Ezekielchapter 47
23 verses · Ezekiel · 593 to 571 BC · The Prophets
Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
Introduction
Ezekiel, The Prophets, Ezekiel Overview.
Ezekiel described this river to exiles who knew the Dead Sea as a place where nothing lived. Everything in the vision so far has moved inward toward the sanctuary, and now something flows out of it. The first half of the chapter follows the water from the temple door, and the second half draws the borders of the land. Listen for how the depth of the river is measured, and for where the water goes and what it does there. Listen also for the last provision of the chapter, which gives an inheritance to foreigners who have settled among the tribes.
Context
- Who
- Exiles who knew the Dead Sea as the deadest place on earth
- What
- A river flowing from the temple to the Dead Sea and healing it, followed by the borders of the land to be divided among the tribes.
- Where
- From the threshold of the temple east through the Arabah to the Dead Sea, and then around the borders of the land of Israel.
- When
- The twenty-fifth year of the exile, about 573 BC, within the vision dated in Ezekiel 40:1.
- Why
- To show that life would flow out from God's presence to the deadest place the hearers knew, and to give the land its bounds.
Historical context
The river is measured in stages, and the measuring is what makes it strange. A thousand cubits out, the water is ankle deep; another thousand, knee deep; another thousand, up to the waist; another thousand, and it cannot be crossed, a river to swim in. Real rivers grow from tributaries. This one grows from nothing, with no stream feeding it, on the way down from a hilltop.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
The destination is the point of the miracle. The Dead Sea sits at the lowest place on the earth's surface with no outlet, so everything the Jordan carries in stays there and evaporates. Its water is around ten times as salty as the ocean, which is why nothing lives in it. Ezekiel says the water becomes fresh and swarms with fish of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
The two place names given are exact. Fishermen will stand from En-gedi to En-eglaim spreading their nets, En-gedi is the freshwater spring oasis halfway down the western shore, a green patch in bare desert that anyone travelling that coast would know.
One detail refuses to be tidy: the swamps and marshes will not become fresh, but are left for salt. Salt was harvested from pans along that shore, and it was essential, for preserving food and, under the Law, for every grain offering. The healing of the sea does not abolish the thing people needed from it.
The chapter then turns to the borders, and they are drawn with real landmarks: the Great Sea on the west, the northern line running by Hamath and Zedad and Hazar-enan, the Jordan on the east, and the southern boundary running from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh and along the Brook of Egypt. The last provision is genuinely new. Resident foreigners who have settled and had children are to receive an inheritance among the tribe where they live, treated as native-born.
Significance
Everything in this vision so far has flowed inward, toward the sanctuary. Here something flows out of it, and the further it gets from the threshold the deeper it becomes.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For exiles who had watched their land go barren and their sea stay dead, this is the picture that says the restoration is not a repair job. Trees on both banks, fruit every month, leaves for healing, and fishermen standing where nothing had ever lived.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus joins the chapter to the weeks of the Torah portions through the works arranged by portion. Under the eighth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Chayei Sara 3:8. Under the twelfth verse it carries Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 20, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 18:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 6:3.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern.
Rashi traces the river from the House step by step. The water comes from under the threshold "in the center of the east[ern side]" and runs out south of the altar and out of the city. He then reports Yoma 77b, in the name of Rabbi Phinehas from Rab Huna of Sepphoris, where the stream from the Holy of Holies grows at each entrance it passes (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:1:2).
At the measured depths he draws a rule of conduct from the prophet's own steps. "From here we learn that one should not enter water from the loins and higher, lest the water over power him" (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:4:1). The healing of the sea he reads plainly. The stream "sweetens the seas into which it mingles, and their fish, which swarm in them, are alive and sweet" (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:9:1). The trees on its banks had grown up "While he led me and brought me back" (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:7:1).
The borders of the land follow, and Rashi reads them against the first division. Each tribe will hold an equal share, "like a row in a vineyard from the eastern border until the ocean to the west" (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:14:1). The eastern border excludes the land beyond the Jordan. "Trans-Jordan is not included within these borders; only the land of Canaan" (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:18:1). Tamar he reads with Jonathan as Jericho, the city of palms (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:19:1). The stranger given an inheritance is one "who became proselytized in exile within that tribe" (Rashi on Ezekiel 47:23:1).
The corpus carries two further notes on this chapter without an English text, each of them marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted at Radak on Ezekiel 47:21:1 and 47:22:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 51:10. On the second verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:2:3. On the third verse it holds Yoma 77b:12 and Yoma 77b:15. On the fourth verse it holds Yoma 77b:13.
On the seventh verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 1:14:2. On the eighth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Chayei Sara 3:8 and Shemot Rabbah 15:22. On the tenth verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:2:4, Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:2:5 and Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 1:2:5. It also holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 51:11 there. On the eleventh verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:2:6.
On the twelfth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 21:22, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 20 and Devarim Rabbah 1:1. It also holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:60, Menachot 98a:13 and Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 26:4:6 there. It also holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 2:4:2, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 18:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 6:3 there. It also holds Midrash Tanchuma, Pinchas 14:1, Midrash Tehillim 23:6 and Otzar Midrashim, The Order of Arakim 1:6 there. It also holds Pesikta Rabbati 33:1, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 51:12 and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 51:13 there. It also holds Sanhedrin 100a:6, Shemot Rabbah 15:21 and Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:12:4 there. On the thirteenth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 23:6 and Midrash Tanchuma, Masei 4:1. It also holds Otzar Midrashim, Midrash on Revival of the Dead, Questions of Rabbi Eliezer Regarding the Revival 7 there. On the twenty-second verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Numbers 10:29:1. On the twenty-third verse it holds Kohelet Rabbah 1:7:6, Sifrei Bamidbar 78:3 and Sifrei Zuta 15:26:1. It also holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 726:2 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 748:6 there. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Ezekiel 47:1:1 to 47:23:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Radak, Radak on Ezekiel 47:21:1 and 47:22:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/ezekiel/47.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this chapter and printing no weekly portion, no Haftarah and no festival reading.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Water from under the threshold, rising until you swim
Ezekiel 47:1-2
water flowing from under the threshold: Water flows “from under the threshold of the temple toward the east”, the way by which the glory returned in chapter 43. The water comes down “south of the altar”, and at the outer gate facing east the prophet sees it “trickling out from the south side”.
Ezekiel 47:1
“The vision of the waters; or, the blessings which flow from this source to animate and refresh all the inhabitants of the earth. Compare Isa 44:8...; Joe 3:18. Ezekiel’s description is adopted and modifled by Zechariah and in Rev. (compare the marginal references) Hebrew tradition speaks of a spring of water, named Etham, said to be identical with the well-waters of Nephtoah Jos 18:15, on the west of the temple, whose waters were conducted by pipes into the temple-courts for the uses needed in the ministration of the priests.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Ezekiel 47:1
“The original of these waters was not above-ground, but they sprang up from under the threshold; for the fountain of a believer's life is a mystery; it is hid with Christ in God, Col. iii. Some observe that they came forth on the right side of the house to intimate that gospel-blessings are right-hand blessings.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
ConnectionsRevelation 22:1
the water trickling out from the south side: Adam Clarke notes that the Hebrew word describes water dripping out drop by drop. The prophet goes around by the north gate because the east gate was shut in 44:2. Within four thousand cubits the trickle becomes a river.
Ezekiel 47:2
“There ran out waters - מים מפכים mayim mephaccim, the waters seem to have been at first in small quantity; for the words imply that they oozed or dropped out. They were at first so small that they came guttatim, drop by drop; but they increased so, that they became a river in which one could swim.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ezekiel 47:3-5
led me through ankle-deep water: The man with “a measuring line in his hand” goes eastward in four stages of “a thousand cubits”, and the water deepens at each one. The prophet is led through “ankle-deep water”, then “knee-deep water”, then “waist-deep water”, until it becomes “a river that I could not cross”.
Ezekiel 47:3
“The ancles - This may coincide with the step gained in the baptism of Cornelius Acts 10, and the opening of the Church to the Gentiles. The dispersion which had followed the martyrdom of Stephen Act 11:19, had carried believers into various countries, and so paved the way for the foundation of Gentile Churches.”
led me through knee-deep water: Barnes reads each depth as an era of church history, with the knees marking the mission of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:1 to 4. Others, such as dispensational writers, expect a literal river, like the living water of Zechariah 14:8. The measures stay equal while the depth grows.
Ezekiel 47:4
“The knees - The mission of Paul and Barnabas Act 13:1-4 is another marked epoch in the Church’s history; and the time of Paul’s martyrdom denotes an increase in the Gentile Church, which corresponds with the waters reaching the loins.”
Barnes notes that most streams of Palestine were dry watercourses in summer, while this river flows without pause. Matthew Henry takes the running water as the gospel spreading and grace pressing forward. Jesus speaks of rivers of living water in John 7:38.
Ezekiel 47:5
“The rivers in Palestine were for the most part mere watercourses, dry in summer, in winter carrying the water along the wadys to the sea. The river of the vision is to have a continuous flow. Waters to swim in - When under Constantine the Roman empire had become Christian, the Church may be contemplated as the full river, to flow on through time until the final completion of Isaiah’s prophecy Isa 11:9.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:5
“The waters of the sanctuary are running waters, as those of a river, not standing waters, as those of a pond. The gospel, when it was first preached, was still spreading further. Grace in the soul is still pressing forward; it is an active principle, plus ultra--onward still, till it comes to perfection.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Trees on both banks and life wherever the river goes
Ezekiel 47:6-7
The guide's question, addressed to the prophet, turns him back to the river's bank, where very many trees stand on either side. Gill reads the question as making the prophet an eyewitness on record before the interpretation is given. The trees are named before their purpose is explained.
a great number of trees along both banks: Trees along a river that flows from God's house recall Eden, where a river watered the garden in Genesis 2:10. Revelation 22:2 takes up the picture, with the tree of life on either side of the river. Verse 12 gives the trees' purpose.
Ezekiel 47:7
“Trees naturally flourish where there is abundance of water Psa 1:3.”
Ezekiel 47:8-9
flows out to the eastern region: The water “flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah”, and where it enters the Sea, “the water there becomes fresh”. The river brings it “swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish”. Henry notes the repetition as the text's own emphasis.
Ezekiel 47:8
“The sea” is a term commonly applied to the Dead Sea. Compare Deu 3:17, “the sea of the plain (Arabah), even the salt sea.” The more literal rendering of the verse in this sense would be, “and go into the sea; into the sea go the waters that issue forth, and the waters shall be healed.” Healed - Every living thing (of which there were none before) shall abound in the “healed” waters. The absence of living creatures in the Dead Sea has been remarked by ancient and modern writers.
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:8
“The sea - The Dead-sea, or lake of Sodom. Shall be healed - The waters of the sea shall be healed, made wholesome. So where the grace of God from his temple and altar flows, it heals the corrupt nature of man, and renders barren terrible deserts, as a land of waters and gardens.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
makes the waters fresh: Albert Barnes notes that the Hebrew reads two rivers, and suggests the stream joins the Jordan in bringing life to the Dead Sea. Matthew Henry applies the verse to grace, which makes dead sinners alive. The healing reverses the barren salt of Deuteronomy 29:23.
Ezekiel 47:9
“Christ came, that we might have life and for that end he sends his gospel. Every thing shall live whither the river comes. The grace of God makes dead sinners alive and living saints lively; everything is made fruitful and flourishing by it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:9
“The rivers - literally, as in the margin. Perhaps with reference to the circumstance that this “brook or river” is to come into the Dead Sea through the same plain as the Jordan. The one river (Jordan) always flowed, but now, when another river comes in, and “two rivers” flow into the sea, the waters shall be healed.”
Ezekiel 47:10-11
Fishermen will stand by the shore: Fishers will work the shore from En-gedi to En-eglaim, but “the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt”. Fairbairn reads the exception as keeping the vision honest, abundance given without pretending every square foot of ground is remade the same way.
Ezekiel 47:10
“The fishers shall stand upon it - On the above plan of interpretation these must mean - 1. The apostles of our Lord Jesus. 2. The preachers of the everlasting Gospel. See Mat 4:19. From En-gedi - At the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Unto En-eglaim - At the northern extremity of the same. Their fish shall be according to their kinds - Every kind of fish, and the fish all excellent of their kinds.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:10
“En-eglaim--En-gedi (meaning "fountain of the kid"), anciently, Hazazon-Tamar, now Ain-Jidy; west of the Dead Sea; David's place of refuge from Saul. En-eglaim means "fountain of two calves," on the confines of Moab, over against En-gedi, and near where Jordan enters the Dead Sea (Isa 15:8).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
they will be left for salt: Albert Barnes reads the exception as showing that life comes only where the stream reaches. Matthew Henry sees the salt places as warnings of judgment, like Lot's wife. Jerome compares them to those left outside Noah's ark.
Ezekiel 47:11
“He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Never fruit grow on thee more for ever. They shall be given to salt, that is, to be monuments of divine justice, as Lot's wife that was turned into a pillar of salt, to season others.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:11
“The exception, which reserves for sterility places to which the living water does not reach, probably indicates that the life and health are solely due to the stream which proceeds from beneath the throne of God. Compare Isa 57:20-21.”
fruit trees of all kinds will grow: Along both banks grow “fruit trees of all kinds”, bearing each month “because the water from the sanctuary flows to them”. Revelation 22:1-2 takes up the same picture, with a tree of life that bears fruit every month, its leaves given to heal the nations.
Ezekiel 47:12
“Shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade - A description that suits the righteous, who are still producing - 1. The fruits of faith. 2. The fruits of the Spirit. 3. The fruits of love to God, obedience to his holy will, and love to all men. Benevolence, mercy, charity, kindness, etc. The leaf thereof for medicine - See Rev 22:1-5. Even the leaves, the holy profession of the righteous, is a spiritual medicine. Righteousness is thus encouraged in the world.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:12
“The fruits of their righteousness are one way or other beneficial. The very leaves of these trees are for medicine, for bruises and sores, margin. Good Christians with their good discourses, which are as their leaves, as well as with their charitable actions, which are as their fruits, do good to those about them; they strengthen the weak, and bind up the broken-hearted.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
ConnectionsGenesis 3:24, Revelation 22:2
The borders of the land marked out
Ezekiel 47:13-14
Joseph shall receive two portions: The oracle turns from the river to the land, to be divided, with one adjustment: “Joseph shall receive two portions”. Joseph's two portions carry the double portion Jacob gave him at Genesis 48. Gill notes that the promise reaches back to the oath sworn to the fathers.
Ezekiel 47:13
“The border - The utmost bounds of the whole land. Shall inherit - That is, shall divide for inheritance to the tribes of Israel. Joseph - That is, the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 47:13
The ideal reallotment of the land to the twelve tribes of Israel is found in Ezek. 47:13–48:14. The special mention of Joseph’s portions was in order to express that the twelve portions were to be exclusive of Levi’s land, which was to be provided out of the “oblation.”
Ezekiel 47:13
“The latter are substantially the same as those given by Moses in Nu 34:1-29; they here begin with the north, but in Numbers they begin with the south (Nu 34:3). It is only Canaan proper, exclusive of the possession of the two and a half tribes beyond Jordan, that is here divided. Joseph . . . two portions--according to the original promise of Jacob (Ge 48:5, 22).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I swore with an uplifted hand: Barnes reads equally as strips of equal breadth. Joshua's allotment had sized each share to the tribe, as Numbers 26:54 directed. Matthew Henry reads the uplifted hand as God keeping His covenant even after long delay.
Ezekiel 47:14
“Though God's providences may for a time seem to contradict his promises, yet the promise will certainly take place at last, for God will be ever mindful of his covenant. I lifted up my hand to give it, and therefore it shall without fail fall to you for an inheritance. Thus the heavenly Canaan is sure to all the seed, because it is what God, who cannot lie, has promised.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:14
“As well as - Or, as. Ezekiel is speaking of “tribes,” not “individuals.” Each tribe is to have an equal “breadth” of land assigned to it.”
Ezekiel 47:15-20
This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north the border runs “from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad”. It runs east “along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel”. Keil notes that the line is drawn wider than the land Israel ever held under David or Solomon.
Ezekiel 47:15
“The borders of the land follow closely Num. 34, where they begin from the south, as the people came up from Egypt; in Ezekiel, they begin from the north, as they might return from Babylon. The occupation is ideal, but is grounded, as usual, on an actual state of things. The border of the land toward the north - Names of places in the actual northern border are given (marginal references) not to mark exact geographical position, but to show that the original promise will be fulfilled.”
Hethlon through Lebo-hamath: Adam Clarke admits that several of these towns cannot be placed with certainty. John Gill identifies Berothah with a town of Hadadezer taken by David in 2 Samuel 8:8. The line follows the northern border of Numbers 34:7 to 9.
Ezekiel 47:16
“Hamath - Emesa or Amesa, in Syria. - Calmet. Berothah - Berytus, now Baruth or Beeroth, which David took from Hadarezer, king of Syria, 2Sa 8:8; but these things are very uncertain. Sibraim - Sabarim or Sepharvaim, according to the Syriac, between Hamath and Damascus. Hazar-hatticon - The middle Hazar; or middle village, as the margin. Hauran - The city Aurana, and the district Auranitis, are in the north-east limit of the Holy Land.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:16
“But it was not always to be a separate land. Between the parallel ranges of Lebanon is the long valley of El-Bekaa, leading to "the entering in of Hamath" on the Orontes, in the Syrian frontier. Roman roads, and the harbor made at Cæsarea, opened out doors through which the Gospel should go from it to all lands.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
from the Sea to Hazar-enan: Hazar-enan was the end of the northern border fixed by Moses in Numbers 34:9, as John Gill notes. Adam Clarke places it north of Caesarea Philippi. The vision keeps the limits of the old promise.
Ezekiel 47:17
“And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus,.... Which was the furthermost part and end of the northern border, as fixed by Moses, Num 34:9, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath; if this is carrying on the border further, it seems to be another Hamath, distinct from the former, Eze 47:16, and this is the north side: of the land, and the description of the northern border of it, from the Mediterranean sea to Hazarenan.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:17
“The border from the sea - The north border eastward is ascertained Eze 47:15, Eze 47:16; here it is shown how far it extends itself northward. Hazar-enan - The village of Enan, Num 34:9, placed to the north of Caesarea Philippi. Ziphron, see Num 34:9, called Zaphion by the Syriac.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel: Gilead now lies outside the tribes' land. Albert Barnes notes that the tribes east of the Jordan held their ground by sufferance, since it lay outside Canaan proper. Numbers 32 records the request of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh to settle there.
Ezekiel 47:18
“The eastern boundary is to commence by separating off the territory of Damascus and Hauran, and then to follow the line of the Jordan to the Dead Sea. Further, the land occupied by the trans-Jordanic tribes was also to be separated off from the land of Israel. The trans-Jordanic tribes in fact occupied their ground (in Joshua’s allotment) by sufferance. This did not belong to Canaan proper, the land of promise.”
the waters of Meribath-kadesh: Jerome explains Meribah as contradiction or dispute, recalling Israel's quarrel at Kadesh in Numbers 20:13. Barnes takes the Brook of Egypt as the torrent reaching the sea near El Arish. The southern line repeats Numbers 34:3 to 5.
Ezekiel 47:19
“The south border (compare Num 34:4) commences with “Tamar,” probably a village near the southern end of the Dead Sea. The word means “palm-tree;” and is given to more than one city in the holy land. The river to the great sea - literally, “riverward to the great sea.” By the “river” is meant the torrent-stream entering the Mediterranean near “Rhinocolura” (El Arish).”
the Great Sea will be the boundary: The Mediterranean forms the whole western border, from the Brook of Egypt up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath, as John Gill traces it. Matthew Henry notes that God appoints the bounds of His people's dwelling. Henry echoes Psalm 16:6 on pleasant boundary lines.
Ezekiel 47:20
“The west side also shall be the great sea from the border,.... From the border of Egypt, and the river of it, to the Mediterranean sea, is the west side of the land, and the western border of it; hence the western point is often expressed in Scripture by the sea: till a man come over against Hamath; Antioch in Syria; see Eze 47:16. this is the west side; of the land, and of the western border of it.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 47:20
“Note, It is God that appoints the bounds of our habitation; and his Israel shall always have cause to say that the lines have fallen to them in pleasant places. The lake of Sodom is here called the east sea, for it, being healed by the waters of the sanctuary, it is no more to be called a salt sea, as it was in Numbers.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Strangers given an inheritance among the tribes
Ezekiel 47:21-23
divide this land among yourselves: The land is divided “according to the tribes of Israel”, and the foreigners “who dwell among you and who have children” share in it. Israel is to “treat them as native-born Israelites”. Henry compares the ruling with the welcome Israel's own law already required for the foreigner.
Ezekiel 47:21
“So shall ye divide this land unto you,.... As thus bounded, east, west, north, and south: according to the tribes of Israel; See Gill on Eze 47:13.”
You are to treat them as native-born Israelites: Adam Clarke observes that earlier divisions of the land gave foreigners no share. He reads the verse as the calling of the Gentiles to an inheritance that cannot fade, as in 1 Peter 1:4. Paul speaks of foreigners made fellow citizens in Ephesians 2:19.
Ezekiel 47:22
“And to the strangers that sojourn - In former divisions of the land, no place was given to strangers; but in this division, (which seems to have no other reference than to the Gospel, for literally such a division never took place), the strangers are to have an inheritance; intimating the calling of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Glory be to God for his unspeakable gift! Amen. Amen.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
In whatever tribe a foreigner dwells: The foreigner receives his portion within the tribe where he already lives. Leviticus 19:34 already required such welcome. John Wesley reads the verse as looking to the gospel age, when Jew and Gentile were made one in Christ.
Ezekiel 47:23
“His inheritance - This certainly looks at gospel times, when the partition-wall between Jew and Gentile was taken down, and both put on a level before God, both made one in Christ Jesus.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The patterns in this chapter
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The river is measured four times, a thousand cubits each time, in verses 3 to 5. The water is ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep, and at the fourth measure it is a river that cannot be crossed on foot. Verses 6 to 12 follow it east to the Sea and name what it heals, and verse 11 leaves the swamps and marshes for salt. Verses 13 to 23 turn from the river to the land and draw its borders north, east, south and west in that order.
Keep studying
Studies9
People and groups1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.