Ezekiel 47

In Ezekiel’s vision a stream flows out from God’s temple, grows into a mighty river, and turns the salty Dead Sea fresh and full of life. The chapter then lays out the borders of the land and its fair division among the tribes, with an inheritance even for foreigners who live among Israel.

Ezekiel 47:1

The guide brings Ezekiel back to the temple door. Water is flowing out from under the threshold, passing south of the altar and heading east. Life begins at the place where God dwells, and it comes out freely from his house.

BSA: water (“a source of refreshment”): The water is more than liquid; it is a gift that refreshes and sustains all who receive it. altar (“a place of sacrifice, where offerings are made to God”): The stream passes beside the place of sacrifice, a reminder that life flows from God through atonement.

See also: Psalm 46:4; Revelation 22:1.

Ezekiel 47:2

The east gate is shut, so the guide takes Ezekiel out by the north gate and around to the outer east gate. There the water is only trickling from the south side. The stream starts small, which sets up the surprise of what follows.

BSA: trickling (“pouring, flowing slowly”): The source is modest and slow, yet it is the start of something enormous.

See also: Ezekiel 44:1-2.

Ezekiel 47:3

The guide measures a thousand cubits, roughly a third of a mile, with his line, and Ezekiel wades through water only ankle-deep. The careful measuring tells us this is real and ordered, not a fantasy. The river is beginning to rise.

BSA: measuring line (“cord, rule”): God’s work is exact and deliberate; he knows the size of what he is doing.

Ezekiel 47:4

Another thousand cubits, and the water reaches the knees. Another, and it reaches the waist. With no tributaries added, the river keeps deepening. God’s life grows as it goes, and it asks Ezekiel to go further in each time.

BSA: knee-deep (“to the knees, as a sign of humility”): Water at the knees suggests bowing before God as the stream grows.

Ezekiel 47:5

After a fourth thousand cubits the river is too deep to wade. Ezekiel could only swim, which means he could no longer stand on his own strength. The picture leaves the reader with a river far greater than any human measure, carrying you rather than letting you stand.

BSA: swimming (“a place for swimming”): The water is now so deep that one must be carried by it instead of walking.

Ezekiel 47:6

The guide asks, “Son of man, do you see this?” It is a call to take in what he has witnessed and remember it. Then he leads Ezekiel back to the riverbank, where the vision turns to what the river does.

BSA: see (“have you observed, perceived”): God wants Ezekiel to notice and understand, not merely glance.

See also: Ezekiel 2:1.

Ezekiel 47:7

On both banks Ezekiel now sees a great number of trees. Where the river runs, the land is covered with growth. This recalls the first garden, where water and trees stood together, and it points to a restored creation.

See also: Genesis 2:9-10; Psalm 1:3.

Ezekiel 47:8

The river runs east and down into the Arabah, the dry rift valley, and reaches the Dead Sea, whose water is far too salty for life. When the river enters, the sea is made fresh. God’s water heals what is dead.

BSA: fresh (“is healed, made wholesome”): The word is about healing: the poisoned sea is made well, not just diluted.

See also: 2 Kings 2:21-22.

Ezekiel 47:9

Wherever the river goes, living things swarm and fish multiply. Where it flows, everything flourishes. The point is plain: God’s presence brings life to places that were barren and lifeless, and nothing it touches stays dead.

BSA: flourish (“live, thrive, be revived”): The Hebrew simply says ’live’; what the river touches comes alive again. fresh (“healed, restored to wholeness”): The waters are not just improved but made whole.

See also: John 7:38.

Ezekiel 47:10

Fishermen line the shore of the once-dead sea, from En-gedi on the west side to En-eglaim, and they spread their nets. The catch is as varied as in the Mediterranean, the Great Sea. A place famous for death becomes a place of work and food.

BSA: fish of many kinds (“according to their species, as the fish of the great sea”): The variety recalls the abundance of creation as God first made it.

Ezekiel 47:11

Some swamps and marshes are left unhealed, set aside to supply salt. Salt was valuable then, so nothing is wasted. The verse also leaves a sober hint that not everything receives the river’s life.

BSA: salt (“to make salt, as a salt pit”): These places keep their useful saltiness while the rest of the sea is healed.

Ezekiel 47:12

Fruit trees of every kind grow along both banks. Their leaves never wither and they fruit every month, because the water comes from the sanctuary. The fruit feeds and the leaves heal. The vision closes with God’s own life giving food and healing to all.

BSA: healing (“medicine, remedy”): The leaves are a remedy, so God’s provision reaches both hunger and sickness. sanctuary (“holy place, temple”): The source is God’s holy dwelling, not the earth itself.

See also: Revelation 22:2.

Ezekiel 47:13

The Lord now turns from the river to the land. He gives the borders for dividing it among the twelve tribes, with Joseph receiving two portions through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The land is God’s gift, handed out by his word.

BSA: inheritance (“a gift, a possession”): The land is received as a gift, not earned.

See also: Genesis 48:5.

Ezekiel 47:14

The land is to be divided equally, because God swore with an uplifted hand to give it to the forefathers. The gesture marks a solemn oath. The inheritance rests on God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not on Israel’s strength.

BSA: swore (“made a solemn promise”): God binds himself by oath, so the gift is certain.

See also: Genesis 12:7; Genesis 15:18.

Ezekiel 47:15-17

The northern border runs from the Mediterranean through Hethlon and Lebo-hamath toward Zedad, Berothah, Sibraim and Hazer-hatticon, reaching Hazar-enan near Damascus. Many of these places are hard to pin down today. The point is that God defines the boundary.

BSA: boundary (“border, limit”): God sets limits so that each tribe knows its place in his gift.

See also: Numbers 34:7-9.

Ezekiel 47:18

The eastern border follows the Jordan, with Hauran and Damascus to the north-east and Gilead on the far side, down to the Dead Sea, called the Eastern Sea here, as far as Tamar. The Jordan valley is the natural eastern edge.

BSA: Eastern Sea (“a large body of water, in this case, the Dead Sea”): This is the same sea that the river heals.

Ezekiel 47:19

The southern border goes from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then along the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean. The name Meribath recalls Israel’s old complaining in the wilderness, a reminder of the past at the very edge of the promised land.

BSA: Meribath-kadesh (“a place of provocation or strife”): The name recalls Israel’s quarrel with God, set at the edge of his gift.

See also: Numbers 20:13.

Ezekiel 47:20-21

The western border is simply the Great Sea, the Mediterranean. The land, now fully described, is to be divided among the tribes of Israel. The whole boundary is closed and clear: God has given a particular land to a particular people.

BSA: divide (“allocate, distribute”): The land is shared out to each tribe, with no one left out.

Ezekiel 47:22-23

Foreigners who live among Israel and raise children there are to be treated as native-born, and they receive an inheritance within whatever tribe they dwell. This is striking, since outsiders would normally have no land. God’s household is wider than birth.

BSA: foreigners (“sojourners, non-Israelites”): These are outsiders living among Israel, and the verse welcomes them in. native-born (“born in the country, indigenous”): They are to be counted as full members, as if born in the land.

See also: Ephesians 2:19; Isaiah 56:6-7.