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Ezekiel 47:8

in Ezekiel 47

And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.

KJV

Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

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This verse in Ezekiel 47

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

(Verse 8) These waters that come out, either into the Galilee of the Gentiles, according to the Septuagint, or (as it is more accurately contained in Hebrew) into the hills of the eastern sand, and they descend to the plains of the desert, or to Arabia, they will enter the sea, or to the ends of the sea, and the waters will be healed. We previously said that waters either signify the grace of baptism or the Evangelical doctrine.

This site's exposition

These waters issue out toward the east country

on Ezekiel 47:8-9

The river runs down through the desert into the sea, and the sea's own waters are healed by it, so that everything that lives wherever the river comes will live, with a very great multitude of fish. The east country and the sea point toward the Dead Sea, the one body of water east of Jerusalem too salt to sustain life, and the commentators across the tradition read the healing as this river's plain, stated effect on it. Henry notes the repetition, healed and live and live again, as the text's own emphasis rather than the exposition's addition.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
“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.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלַ֗יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • הַמַּ֤יִםthe waters

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

  • הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • יוֹצְאִ֗ים[are] going out

    yotzimH3318 →1067 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַגְּלִילָה֙the territory

    hagelilahH1552 →

  • הַקַּדְמוֹנָ֔ה<the> eastern

    hakadmonahH6930 →

  • וְיָרְד֖וּand they will go down

    veyareduH3381 →381 times

  • עַל־to

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָֽעֲרָבָ֑הthe Arabah

    haaravahH6160 →

  • וּבָ֣אוּand they will go

    uvauH935 →2568 times

  • הַיָּ֔מָּהthe sea towards

    haiyamahH3220 →396 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַיָּ֥מָּהthe sea <towards>

    haiyamahH3220 →396 times

  • הַמּֽוּצָאִ֖יםthose [which] were brought out

    hamutzaimH3318 →1067 times

  • וְנִרְפּ֥וּand they will be healed

    venirpeuH7495 →67 times

  • הַמָּֽיִם׃the waters

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Joshua 3:16the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.7 worksDeuteronomy 3:17The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.6 works2 Kings 2:19–22Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”5 worksDeuteronomy 4:49including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.5 worksIsaiah 44:3–5For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.5 worksIsaiah 43:20The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.4 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 41:17–19The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.4 worksIsaiah 35:7The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.4 worksMalachi 1:11For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.3 worksIsaiah 35:1The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.3 worksJeremiah 31:9They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”3 worksJoshua 15:2Their southern border started at the bay on the southern tip of the Salt Sea,3 worksIsaiah 11:6–9The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them.2 worksIsaiah 49:9to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.2 worksMatthew 13:15For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’2 worksNumbers 34:3Your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern border will run from the end of the Salt Sea,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 3:17

    The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 14:3

      The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 12:3

      as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

    • Joshua 3:16

      the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…

    • Deuteronomy 4:49

      including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

  • Through

    Joshua 3:16

    the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 3:13

      When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will…

    • 1 Kings 4:12

      Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;

    • 1 Kings 7:46

      The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan.

    • Deuteronomy 1:1

      These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 47 →

This page draws on 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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezekiel 47 →