Ezekiel 47:17 - Exposition

The northern boundary is further defined as extending from the sea, i.e. the Mediterranean on the west, to Hazar-enan , or the "Village of fountains," in the east, which village again is declared to have been the border , frontier city (Keil), at the border (Revised Version) of Damascus , and as having on the north northward the border or territory of Hamath. The final clause adds, And this is the north side , either understanding וְאֵת , with Gesenius, as equivalent to αὐτός , ipse , "this same," or with Hitzig and Smend, after the Syriac, substituting for it here and in Ezekiel 47:18 , Ezekiel 47:19 ואֹת as in Ezekiel 47:20 ; though Hengstenberg and Keil prefer to regard אֵת as the customary sign of the accusative, and to supply some such thought as "ye see" (Hengstenberg), or "ye shall measure" (Keil), which Ezekiel 47:18 shows was in the prophet's mind. Compared with the ancient north boundary of Canaan ( Numbers 34:7-9 ), this appointed by Ezekiel's Torah for the new land shows a marked correspondence.