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48 [1] **These are the names of the tribes **according to the location of their inheritance:** From the north edge near the way to Hetlon to Levo Hamat, **all the way to **Hatzar Einan, **extending **to the border of Damascus, **and **northward, near Hamat; **the northern border of the northernmost portion corresponds to the northern border of the entire land.** There shall be for it, **the tribe that inherits this portion,** **a strip of land stretching **from the** **east side to the west, **from the eastern tip of the northern border until the Mediterranean Sea in the west. This shall belong to **Dan, one **portion.** **As in the past, Dan will dwell along the northern border of the land;
[2] **on the border of Dan, **to the south, **from the east side to the west side: Asher, one **portion;
[3] **on the border of Asher, **to the south, **from the east side to the west side: Naphtali, one **portion;
[4] **on the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side: Manasseh, one **portion;
[5] **on the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side: Ephraim, one **portion;
[6] **on the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side: Reuben, one **portion.** **While in the past the tribe of Reuben took its portion east of the Jordan, in accordance with its request, in the future, Reuben will receive a portion within the Land of Israel proper. Up to this point, the division of the land to the various tribes has corresponded somewhat to the division in the days of Joshua, the difference being that the borders in the future will be demarcated in straight lines running from east to west;
[7] **on the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side: Judah, one **portion;
[8] **on the border of Judah, **to the south, **from the east side to the west side, shall be the gift that you shall set aside **from the land for the needs of the Sanctuary, the nation, and the prince. The dimensions of this space shall be **twenty-five thousand **reeds** in width, **from north to south, with each reed measuring six cubits,** and like one of the portions **of the tribes **in length, from **the** **border on **the** **east side to **the border on **the west side, and the Sanctuary shall be in its midst, **in accordance with the instructions below.
[9] From that portion, **the gift that you shall set aside to the Lord will be twenty-five thousand **reeds** in length and ten thousand in width. **
[10] **These shall be the sacred gift for the priests: Twenty-five thousand to the north, **the northern side shall measure twenty-five thousand,** ten thousand in width to the west, ten thousand in width to the east, and twenty-five thousand in length to the south, and the Sanctuary of the Lord shall be in its midst. **
[11] The portion shall be **for the sanctified priests** **from the sons of Tzadok, who kept My commission, who did not stray when the children of Israel strayed as **the rest of** the Levites strayed. **The sons of Tzadok remained faithful to the Temple; therefore, they alone will serve in the Temple in the future and they will reside adjacent to it;
[12] **it shall be for them **a** **choice **gift, **or a partial portion,** **separated** from the gift of the land, a sacred Sanctum, **as the Temple shall dwell within it,** near the border of** the rest of** the Levites. **
[13] **Alongside the border of the priests, the Levites shall have **an area for themselves. Like the area for the priests, the Levites shall have **twenty-five thousand in length and ten thousand in width. **However, unlike the space reserved for the priests, which includes the area designated for the Temple,** **the Levites may inhabit **the entire length **of their area, which **shall be** **twenty-five thousand and the width, ten thousand. **
[14] Collectively, all this space shall be for the priests and the Levites, and** they shall not sell from it, and they shall not exchange, and they shall not transfer the prime land, **this area, **as it is sacred to the Lord. **
[15] **The remaining five thousand in width by twenty-five thousand **in length** is not sacred.** It shall not belong to the Temple or its officials; rather, it shall belong to the public for common use (45:6). It shall be** for the city, for habitation, and for a perimeter field **of various uses,** and the city shall be within it. **
[16] **These are its, **the city’s,** measurements: The north side: four thousand five hundred; the south side: four thousand five hundred; on the east side: four thousand five hundred; and the west side: four thousand five hundred. **The city shall be a square. Assuming that the verse is dealing in units of reeds, each of which measures six cubits, the city covers an area of approximately 12 sq km.
[17] **There shall be a perimeter field for the city **surrounding it, containing no structures or plantations:** To the north, two hundred and fifty; to the south, two hundred and fifty; to the east, two hundred and fifty; and to the west, two hundred and fifty. **
[18] **The remainder of the length **from both sides of the city, east and west,** alongside the sacred gift, **the area for the priests, whose length shall be twenty-five thousand,** **shall be** ten thousand to the east and ten thousand to the west, which shall be parallel to the sacred portion, its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. **This space shall be designated as farmland that will provide sustenance for those working in the city.
[19] **The workers of the city, **who will be** from all the tribes of Israel, will cultivate it, **this agricultural area.
[20] In summary, **the entire gift** **shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand; you shall set aside the sacred gift, square, with the portion of the city, **which is not sacred.
[21] **The remainder **from the offering of the land **shall be for the prince; on this side and on that side of the sacred gift and of the portion of the city, alongside the twenty-five thousand of the gift to the eastern border and westward alongside the twenty-five thousand to the western border,**** parallel to the portions, shall be for the prince, and the sacred gift, **the gift for the priests,** and the Sanctuary of the House, shall be within it, **between the two strips belonging to the prince.
[22] Likewise,** the portion of the Levites and the portion of the city shall be within that which is for the prince; between the border of Judah **to the north** and the border of Benjamin **to the south** shall be for the prince. **Thus, the prince’s portion shall consist of two long narrow strips in the center of the land, one in the east and one in the west.
[23] **As for rest of the tribes **south of the offering: Each portion extends** from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one **portion.** **In the past, Benjamin’s portion was north of Judah’s portion and the Temple was located within it. In the future, it will be situated adjacent to Judah, south of the Temple compound;
[24] **on the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one **portion.** **In the past too, Simeon resided in the south;
[25] **on the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one **portion;
[26] **on the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one **portion.** **In the past, the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun resided in the north. In the future, their adjacent portions will be in the south;
[27] **on the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one **portion.** **The tribe of Gad, which was notable for its heroes and once dwelled east of the Jordan River, will reside in the southernmost portion of the land in the future;
[28] **on the border of Gad, **which is **on the south side,** the southern border of Gad’s portion constitutes the southern border of the entire land; **the border shall be from Tamar to the waters of the dispute of Kadesh, to the Ravine **of Egypt,** to the Great Sea. **
[29] **This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these are their divisions – the utterance of the Lord God. **
[30] **These are the **measurements of the **termini of the city **of Jerusalem,** **its borders:** On the north side, four thousand five hundred measures. **
[31] **The gates of the city, **named **after the names of the tribes of Israel,** as the city belongs to all the tribes,** are three gates to the north: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one. **
[32] **On the east side are four thousand five hundred **measures** and three gates: the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. **
[33] **The south side is four thousand five hundred measures, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one. **
[34] **The west side is four thousand five hundred **measures;** their gates are three: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one. **The precise order of the gates on each side is unknown; likewise, it is uncertain why each of the tribes’ gates are positioned on one side as opposed to another. Nevertheless, as a partial explanation, the fact is that the northern gates are named for the northern tribes and those adjacent to the city, and the southern gates are named for the tribes living in the south.
[35] The perimeter of the city,** all around, is eighteen thousand, and the name of the city from that day, **when it is built and settled, **shall be: The Lord is there.**This name in Hebrew sounds somewhat like its current name, *Yerushalayim*.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
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License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center