Ezekiel 47:13

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.

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 of the earth; and from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, his name shall be great among the Gentiles.

Ezekiel 47:13 . This shall be the border, &c. — The borders described in the following part of this chapter shall be the limits or boundaries of your country; whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel — By the several captivities both of Israel and Judah, the several limits or borders, belonging to the inheritance of each tribe, were obliterated and forgotten; whereupon a new boundary and division are here made of the holy land. “The allotment of the land,” says Grotius, “made here, and in the next chapter, would have taken place, had the ten tribes in general, as well as Judah and Benjamin, turned themselves to the worship of the true God: for if so, they, as well as Judah and Benjamin, would have obtained a restoration. But only some part of them returned with Judah and Benjamin, with whom they settled in common in the land of Judea.” This may, perhaps, be the literal sense of the following part of the prophecy; but, without question, a mystical sense is implied under this literal description, as well as in all the preceding parts of the vision. Joseph shall have two portions — Upon Reuben’s forfeiting his birthright, the double portion, belonging to the firstborn, accrued to Joseph and his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, according to Jacob’s own appointment.

(13) According to the twelve tribes of Israel.— In the ideal land of the restoration, not Judah and Benjamin only, but all the twelve tribes are to have their portions. Yet Levi is otherwise provided for in the “oblation,” and therefore Joseph, in accordance with Genesis 48:5 ; Genesis 48:22 , and with the whole history of the nation, is to have two portions. The Hebrew is simply “Joseph portions” in the plural, but that these portions were to be two and no more was a matter of course, not needing to be specified.

Verses 13-23. - The boundaries of the land, and the manner of its division. Verse 13. - Thus saith the Lord . The usual formula introducing a new Divine enactment (comp. Ezekiel 43:18 ; Ezekiel 44:9 ; Ezekiel 45:9, 18 ; Ezekiel 46:1, 16 ). This. גֵה is obviously a copyist's error for זֶה , which the LXX., the Vulgate, and the Targum have substituted for it; the change seems demanded by the complete untranslatability of גֵה , and by the fact that וְזֶה גְּבוּל recurs in ver. 15. T he border, whereby ye shall inherit the land ; or, divide the land for inheritance (Revised Version). The term גְּבוּל , applied in Ezekiel 43:13, 17 to the border of the altar here signifies the boundary or limit of the land. (For the verb, comp. Numbers 32:18 ; Numbers 34:13 ; Isaiah 14:2 .) According to the twelve tribes . This presupposed that at least representatives of the twelve tribes would return from exile; but it is doubtful if this can be proved from Scripture to have taken place, which once more shows that a literal interpretation of this temple-vision cannot be consistently carried through.

Smend observes that the word commonly employed in the priest-cede to denote "tribes" is מַטּות ( Numbers 26:55 ; Numbers 30:1 ; Numbers 31:4 ; Numbers 33:54 ; Joshua 14:1 ; Joshua 21:1 ; Joshua 22:14 ), which is never used by Ezekiel, who habitually selects, as here, the term שְׁבָטִים ( Ezekiel 37:19 ; Ezekiel 45:8 ; Ezekiel 48:1 ), which also was not unknown to the priest-cede ( Exodus 39:14 ; Numbers 18:2 ; Joshua 13:29 ; Joshua 21:16 ; Joshua 22:9, 10, 11, 13 ). That is to say, if the priest-cede existed before Ezekiel, he had the choice of both terms, and selected shebhet ; whereas if Ezekiel existed before the priest-cede, and prepared the way for it, the author of the latter rejected Ezekiel's word shebhet , and adopted another perfectly unknown to the prophet. This fact appears to point to a dependence of Ezekiel on the priest-cede rather than of the priest-cede on Ezekiel. Joseph shall have two portions ; rather, Joseph portions , as חֲבָלִים is not dual . Yet that two were intended is undoubted (see Genesis 48:22 ; Joshua 17:14, 17 ). Ezekiel 47:13

13 . The tribe of Joseph, being composed of two great families, shall have “portions,” i.e. two lots (perhaps dual should be read). There still remained twelve tribes, therefore, even when Levi was provided for by the sacred Terumah or oblation. 13–21 . The boundaries of the new holy land On the east the boundary shall be the Jordan from Hazar Enon on the north to the salt sea on the south, for in the time of restitution the promised land shall be confined to Palestine west of the Jordan, according to the oath sworn by God unto the fathers ( Genesis 12:7 ; Genesis 13:15 ; Genesis 17:8 ; Genesis 28:13 ). On the west the boundary shall be the Mediterranean sea. The boundaries on the N. and S. are particularly defined, the towns being mentioned by which they run, but the places named are mostly unknown. The boundaries are in the main the same as those laid down in Numbers 34.

The border; the utmost bounds of the whole land. Shall inherit; that is, shall divide for inheritance to the tribes of Israel. According to the twelve tribes: as it was at first divided into twelve portions, so now again. Joseph; that is, the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, and this pursuant of their adoption by Jacob, as well as in fulfilling the will of Jacob, who gave Joseph a double share.

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.