1 Afterward he brought me again H7725 unto the door H6607 of the house; H1004 and, behold, waters H4325 issued out H3318 from under the threshold H4670 of the house H1004 eastward: H6921 for the forefront H6440 of the house H1004 stood toward the east, H6921 and the waters H4325 came down H3381 from under from the right H3233 side H3802 of the house, H1004 at the south H5045 side of the altar. H4196
There is a river, H5104 the streams H6388 whereof shall make glad H8055 the city H5892 of God, H430 the holy H6918 place of the tabernacles H4908 of the most High. H5945
And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the mountains H2022 shall drop down H5197 new wine, H6071 and the hills H1389 shall flow H3212 with milk, H2461 and all the rivers H650 of Judah H3063 shall flow H3212 with waters, H4325 and a fountain H4599 shall come forth H3318 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and shall water H8248 the valley H5158 of Shittim. H7851
For my people H5971 have committed H6213 two H8147 evils; H7451 they have forsaken H5800 me the fountain H4726 of living H2416 waters, H4325 and hewed them out H2672 cisterns, H877 broken H7665 cisterns, H877 that can hold H3557 no water. H4325
In that day H3117 there shall be a fountain H4726 opened H6605 to the house H1004 of David H1732 and to the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem H3389 for sin H2403 and for uncleanness. H5079
And there shall be upon every high H1364 mountain, H2022 and upon every high H5375 hill, H1389 rivers H6388 and streams H2988 of waters H4325 in the day H3117 of the great H7227 slaughter, H2027 when the towers H4026 fall. H5307
And by the river H5158 upon the bank H8193 thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow H5927 all trees H6086 for meat, H3978 whose leaf H5929 shall not fade, H5034 neither shall the fruit H6529 thereof be consumed: H8552 it shall bring forth new fruit H1069 according to his months, H2320 because their waters H4325 they issued out H3318 of the sanctuary: H4720 and the fruit H6529 thereof shall be for meat, H3978 and the leaf H5929 thereof for medicine. H8644
And G2532 the Spirit G4151 and G2532 the bride G3565 say, G3004 Come. G2064 And G2532 let him that heareth G191 say, G2036 Come. G2064 And G2532 let him that is athirst G1372 come. G2064 And G2532 whosoever will, G2309 let him take G2983 the water G5204 of life G2222 freely. G1432
And many H7227 people H5971 shall go H1980 and say, H559 Come H3212 ye, and let us go up H5927 to the mountain H2022 of the LORD, H3068 to the house H1004 of the God H430 of Jacob; H3290 and he will teach H3384 us of his ways, H1870 and we will walk H3212 in his paths: H734 for out of Zion H6726 shall go forth H3318 the law, H8451 and the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 from Jerusalem. H3389
And the breadth H7341 of the door H6607 was ten H6235 cubits; H520 and the sides H3802 of the door H6607 were five H2568 cubits H520 on the one side, and five H2568 cubits H520 on the other side: and he measured H4058 the length H753 thereof, forty H705 cubits: H520 and the breadth, H7341 twenty H6242 cubits. H520
And the temple H1964 and the sanctuary H6944 had two H8147 doors. H1817 And the doors H1817 had two H8147 leaves H1817 apiece, two H8147 turning H4142 leaves; H1817 two H8147 leaves for the one H259 door, H1817 and two H8147 leaves H1817 for the other H312 door. And there were made H6213 on them, on the doors H1817 of the temple, H1964 cherubims H3742 and palm trees, H8561 like as were made H6213 upon the walls; H7023 and there were thick H5646 planks H6086 upon the face H6440 of the porch H197 without. H2351 And there were narrow H331 windows H2474 and palm trees H8561 on the one side and on the other side, on the sides H3802 of the porch, H197 and upon the side chambers H6763 of the house, H1004 and thick planks. H5646
G1161 In G1722 the last G2078 day, G2250 that great G3173 day of the feast, G1859 Jesus G2424 stood G2476 and G2532 cried, G2896 saying, G3004 If G1437 any man G5100 thirst, G1372 let him come G2064 unto G4314 me, G3165 and G2532 drink. G4095 He that believeth G4100 on G1519 me, G1691 as G2531 the scripture G1124 hath said, G2036 out of G1537 his G846 belly G2836 shall flow G4482 rivers G4215 of living G2198 water. G5204 (But G1161 this G5124 spake he G2036 of G4012 the Spirit, G4151 which G3739 they that believe G4100 on G1519 him G846 should G3195 receive: G2983 for G1063 the Holy G40 Ghost G4151 was G2258 not yet G3768 given; because G3754 that Jesus G2424 was G1392 not yet G3764 glorified.) G1392
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 47
Commentary on Ezekiel 47 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 47
Eze 47:1-23. Vision of the Temple Waters. Borders and Division of The land.
The happy fruit to the earth at large of God's dwelling with Israel in holy fellowship is that the blessing is no longer restricted to the one people and locality, but is to be diffused with comprehensive catholicity through the whole world. So the plant from the cedar of Lebanon is represented as gathering under its shelter "all fowl of every wing" (Eze 17:23). Even the desert places of the earth shall be made fruitful by the healing waters of the Gospel (compare Isa 35:1).
1. waters—So Re 22:1, represents "the water of life as proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." His throne was set up in the temple at Jerusalem (Eze 43:7). Thence it is to flow over the earth (Joe 3:18; Zec 13:1; 14:8). Messiah is the temple and the door; from His pierced side flow the living waters, ever increasing, both in the individual believer and in the heart. The fountains in the vicinity of Moriah suggested the image here. The waters flow eastward, that is, towards the Kedron, and thence towards the Jordan, and so along the Ghor into the Dead Sea. The main point in the picture is the rapid augmentation from a petty stream into a mighty river, not by the influx of side streams, but by its own self-supply from the sacred miraculous source in the temple [Henderson]. (Compare Ps 36:8, 9; 46:4; Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14). Searching into the things of God, we find some easy to understand, as the water up to the ankles; others more difficult, which require a deeper search, as the waters up to the knees or loins; others beyond our reach, of which we can only adore the depth (Ro 11:33). The healing of the waters of the Dead Sea here answers to "there shall be no more curse" (Re 22:3; compare Zec 14:11).
7. trees—not merely one tree of life as in Paradise (Ge 3:22), but many: to supply immortal food and medicine to the people of God, who themselves also become "trees of righteousness" (Isa 61:3) planted by the waters and (Ps 1:3) bearing fruit unto holiness.
8. the desert—or "plain," Hebrew, Arabah (De 3:17; 4:49; Jos 3:16), which is the name still given to the valley of the Jordan and the plain south of the Dead Sea, and extending to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea.
the sea—the Dead Sea. "The sea" noted as covering with its waters the guilty cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah. In its bituminous waters no vegetable or animal life is said to be found. But now death is to give place to life in Judea, and throughout the world, as symbolized by the healing of these death-pervaded waters covering the doomed cities. Compare as to "the sea" in general, regarded as a symbol of the troubled powers of nature, disordered by the fall, henceforth to rage no more, Re 21:1.
9. rivers—in Hebrew, "two rivers." Hence Hebrew expositors think that the waters from the temple were divided into two branches, the one emptying itself into the eastern or Dead Sea, the other into the western or Mediterranean. So Zec 14:8. However, though this probably is covertly implied in the Hebrew dual, the flowing of the waters into the Dead Sea only is expressed. Compare Eze 47:8, "waters … healed," which can apply only to it, not to the Mediterranean: also Eze 47:10, "fish as the fish of the great sea"; the Dead Sea, when healed, containing fish, as the Mediterranean does.
10. En-gedi … En-eglaim—En-gedi (meaning "fountain of the kid"), anciently, Hazazon-Tamar, now Ain-Jidy; west of the Dead Sea; David's place of refuge from Saul. En-eglaim means "fountain of two calves," on the confines of Moab, over against En-gedi, and near where Jordan enters the Dead Sea (Isa 15:8). These two limits are fixed on, to comprise between them the whole Dead Sea.
fish … according to their kinds—Jerome quotes an ancient theory that "there are a hundred fifty-three kinds of fishes," all of which were taken by the apostles (Joh 21:11), and not one remained uncaptured; signifying that both the noble and baseborn, the rich and the poor, and every class, are being drawn out of the sea of the world to salvation. Compare Mt 13:47, the gospel net; the apostles being fishermen, at first literally, afterwards spiritually (Mt 4:19).
11. marshes—marshy places. The region is known to have such pits and marshes. 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; Ps 107:34; Zep 2:9); an awful example to others in the punishment they suffer (2Pe 2:6).
12. Instead of the "vine of Sodom and grapes of Gomorrah" (De 32:32), nauseous and unwholesome, trees of life-giving and life-restoring virtue shall bloom similar in properties to, and exceeding in number, the tree of life in Eden (Re 2:7; 22:2, 14).
leaf … not fade—expressing not only the unfailing character of the heavenly medicine of the tree of life, but also that the graces of the believer (as a tree of righteousness), which are the leaves, and his deeds, which are the fruits that flow from those graces, are immortal (Ps 1:3; Jer 17:8; Mt 10:42; 1Co 15:58).
new fruit—literally, "firstlings," or first fruit. They are still, each month afresh, as it were, yielding their first-fruit [Fairbairn]. The first-born of a thing, in Hebrew idiom, means the chiefest. As Job 18:13, "the first-born of death," that is, the most fatal death.
13. The redivision of the land: the boundaries. The latter are substantially the same as those given by Moses in Nu 34:1-29; they here begin with the north, but in Numbers they begin with the south (Nu 34:3). It is only Canaan proper, exclusive of the possession of the two and a half tribes beyond Jordan, that is here divided.
Joseph … two portions—according to the original promise of Jacob (Ge 48:5, 22). Joseph's sons were given the birthright forfeited by Reuben, the first-born (1Ch 5:1). Therefore the former is here put first. His two sons having distinct portions make up the whole number twelve portions, as he had just before specified "twelve tribes of Israel"; for Levi had no separate inheritance, so that he is not reckoned in the twelve.
15. Zedad—on the north boundary of Canaan.
16. Hamath—As Israel was a separate people, so their land was a separate land. On no scene could the sacred history have been so well transacted as on it. On the east was the sandy desert. On the north and south, mountains. On the west, an inhospitable sea-shore. But it was not always to be a separate land. Between the parallel ranges of Lebanon is the long valley of El-Bekaa, leading to "the entering in of Hamath" on the Orontes, in the Syrian frontier. Roman roads, and the harbor made at Cæsarea, opened out doors through which the Gospel should go from it to all lands. So in the last days, when all shall flock to Jerusalem as the religious center of the world.
Berothah—a city in Syria conquered by David (2Sa 8:8); meaning "wells."
Hazar-hatticon—meaning "the middle village."
Hauran—a tract in Syria, south of Damascus; Auranitis.
17. Hazar-enan—a town in the north of Canaan, meaning "village of fountains."
18. east sea—the Dead Sea. The border is to go down straight to it by the valley of the Jordan. So Nu 34:11, 12.
19. Tamar—not Tadmor in the desert, but Tamar, the last town of Judea, by the Dead Sea. Meaning "palm tree"; so called from palm trees abounding near it.
22. to the strangers—It is altogether unprecedented under the old covenant, that "strangers" should have "inheritance" among the tribes. There would not be room locally within Canaan for more than the tribes. The literal sense must therefore be modified, as expressing that Gentiles are not to be excluded from settling among the covenant-people, and that spiritually their privileges are not to be less than those of Israel (Ro 10:12; Ga 3:28; Eph 3:6; Col 3:11; Re 7:9, 10). Still, "sojourneth," in Eze 47:23, implies that in Canaan, the covenant people are regarded as at home, the strangers as settlers.