Ezekiel 47
PATThe vision of the holy waters issuing out of the temple, and the virtue of them: together with a description of the several bounds of the holy land, which is to be indifferently shared between the Israelites and the proselytes that sojourned among them.
Ezekiel 47:1
JxFTERWARD he brought me again unto the door of the house. The door of the temple, which is described xli. 2. And, behold, the waters issued out from under the threshold eastward.] There was a great quantity of water’ necessary for the uses of the temple, for washing the bodies of those that officiated, as well as the sacrifices which they offered. This was conveyed in pipes under ground from the fountain Etam, as Dr. Lightfoot observes from the rabbins, and from Aristeas, an eye-witness. (See his Temple", chap. 23.) These waters gave occasion to the vision here related. ► <. For the forefront of the house stood toivards the east.] The inward sanctuary being placed towards the west. (See the note upon viii. 16.) And the waters came" down from under the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.] This is spoke with respect to those that come out of the temple, and direct their faces eastward, for then the south side is on a man’s right hand. These waters were conveyed, by the right side of the altar, into a room they called the well-room. (See Dr. Lightfoot, in the forecited place.)
Ezekiel 47:2
Then brought he me out of [or by. the tvay of tlie gate northward.] The east gate being shut. (Seexlvi. 1.) Tho prophet in this vision is led. to the north gate of the inner court. And led me about the way without unto the utter gate.] He led me into the outward court, and so on till he came to the outmost north wall, that encompassed the whole mountain of the Lord’s house. (See xlii. 20.) By the way that looketh eastward.] When the prophet was come quite through all the courts, and is on the outside of the outermost, he is directed to come from the north gate towards the east gate.. t >And, behold, there rah waters oiit on the right side.] Oh the south side.* (See ver. 1.) These were the spare waters not used in the service of the temple, which were conveyed away by the cast part of the mountain, and by degrees increased its stream, till it became. a river, and fell at last into the Dead Sea. (See ver. 6. 10. and compare Joel iii. 18.)
Ezekiel 47:3
And the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward. The angel described with a line in his hand, (xl. 3.) went on directly from the east gate before the holy mountain. Ibid, and
Ezekiel 47:4
lie measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; and the waters were to the ancles, &‘c. The gradual rise of the waters represented in Levites, or inferior ministers: whereas the former were. this vision, denotes the large effusion of the Spirit, which which was very remarkable at the first publication of the Digitized by Micr UoU/c VD/ CHAP. XLVII.] UPON EZEKIEL. gospel, and its wonderful increase from small beginnings; and will be so again, when God shall pour the spirit of grace upon the Jews, in order to their conversion. (Zech. xii. 10. see the note upon Isa. liv. 13.) The supplies of grace are often represented in the holy writers under the metaphor of a river, and streams watering the dry and thirsty earth, both cleansing and making fruitful the ground where they pass. The metaphor is probably taken from the river that watered Paradise. (See Rev. xxii. 1. and compare Isa. xliv. 3. Zech. xiii. 1. xiv. 8. and see the notes upon Isa. xxx. 25.) / & „.,v
Ezekiel 47:6
And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this?. Hast tho* considered or taken notice of this vision now shewed unto thee? (Compare xl. 4.) To see, often signifies to take notice of what we see; on the contrary, they are said to have eyes, and see not, who do not observe what is placed before their eyes. Then he caused me to return to the brink of the river J] He made me go along by the river side.
Ezekiel 47:7
Behold, on the bank of the river were very m many trees on the one side and on the other. The.words allude to the trees planted in Paradise,, and designed for man’s food in the state of innocence, and especially to the tree of life which grew there. (See ver. 12. and compare Rev. xxii. 2.) r o <,…
Ezekiel 47:8
These waters issue out towards the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea. These waters are described as taking their course along the plain or champaigne country (for that is the sense of the word araba, here rendered desert) towards the l^ke where Sodom formerly stood, called the Dead Sea, and by Moses the Salt Sea. (Compare Deut. iii. 17. with this verse.) Wltich being brought forth into the sea the waters shall he healed.] This is the observation of all writers, who describe this lake, that nothing can live in it: and the text here tells us, that these living streams shall, by mixing with these salt and brackish waters, make them wholesome and fit for use: mystically denoting the healing virtue of God’s grace to cure the vices and corruptions of wicked men.
Ezekiel 47:9
And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live, &c. The metaphor is still continued, to this sense: That as the fish which move or swim (compare Gen. i. 20.) in waters cured or made wholesome, have life and nourishment from thence, whereas no fish can live in the Dead Sea: so the waters which flow from the wells of salvation, as the prophet Isaiah expresses it, (Isa. xii. 3.) shall make all those thrive and multiply who enjoy the benefit of them, though their condition before were never, so desperate. The word rivers and river are promiscuously used in this verse, though some of the Jewish writers are of opinion, that these waters divide themselves, and some flow eastward, and others westward: which opinion they ground partly upon the plural number used in this verse, but chiefly upon the words of Zechariah, xiv. 8.
Ezekiel 47:10
And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it, from En-gedi to En-eglaim. En-gedi was a town that lay on the south-west of the lake of Sodom, or the Dead Sea, called Hazezon-tamar, Gen. xiv. 7. compared with 2 Chron. xx. 2. En-eglaim, or En-gaMini, as St. Jerome reads the word, is another on the east side of the same lake, where Jordan falls into it; upon the eonfines of Moab, as may be conjectured from Isa. xv. 8. which is confirmed by the parallel text in Joe], iii. 18. where it is said, that a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim: which we know was in the country of Moab. (See Numb. xxv. 1.) So: these two places denote the whole extent of that lake, which the prophet saith shall be full of fish, still prosecuting, the allegory begun in the foregoing verses. They shall be a place to:spread forth their nets<~\ These two towns sh^ll afford convenience for the fishers to hang out their nets a drying. - (See xxvi. 5.), Tlieir fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea.] This lake for plenty of fish may. compare with the Mediterranean Sea, called the great sea here, and ver. 15. 19. xlviii. 28. and more distinctly described in Joshua by the great sea westward, Josh! xxiii. 4. Perhaps Christ may allude to this place, when he tells his disciples, he will make them fishers of men, Matt. iv. 19.’
Ezekiel 47:11
But the miry places shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. By those unsound, rotten places, may be understood hypocrites; who shall receive no benefit by these healing waters, no more than some sort of marsh land can be made fruitful: but after all the care or culture that can be bestowed: upon it, continues barren and unprofitable, which the Hebrew language “expresseth by being given to salt: saltuess is equivalent to barrenness in that language: (see Deut.xxix. 23. Psal. cvii. 34. Jer. xvii. G.) So we. read Judg.ix; 45. Svhen Abimelech destroyed Shechem, he sowed the ground whereon it stood with salt* to denote’.that it should never be cultivated or inhabited again.
Ezekiel 47:12
And by the river, upon the bank thereof, shall grow all trees for meat. See. the note on ver. 7. Whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed.] They shall be perpetually in a thriving condition, like the trees of Paradise, never barren or withering: a proper emblem of the flourishing state of the righteous still bringing forth fruit unto holiness, and whose end is everlasting life. (See Psal. i. 3. Jer. xvii. 8.) * It shall bring forth new fruit according to its months.] It shall be constantly fruitful, not only once a year, as fruit* trees commonly are. (Compare Rev. xxii. 2.) The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.] As the waters issuing from the sanctuary have a healing virtue; (see ver. 8.) so the leaves of tho trees shall have the same quality. The expression alludes to the opinion commonly received among naturalists and physicians, that the leaves of several trees are medicinal.
Ezekiel 47:13
This shall be the border, &c. The borders described in the following part of this chapter shall be the limits or boundaries of your country. By the several captivities both of Israel and Judah, the several limits or borders belonging to the inheritance of each tribe were obliterated and forgotten: whereupon here is a new boundary and division made of the holy land, a full possession of which they might have expected to enjoy, if their sins had not prevented siieh a blessing. This may perhaps be the literal sense of the following part of the prophecy; though there is, without question, a mystical sense implied under this literal description. (See the note onxlvih\7.20.)’ Dig iiizeu by Microsoft® [CHAP. XLVIII. Joseph shall have two portions.] Upon Reuben’s forfeiting his birthright, the double portion belonging to the firstborn accrued to Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, according to Jacob’s own appointment. (See Gen. xlviii. 5. lChron. v. 1.)
Ezekiel 47:14
And ye shall inherit it, one as tvell as another. The ten tribes which are scattered abroad, as well as Judah and Benjamin: (see xlviii. 1. 7. 23. 27.) who, together with some of the families of the tribe of Levi, made up the principal part of those who returned from the Babylonish captivity; from hence we may conclnde that this prophecy relates to the general restoration of the Jews, an event often foretold in the prophecies of the Old Testament. (See the note upon xxviii. 25.) Concerning the which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.] Scexx.5, 6. And this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.] The word fall is taken from the manner of their first acquiring the possession of the land, which was by lot, as it had formerly been, when they first took possession of it. (See ver. 22. and xlviii. 29.) By which means all controversies will be prevented, the lot referring all things to the Divine designation and appointment, (Prov. xvi. 83.)
Ezekiel 47:15
From the great sea, the way ofHethlon, as men go to Zedad. The northern border of the land was to begin from the west point, on which side lay the Mediterranean Sea, (see ver. 10.) and go on northward towards Hethlon, a place near Damascus: (see xlviii. 1.) and so on forward to Zedad, mentioned Numb.xxxiv. 8. Ver. 1G. Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath^] The places here mentioned were within this tract of ground. Hamath was the utmost point of the land northward, therefore called the entrance of Hamath, and described as the opposite point to the river of Egypt: (see 1 Kings viii.G5. Amos vi. 14.) the other two towns were situate between Hamath and Damascus. Ilazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Haaran.] Or, as our margin reads, the middle villages between Hamath and Hauran, a place lying eastward from Hamath, from w r hence that country was called Auranitis.
Ezekiel 47:17
And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, &c. Or, Shall be to Hazar-enan, even the border of Damascus, and all the northern frontier, and the border of Hamath; i. e. that tract of land which is called the entrance of Hamath, as was observed before. Your north border shall be, as if a line were drawn from the Mediterranean Sea, along by Hamath, and so to Hazar-enan: (see Numb. xxxiv. 9.) keeping along by the frontier of that part of Syria, called Syria of Damascus: so as io distinguish the northern boundaries of Israel from the southern limits of Syria.
Ezekiel 47:18
And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead. Damascus lay more northerly than Hauran, but the country called Auranitis might reach nearer it. Gilead was along tract of ground that joined to Mount Libanus, and was extended to the land of Zihon, king of the Amorites, as St. Jerome tells us in his book de Locis Hebraicis: it is called the land of Gilead, and reached unto Dan, Dcut. xxxiv. 1. From the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east’ sea.] From the northern limits of the land of Israel, (ver. 17.) near Caesarea or Dan, where the river Jordan takes its rise, unto the Dead Sea, or the lake of Sodom. (Sec ver. 8.)
Ezekiel 47:19
And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, [to. the river, to the great sea.] Compare xlviii. 28. The southern frontiers shall be from En-gcdi, called Hazazon-tamar, 2Chron.xx.2. (see Dr. Lightfoot’s Descript. of the Land of Israel, chap. G.) to the waters of Meribah, or strife, in Kadesh, (Deut. xxii. 52.) and from thence to tbe river of Egypt. The river of Egypt riseth out of Mount Paran, taketh its course westward to Rhinocorura, and from thence falls into the Mediterranean, called the great sea, ver. 10. See Gen. xv. 18. Josh. xv. 47. 1 Kings viii. G5. Isa. xxvii. 12. where the LXX. translate it, “Ewe f Pivo»co/>ovp&>v, to Rhinocorura, near which it runs. This river seems to be the same with Sihor, mentioned Josh. xiii. 3. though that name be commonly understood to signify the Nile. (See the notes upon Jer. ii. 18.)
Ezekiel 47:20
The west side also shall be the great sea from the border. i. e. From the south border, mentioned in the foregoing verse; so ver. 18. from the border, means the northern border, mentioned ver. 17. Till a man come over against Hamath.] Or rather, Till a man come to Hamath; for so the particle nad-7iocah signifies: (see Noldius, p. 657.) till you come to Hamath, the northern point towards the west frontier.
Ezekiel 47:22
Ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you. See the note upon ver. 14. And to the strangers that sojourn among you.] Foreigners never before had the privilege of purchasing or possessing any inheritance among the Jews; so this mystically denotes the incorporating the gentiles into the same church with the Jews: making them fellow-heirs, and of the samebody with them, by the gospel, Ephes. iii. G. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel] In whatsoever tribe they sojourn, as it is expressed in the next verse.