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Ezekiel 47

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The River Flowing from the Temple 1–12

1
And he brought me back unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward (for the forefront of the house was toward the east); and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. ​
2
Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way without unto the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looketh toward the east; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
3
When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. ​
4
Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the loins.
5
Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. ​
6
And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river.
7
Now when I had returned, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8
Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. ​
9
And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come thither, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh. ​
10
And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand by it: from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. ​
11
But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt. ​
12
And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for healing. ​

Boundaries and Inheritance of the Land 13–23

13
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This shall be the border, whereby ye shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. ​
14
And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I sware to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15
And this shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, unto the entrance of Zedad;
16
Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.
17
And the border from the sea, shall be Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18
And the east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border, unto the east sea shall ye measure. This is the east side.
19
And the south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, unto the great sea. This is the south side southward.
20
And the west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.
21
So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22
And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ​
23
And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 47

Verse 1

waters issued out from under the threshold — The stream rises under the house's threshold (miphtan) on its east side, south of the altar, and runs east, the way the house faces. Joel sees the same source: 'a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD' (Joel 3:18). Rev 22:1 has the river 'proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb'.

Verse 3

a thousand cubits — The man 'that had the line in his hand' (qav, a measuring cord; the same man as in 40:3) measures a thousand cubits eastward and brings Ezekiel through water 'to the ankles'. Each further thousand deepens it, to the knees and the loins (v.4), and no tributary is named, so the whole increase comes from the stream out of the house.

Verse 5

waters to swim in — At the fourth thousand cubits the stream is 'a river that could not be passed over'. The word is nachal, a stream or torrent, the word of the river in vv.9 and 12. The waters 'were risen' (ga'ah, to rise up). It echoes Hab 2:14: 'the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.'

Verse 8

the waters shall be healed — The water goes 'toward the east country' and down 'into the desert' (arabah, the rift valley that Deut 3:17 follows to 'the sea of the plain, even the salt sea'). Rapha, to heal, is said of the sea itself, whose waters are healed when the river enters them, so that life follows the water in vv.9–10.

Verse 9

every thing shall live — Every 'thing that liveth, which moveth' (nephesh chayah, a living creature, and sharats, to swarm) shall live where the river comes. The river answers the one that 'went out of Eden to water the garden' (Gen 2:10) and is renewed in Rev 22:1–2. Christ speaks of 'rivers of living water', which John applies to the Spirit (John 7:38–39).

Verse 10

from Engedi even unto Eneglaim — Fishers stand along the shore from Engedi, where David stayed in 'the wilderness of Engedi' (1 Sam 24:1), to Eneglaim, a place named only here. The fish are 'according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea' (the Mediterranean, Num 34:6). Mishtoach, 'a place to spread forth nets', is the word said of Tyre's ruin in 26:5, 14.

Verse 11

given to salt — The 'miry places' (bitstsah) and 'marishes' (gebe) are outside the healing: 'they shall be given to salt' (melach). Salt ground is the mark of judgment on Sodom's land, 'brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth' (Deut 29:23). The river heals the sea, but this verse names a region it leaves as it is.

Verse 12

for meat… for medicine — The trees recall Eden's 'every tree… good for food' (Gen 2:9) and the tree of Ps 1:3 whose 'leaf also shall not wither'. Bakar is to bear early fruit, so the trees fruit 'according to his months', 'because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary'. Rev 22:2: 'yielded her fruit every month'. 'Medicine' (terufah) occurs only here.

Verse 13

Joseph shall have two portions — The chapter turns from the river to the land, with the border by which 'ye shall inherit' it 'according to the twelve tribes'. 'Portions' is chebel, literally a measuring cord. Joseph's two shares go to Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Jacob took 'as Reuben and Simeon' (Gen 48:5); ch.48 gives each its own strip (48:4–5).

Verse 22

the strangers that sojourn among you — The land is 'divided by lot' as in Num 26:55, and the lot now falls also to the resident stranger (ger) 'which shall beget children among you'. He is counted 'as born in the country' (ezrach), as Lev 19:34 already said (v.23). Paul's 'fellowheirs' (Eph 3:6) states the same for the Gentiles.