Ezekiel 47:9

9 And then every living creature [with] which it teems, {to every place the waters come} it will live; [and] very many fish will live because these waters came there, and [so] the [water] will be healed and everything [will be] alive {everywhere that} {the stream will come}.

Ezekiel 47:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 47:9

And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which
moveth
That is, every living man; everyone that lives naturally or corporeally, that lives, moves, and has his being in God, as all men have, ( Acts 17:28 ) , whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live;
or, "the two rivers" {i}; the waters divided as before, east and west; not the two Testaments, Old and New; nor the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper; but the Gospel, which, wherever it shall come with power, and to whomsoever it so comes, they shall live spiritually; not to whomsoever it is preached, for to some it is not profitable; see ( Ezekiel 47:11 ) , but is the savour of death unto death; but to all to whom it is accompanied by the Spirit of God it is the savour of life unto life; the Spirit that gives life, and is the means of it: indeed, the love of God is the river of water of life, ( Revelation 21:1 ) , it is the spring of spiritual life to dead sinners, and what revives drooping saints, quickens their graces, faith, hope, and love; enlivens and cheers their spirits, and greatly influences true religion and godliness, and very much promotes the life and power of it: and so the grace of the Spirit is living water, by which dead sinners are quickened; the work of grace in saints is revived, and which always continues and issues in eternal life, ( John 4:10 John 4:14 ) , but the Gospel, and its doctrines, are rather intended; which are the means of quickening those who are dead in trespasses and sins; serve greatly to invigorate the graces of the Spirit in the hearts of God's people; to influence their lives and conversations; to support them under afflictions, and to nourish them up to everlasting life; and point out the way to eternal life, and give a true account of it. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters
shall come thither;
that is, a multitude of fish in the Dead sea, where none lived before, and owing to those waters coming thither: it signifies the great number of living Christians, true believers, who shall appear wherever the Gospel is truly, purely, and powerfully preached; of these see more in the next verse: for they shall be healed; (See Gill on Ezekiel 47:8): and everything shall live whither the river cometh;
not only shall live as before, but continue to live, shall never die; their graces shall not die, nor shall they themselves die the second death, but shall have eternal life; because of the purpose of God, who has ordained them to it; and the promise of God, who is faithful to it; and because of the security of their life in Christ, to whom they are united; and because of the indwelling of the Spirit of life in them. So the Targum,

``they shall remain in every place where the waters of the river come.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Mylxn) "duo torrentes", Pagninus, Montanus; "geminus torrens", Tigurine version, Cocceius; "fluvius geminus", Starckius.

Ezekiel 47:9 In-Context

7 {When I returned}, then look! On the bank of the river [were] many trees {on both sides}.

8 And he said to me, "These waters [are] going out to the eastern region, and they go down to the {Jordan Valley}, and they come [to] the sea [and flow] into the sea [where] {they issue out}, and the waters [in the sea] will be healed.

9 And then every living creature [with] which it teems, {to every place the waters come} it will live; [and] very many fish will live because these waters came there, and [so] the [water] will be healed and everything [will be] alive {everywhere that} {the stream will come}.

10 And then fishers from En Gedi and [on] up to En Eglaim will stand beside it, a sea-girt drying yard for nets; their fish for the dragnets will be {of every kind}, like the fish of the great sea, [and] very many.

11 But its marshes and its swamps will not be cured, for they were given for salt.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "swarms"
• [b] Literally "to all of which they come there the water"
• [c] Or "fresh"
• [d] Literally "all that"
• [e] Literally "that [it] will come there the stream"