Ezekiel 47:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 47:4
Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thousand
אֶ֔לֶף'E.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
through
וַיַּעֲבִרֵ֥נִיvai.ya.'a.vi.Re.ni
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
waters
בַמַּ֖יִםva.Ma.yim
H4325
water · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
waters
מַ֣יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
knees
בִּרְכָּ֑יִםbir.Ka.yim
H1290
a knee · noun, common feminine dual absolute
measured
וַיָּ֣מָדvai.Ya.mod
H4058
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thousand
אֶ֔לֶף'E.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
through
וַיַּעֲבִרֵ֖נִיvai.ya.'a.vi.Re.ni
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
waters
מֵ֥יmei
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural construct
loins
מָתְנָֽיִםma.te.Na.yim
H4975
properly · noun, common masculine dual 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
Colossians 1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew…
Romans 15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully pr…
Acts 19:10-20 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 47:1-12
This part of Ezekiel's vision must so necessarily have a mystical and spiritual meaning that thence we conclude the other parts of his vision have a mystical and spiritual meaning also; for it cannot be applied to the waters brought by pipes into the temple for the washing of the sacrifices, the keeping of the temple clean, and the carrying off of those waters, for that would be to turn this pleasant river into a sink or common sewer. That prophecy, Zac 14:8, may explain it, of living waters that shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them towards the former sea and half of them towards the hinder sea. And there is plainly a reference to this in St. John's vision of a pure river of water of li…
He measured a thousand cubits - the waters were to the Ankles; a thousand more, - the waters were to the Knees; a thousand more, - they became a River that could not be forded. The waters were risen, and they were waters to Swim in.
I. This may be applied to the gradual discoveries of the plan of salvation, -
1. In the patriarchal ages.
2. In the giving of the law.
3. In the ministry of John the Baptist. And,
4. In the full manifestation of Christ by the communication of the Holy Ghost.
II. This vision may be applied also to the growth of a believer in the grace and knowledge of God. There is -
1. The seed of the kingdom.
2. The blade from that seed.
3. The ear out of that blade. And,
4. T…
And again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees,.... The man with his line measured another thousand cubits straight on from the first; and then bid the prophet cross and ford them again, and then they were knee deep:
again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins; a third time he measured a thousand cubits still onward, and ordered the prophet to wade through them, when they were risen so high as to reach his loins. The waters to the knees and loins may signify the greater knowledge of the Gospel, and the mysteries of it, the apostles had after the Spirit was poured forth; and the greater spread of it in…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 4) And he measured again a thousand, and he led me through the water up to the knees (or he passed in the water unto the thighs). And he measured a thousand, and he led me through the water up to the loins (or he passed in the water unto the waist). But after one thousand cubits, which bring us to the ankle, he measures another thousand cubits in water and leads me up to the knees. After the forgiveness of sins, and during the journey of progress, when we attempt to ascend even a little from earthly things to higher ones, we bend our knees to the Lord, with the Apostle saying: So that every knee shall bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10). He measures another three thousand cubits, and leads me through the water up to my waist, he says. For we climb to lofty heights by degrees: but those very heights descend to the loins and kidneys, so that every base desire within us is cut off; and we possess the sanctification of the body, without which no one sees God. Hence in the same Prophet it is written: 'From His feet to His loins He is a fiery God' (Ezekiel 8:2). For the loins need fire and purgation, as the just man says, 'For my loins are filled with illusions' (Psalm 38:8), through which the enemy deludes us both in the day and in the night time. But from the loins to the head and neck, it shines with the glitter of precious electrum, so that it has nothing filthy in itself, nothing of cheapness.
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…
Ezekiel · Of the river — Of the river
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
River · .Of salvation — .Of salvation
Water · Vision of, by Ezekiel — Vision of, by Ezekiel
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).
At first, the stream was a mere trickle coming out from the gate of the Temple, but as it flowed out it became deeper and deeper until it was too deep to walk through. The exiles needed to be reminded that God often works from small beginnings that miraculously blossom into full flower.
Rashi on Ezekiel 47:4
And he measured one thousand another [one thousand cubits], and they deepened up to the knees, and another thousand, and they deepened up to the loins. From here on, it was a stream that I could not cross. From here we learn that one should not enter water from the loins and higher, lest the water over power him. As soon as he came to the water reaching the loins, he went out upon the bank of the river and measured another thousand before him, a stream that cannot be crossed, and his feet were standing on dry land. This is what is written (v. 6): “and he brought me back [upon] the bank of the stream,” i.e., near the bank of the stream that is where he had been standing.
