Background and Notes on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12

I find Ezekiel a very difficult book, for this reason one should not expect much in the way of notes. Chapters 8-11 provide background for chapters 40-48. These latter chapters in many ways present a reversal of the situations detailed in the earlier ones. I've included a couple of suggested readings at the end.

Background~In Ezekiel 8:1-11:25 the prophet experienced a vision of the temple grossly profaned by the worship of idols, animals, the god Tammuz and the sun. So grossly has the temple been profaned that God declares he is being driven away (Ezekiel 8:6). Destruction is decreed (Ezekiel 8:18). A summons is sent to six "men" who remind us of the destroying angel(s) of Exodus 12:23; 2 Sam 24:16-17 and 2 Kings 19:35. They are given the command to destroy and are clearly to be seen as a prophetic foreshadowing of the Babylonian army and the havoc it was to reap on the people. Meanwhile a seventh "man" is commissioned to bestow an identifying mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst thereof (Ezek 9:4). There is in this a subtle hint that some will survive the coming catastrophe (see Ezekiel 9:1-11). The seventh "man" (apparently a priestly figure) is then given a second commission to fill thy hand with the coals of fire...and pour them out upon the city (Ezekiel 10:2). Sent off to his task the glory of the Lord then leaves the threshold of the Temple (Ezekiel 8:6; 10:18; 11:22-23).

After witnessing all of this the prophet is told to prophecy against certain men that study iniquity, and frame a wicked counsel (Ezekiel 11:2). They have been claiming that Jerusalem and it inhabitants are safe when, in fact, their destruction is coming. The sword will come upon them (see Ezekiel 11:1-13), a great exile will happen. (It should be kept in mind that there were at least two exiles from Judah. The earlier of the two occurred in 597 BC as a result of Judah's political intrigue against the king of Babylon. The victims of this exile included Ezekiel before his prophetic call; see Ezek 1:1-2. This earlier exile was meant as a warning so that the people and rulers of Judah would not rebel again against their Babylonian overlords whom God had placed over them in punishment. They did rebel again however, and in 587 Babylon invaded, destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple, and exiled a large number of inhabitants).

We learn from the remainder of chapter 11 (Ezekiel 11:14-21) that the first exiles (those of 597 BC) will eventually return to the land and rebuild, but not before the remaining inhabitant are punished for their continued and increasing sins.

There then follows, in Ezekiel 12, prophetic acts meant to symbolize the siege and exile of the people and, also, there occurs revelation to the prophet concerning what is coming and why. Sword, famine and pestilence are coming upon the land (Ezekiel 12:16). Cities will be laid waste and the land will be a desolation (Ezekiel 12:20). Ezekiel 40:1-48:35 (from which today's first reading is taken, i.e., 47:1-9, 12) is intended to convey the reversal of this situation.

Eze 47:1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

Ezekiel has been (if I may put it this way) on a visionary tour of a new Temple. He has seen the Lord's glory enter this new temple (Ezekiel 43:1-9), reversing its exodus from the old one (Ezekiel 11:22-23). Standing now before the front, easterly-facing gate of this vision-temple, the prophet sees water issuing from under its threshold and flowing through the inner court, past the right side of the altar of sacrifice. Note: the gate here is to the temple, not the wall gates mentioned in verse 2.

Eze 47:2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

Ezekiel and his guide leave the inner court by the north wall-gate and circle the wall until they come to the east gate of the wall. Here the prophet sees the water running (literally, pouring) out under this gate. We are to understand that the water issued from the temple (verse 1) in a small quantity but is now increasing in volume.

Eze 47:3 Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep.
Eze 47:4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins.

Eze 47:5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

Four times at one thousand cubit intervals, Ezekiel's guide measures the depth of the stream which is shown to be increasing in both depth and volume of water. Note: A cubit was a rough form of measurement, apparently indicating the distance from elbow to finger tip. The average cubit is estimated to have been about 18 inches or 0.5 meters (approximately).

Eze 47:6 And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back along the bank of the river.
Eze 47:7 As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.
Eze 47:8 And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. .

The water continues its course through the Judean wilderness ("Arabah") and into the Jordan River (apparently), finally coming to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is so named because its high salt content makes it inhospitable to life, but the temple water flowing into it will cause it to "become fresh."

Eze 47:9 And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
Eze 47:10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from En-gedi to En-eglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
Eze 47:11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.

The land had been brought to destruction after the glory of the Lord had left the Temple. In his vision, the prophet sees that once the temple is rebuilt and the glory of the Lord again dwells there, the people, produce and livestock will again flourish. The once dead sea will sustain and abundance of fish from En-gedi (an oasis located on the western shore) to En-eglaim (site unknown). Many see a connection between the reference to fish/fishermen and the Gospel accounts of the call of the disciples (Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20; Lk 5:1-11).

More interesting is the fishing story in John 21 where the disciples catch 153 large fish. Augustine noted that the number 153 was a triangular number; specifically, the triangle of 17. (Interestingly, 153 is itself the seventeenth triangular number in the series of triangular numbers). A triangular number is the sum of dots in an equilateral triangle formed from and filled by equally spaced dots. A triangular number is also the sum of all the numbers from 1 to the triangular of the number (e.g., 1+2+3....+17 = 153). Here is where things get really interesting. The suffix ("gedi") of the place name En-gedi mentioned by Ezekiel has a numerical value of 17. The suffix of En-eglaim has a numerical value of 153. Did St John, who portrays Jesus as the new temple (Jn 2:19-21) out of which water flows (Jn 19:34) see a connection with this passage from Ezekiel?

Eze 47:12 And by the torrent on the banks thereof on both sides shall grow all trees that bear fruit: their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: every month shall they bring forth firstfruits, because the waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine.

The passage always reminds me of the second strophe of the morning hymn of the Liturgy of the Hours sung on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross:

O Cross of Christ, immortal tree
On which our Saviour died,
The world is sheltered by your arms
That bore the Crucified.

Beginning with the early Church Fathers the passage was often interpreted in relation to Christ, the new temple (John 2:13-22), from whom blood and water issued (John 19:31-37). And in relation to the new creation (Rev 22:1-5). It also was used in association with baptism, particularly during the Easter Vigil when the catechumens were baptized:

The second symbol of the Easter Vigil - the night of Baptism - is water. It appears in Sacred Scripture, and hence also in the inner structure of the Sacrament of Baptism, with two opposed meanings. On the one hand there is the sea, which appears as a force antagonistic to life on earth, continually threatening it; yet God has placed a limit upon it. Hence the book of Revelation says that in God's new world, the sea will be no more (cf. Rev 21:1). It is the element of death. And so it becomes the symbolic representation of Jesus' death on the Cross: Christ descended into the sea, into the waters of death, as Israel did into the Red Sea. Having risen from death, he gives us life. This means that Baptism is not only a cleansing, but a new birth: with Christ we, as it were, descend into the sea of death, so as to rise up again as new creatures.

The other way in which we encounter water is in the form of the fresh spring that gives life, or the great river from which life comes forth. According to the earliest practice of the Church, Baptism had to be administered with water from a fresh spring. Without water there is no life. It is striking how much importance is attached to wells in Sacred Scripture. They are places from which life rises forth. Beside Jacob's well, Christ spoke to the Samaritan woman of the new well, the water of true life. He reveals himself to her as the new, definitive Jacob, who opens up for humanity the well that is awaited: the inexhaustible source of life-giving water (cf. John 4:5-15). Saint John tells us that a soldier with a lance struck the side of Jesus, and from his open side - from his pierced heart - there came out blood and water (cf. John 19:34). The early Church saw in this a symbol of Baptism and Eucharist flowing from the pierced heart of Jesus. In his death, Jesus himself became the spring. The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of the new Temple from which a spring issues forth that becomes a great life-giving river (cf. Ezekiel 47:1-12). In a land which constantly suffered from drought and water shortage, this was a great vision of hope. Nascent Christianity understood: in Christ, this vision was fulfilled. He is the true, living Temple of God. He is the spring of living water. From him, the great river pours forth, which in Baptism renews the world and makes it fruitful; the great river of living water, his Gospel which makes the earth fertile. Jesus, however, prophesied something still greater. He said: "Whoever believes in me ... out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). In Baptism, the Lord makes us not only persons of light, but also sources from which living water bursts forth. We all know people like that, who leave us somehow refreshed and renewed; people who are like a fountain of fresh spring water. We do not necessarily have to think of great saints like Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and so on, people through whom rivers of living water truly entered into human history. Thanks be to God, we find them constantly even in our daily lives: people who are like a spring. Certainly, we also know the opposite: people who spread around themselves an atmosphere like a stagnant pool of stale, or even poisoned water. Let us ask the Lord, who has given us the grace of Baptism, for the gift always to be sources of pure, fresh water, bubbling up from the fountain of his truth and his love! (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on Holy Saturday, 2009).

My next post will be Hosea, followed by the rest of the Minor Prophets in their canonical order. Daniel will be the last book we look at.

Suggested Books: three asterisks (***) indicates online material

*** Introduction to Ezekiel. By Mark Giszczak at Catholic News Agency.

***Ezekiel in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

*** Ezekiel in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

*** Father Mike's Bible Podcast on Lamentations and Ezekiel.

*** Father William Most's Commentary on Ezekiel. Brief introduction followed by chapter summaries.

*** The River of Ezekiel's Temple. Interesting article on a site called "Catholics For Israel." I am not familiar with the site or its overall content and purpose. The article looks at chapter 47:1-12 in relation to various biblical themes such as water, the cosmic mountain, the Garden of Eden, Feast of Tabernacles, etc.


Interpretation: Ezekiel (A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching). Joseph Blenkinsopp. Blenkinsopp is professor emeritus at Notre Dame University. The interpretation series was produced by authors from a variety of ecclesiastical traditions.

Ezekiel: A New Heart (International Theological Commentary). Father Bruce Vawter and Father L. J. Hoppe. The ITC is a series which includes contributors from a wide range of ecclesiastical traditions.

Ezekiel, Daniel: (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture).Stevenson and Glerup, editors. Commentary take from the fathers and early medieval writers. I've not yet read the book but I suspect I will find 47:1-12 interpreted christologically, with the temple being applied to Christ, the water to his passion, baptism, etc.

Ezekiel, With an Excursus on the Old Testament Priesthood. Father Aelred Cody, O.S.B.

*** What Laws Were Not Good? A Canonical Approach to the Theological Problem of Ezekiel 20:25-26. By Dr. Scott Hahn and Dr. John Bergsma. Some may find this a bit too technical.

*** Pope John Paul II's Reflection on the Canticle of Ezekiel 36:24-28.