Ezekiel 47:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 47:8
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.
a circuit or region · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
down
וְיָרְד֖וּve.ya.re.Du
H3381
to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
desert
הָֽעֲרָבָ֑הha.'a.ra.Vah
H6160
a desert · definite article + proper noun, a place name
go
וּבָ֣אוּu.Va.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
sea
הַיָּ֔מָּהhai.Ya.mah
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute + directional suffix
forth
הַמּֽוּצָאִ֖יםha.mu.tza.'Im
H3318
to go (causatively · definite article + verb, hophal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
sea
הַיָּ֥מָּהhai.Ya.mah
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute + directional suffix
waters
הַמָּֽיִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
healed
וְנִרְפּ֥וּve.nir.pe.'u
H7495
properly · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
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
Joshua 3:16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those tha…
Deuteronomy 3:17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah e…
Deuteronomy 4:49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
2 Kings 2:19-22 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is na…
Isaiah 44:3-5 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon th…
Isaiah 35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be gr…
Isaiah 41:17-19 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel w…
Isaiah 43:20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give…
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…
the desert--or "plain," Hebrew, Arabah (Deu 3:17; Deu 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…
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…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 8) These waters that come out, either into the Galilee of the Gentiles, according to the Septuagint, or (as it is more accurately contained in Hebrew) into the hills of the eastern sand, and they descend to the plains of the desert, or to Arabia, they will enter the sea, or to the ends of the sea, and the waters will be healed. We previously said that waters either signify the grace of baptism or the Evangelical doctrine. If these waters leave the threshold of the Lord's temple and hold fast to the Apostolic discipline, they make the previously barren and infertile hills fruitful and turn everything flat and deserted into a well-watered land, so that they embody the sacrament of the Jordan River. This river, which Elisha cured with Evangelical and Apostolic salt, transformed barrenness and death into abundance and life. Not only did they heal the deserts, but they entered the Dead Sea, a sea in which nothing living could exist, and the most bitter sea, which in Greek is called λίμνην ἀσφαλτῖτιν, that is, the lake of bitumen. And in a wonderful way, the dead waters are healed by the waters of the Gospel, which, because they have nothing living in them, are given the name of death. For they had not known Him who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
(Verses 8-10) And he said to me: These waters that go out to the hills of the East (or Oriental), and go down to the plains of the desert (or this water that goes out into Galilee, which turns to the East, and goes down to Arabia), shall enter the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed. And every living creature (or animal) that crawls (or of crawling creatures), wherever the torrent (or river) shall come, shall live; and there shall be very many fish, after these waters come there; and they shall be healed, and all things to which the torrent (or river) shall come shall live. And the fishermen shall stand upon its banks from Engaddi even to Engallim; it shall be a place to spread their nets. The fish of it shall be of very many kinds, like the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. And the leading guide and teacher, the prophet, teaches and says: These waters that come out, either into the Galilee of the Gentiles, according to the Septuagint, or (as it is more accurately contained in Hebrew) into the hills of the eastern sand, and they descend to the plains of the desert, or to Arabia, they will enter the sea, or to the ends of the sea, and the waters will be healed. We previously said that waters either signify the grace of baptism or the Evangelical doctrine. If these waters leave the threshold of the Lord's temple and hold fast to the Apostolic discipline, they make the previously barren and infertile hills fruitful and turn everything flat and deserted into a well-watered land, so that they embody the sacrament of the Jordan River. This river, which Elisha cured with Evangelical and Apostolic salt, transformed barrenness and death into abundance and life. Not only did they heal the deserts, but they entered the Dead Sea, a sea in which nothing living could exist, and the most bitter sea, which in Greek is called λίμνην ἀσφαλτῖτιν, that is, the lake of bitumen. And in a wonderful way, the dead waters are healed by the waters of the Gospel, which, because they have nothing living in them, are given the name of death. For they had not known Him who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). And truly, according to the letter, nothing that breathes and can walk can be found in this sea due to excessive bitterness: not even snails, small worms, eels, and other types of animals or serpents, whose bodies we can know more than…
Dictionary and topics
Dead Sea — The name given by Greek writers of the second century to that inland sea called in Scripture the “salt sea” (Gen. 14:3; Num. 34:12), the “sea of the plain” (Deut. 3:17), the “east sea” (Ezek. 47:18;…
Desert — (1.) Heb. midbar, “pasture-ground;” an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The “backside of the desert” (Ex. 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the…
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…
Sea, The Salt — the usual and perhaps the most ancient name for the remarkable lake which to the western world is now generally known as the Dead Sea. I. Names.— (1) The Salt Sea, (Genesis 14:3) (2) Sea of the…
Dead Sea · Prophecy concerning — Prophecy concerning
Ezekiel · Of the river — Of the river
River · .Of salvation — .Of salvation
Rivers · Run into the sea — Run into the sea
Sea, The · Replenished by rivers — Replenished by rivers
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).
Then said he unto me,.... The man that measured the waters spoke to the prophet again, and showed him the course of the waters; the quickening and healing virtue of them, and the multitude of fish in them:
these waters issue out toward the east country; the Gospel was first preached in the eastern parts of the world; See Gill on Ezekiel 47:3, or "towards the first, or east Galilee" (f); in Galilee Christ began to preach, and wrought his first miracle; here he called his disciples, and chiefly conversed; and here he had the greatest followers, and some of the first Christian churches were formed here after his ascension, Matthew 4:12,
and go down into the desert; or wilderness, the wilderne…
The river grew as it went, bringing life to everything it touched, even the salty waters of the Dead Sea.
Rashi on Ezekiel 47:8
to the...frontier [Heb. הֳגְלִילָה,] la marche, frontier (province).
the eastern [Heb. הַקַּדְמוֹנָה,] the eastern. Our Rabbis taught in the Tosefta of Succah (3:3): Where do they flow? To the Sea of Tiberias (Kinnereth), the Sea of Sodom (Dead Sea), and to the Great Sea, to heal their salty waters and to sweeten them.
[“Will descend upon the plain”] this is the Sea of Tiberias.
[“And come to the sea”] this is the Sea of Sodom.
to the sea that is brought out This is the אוֹקיַינוּס ocean, which is brought out from civilization to encompass the world.
And [it will come] to heal the waters of their saltiness. The Midrash Aggadah [says] Yerushalmi Shekalim (6:2): Why does he call them הַמו…
