Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion.
The oblation is what the people set apart for the sanctuary and the priests, property taken and separated for the Lord's service alone. It measures five and twenty thousand reeds from east to west, and ten thousand reeds from north to south, dimensions that mark off holy ground from the common land.
AI summary
Reuben--doomed formerly for incest and instability "not to excel" (Gen 49:4). So no distinguished prophet, priest, or king had come from it. Of it were the notorious Dathan and Abiram, the mutineers. A pastoral and Bedouin character marked it and Gad (Jdg 5:16).
The division begins in the north and proceeds southward through the tribes in order, with the sanctuary, priesthood, Levites, city, and prince's land fixed at the center, and the remaining five tribes distributed from that point to the southern boundary.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 48:1-29