Ezekiel 47:8-11

47:8 He said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and flow down into the Arabah; when they enter the Dead Sea, ¹  where the sea is stagnant, ²  the waters become fresh. ³  47:9 Every living creature which swarms where the river ⁴  flows will live; there will be many fish, for these waters flow there. It will become fresh ⁵  and everything will live where the river flows. 47:10 Fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to En-eglaim they will spread nets. They will catch many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Great Sea. ⁶  47:11 But its swamps and its marshes will not become fresh; they will remain salty.

[47:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the sea,” referring to the Dead Sea. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:8]  ² tn Heb “to the sea, those which are brought out.” The reading makes no sense. The text is best emended to read “filthy” (i.e., stagnant). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:273.

[47:8]  ³ tn Heb “the waters become healed.”

[47:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “two rivers,” perhaps under the influence of Zech 14:8. The translation follows the LXX and other ancient versions in reading the singular, which is demanded by the context (see vv. 5-7, 9b, 12).

[47:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “will be healed.”

[47:10]  ⁶ sn The Great Sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea (also in vv. 15, 19, 20).