Hesekiel 47:1

1 Und er führte mich wieder zu der Tür des Tempels. Und siehe, da floß ein Wasser heraus unter der Schwelle des Tempels gegen Morgen; denn die vordere Seite des Tempels war gegen Morgen. Und des Tempels Wasser lief an der rechten Seite des Tempels neben dem Altar hin gegen Mittag.

Hesekiel 47:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 47:1

Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house
The door of the temple, even of the holy of holies; hither the prophet is said to be brought again, or "brought back" ^F24; for he was last in the corners of the outward court, viewing the kitchens or boiling places of the ministers; but now he was brought back into the inner court, and to the door that led into the holiest of all: and, behold!
for it was matter of admiration, as well as of observation and attention: waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward;
this is a new thing, to which there was nothing like it, either in the first or second temple. Ariateas ^F25 indeed relates what he himself saw,

``a never failing conflux of water, as of a large fountain, naturally flowing underneath, and wonderful receptacles under ground; to each of which were leaden pipes, through which the waters came in on every side, for about half a mile about the temple, and washed away the blood of the sacrifices;''

and so the Talmudists ^F26 say, there was an aqueduct from the fountain of Etam, and pipes laid from thence to supply the temple with water, for the washing and boiling of the sacrifices, and keeping the temple clean: but these waters are quite different; they are such as came out of the temple, and not what were carried by pipes into it; nor were they a common sewer to carry off the filth of it, but formed a delightful and useful river. The fountain of them is not declared, only where they were first seen to issue out, under the threshold of the house eastward;
the threshold of the door of the most holy place; so that they seem to take their rise from the holy of holies, the seat of the divine Majesty, and throne of God, with which agrees ( Revelation 22:1 ) , and so the Talmudists ^F1 say, that this fountain came first from the house of the holy of holies, under the threshold of the door of it, which looked to the east: for the fore front of the house stood toward the east;
the holy of holies was at the west end of the temple; but the front of it, and so the door into it, was to the east, and from hence these waters flowed: and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house;
they are said to "come down", because the temple was high built upon the top of a mountain; and "from under", that is, the threshold of the door of it; or rather in subterraneous passages, till they appeared from under that; and this was "on the right side of the house"; that is, on the south side: for, suppose a man standing with his face to the east, as the prophet did, when he turned himself to see which way the waters flowed, having his face to the west when he first saw them come out; the south then must be on his right hand, and so it follows: at the south side of the altar;
of the altar of burnt offerings, which stood before the house.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (ynbvyw) "reduxit me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius.
F25 Hist. 70. Interpret. p. 32, 33. Ed. Oxon. 1692,
F26 T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 41. Cippi Hebr. p. 10.
F1 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 77. 2.

Hesekiel 47:1 In-Context

1 Und er führte mich wieder zu der Tür des Tempels. Und siehe, da floß ein Wasser heraus unter der Schwelle des Tempels gegen Morgen; denn die vordere Seite des Tempels war gegen Morgen. Und des Tempels Wasser lief an der rechten Seite des Tempels neben dem Altar hin gegen Mittag.

2 Und er führte mich hinaus zum Tor gegen Mitternacht und brachte mich auswendig herum zum äußern Tor gegen Morgen; und siehe, das Wasser sprang heraus von der rechten Seite. {~}

3 Und der Mann ging heraus gegen Morgen und hatte die Meßschnur in der Hand; und er maß tausend Ellen und führte mich durchs Wasser, das mir's an die Knöchel ging.

4 Und maß abermals tausend Ellen und führte mich durchs Wasser, daß mir's an die Kniee ging. Und maß noch tausend Ellen und ließ mich dadurchgehen, daß es mir an die Lenden ging.

5 Da maß er noch tausend Ellen, und es ward so tief, daß ich nicht mehr Grund hatte; denn das Wasser war zu hoch, daß man darüber schwimmen mußte und keinen Grund hatte. {~} {~}