Ezekiel 47:10

47:1-23 These waters signify the gospel of Christ, which went forth from Jerusalem, and spread into the countries about; also the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost which accompanied it, by virtue of which is spread far, and produced blessed effects. Christ is the Temple; and he is the Door; from him the living waters flow, out of his pierced side. They are increasing waters. Observe the progress of the gospel in the world, and the process of the work of grace in the heart; attend the motions of the blessed Spirit under Divine guidance. If we search into the things of God, we find some things plain and easy to be understood, as the waters that were but to the ankles; others more difficult, which require a deeper search, as the waters to the knees, or the loins; and some quite beyond our reach, which we cannot penetrate; but must, as St. Paul did, adore the depth, Ro 11. It is wisdom to begin with that which is most easy, before we proceed to that which is dark and hard to be understood. The promises of the sacred word, and the privileges of believers, as shed abroad in their souls by the quickening Spirit, abound where the gospel is preached; they nourish and delight the souls of men; they never fade nor wither, nor are exhausted. Even the leaves serve as medicines to the soul: the warnings and reproofs of the word, though less pleasant than Divine consolations, tend to heal the diseases of the soul.

And it shall come to pass,.... In Gospel times: what follows had a fulfilment in the first times of the Gospel, and will have a greater in the latter times of it: that the fishers shall stand upon it; upon the brink of the river, or the shore of the sea, whose waters will be healed by this river running into them. These "fishers" are the apostles of Christ, who, of fishermen, were made fishers of men by him; to whom he gave a call, and a commission, and gifts qualifying them to preach the Gospel; whereby they caught men, and brought them to Christ; and so were the instruments of saving them, even of great numbers, both in Judea, and in the Gentile world; of which some instances of their fishing, after their call to the ministry, were emblematical; Matthew 4:18, likewise all other ministers of the Gospel are here meant, especially those that will be in the latter day; compared to fishers for the meanness and contemptibleness of their employment in the eyes of the world; for their labouriousness in it, and for their patient waiting for success therein; and for the bad weather, storms, and tempests, they are exposed unto, the reproach and persecution of men; and their being the happy means of drawing souls out of the abyss of sin and misery unto Christ, for life and salvation: and their "standing" upon the brink of the waters to catch fish may denote their constancy their work; their strict attachment to the doctrines of the Gospel, and their waiting for success in it.

From Engedi even unto Eneglaim; two places, which, according to Jerom, lay, the latter one at the entrance of the Dead sea, and the former at the end of it; but Reland (k) observes that this could not be, if Josephus is to be credited, who makes Engedi to be about forty miles from Jerusalem (l); therefore could not be far from the beginning of the Dead sea, and not where it ended; since the Dead sea, or the lake of Asphaltites, was in length seventy three miles, and, consequently, Engedi must be more than seventy five or ninety miles from Jerusalem; but that it was at the beginning of it is still further manifest from the same writer making the lake to be just such a number of miles from Jerusalem (m) as he does Engedi; and whereas Engedi was on the western shore of the lake, as appears from Pliny (n), it is probable there was another city on the eastern shore, opposite to it, called Eneglaim; and there was a city on that side, the name of which was Agallim, which, according to Eusebius, was eight miles from Areopolis: and so it may signify the extent of the Gospel ministry, which, in the latter day, will be from one end of the earth to the other; and which took a large circuit in the times of the apostles, and particularly by the Apostle Paul, Romans 15:19.

Ezekiel 47:10 . Fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi unto En-eglaim — En- gedi was in the wilderness of Judah, Joshua 15:61-62 . De L’Isle places it toward the south-west point of the Dead sea; and En-eglaim is placed by the same writer at the north of the Dead sea, where Jordan runs into it. It is mentioned, Isaiah 15:8 , as a place on the borders of Moab, which country lay on the east side of the Dead sea. Bishop Newcome, following the punctuation adopted by the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic, reads, From En-gedi even to En-eglaim there shall be a spreading forth of nets; by which is signified, that fishers should be employed along the whole coast of it, denoting the multitude of gospel preachers, all over the world, labouring to gain sinners to Christ. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea — That is, the Mediterranean; exceeding many — Great multitudes of sinners, of all descriptions, in a thousand diversified forms of guilt and wretchedness, shall be brought to God by the word of these preachers, these fishers of men. So that this is a further amplification of what is said in Ezekiel 47:8 , that the waters should be healed, and strongly illustrates the salutary effect of the gospel, and the multitude of converts that should be made in the Gentile countries, even in the most idolatrous, ignorant, and wicked.

(10) From En-gedi even unto En-eglaim.— En-gedi, “the fountain of the goat,” is a well-known copious spring about midway on the western coast of the Dead Sea. En-eglaim occurs only here, and has not been certainly identified. St. Jerome speaks of “Engallim” as at the junction of the Jordan with the sea, and near this point there is a fountain now known as Ain-el-Feshkhah. Others consider that the dual form of the name indicates “one of the double cities of Moab,” thus placing it on the eastern side of the sea, and this seems more probable, since the expression would then be equivalent to “the whole breadth of the sea.” Everywhere they shall stretch their nets, and the variety and abundance of the fish shall be as great as in “the great sea,” that is, the Mediterranean. This whole verse in regard to the fishermen is a striking illustration of Ezekiel’s way of carrying out the most ideal description into detail.

Verse 10. - As another consequence of the inflowing of this river into the Dead Sea, it is stated that the fishers (rather, fishers , without the article) should stand upon its banks, from Engedi, even unto Englaim; there shall be a place to spread forth nets. The Revised Version more correctly renders, fishers shall stand by it ; from Engedi even unto Eneglaim , shall be a place for the spreading of nets ; or, more literally, a place of spreading , out for nets (comp. Ezekiel 26:5 ). Engedi, עֵין גֶּדִי , meaning "Fountain of the kid;" originally styled Hazezon-Tamar ( 2 Chronicles 20:2 ), now called ' Ain Jidy (Robinson,' Bibl. Res.,' 2:214), was situated in the middle of the west coast of the Dead Sea, and not at its southern extremity, as Jerome supposed. Englaim, עֵין עֶגְלַיִם , signifying "Fountain of two calves," was located by Jerome, who cars it En Gallim , at the northern extremity of the Dead Sea, and is usually identified with the modern ' Ain Feshkhah , or "Fountain of mist," at the northern end of the west coast, where the ruins of houses and a small tower have been discovered (Robinson, 'Bibl. Res.,' 2:220). Ewald cites Isaiah 15:8 to show that Englaim was on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, which, Smend notes, was given up by the prophet to the sons of the East. Ezekiel 47:10

10 . En-gedi, the modern Ain Jidy, kid’s well, situated about the middle of the west shore of the Dead Sea. En-eglaim has not been identified; it probably lay N. toward the mouth of the Jordan. It has been supposed to be Ain Feshkah, Robinson ii. 489. The word differs in spelling from Eglaim, Isaiah 15:8 , which probably lay to the south of the sea.

And it shall come to pass, that the {f} fishermen shall stand upon it from Engedi even to {g} Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of {h} the great sea, very many. (f) Signifying that when God bestows his mercies in such abundance the ministers will by their preaching win many. (g) Which were cities at the corners of the salt or dead sea. (h) They will be here of all sorts and in as great abundance as in the great ocean where they are bred.

"En-gedi" (see 1 Samuel 23:29 ) was about the middle of the western shore of the Dead Sea. En-eglaim does not occur elsewhere. Its form indicates that it was one of the double cities of Moab (see Ezekiel 25:9 note). It has been identified with "Ain-el-Feshkah" to the north on the western bank of the Dead Sea. On this supposition, "from En-eglaim to En-gedi" would be the line of coast from the most northern fountain to the principal fountain southward.

The fishers; men whose trade is to fish for livelihood and profit. Shall stand; shall dispose of themselves about these waters; either on the shore along the river-side, or in boats on the sea, to take the fish. Upon it; the sea, whose waters healed become fruitful. From En-gedi; which lay on the south-west of the lake of Sodom, so near, that it is reported there are the trees which bring forth fruit beautiful to the eye, but touched with the hand fall into ashes; yet on those parts more remote from this sea, En-gedi affords excellent vines, Song of Solomon 1:14 , or gardens of balsam trees. Unto En-eglaim; a city on the north-east of the Dead Sea, near which place Jordan runs into it, and they say it is a boundary town of Moab. Others will have it no proper, but a common name, and signifying the confluence of waters in any place; if so, it will be likeliest to be understood of that part of the Red Sea where Jordan and two lesser rivers run into it, at the north and north-east end of this sea. A place to spread forth nets, all along on the west side of this sea, to dry them and fit them again. According to their kinds; of all sorts. As the fish of the great sea; for number, growth, and goodness for use. Exceeding many, or great, of exceeding great bigness in their several kinds. All this is mystical, and fulfilled since Christ hath made his ministers, as he made his apostles, fishers of men.

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).