Ezekiel 47:1-12

Water Flowing from the Temple

1 Then he brought me back to ¹the door of the temple, and behold, ²water was issuing from below ³the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of ⁴the altar.

2 Then he brought me out by way of ⁵the north gate and led me around on the outside to ⁶the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, ⁷the man measured a thousand cubits,^[a] and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.

4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep.

5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

6 And he said to me, ⁸"Son of man, ⁹have you seen this?"Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river ¹⁰very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8 And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into ¹¹the Arabah, and enters the sea;^[b] when the water flows into ¹²the sea, the water will become fresh.^[c]

9 And wherever the river goes,^[d] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea^[e] may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.

10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From ¹³Engedi to ¹⁴Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of ¹⁵the Great Sea.^[f]

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

12 And on the banks, ¹⁶on both sides of the river, there will grow ¹⁷all kinds of trees for food. ¹⁸Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, ¹⁹but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and ²⁰their leaves for healing."

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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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 20

1. [Ezekiel 43:1, 2]
2. Psalms 46:4; Joel 3:18; [Zechariah 14:8; Revelation 22:1]
3. See Ezekiel 9:3
4. See Ezekiel 43:13
5. Ezekiel 40:35
6. [Ezekiel 40:6]
7. [Ezekiel 40:3]
8. See Ezekiel 2:1
9. [Ezekiel 8:6]
10. ver. 12; [Revelation 22:2]
11. See Deuteronomy 1:1
12. Deuteronomy 3:17; Deuteronomy 4:49; Joshua 3:16
13. See 1 Samuel 23:29
14. Isaiah 15:8
15. See Joshua 15:12
16. [ver. 7]
17. [Genesis 2:9]
18. Psalms 1:3; [Jeremiah 17:8]
19. [Revelation 22:2]
20. [Revelation 22:2]

Footnotes 6

[a]. A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
[b]. That is, the Dead Sea
[c]. Hebrew will be healed; also verses 9, 11
[d]. Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Hebrew the two rivers go
[e]. Hebrew lacks the waters of the sea
[f]. That is, the Mediterranean Sea; also verses 15, 19, 20

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.