Ezekiel 47:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 47:13
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.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֔הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
This
גֵּ֤הgeh
H1454
this · demonstrative particle
border
גְבוּל֙ge.Vul
H1366
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
inherit
תִּתְנַחֲל֣וּtit.na.cha.Lu
H5157
to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent) · verb, hithpael imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
land
הָאָ֔רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
twelve
לִשְׁנֵ֥יlish.Nei
H8147
two · preposition + cardinal number, both genders dual construct
tribes
שִׁבְטֵ֣יshiv.Tei
H7626
a scion · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Joseph
יוֹסֵ֖ףyo.Sef
H3130
Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
portions
חֲבָלִֽיםcha.va.Lim
H2256
a rope (as twisted) · noun, common both genders plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as…
Numbers 34:2-12 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an i…
Jeremiah 3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land…
Ezekiel 48:4-6 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
1 Chronicles 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was…
Jeremiah 31:1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
Genesis 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 47:13–end
We are now to pass from the affairs of the sanctuary to those of the state, from the city to the country. 1. The Land of Canaan is here secured to them for an inheritance (Eze 47:14): I lifted up my hand to give it unto your fathers, that is, promised it upon oath to them and their posterity. Though the possession had been a great while discontinued, yet God had not forgotten his oath which he swore to their fathers. Though God's providences may for a time seem to contradict his promises, yet the promise will certainly take place at last, for God will be ever mindful of his covenant. I lifted up my hand to give it, and therefore it shall without fail fall to you for an inheritance. Thus the…
The redivision of the land: the boundaries. The latter are substantially the same as those given by Moses in Num. 34:1-29; they here begin with the north, but in Numbers they begin with the south (Num 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 (Gen 48:5, Gen 48:22). Joseph's sons were given the birthright forfeited by Reuben, the first-born (Ch1 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 ha…
Joseph shall have two portions - That is, In Ephraim and Manasseh, his two sons, who each had a separate inheritance.
John Gill on Ezekiel 47:13
Thus saith the Lord God, this shall be the border,.... Of the land of Israel, as described in the following verses; which being different from, and much larger, and more extensive, than it was in the times of Moses or Joshua, or than it was either before or after the captivity in Babylon, shows that this must be understood either of the land of Canaan, as it will be when possessed and inhabited by the Jews, upon their conversion in the latter day; or rather of the church of Christ, which is far greater than it was under the former dispensation; and especially it will be still more extensive hereafter, when Christ's kingdom will be from sea to sea, and his dominion from the river to the ends…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 13, 14) Thus says the Lord God: This is the boundary in which you shall possess the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel, for Joseph has a double portion. Each of you shall possess it equally as his brother, to whom I raised my hand to give it to your fathers; and this land shall fall to you as a possession. Because we said that Joseph has a double portion, the Septuagint translated it as an increase of the portion. For indeed Joseph is interpreted as increase; understanding the matter instead of the name, and confusing the mind of the reader. For when the Levite tribe was subtracted and delegated to temple sacrifices, there remained eleven tribes, of which the tribe of Joseph was divided into two, Ephraim and Manasseh, who said to Joshua the son of Nun: Why have you given me the possession of one lot and one portion, since I am of such a great multitude, and the Lord has blessed me? To which Joshua responded: If you are a large population, go up into the forest and clear for yourself the spaces in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, because the possession of the mountain of Ephraim is narrow for you (Joshua 17: 14, 15). And again, Joshua said to the house of Ephraim and Manasseh: You are a large and powerful people, you shall not have one portion, but you shall go to the mountain and clear for yourself spaces to dwell, and you will be able to advance further when you have driven out the Canaanite, who you say has iron chariots and is strongest (Ibid., 27). We say this for the following reason: because the Scriptures now mention Joseph, that is, Ephraim and Manasseh, as having a double portion. But each tribe, according to its own multitude, receives equal portions of land, not divided by the will of the divider, but by lot, which is in the power of the Lord. Finally, even Joshua himself, who was the divider of the land, did not separate for himself a particular piece of land, so as not to appear to have chosen the best; but he received from the leaders of all the tribes, Timnath-serah in the mount of Ephraim.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ezekiel, Book of — Consists mainly of three groups of prophecies. After an account of his call to the prophetical office (1-3:21), Ezekiel (1) utters words of denunciation against the Jews (3:22-24), warning them of…
Canaan · .Prophecy concerning, after the restoration of Israel — .Prophecy concerning, after the restoration of Israel
Ezekiel · Of the river — Of the river
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The book of Ezekiel’s final section charts the boundaries and the distribution of the land. Theology is expressed here through geography; issues of space, access, and position relative to the Temple are of crucial significance.
Rashi on Ezekiel 47:13
This is the border [Heb. גֵּה גְבוּל.] Jonathan renders: This is the border, just like זֶה גְבוּל ; and so too (above 25:7): “and I have given you for plunder (לבג) to the nations,” is like לְבַז. It may also be interpreted as a form of the word for valley (גַיְא).
Joseph portions Joseph shall take two portions, one for Manasseh and one for Ephraim.
