Then he brought me back into the Inner Court.

To the entrance of the House. And the water was descending from under the right side of the House, flowing from under the threshold, which was in the center of the east[ern side] and [going] diagonally toward the right, and going out of the Court at the south of the altar, and proceeding out of the city. In Tractate Yoma we learned (77b): Said Rabbi Phinehas in the name of Rab Huna of Sepphoris: The fountain emanating from the Holy of Holies at first resembles the points of rocks. As soon as it reaches the entrance of the Hall, it becomes like a woof thread. When it reaches the entrance of the Heichal, it becomes like a warp thread. When it reaches the entrance of the Court, it becomes like the mouth of a small jug.

And he took me out of the Inner Court to the Outer Court through the northern gate.

and led me around around the inner wall within the outer one.

to the...Gate The outer [gate] that faces eastward.

water was trickling [Heb. מְפַכִּים,] buient in O.F., dripping, trickling, as wide as the width of the mouth of a jug. So did our Sages explain it, as above.

he measured one thousand cubits outside the wall. For those thousand cubits, the stream did not swell to the extent of being deep up to the אֳפְסָיִם ; the ankles, called chevilles in Fr.

And he measured one thousand another [one thousand cubits], and they deepened up to the knees, and another thousand, and they deepened up to the loins. From here on, it was a stream that I could not cross. From here we learn that one should not enter water from the loins and higher, lest the water over power him. As soon as he came to the water reaching the loins, he went out upon the bank of the river and measured another thousand before him, a stream that cannot be crossed, and his feet were standing on dry land. This is what is written (v. 6): “and he brought me back [upon] the bank of the stream,” i.e., near the bank of the stream that is where he had been standing.

for the water was so high [Heb. גָאוּ,lit. became haughty,] like גָדְלוּ, became large.

water for swimming [Heb. שָׂחוּ,] noer in O.F., to swim, water that one must swim in and not cross by foot lest it overpower him. שָׂחוּ means swimming, like (Isa. 25:11): “as the swimmer spreads out [his hands] to swim הַשׂחֶה לִשְׂחוֹת.”

Have you seen, Son of man how much this stream has swelled?

and behold, upon the bank of the stream, etc. While he led me and brought me back, a very great profusion of trees had grown on the banks of the stream on each side. profusion of trees [Heb. עֵץ,] abres; erbeiz in Old French, trees, vegetation.

to the...frontier [Heb. הֳגְלִילָה,] la marche, frontier (province).

the eastern [Heb. הַקַּדְמוֹנָה,] the eastern. Our Rabbis taught in the Tosefta of Succah (3:3): Where do they flow? To the Sea of Tiberias (Kinnereth), the Sea of Sodom (Dead Sea), and to the Great Sea, to heal their salty waters and to sweeten them.

[“Will descend upon the plain”] this is the Sea of Tiberias.

[“And come to the sea”] this is the Sea of Sodom.

to the sea that is brought out This is the אוֹקיַינוּס ocean, which is brought out from civilization to encompass the world.

And [it will come] to heal the waters of their saltiness. The Midrash Aggadah [says] Yerushalmi Shekalim (6:2): Why does he call them הַמוּצָאִים (in the plural)? Because of the two times that they went out.

wherever the two streams will go This stream, which divides into many streams, sweetens the seas into which it mingles, and their fish, which swarm in them, are alive and sweet.

And it will be [a place] beside which fishermen will stand etc., nets [Heb. לַחֲרָמִים,] for nets

their fish will be of many kinds לְמִינָה.] This does not have a “mappik hey,” and it means that its fish will be of many kinds of many kinds.

of many kinds [Heb. לְמִינָה,] a form of the word to denote a profusion of kinds, as in (Exod. 7:21): “And the fish וְהֲדָּגָה in the river”; (Isa. 21:2): “All sighs (אָנְחָתָה) have I brought to an end.”

Its marshes [The marshes] of the sea, as in (Job 8:11): “Can papyrus shoot up without a marsh (בִצָה)?” This is maresc in Old French, a marsh.

and its pools [Heb. וּגְבָאָיו,] like (II Kings 3:16): “This valley will be full of pools.” The בִּצִים are the marshes around it, and the גֵבִים are ditches in which water is gathered.

will not be healed to be turned sweet. Why? Because “they will be set aside for salt [mines].”

וְלא יִרָפְאוּ This “vav” is subordinate and superfluous.

month after month its fruits will ripen From month to month its fruits will ripen.

for a cure [Heb. לִתְרוּפָה.] Our Sages of blessed memory explained: to unlock the mouth (לְהָתִיר פֶה) of the dumb and the mouth [of the womb] of the barren (Men. 98a), but its apparent meaning is a word for healing, as in (Jer. 6:14): “And they healed (וַיְרַפְאוּ) the breach of My people easily.” And so did Menahem connect it.

This is the border [Heb. גֵּה גְבוּל.] Jonathan renders: This is the border, just like זֶה גְבוּל ; and so too (above 25:7): “and I have given you for plunder (לבג) to the nations,” is like לְבַז. It may also be interpreted as a form of the word for valley (גַיְא).

Joseph portions Joseph shall take two portions, one for Manasseh and one for Ephraim.

as one another and not like the first one (Num. 26:54): “to each according to his numbered ones.” Now, instead, all the tribes will be equal, and every portion will be like a row in a vineyard from the eastern border until the ocean to the west, as is explained in the account, and no two tribes will be in strip.

And this is the border of the land the boundaries of the Land of Israel.

to the northern side [Heb. לִפְאַת צָפוֹנָה,] the northern direction.

from the Great Sea which is the western border.

the way to Hethlon It comes to the east to Hethlon, to Zedad, to Hamath, Berothah, and Sibraim. All these cities are on the northern border.

Hazer-hatticon Jonathan renders: the pond of the Agebeans.

which is by the border of Hauran The border of Damascus is in the east, near the corner.

And the border shall be from the sea to Hazer-enon The northern border shall be from the sea until Hazer-enon.

the border of Damascus [i.e.,] which is on the border of Damascus, i.e., Hazer-enon is on the northeastern corner, as is explicated in the [description of] the boundaries which Moses, our master, may he rest in peace, wrote (Num. 34:9-10f.): “and its ends shall be Hazer -as your eastern border [the territory] from Hazer-enan, etc.” The border of Damascus is in the northeastern corner beside Hazer-enan, as is stated above: “Hazer-enan” and “the border of Damascus.” The border of Hamath is at the northwestern corner, as is stated (ibid. v. 7f.): “And this shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line extending to the road [leading] to Hamath, and from there to Zedad.”

and in the north northward is the border of Hamath i.e., the entire northern border delineated in the Torah, and the border of Hamath-which is also on the northern border as is stated (ibid. verse 7f.): “And this shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line extending to Mount Hor. From Mount Hor you shall draw a line extending to the road [leading] to Hamath, and the ends of the border shall be toward Zedad.” That is the Zedad mentioned here: “the way to Hethlon to the road [leading] to Zedad.”

this is the northern side [Lit. and the northern side.] And here you have the northern side.

between Gilead and the land of Israel The eastern border of the land of Canaan. Trans-Jordan is not included within these borders; only the land of Canaan. Similarly, the borders demarcated in the Torah do not include Trans Jordan. And this is the meaning of this verse: And from the eastern border of the land of Canaan, which is between Hauran and Damascus which are situated on its northeastern corner, as is stated above in this section, and between Gilead and the land of Israel that is on the eastern side of the Jordan.

is the Jordan; from the border by the eastern sea shall you measure The Jordan is its eastern border from the boundary of the northern corner—that is the Hazer-enan delineated above, until the eastern sea, the Dead Sea, which is in the south-eastern corner. This shall you measure as the length of the eastern border. In the Torah, too, the eastern boundary is delineated in this manner (Num. 34:12): “and its ends shall be the Salt Sea” in the southern corner.

this is the eastern side As if to say, [as translated,] this is the eastern side.

from Tamar From Jericho, which is the city of date palms, (Deut. 33:3), and so did Jonathan render it.

until the water of Meriboth Kadesh that is the desert of Zin. (Num 27:14)

to the stream [that falls] into the Great Sea And from there the border proceeds until the stream of Egypt, which falls into the Great Sea in the southwestern corner. Moses, too, delineated the southern boundary in this way, from the desert of Zin alongside Edom, and he proceeds and counts until (ibid. 34:5): “from Atzmon to the stream of Egypt, and its ends shall be at the sea.” [Accordingly,] נַחֲלָה stated here is like לַנַחַל, to the stream. I found it, however, translated [by Jonathan] as אַחֲסָנָא, an inheritance, and were it not for the fact that the accent is on the last syllable, and [that] the Masorah states that there is no other instance in which the accent is on the first syllable, I would have said that it is an error, and that Jonathan did not translate it that way, only erring readers.

And the western side the western border.

the Great Sea from the border until opposite the road [leading] to Hamath from the southern corner, which is the stream of Egypt,

until opposite the way [leading] to Hamath, until the northwestern corner, which is Mount Hor, opposite the road [leading] to Hamath, for Hamath is in the northwest corner alongside Mount Hor, as is written (Num. 34:7f.): “From the Great Sea you shall draw a line extending to Mount Hor. From Mount Hor you shall draw a line extending to the road [leading] to Hamath.”

with which the stranger sojourns who became proselytized in exile within that tribe.