Ezekiel 47:13

Boundaries for the Land

47:13 This is what the sovereign Lord says: “Here 1  are the borders 2  you will observe as you allot the land to the twelve tribes of Israel. (Joseph will have two portions.) 3 

Ezekiel 47:19-23

47:19 On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, the river, 4  to the Great Sea. This is the south side. 47:20 On the west side the Great Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This is the west side.

47:21 “This is how you will divide this land for yourselves among the tribes of Israel. 47:22 You must allot it as an inheritance among yourselves and for the foreigners who reside among you, who have fathered sons among you. You must treat them as native-born among the people of Israel; they will be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 5  47:23 In whatever tribe the foreigner resides, there you will give him his inheritance,” declares the sovereign Lord.

1 tc This translation follows the reading זֶה (zeh) instead of גֵּה (geh), a nonexistent word, as supported by the LXX.

2 tn Or “territory”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:715.

3 tc The grammar is awkward, though the presence of these words is supported by the versions. L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 2:274) suggests that it is an explanatory gloss.

sn One portion for Ephraim, the other for Manasseh (Gen 48:17-20).

4 tn Or “valley.” The syntax is difficult. Some translate “to the river,” others “from the river”; in either case the preposition is supplied for the sake of English.

5 sn A similar attitude toward non-Israelites is found in Isa 56:3-8.