Ezekiel 47:1

1 And he turned me (again) to the gate of the house (of the Lord); and lo! waters went out (from) under the threshold of the house to the east; for the face of the house (of the Lord) beheld to the east; forsooth the waters came down into the right side of the temple, to the south part of the altar. (And he returned me to the gate of the House of the Lord; and lo! water went out from under the threshold of the House of the Lord to the east; for the front of the Temple faced east; and the water came down from the right side of the Temple, to the south side of the altar/to south of the altar.)

Ezekiel 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.

Ezekiel 47:1 In-Context

1 And he turned me (again) to the gate of the house (of the Lord); and lo! waters went out (from) under the threshold of the house to the east; for the face of the house (of the Lord) beheld to the east; forsooth the waters came down into the right side of the temple, to the south part of the altar. (And he returned me to the gate of the House of the Lord; and lo! water went out from under the threshold of the House of the Lord to the east; for the front of the Temple faced east; and the water came down from the right side of the Temple, to the south side of the altar/to south of the altar.)

2 And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he turned me to the way without the outermore gate, to the way that beholdeth to the east; and lo! waters flowing from the right side, (And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he turned me to the way outside the outer gate, to the way that faceth east; and lo! water was flowing out from the right side,)

3 when the man that had a cord in his hand went out to the east. And he meted a thousand cubits, and led me over through the water till to the heels. (when that man, who had a cord in his hand, went out to the east. And he measured a thousand cubits, and led me through the water unto my heels.)

4 And again he meted a thousand, and led me over through the water till to the knees. And again he meted a thousand, and led me over through the water till to the reins. (And again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water unto my knees. And again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water unto my waist.)

5 And (again) he meted a thousand, by the strand which I might not pass [over]; for the deep waters of the strand had waxed great, that may not be waded over. (And again he measured a thousand, and it was now a river, which I could not cross over; for the deep waters of the river had grown so great, that they could not be waded through.)