Ezekiel 47:15

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.

Ezekiel 47:15-17 . This shall be the border toward the north — The northern border of the land was to begin from the west point, on which side lay the Mediterranean sea, and to go on northward toward Hethlon, a place between Tyre and Damascus, and so forward to Zedad, mentioned Numbers 34:8 , Hamath, and other places here mentioned in these verses.

(15) This shall be the border of the land.— The boundaries are essentially the same as those given in Numbers 34:1-15 , only that there the southern boundary is given first to the Israelites coming up from Egypt, while here the northern is first described for the people supposed to be returning from Babylon. There is also more detail given in Numbers, and as the points mentioned here are the same, it is fair to fill out this description from the earlier one. It is remarkable that in both cases the eastern boundary is the Jordan. The inheritance of the tribes on the east of that river having been a modification of the original allotment, and not being taken into consideration at all here, portions are assigned on the west of the river to the two and a half tribes who had lived all through Israel’s history on the east. The way of Hethlon.—The boundary begins at the Mediterranean, but at what precise point cannot be determined; for although it is evident that the lines between the tribes were straight and parallel, yet it does not appear whether they were perpendicular to the Jordan, which would be substantially parallel to the lines of latitude, or perpendicular to the Mediterranean, which would make a small angle with them. Hethlon is mentioned only here and in Ezekiel 48:1, and has not been identified.

It was probably a place of little importance, as its situation is described “as men go to Zedad.” The latter place is mentioned in Numbers 34:8 as one of the points in the original northern border of the land. It is clear from the passage in Numbers that it lay eastward of the “entrance to Hamath,” and has been identified by some writers with the modern village of Sadad, but this is thirty miles from “the entrance of Hamath,” which seems quite too far. Ezekiel may have passed through it when carried captive to Babylon.

Verse 15. - The north boundary . And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side . The Revised Version follows Kliefoth and Keil in detaching the last clause from the preceding words, and reading. This shall be the border of the land : on the north side . From the great sea , the Mediterranean, by the way of Hethlon, as men go to (or, unto the entering in of ) Zedad . The former of these places ( Chethlon ), which is again mentioned in Ezekiel 48:1 , has not yet been identified, though Currey suggests for the "way," "the defile between the ranges of Lebanus and Antilibanus, from the sea to Hamath." The latter (Zedad) Wetstein and Robinson find in the city of Sadad ( Sudud ), east of the road leading from Damascus to Humo (Emesa), and therefore west of Hamath; but as Hamath in all probability lay to the east of Zedad, this opinion must be rejected. Ezekiel 47:15

15 . The northern border. The two ends of the line of delimitation on the N. are the great sea on the west and Hazar Enon on the east. The line passes from west to east, bending, towards its termination at least, towards S.E. In its way it skirts the territory of Hamath and that of Damascus. as men go to Zedad ] In Ezekiel 47:20 and Ezekiel 48:1 the reading is “as one goeth to Hamath,” a frequent phrase, sometimes rendered “the entering into Hamath” ( Joshua 13:5 ), or “the entering in of Hamath” ( Jdg 3:3 ; 1 Kings 8:65 ), or “the entrance of Hamath” ( Numbers 34:8 ). In 1 Kings 8:65 the phrase seems to mean the southern boundary of Hamath. Unfortunately the point on the western sea from which the line starts is not specified, as the situation of Hethlon is unknown. The entrance to Hamath must be either the mouth of the Bukâ’, the great plain between the Libanus on the W. and the Anti-libanus on the E., by which one goes N. to Hamath, or it must be the plain between the North end of the Libanus and the Nusairîyeh mountains, opening from the sea and running east. This would throw the boundary-line north of Tripoli, and south of Arvad. In Joshua 13:5 , the land of the Giblites, i.e. Gebal (Byblus) to the N. of Beirut, is regarded as part of Israel’s possession. In Numbers 34:8 , where the northern boundary is described, the reading is the “entrance of Hamath,” Zedad being mentioned afterwards. Except in 1 Chronicles 5:9 the phrase is only used of Hamath.

Following Ezekiel 48:1 , and Numbers 34:8 , the place of Zedad and Hamath may be changed, as LXX. also seems to have read Hamath before Zedad.—15 “And this shall be the boundary of the land: on the N. side, from the great sea by the way of Hethlon, where the way goeth unto Hamath, by Zedad, 16 Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath, even unto Hazar-hattikon, which is by the border of Hauran.” If we could suppose the entry to Hamath not the southern one by the plain of Cœle Syria, but the western one from the sea to the N. of Tripoli, Hethlon might be the modern Heitela (Robinson’s Map, 1852). Zedad has been supposed to be Sadad, S. of Emesa (Homs) and not far from Riblah. With Berotha, cf. Berothai, 2 Samuel 8:8 . In Numbers 34:9 Ziphran seems to occupy the place of Sibraim here. In Numb, the line appears to run E. as far as Zedad, and then to change its direction to the S. till it ends at Hazar Enan.

The borders of the land follow closely Numbers 34 , where they begin from the south, as the people came up from Egypt; in Ezekiel, they begin from the north, as they might return from Babylon. The occupation is ideal, but is grounded, as usual, on an actual state of things. The border of the land toward the north - Names of places in the actual northern border are given (marginal references) not to mark exact geographical position, but to show that the original promise will be fulfilled. The way of Hethlon, was probably the defile between the ranges of Libanus and Anti-libanus, from the sea to Hamath. "Hamath" Amos 6:2, at the foot of Mount Hermon, on the Orontes. was the ancient capital of the Hittites. Its Scripture history may be traced in Genesis 10:18; 2 Samuel 8:9; 2 Kings 18:34. It was never included in the possessions of Israel. The border ran considerably south of the town at the "entrance of Hamath," the northern opening of Coele-Syria.

In bounding the land, the prophet is informed what is the north border first. The great sea ; called so, not that it is the greatest, for it is the Mediterranean here spoken of, but with respect to the Jews; this to them was the greatest they knew or traded on: from this sea doth the measuring of the land begin, from the west point along to Hethlon. Hethlon is called Hethalon by Adrichmius, in the tribe of Asher, at the foot or near the Mount Herman or Senir, as Ezekiel 27:5 calls that mount: this city was in the north-east of Asher’s lot, and on the north-west of Naphtali’s lot, in the old division of the land. Zedad is Sedada, a small town under the same hill, and near the head of the river Eleutherus, anciently Gebat.