Ezekiel 47:3-13

3 When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.

4 Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.

5 Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a ¹river that could not be forded.

6 He said to me, "Son of man, have you ²seen this?" Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.

7 Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many ³trees on the one side and on the other.

8 Then he said to me, "These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the ⁴Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the ⁵sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh.

9 "It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where * the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so ⁶everything will live where * the river goes.

10 "And it will come about that ⁷fishermen will stand beside it; from ⁸Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the ⁹spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the ¹⁰Great Sea, ¹¹very many.

11 "But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for ¹²salt.

12 "¹³By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of ¹⁴trees for food. Their ¹⁵leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their ¹⁶leaves for healing."

Boundaries and Division of the Land

13 Thus says the Lord GOD, "This shall be the ¹⁷boundary by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve * tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two ¹⁸portions.

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Ezekiel 47:3-13 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14
2. Ezekiel 8:6; Ezekiel 40:4; Ezekiel 44:5
3. Isaiah 60:13, 21; Isaiah 61:3; Ezekiel 47:12
4. Deuteronomy 3:17; Isaiah 35:6, 7; Isaiah 41:17-19; Isaiah 44:3
5. Joshua 3:16
6. Isaiah 12:3; Isaiah 55:1; John 4:14; John 7:37, 38
7. Matthew 4:19; Matthew 13:47; Luke 5:10
8. Genesis 14:7; Joshua 15:62; 1 Samuel 23:29; 1 Samuel 24:1; 2 Chronicles 20:2
9. Ezekiel 26:5, 14
10. Numbers 34:6; Psalms 104:25; Ezekiel 47:15; Ezekiel 48:28
11. Luke 5:5-9; John 21:6
12. Deuteronomy 29:23
13. Ezekiel 47:7; Revelation 22:2
14. Genesis 2:9
15. Psalms 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8
16. Revelation 22:2
17. Numbers 34:2-12
18. Genesis 48:5; Ezekiel 48:4, 5

Footnotes 7

[a]. Lit "and caused me to return"
[b]. Lit "healed"
[c]. Lit "two rivers"
[d]. Lit "are healed"
[e]. Lit "healed"
[f]. Lit "given"
[g]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch