Ezekiel 47:1-12

River of the Temple, Division of the Land and Its Boundaries

1 And he brought me back to the doorway of the temple and, look! There was water coming out from under the threshold of the temple eastward, because the face of the temple [was] eastwards; and the water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, from south of the altar.
2 And he brought me out [by the way] of [the] north gate and he led me around [by the] {way leading to the outside of the outer gate} [by] way of the [gate] facing east, and look, there was water trickling from the south side.
3 As the man went eastward a measuring line [was] in his hand, and he measured a thousand {cubits}. And he led me through [on] into the water; [it was] {ankle deep}.
4 And he measured a thousand [cubits], and he brought me over into the waters [and] [it was] {knee deep}. And he measured a thousand [cubits], and he brought me over [into] the waters [and] [it was] {waist deep}.
5 And he measured a thousand [cubits], [and] [it became] a stream that I was not able to cross, because the water rose, {waters a person could swim in}, [and became] a stream that could not be crossed.
6 And he asked me, "Son of man, did you see [this]?" And he made me go, and he brought me back [along] the bank of the stream.
7 {When I returned}, then look! On the bank of the river [were] many trees {on both sides}.
8 And he said to me, "These waters [are] going out to the eastern region, and they go down to the {Jordan Valley}, and they come [to] the sea [and flow] into the sea [where] {they issue out}, and the waters [in the sea] will be healed.
9 And then every living creature [with] which it teems, {to every place the waters come} it will live; [and] very many fish will live because these waters came there, and [so] the [water] will be healed and everything [will be] alive {everywhere that} {the stream will come}.
10 And then fishers from En Gedi and [on] up to En Eglaim will stand beside it, a sea-girt drying yard for nets; their fish for the dragnets will be {of every kind}, like the fish of the great sea, [and] very many.
11 But its marshes and its swamps will not be cured, for they were given for salt.
12 And along the stream will go up on its banks {from both sides} every tree {producing food}; its leaf will not wither and it will not cease [producing] its fruit. {Every month} it will bear early fruit, for its waters [are] going out from the sanctuary, and its fruit will be as food, and its leaf for healing."

Ezekiel 47:1-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 47

This chapter gives an account of the vision of the holy waters, and of the borders of the holy land, and the division of it to Israelites and strangers. The waters are described by the original and spring of them, Eze 47:1,2, by the progress and increase of them, Eze 47:3-5, by the healing and quickening nature of them, and the places where they were so, and were not, Eze 47:8-11, and by the trees which grew upon the banks of them, Eze 47:6,7,12. The borders of the holy land are fixed, Eze 47:13,14, the northern border, Eze 47:15-17, the eastern border, Eze 47:18, the southern, Eze 47:19, and the western, Eze 47:20, which is to be divided by lot to the tribes of Israel, and the strangers that sojourn among them, Eze 47:21-23.

Footnotes 27

  • [a]. Literally "way of [the] outside to the gate of the outside"
  • [b]. Literally "in the cubit"; about 1,750 feet
  • [c]. Literally "water of ankles"
  • [d]. About 1,750 feet
  • [e]. Literally "water of knees"
  • [f]. About 1,750 feet
  • [g]. Literally "water of waist"
  • [h]. About 1,750 feet
  • [i]. Literally "water of swimming"
  • [j]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
  • [k]. Literally "At my returning"
  • [l]. Literally "from this and from this"
  • [m]. Literally "Arabah"
  • [n]. Clearly refers to the Dead Sea
  • [o]. Literally "being brought out/are issued out"
  • [p]. Or "made fresh"
  • [q]. Or "swarms"
  • [r]. Literally "to all of which they come there the water"
  • [s]. Or "fresh"
  • [t]. Literally "all that"
  • [u]. Literally "that [it] will come there the stream"
  • [v]. Or "fishermen"
  • [w]. Literally "to the"
  • [x]. That is, the Mediterranean
  • [y]. Literally "from this and from this"
  • [z]. Literally "of food"
  • [aa]. Literally "for its months"
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