Ezekiel 47:11
in Ezekiel 47But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.
KJV
But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
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This verse in Ezekiel 47
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 11) But the marshes that go out of the banks will not be healed, but will be given to the salt marshes. But what follows, In its shores and swamps, or in those that extend beyond the shores, the waters will not be healed, covertly shows that those who were not in Noah's ark will perish during the reign of the flood; and those whom the river did not touch will not receive health; but they will be thrown into salt pits, as it is written: When the pestilence rages, the fool becomes wiser (Prov. XIX, 25).
This site's exposition
Fishermen will stand by the shore
on Ezekiel 47:10-11
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof,....
An appointment of the borders of the land of Canaan, which was to be divided by lot to the tribes of Israel and the strangers that sojourned among them,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The Arabs take the salt collected by evaporation in these pits for their own use, and that of their flocks. not be healed--Those not reached by the healing waters of the Gospel, through their sloth and earthly-mindedness, are given over (Re 22:11) to their own bitterness and barrenness (as "saltness" is often employed to express, De 29:23;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The miry places - “Point out,” says Calmet, “the schismatics and heretics who do not live by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, but separate from his Church; and the evil Christians who dishonor that Church, of which they are corrupt members.” A description applicable to the Roman Catholic Church, that is both schismatic and heretic from the Church of Jesus Christ, which is built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; for the Church of Rome, leaving this foundation, is now built on the foundation of councils and traditions, and lying miracles; the popes in their succession being its only corner stones.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
month after month its fruits will ripen From month to month its fruits will ripen.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּצֹּאתָ֧יו | bitzotov | swamps its | H1207 → | |
| וּגְבָאָ֛יו | ugevaav | and marshes its | H1360 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵרָפְא֖וּ | yerafeu | they will be healed | H7495 → | 67 times |
| לְמֶ֥לַח | lemelach | to salt | H4417 → | |
| נִתָּֽנוּ׃ | nitanu | they will be given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
בִּצֹּאתָ֧יוswamps its
bitzotovH1207 →
וּגְבָאָ֛יוand marshes its
ugevaavH1360 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵרָפְא֖וּthey will be healed
yerafeuH7495 →67 times
לְמֶ֥לַחto salt
lemelachH4417 →
נִתָּֽנוּ׃they will be given
nitanuH5414 →2011 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Revelation 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…
- Revelation 2:11
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
- Ephesians 5:5–6
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Revelation 22:15
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Revelation 20:14–15
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Through
Revelation 22:11Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
it leads to
- Daniel 12:10
Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
- Proverbs 4:18
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Ezekiel 3:27
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him…
- Daniel 12:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.