4 Again he measured H4058 a thousand, H505 and brought me through H5674 the waters; H4325 the waters H4325 were to the knees. H1290 Again he measured H4058 a thousand, H505 and brought me through; H5674 the waters H4325 were to the loins. H4975
And G1161 this G5124 continued G1096 by the space G1909 of two G1417 years; G2094 so G5620 that all G3956 they which dwelt in G2730 Asia G773 heard G191 the word G3056 of the Lord G2962 Jesus, G2424 both G5037 Jews G2453 and G2532 Greeks. G1672 And G5037 God G2316 wrought G4160 special G3756 G5177 miracles G1411 by G1223 the hands G5495 of Paul: G3972 So G2532 G5620 that from G575 his G846 body G5559 were brought G2018 unto G1909 the sick G770 handkerchiefs G4676 or G2228 aprons, G4612 and G2532 the diseases G3554 departed G525 from G575 them, G846 and G5037 the evil G4190 spirits G4151 went G1831 out of G575 them. G846 Then G1161 certain G5100 of G575 the vagabond G4022 Jews, G2453 exorcists, G1845 took upon them G2021 to call G3687 over G1909 them which had G2192 evil G4190 spirits G4151 the name G3686 of the Lord G2962 Jesus, G2424 saying, G3004 We adjure G3726 you G5209 by Jesus G2424 whom G3739 Paul G3972 preacheth. G2784 And G1161 there were G2258 seven G2033 sons G5207 of one Sceva, G4630 G5100 a Jew, G2453 and chief of the priests, G749 which did G4160 so. G5124 And G1161 the evil G4190 spirit G4151 answered G611 and said, G2036 Jesus G2424 I know, G1097 and G2532 Paul G3972 I know; G1987 but G1161 who G5101 are G2075 ye? G5210 And G2532 the man G444 in G1722 whom G3739 the evil G4190 spirit G4151 was G2258 leaped G2177 on G1909 them, G846 and G2532 overcame G2634 them, G846 and prevailed G2480 against G2596 them, G846 so G5620 that they fled G1628 out of G1537 that G1565 house G3624 naked G1131 and G2532 wounded. G5135 And G1161 this G5124 was G1096 known G1110 to all G3956 the Jews G2453 and G5037 Greeks G1672 also G2532 dwelling G2730 at Ephesus; G2181 and G2532 fear G5401 fell G1968 on G1909 them G846 all, G3956 and G2532 the name G3686 of the Lord G2962 Jesus G2424 was magnified. G3170 And G5037 many G4183 that believed G4100 came, G2064 and confessed, G1843 and G2532 shewed G312 their G846 deeds. G4234 Many G2425 of them also G1161 which used G4238 curious arts G4021 brought G4851 their books G976 together, G4851 and burned them G2618 before G1799 all G3956 men: and G2532 they counted G4860 the price G5092 of them, G846 and G2532 found G2147 it fifty G4002 thousand G3461 pieces of silver. G694 So G3779 mightily G2596 G2904 grew G837 the word G3056 of God G2962 and G2532 prevailed. G2480
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.