What Does Ezekiel 47:3 Mean?
And when the man with the measuring cord in his hand went out eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and brought me across the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.THE KEY
He is not merely shown the river; the guide brings him through it, making the water itself a path.
THE MEANING
The guide measures a thousand cubits, then brings you into water that reaches your ankles. The verse places you inside the river at a depth where your footing still holds. This is the first measured reach of a passage that continues deeper.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעֲבִרֵנִי
vayya'avireni
GROWS FROM
עבר
to cross, pass over, or go through
“brought me across” in this verse is vayya'avireni. This is the causative form of the crossing root: the guide makes the speaker pass through the water. The verse is a lived crossing, not a distant survey; the measured distance marks how far the speaker is brought into the river.
ALSO GROWS
ʿever: beyond; the other side
עֵבֶר
The crossing root also names what lies across the way, linking passage with arrival on the far side.
ma'avar: passage; crossing
מַעֲבָר
This noun makes the link explicit: the water is not only something measured but a passage the guide leads the speaker through.
THE PATTERN
The guided passage through water deepens by measured stages until it exceeds human footing.
Again he measured a thousand, and brought me across; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me across; the waters were to the loins.Afterward he measured a thousand, and it was a river I could not cross, for the waters had risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.The one who leans his weight into me, as the writing has said, rivers of living waters will flow from his belly.THE THREAD
And the priests who lifted the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood steady on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had finished crossing over Jordan.The phrase “passed over” uses the same עבר (ʿ-b-r; cross, pass over) root as “brought me through.” In Joshua, the water is crossed on dry ground; here, the speaker is led into the water itself, turning the crossing into an unfolding immersion.
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