These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: The holy portion refers to the area in verse 9, which is holy because it will be “set apart for the LORD.” This area will be divided between the priests and the Levites.

The priests shall have an allotment measuring twenty-five thousand cubits on the northern side, ten thousand cubits in breadth on the western side, ten thousand in breadth on the eastern side, and twenty-five thousand in length on the southern side: The section for the priests will be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, that is, about 12.5 kilometers (8 miles) long and about 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide. Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew text by giving the measurements of each of the four sides separately, which may be unnatural in some languages. Translators may use the most natural way of expressing these measurements in their own language; for example, Contemporary English Version begins this verse with “I, the LORD, will give half of my sacred land to the priests. Their share will be eight miles long and three miles wide.”

With the sanctuary of the LORD in the midst of it: As with the larger central area, God says the Temple compound will be in the middle of the priests’ area. In the midst of it may be rendered “in the center of it” (New International Reader’s Version), “right in the middle [of it]” (Contemporary English Version), “in the middle of it” (New Century Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “inside it” (Complete Jewish Bible). If the Temple is at the center point of the priests’ portion, it cannot be at the center of the larger area, and if it is at the center point of the larger area, it cannot be at the center of the priests’ portion.

The Temple compound is likely at the central point of the larger area, but it is not at the center of the priests’ portion. Therefore it is necessary to translate in the midst of as “within” (Good News Translation) or “inside” (Complete Jewish Bible) in at least one of these cases. If a translator has to choose, it is probably better to assume that the Temple is at the center of the larger area, but it may be best to be more general in both cases and not try to specify that the Temple is in the very center of either of these areas.

These two figures reveal another uncertainty about the larger area and the priests’ portion. If the Temple is at the center of the larger area, the priests’ portion must be further south than the Levites’ portion. However, it is surprising that God mentions the priests’ land before the Levites’ land, since he is moving from north to south in his description of the allocation of the land. It would be more logical to assume that the order in which God describes the different allocations reflects their geographical order. Unfortunately, there is no way of choosing which of these is preferable. Translators may choose the one that makes most sense to them.

A model for this verse is:

• Here is how you will divide this section put aside for my [God’s] use. You will give the priests a portion of land that is 12.5 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide. The Temple will be inside this area.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .