoth, while discovering some things, as for instance the sin offerings, that can only be applied to the present or temporal form of the Church, finds others, as e.g. the temple-river, which he holds can only have its counterpart in the river of the Apocalypse. (Rev_22:1) On the other hand, Keil argues that only one thing presupposes that Israel has still to take possession of (the heavenly) Canaan, viz." the directions concerning the boundaries and the division of the land," and proceeds to say, "It fellows from this that the prophetic picture does not furnish a typical exhibition of the Church of Christ in its gradual development, but sets forth the kingdom of God established by Christ in its perfect form." In short, Keil regards the whole "vision" as a symbolic representation, in Old Testament language and ideas the only way in which such representation could have been given so as to be intelligible to Ezekiel"s readers of the introduction of God"s spiritual Israel into their heavenly Canaan, and of the perfect service they shall there render to Jehovah. That the heavenly condition of the Church of God was designed to be depicted it seems necessary to hold, both from the position of the vision in Ezekiel"s book and from the contents (in part) of the vision itself. The vision occurs, as the last note of consolation offered to the exiles, after the vision of their moral and spiritual resuscitation and establishment in their own land, with David, Jehovah"s Servant and King, ruling over them, and in close connection with, if not immediately after, the final conflict with Gog, which leads up, one should say, quite naturally to the complete blessedness of the future life. Then the correspondence between the river in John"s description of the heavenly Jerusalem, and this temple-stream in Ezekiel"s vision, renders it impossible to exclude from the latter all allusion to the heavenly state. At the same time, there are points, even on Keil"s showing, that cannot well be harmonized with the theory that only the heavenly and glorified form of the Church is symbolized by the vision. One of these has been mentioned, the perpetuation of the sin offering; another is the precept concerning the hereditary property of the prince and its transmission to his sons; a third is the separation between the temple and the city; a fourth is the invasion of Gog, which, as Keil has observed, is represented as occurring after Israel has taken possession of the land. Hence probably it is wrong to restrict the significance of the "vision" so exclusively as Keil does to the heavenly world.

Upon the whole, it seems best to find a place for each of the above views in any interpretation of the vision; and this may be done by supposing that the vision was designed by its real Author the Spirit of Christ. (1Pe_1:11) to set forth, by means of Old Testament imagery, a picture of that perfect service which ought to have been rendered from the first by Israel (after the flesh) to Jehovah, but was not, and which it was Jehovah"s promise to the exiles would ultimately be rendered by that new Israel (according to the Spirit) he was soon to call out of the ruins of the old. In this way, as setting forth the ideal of a perfect worship which will not be completely realized until Israel reaches the heavenly Canaan, the "vision" admits of Keil"s interpretation; but inasmuch as this ideal worship will not be attained to there unless the worship itself begins on earth in the Christian Church to which not a few features in the symbol point the vision is also susceptible of Kliefoth"s exposition; while as the first step towards the calling out of the new Israel was taken when God turned again the captivity of the exiles, the view of Hengstenberg cannot be excluded.

A few words may be added on the bearing which the view just taken of the significance of the temple-vision has upon the chief critical question of the day as to the structure of the Pentateuch. The modern theory, begun by Graf and Reuss, but per-leered by Kuenen and Wellhausen, it is well known, is that, while the book of the covenant. Exodus 21-23 originated in the early years of the monarchy, and Deuteronomy not later than the reign of Josiah, the priest-code, as it is styled (Exodus 24-40 with some exceptions, the whole of Leviticus, and the most of Numbers), is a work of post-exilic origin, and that Ezekiel (40-48) constituted, as it were, the bridge by which the law-making spirit of the Hebrew religion passed over from the popular legislation of the Fifth Book of Moses to the highly developed and minutely articulated system of Leviticus. Into the general question it would be out of place in this work to enter; the most that can be (lone is to indicate how far the theory is entitled to claim support from the temple-vision which has just been expounded and interpreted. Nor is it needful, in doing so, to dwell upon the alleged evidence of Ezekiel"s priority to Leviticus, derived from Ezekiel"s language and the contents of his sacrificial Torah this has been more or less done in the course of exposition since the validity or invalidity of such (so-called) evidence depends entirely on the correctness or incorrectness of the presupposition which is commonly made, viz. that Ezekiel designed to draft a new constitution for the post-exilic Church. Could this have been made out, it would by no means have followed that Ezekiel"s Torah, by its divergences from that of Leviticus, proved the later origin of the latter, since Ezekiel, having himself been prophet, no less than Moses, was at liberty to abrogate or modify any pre-existing law if impelled to do so by the Spirit that originally taught Moses; but inasmuch as it has not been and cannot be made out beyond reachable doubt rather, inasmuch as strong grounds exist for holding that Ezekiel had no such intention, but designed to provide a complex symbol of the perfect relations which should subsist between God and his (spiritual) Israel, it is clearly not permissible to argue that Ezekiel was suggesting for the first time the course which temple-legislation should pursue in the new era which should commence when the exile was ended and the restoration begun. If all that Ezekiel had in contemplation was to furnish a symbol of the sort already indicated, it is manifestly an inference not warranted by the premises that he desired to initiate a distinction which should afterwards be put in force between the priests who should serve the altar and the Levites who should serve the tabernacle, and to assign the former honor to the sons of Zadok, while inflicting the latter degradation on the Levites who had ministered at pre-exilic high places. If Ezekiel"s fetching in of the sons of Zadok was merely a device to obtain a symbol of faithful and pure service, then the whole theory which has been so ingeniously erected on the so-called degradation of the Levites a passage which has been styled "the key to the Old Testament runs the risk of falling to pieces, and, to use the words of Delitzsch (Luthardt"s Zeitschrift fur kirkliche Wissenschaft, 1880-1881, p. 288), "the degradation of the Levites, which certainly appears in Ezekiel as an innovation," becomes "another thing than a riddle to be solved by the new Pentateuchal theory.

A glorious name.

The restored city of Jerusalem is to receive a new name, "The Lord is there." The announcement of this name makes a splendid conclusion to the Book of Ezekiel. The numerous and varied utterances of the prophet have carried us through scenes of shame and sorrow, and even of blood and terror; but above all has shone the vision of God and his grand providence, and the end of all is seen in the new city and temple of a renewed people.

I THE NAME DESCRIBES A WONDERFUL FACT. Sin drives away the blessed consciousness of the Divine presence, though God is never really absent from any part of his dominions. But when God"s people are reconciled to him he draws near to them in inward communion.

1. A real presence. This is not the name of a truth unrealized. God is now present with his people. He does not govern his city by deputy; he himself dwells there.

2. A permanent presence. "The Lord is there." This describes what is continuous. God is ever with his people.

3. A wide presence. He fills the city; all the citizens may enjoy his fellowship.

II THE NAME DENOTES A HAPPY CONDITION. God is present for high and glorious purposes.

1. To protect. God is the Commander of the garrison, and he has innumerable heavenly armies whom he can summon to the relief of his hard-pressed people as occasion may require. If he is in our midst, we shall never be moved. (Psa_46:5)

2. To govern. God is the Sovereign. If he comes, it must be to rule over us. The order and life of the Church depend on the Divine Spirit that dwells in the midst of her. But if God is thus present, he must be obeyed. Disobedience is sedition.

3. To bless. The very presence of God is sunshine to the soul. His communion with his people brings life and blessedness.

III THE NAME COMMEMORATES A GREAT EVENT. "From that day." This phrase indicates a definite period. There were ages when it could not be used; there is a particular time after which it can be used, viz. the time of the restoration of Israel, and the rebuilding of the once ruined and desolate city. The glorious name takes its rise from this glorious event.

1. After repentance. Sin caused God to withdraw from the city. He returns to meet his penitent people, he dwells in the contrite spirit.

2. Through redemption. God calls his people back to their land after he has redeemed them from the power of their enemies. Christ"s redemption opens the path for a return to God. He our great Redeemer is the Way to God.

3. In restoration. The people come back to their home and rebuild their city; then God manifests himself in the midst of them. God dwells in his Church from the time of Christ"s great restoring work; he dwells in each soul as soon as it is restored to him. The thought of his presence commemorates our redemption.

IV THE NAME PROCLAIMS AN IMPORTANT TRUTH. Not only is it stated that God will be with his people, but this truth is to be constantly set forth by standing in the very name of the city.

1. As a grateful acknowledgment. If God is with us, we ought not to be ashamed of so wonderful a fact, nor should we ungratefully ignore it. Let this be in the forefront of our banner, let it be the inspiration of our song!

2. As a necessary reminder. There is a danger lest God"s people should forget his presence

1. in doubt and distrust, or

2. in worldliness and self-sufficiency.

3. As an inviting gospel. Dwellers in other parts would learn the new, high name of the holy city, and so be led to seek the privileges of citizenship. A confession of Christian truth and a description of the blessings of the faith help to draw others to Christ and his grace.

The Lord is there.

A sublime close to a glorious book of prophecy. Ezekiel has had occasion to witness against Jerusalem, to upbraid the inhabitants of the city for their unfaithfulness to their God and to their privileges, to threaten chastisement and desolation, and to lament because his prediction has been fulfilled. But as he turns his vision away from the actual to the ideal, from the past to the future, from the Jerusalem that now is to the Jerusalem which is from above which is the mother of us all, from the Jewish state to the Church of God which that state foreshadowed, his mind is elevated with a sacred rapture, he beholds his brightest hopes fulfilled, God in very deed dwells with man name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.

I TO DISPLAY HIS FAITHFULNESS TO THE CITY. The purposes and promises of God to man stand written indelibly upon the sacred page. Not one word that he has spoken shall fail; all shall be fulfilled. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." "The mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my faithfulness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy upon thee.

II TO RULE AND GOVERN THE CITY. Not with the harshness of a despotic tyrant, but with the wisdom and justice of a beneficent Sovereign, does Jehovah bear sway over his redeemed and happy Church. He represses all rebellion and disorder, he promulgates ordinances, he inspires a cheerful obedience, he maintains that order which is the expression of loyalty and contentment.

III TO PROTECT THE CITY. The Lord has taken his Zion under his own guardian care. The foes of the city may be mighty, but her Friend and Protector is mightier still. "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge." Fear cannot be, for danger cannot come where he is. He casts the shield of his almighty protection around his beloved. The walls of the city are salvation. The citizens may dwell in everlasting peace. No weapon that is formed against Zion shall prosper.

IV TO DIGNIFY AND HONOR THE CITY. The presence and the throne of the Eternal Majesty shed a luster over the sacred metropolis. The seat of his government is by that very fact invested with an incomparable splendor and renown. The kings of the earth bring their honor into it. Every citizen shares in the dignity conferred by the throne of the great King.

V TO ABIDE FOR EVER IN THE CITY. "The Lord is there." The unfaithfulness and defection of the Israelites were such that the glory of the God of Israel removed by the east gate from the temple and the city of Jerusalem. But the prophet beholds him return to his chosen dwelling place. And as Jehovah takes up his abode in his Church, he utters the assurance, "I will never leave thee! T.

The apex of glory.

name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there." The final words of the prophet are golden, and deserve to be written in largest capitals. The architecture of the holy city is ideally complete; its finial shines out with immortal luster. The city is baptized with a new name. Instead of "Jerusalem," it shall be "Jehovah-Shammah." Names are often labels which falsify the reality. A worthless mine may be named El Dorado." A rotten ship may still bear the name Impregnable. But this name shall express the distinctive feature of the renovated city. Its glory shall not appear in chiseled marble and in burnished gold. In the new kingdom Christ shall set up, all the materials shall be spiritual, therefore impervious to decay. The charm and enchantment of the place will be this

The Lord is there.

It shall be nothing less than heaven in miniature. This illustrious name betokens

I SECURITY. Real security is never a visible quantity. It does not consist of granite walls and bastions, nor yet of approved artillery. The walls of Jericho were a poor defense. Jerusalem was better shielded by an unseen angel against the legions of Sennacherib, than by all its towers and citadels and gates. The host of Israel, when invading Canaan, was invincible because the Lord was among them. The presence of God is no mere fancy; "tis a substantial reality. And if he be among us he brings with him all the qualities of Omnipotence. He who reared the Alps by a word, cannot he defend us? He who created with a breath this solid globe, cannot he protect? He is to us better than all "munitions of rocks." If he dwell in our midst, well may we triumphantly shout, "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge.

II EMINENT RENOWN. A city is deemed garnished with honor if it be the residence of a king. To have the presence of a monarch in their midst, to enjoy ever and anon his smile, is a privilege which all citizens prize. But how superior the renown of a city in which the King of heaven specially dwells! That he should stoop to sojourn among feeble mortals is an act of condescension peculiarly God-like. Compassion to the fallen is his delight, and he is satisfied if he can bestir in us holy ambitions. But what an honor! It is a difficult task to make it real to ourselves. His presence is the essential charm of heaven. He is its Light and its Life. Yet he deigns to dwell in an earthly empire I Will he not be equally the Life and Glory of the place? Will not this city acquire an eminence that shall cast into the shade all other renown? What other honor can we desire than this? Can ambition any higher climb? Is not this a climax of honor with us"? Such a city becomes the metropolis of the world.

III INTERNAL ORDER. If our King dwell in our midst, and if he be endowed with qualities of supreme wisdom and supreme righteousness, then the order of the city will be complete. Oppression of every sort and kind will be unknown. Upon every act of violence he will frown, and his frown will suffice. The inhabitants will instinctively study his comfort. The least danger of losing his presence will make them loyal. They will feel intolerable shame at any act that would distress his mind. His laws and regulations they know to be righteous through and through. His administration of rule is kindly and gentle. It is a joy to please him. Resistance can find no corner wherein to lurk, for "his eyes are in every place." To meet his gracious commands is not enough; they anticipate his every wish. For such a one service is a very banquet. At his feet they place heart and will.

IV PROSPERITY. The presence of God among us brings real prosperity. From him, the eternal Fount of good, all substantial blessing flows. A hollow, transient prosperity may now and again be possessed without him; but it soon collapses, it is only penalty disguised. The foes of God have at times had a flash of apparent success. But again men looked; it had vanished; the possessors were hurled into destruction; into smoke had they faded away. As the rising, of the sun brings to us radiant day, so the smile of God alone gives success to agriculture, to commerce, to art, to legislation, and to literature. If God dwelt among us, every interest in human life prospers. Industry reaps a full reward. Contentment reigns in every home. The very deserts bud and blossom like the rose.

V HIGH COMMUNION ALSO IS ENJOYED. Our King does not clothe himself in silent, proud reserve. The very opposite; he is free of speech, affable, familiar. All the stores of knowledge he has he is ready to communicate. It is his purpose to make us wise, righteous, beneficent, pure. He dwells among us that we may commune with him and learn of him. We have known and felt the rich gains to character and to spiritual progress we have made by an hour or two of converse with the great and good among men. We were lifted up to a higher plane of life. But what language can express the gain of purity and spiritual excellence we obtain from converse with God? It is at times a glad experience; but earth is too poor in speech to tabulate the gain. And it is a gain that abides. A stupendous change passed over the eleven apostles through their familiar intercourse with Jesus, and we have often envied them the high advantage. Yet we are not excluded. We are invited to closer friendship, to more intimate converse with God. Fools we are that we do not use the privilege. By communion with God we become like God.

VI EXQUISITE JOY. As superior joy pervades like a sunny atmosphere the scenes of heaven, so an installment of the came joy fills the city on earth where God dwells. Joy springs out of the harmony between our souls and our surroundings. The highest joy is reached when our souls have perfect friendship with our Maker. Oat of this intimate relationship with God comes friendly relationship with all holy beings. Now "all things work together for our good." Sorrow is but a preparative for a higher joy. The darkest cloud breaks into showers of blessing. Sorrow is ephemeral; joy is permanent. There are qualities in joy as well as varying measures. This joy is superlative the cream of all joy. "Tis the selfsame joy that dwells in Jehovah"s heart. My peace," said Jesus, "I give unto. you." All other forms of gladness fade into nothingness m the presence of such joy as this. It Is a well-spring of bliss which can never be exhausted, because God can never be exhausted. "In thy presence is fullness of Joy." "Then shall I be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.

O blest the city, blest the land, That yield them to this King"s command! O blest the heart set free from sin, To which he deigns to enter in!

The presence of Christ in his Church.

Far more valuable to the Church of Jesus Christ is that Divine presence here promised than was the sacred Shechinah to the ancient people. The latter was only a mere symbol, once a year beheld by one man; but the former is a gracious power, to be appreciated and felt by every true Christian heart. "God is in the midst of her; The Lord is there," or (as Fairbairn would translate it) "The Lord is thither or thereupon;" the Lord from his temple looks towards (or upon) the city, and through the city to the whole land. It is the presence of its Divine Lord in the midst of the Church that is here indicated, and it may well be the concluding, as it is the crowning, thought which gives completeness to the prophet"s vision.

I HIS OBSERVANT PRESENCE. Jesus Christ is "with us always"; (Mat_28:20) not in the body, but in the spirit; and his spiritual presence means his observation of us, his perfect knowledge of us all, his observation of our inner life and of our outward conduct, in the homes in which we live and in the different spheres in which we move, as well as when we are gathered together in his house or around his table. The near presence of our Lord is a thought which should preserve us from folly and from sin, which should urge us to duty and to kindness, which should sustain us in trouble and in loss.

II HIS SYMPATHETIC PRESENCE. "We have need of his presence at all times, but we realize our need more especially and more profoundly in the time of our affliction. It is then we want a Divine Friend and an all-powerful Deliverer. Man fails us then; he may be something or even much to us, but he leaves much to be desired. And to feel that "the Lord is there," in the trials of the household, in the anxieties of daily duty, in the pressing problems and sacred struggles of the Church, is much to the mind of the devout. In Jesus Christ we have a present, sympathizing Friend, who enters into our sorrows, who goes down with us into the deepest waters through which we have to pass.

III HIS ACTIVE PRESENCE. Our Lord is with us, not only observing us and feeling for us, but also acting graciously upon us and through us.

1. Illuminating our minds by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit.

2. Sustaining our spiritual life by Divine communications of power. (see Eph_1:19)

3. Responding to our devotion, accepting our praise and our adoration, hearing and answering our prayers.

4. Energizing and. effectuating our work, enabling us to speak for him, and making our words to be "mighty to pull down" and to build up. The near presence of Christ should be the most powerful incentive to the pursuit of spiritual worth and to the execution of Christian enterprise.

PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS.

1. Do not indulge in a vain regret. It would have been very pleasant to "see the Lord" as his apostles saw him, to look into his face, to hear his voice; and very honorable it would have been to minister to his necessities as they were permitted to do; but we can be, in fact and in truth, as near to him now as they were then; and still we listen to his word, and still we serve him most acceptably for inasmuch as we show kindness or render help to "one of these little ones of his," we do the same thing "unto him

2. Do not cherish an unfounded hope. Many are the souls that lived long and died disappointed, expecting to have a present visible Savior amongst them. We need not add to their number; the words of promise find another fulfillment than this.

3. Realize the valuable truth, the invaluable truth, that our Lord. is with us now, loving us, caring for us, strengthening and Comforting us, governing and using us, blessing us with all priceless blessings.

4. Make the present heritage a foretaste of the future. Live in such happy and holy Consciousness of the presence of the Lord that it will only be a change of scene and sphere, not of spiritual condition, when we are citizens of that country where "God himself shall be with them," where "he who sits on the throne shall dwell among them," of that city which may well be called "Jehovah-Shammah," for "the Lord is there. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eighteen thousand cubits - About five miles in compass. From that day - From the day of the Lord's restoring this people, and rebuilding their city, and their thankful, holy, and pure worshipping of God there, from that day it shall be said of Jerusalem. The Lord is there - The Lord who as his name alone is Jehovah, so is the only true God, faithful to his promise, rich in mercy, glorious in majesty, righteous in his judgments, wise and holy in his government, whose presence makes us happy, whose withdrawing from us leaves us to misery. This God will by his favour and presence, bring the confluence of all good to persons, families, and cities; this God will be there to dwell, govern, defend, prosper, and crown. Such is to be the case of earthly Jerusalem, such shall be forever the case of the heavenly Jerusalem. Such is the case of every true believer, who may, wherever he is, in his way of duty, still write Jehovah-Shammah, My God is here. And 'tis best to be where he is 'till he bring us within the gates of the glorious city, where inconceivable light and love from the immediate presence of God, give every one an eternal demonstration that God is here: to him be glory forever.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and the name

Heb. Jehovah-shammah. See Exo 17:15; Jdg 6:24.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All around, it amounts to 18,000 The perimeter of the city is 18,000 rods. This is the sum total of its four sides.

and the name of the city from that day will be “The Lord is There.” Jonathan renders: “And the name of the city had been declared as of that day that the Lord caused His Shechinah to rest there.” It shall not be called by a name other than the original name that it had since the day that Abraham bound Isaac his son there, for he called it Yireh, and its name had been Shalem, thus forming “Jerusalem” (Gen. Rabbah 56:16). It may also be interpreted: and the name of the city in the future, from when it is built and thenceforth, shall be “The Lord is There.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.