Ezekiel 47:11

11 Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt.

Ezekiel 47:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 47:11

But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof
That is, of the sea; the waters of which were healed, by the waters of the sanctuary coming into them: but the ditches and lakes, the miry and marsh ground, separate from the sea, which lay near it, and upon the borders of it, shall not be healed;
these design the reprobate part of the world, obstinate and perverse sinners, that abandon themselves to their filthy lusts, and sensual pleasures; that wallow like swine in the mire and dirt of sin; are wholly immersed in the things of this world, mind nothing but earth and earthly things, and load themselves with thick clay; whose god is their belly, and who glory in their shame: also hypocrites and apostates may be here meant, who, despising the GospeL, and the doctrines of it, put it away from them, and judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life, and so receive no benefit by it; but, on the contrary, it is the savour of death unto death unto them; see ( Isaiah 6:9 Isaiah 6:10 ) : they shall be given to salt;
left to the hardness of their hearts; given up to the lusts of them; devoted to ruin and destruction and remain barren and unfruitful, as places demolished and sown with salt are; see ( Deuteronomy 29:23 ) ( Judges 9:45 ) , or made an example of, as Lot's wife was; that others may learn wisdom, and shun those things that have been the cause of their ruin. The Targum is,

``its pools and lakes shall not be healed; they shall be for salt pits.''

Ezekiel 47:11 In-Context

9 Every [kind of] living creature that swarms will live wherever the river flows, and there will be a huge number of fish because this water goes there. Since the water will become fresh, there will be life everywhere the river goes.

10 Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedi to En-eglaim. These will become places where nets are spread out to dry. Their fish will consist of many different kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.

11 Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt.

12 All [kinds of] trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water [comes] from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine."

13 This is what the Lord God says: "This is the border you will [use to] divide the land as an inheritance for the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph will receive two shares.