Ezekiel 47:18

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 the east side ye shall measure Hauran,.... The line of the eastern border of the land shall begin at Hauran or Auranitis; see Ezekiel 47:16 , which lay to the south (s) of Damascus: and it follows, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea; and so from Damascus, the metropolis of Syria; and likewise from Gilead, a mountain and country beyond Jordan; and also from that part of the land of Israel near to Jordan; and so from the northern border to the east sea, or sea of Galilee or Tiberias: and this is the east side: of the land, or the eastern border of it, reaching from Hauran to the lake of Gennesaret, or to the Salt sea, the sea of Sodom; see Numbers 34:10. (s) Vid. Reland Palestina Illustrata, l. 1. c. 22. p. 107.

Ezekiel 47:18 . And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran — The city Aurana, and the district Auranitis, the north-east limit of the Holy Land. Damascus lay more northerly than Hauran, but the country called Auranitis might reach near it. Gilead is well known to have been a long tract of land, which was extended to the country of Sihon king of the Amorites. From the land of Israel by Jordan — From the northern limits of the land of Israel near Cesarea Philippi, or Dan, where the river Jordan takes its rise. Unto the east sea — That is, the Dead sea, or the lake of Sodom: see Ezekiel 47:8 .

(18) From Hauran, and from Damascus. —The eastern boundary is also the same as that given in Numbers 34:10-12 , although more particularly described there. In both cases it excludes the territory of the trans- Jordanic tribes, which was not included in Palestine proper, even after its conquest by Moses, and in which the two and a half tribes were allowed to settle with some reluctance (Numbers 32). The word “from,” occurring four times in this verse, is literally from between, as is noted in the margin; it means that the boundary was to run between the territories of Hauran, Damascus, and Gilead on the one side, and that of Israel on the other. The boundary is to be the Jordan; but as this does not extend so far north, it became necessary to mention the territory of Damascus as bounding the land of Israel, and in this connection Hauran and Gilead are also spoken of. The boundary extends, as of old, beyond the mouth of the Jordan to the southern end of the Dead Sea and thence to Kadesh. The extreme length of the land is somewhat uncertain, but must have fallen short of 250 miles.

Verse 18. - The east boundary . And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, etc. The Revised Version, after Keil and Kliefoth, translates, And the east side , between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead , and the land of Israel , shall be (the) Jordan ; from the (north) border unto the east sea shall ye measure . Smend offers as the correct rendering, The east side goes from between Hauran and Damascus , and from between Gilead and the land of Israel , along the Jordan , from the border unto the east sea . In any case, by this instruction, first the land of Israel was defined as the territory lying west of the Jordan, and secondly its boundary should extend from the last-named north border at its easternmost point, Hazar-enan, down the Jordan valley to the Dead Sea. The practical effect of this would be to cut off the lands which in the earlier division ( Numbers 34:14, 15 ) had been assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Otherwise the boundary here given corresponds with that traced in Numbers, though the latter is more minute. Hengstenberg, however, thinks the prophet cannot have intended to assert that the new Israel should not possess the land of Gilead as a frontier in the future as formerly, as in that case he would have been at variance, not only with preexisting Scripture (comp. Psalm 60:7 ; Micah 7:14 ; Jeremiah 1:19 ; Zechariah 10:10 ), but with subsequent history. Ezekiel 47:18

18 . The eastern border. In Ezekiel 47:16 the eastmost point of the north border was said to be Hazar Enon on the border of Hauran. The E. boundary will therefore start from this point. The verse may read: “and the east side: from between Hauran and Damascus, between Gilead and the land of Israel shall be the Jordan, from the (north) boundary to the eastern sea, even unto Tamar; this is the east side.” The line starts from Hazar Enon, a place lying where Damascus and Hauran adjoin one another ( Ezekiel 47:16 ). Instead of Hazar Enon, however, the point of contact between Damascus and Hauran is named as the starting-point (for the last two umibben read ben and uben ). From this point the line runs south; its course is the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel. The order Hauran, Damascus, Gilead is entirely incomprehensible (for Hauran lay S. of Damascus) if R.V. be followed. The phrase “ye shall measure” is no doubt a misspelling for “unto Tamar” (LXX. Syr., d for r ), from which the southern border starts in Ezekiel 47:19 . Tamar probably lay S. of the Dead Sea. The Onomasticon (Ed. Lagarde , p. 85) says: one day’s journey from Mampsis as you go to Aelia (?Elath) from Hebron. Robinson identifies Mampsis with Malatha, in his view el Milḥ.

The eastern boundary is to commence by separating off the territory of Damascus and Hauran, and then to follow the line of the Jordan to the Dead Sea. Further, the land occupied by the trans-Jordanic tribes was also to be separated off from the land of Israel. The trans-Jordanic tribes in fact occupied their ground (in Joshua's allotment) by sufferance. This did not belong to Canaan proper, the land of promise. Hence, the tribes, formerly on the east of the Jordan, have here allotments in Canaan, though "the oblation" Ezekiel 45:1 extends to a considerable distance beyond the Jordan (see Plan, Ezekiel 48 ). The whole arrangement being ideal and symbolic, the vision here, as in the case of "the waters" ( Ezekiel 47:1 note), departs from the physical features of the land for the purpose of maintaining symbolic numbers.

From Hauran; that was the north-east bound, where we must begin to measure the east side. From Damascus: this was more northward than the city Hauran, but the country Auranitis, for aught I know, might reach to Damascus, or near it, and so this more particularly direct the measuring: begin at Damascus, draw the line through Auranitis, and so on southerly to Gilead. Gilead; a famous mountain about fifty miles in length from south to north, where it joins Mount Libanus at the east end of it, and hath many particular names in particular places, and seems to end its southern progress at the rock Arnon. From the land of Israel by Jordan; from the outside of the land of Israel, which lay beyond Jordan. Unto the east sea; thence to the east sea, or Dead Sea, which lay on the east of Jerusalem. Thus a line drawn from Damascus through Auranitis, Gilead, the land of Israel beyond Jordan, to the east sea, made the eastern frontier.

Boundaries of the Land to be Divided among the Tribes of Israel. Ezekiel 47:13. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, This is the boundary according to which ye shall divide the land among you for an inheritance, for Joseph portions. Ezekiel 47:14. And ye shall receive it for an inheritance, one as well as another, because I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers; and thus shall this land fall to you for an inheritance. Ezekiel 47:15. And this is the boundary of the land: toward the north side, from the great sea onwards by the way to Chetlon, in the direction of Zedad; Ezekiel 47:16. Hamath, Berotah, Sibraim, which is between the boundary of Damascus and the boundary of Hamath, the central Hazer, which is on the boundary of Haruan. Ezekiel 47:17. And the boundary from the sea shall be Hazar-Enon, the boundary town of Damascus; and as for the north northwards, Hamath is the boundary. This, the north side. Ezekiel 47:18. And the east side between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the boundary to the eastern sea ye shall measure. This, the east side. Ezekiel 47:19. And the south side toward the south; from Tamar to the water of strife, Kadesh, along the brook to the great sea. This, the south side toward the south. Ezekiel 47:20. And the west side; the great sea from the boundary to Hamath. This, the west side. Ezekiel 47:21. This land shall ye divide among you according to the tribes of Israel. Ezekiel 47:22.