Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 47

Verse 1

Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

Eastward — The fountain lay to the west, the conduit pipes were laid to bring the water to the temple, and so must run eastward, and perhaps one main pipe might be laid under the east-gate of the temple.

The right side — On the south-side of the temple.

Verse 2

Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

Out — Of the inmost court.

The outer gate — The outmost north-gate in the wall that compassed the whole mountain of the Lord’s house.

Verse 3

And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.

He measured — By the line in his hand.

He brought me — Went before, and the prophet followed; all this was in vision.

Verse 8

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.

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.

Verse 9

And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

Shall live — Be preserved alive, and thrive, whereas no fish can live in the Dead-sea.

For they — The poisonous waters of the Dead-sea shall be made wholesome for fish.

Shall live — Thrive, and multiply in the virtue of the healing streams. Thus is the fruitfulness of the grace of God in the church set forth.

Verse 10

And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

En-gedi — Which lay on the south-west of the lake of Sodom.

En-eglaim — A city on the north-east of the Dead-sea.

To spread forth nets — All along on the west-side of this sea to dry them.

Verse 12

And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

Consumed — Never be consumed, never decay, there shall always be fruit, and enough.

Their waters — Those that watered them.

Issued out — And so carried a blessing with them.

Verse 13

Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.

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.

Verse 15

And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;

The great sea — The Mediterranean, which was the greatest sea the Jews knew.

Verse 18

And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.

The east sea — The Dead-sea, which lay on the east of Jerusalem. Thus a line drawn from Damascus through Auranitis, Gilead, the land of Israel beyond Jordan to the east-sea, made the eastern frontier.

Verse 19

And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.

The river — Called the river of Egypt, lay directly in the way to Egypt from Jerusalem.

The great sea — To the south-west part of the Mediterranean sea near Gaza.

Verse 22

And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

Children — Who from their birth should be invested with this right of inheriting.

Verse 23

And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.

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.