Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 47:9

"And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come thither, and [the waters of the sea] shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh." — Ezekiel 47:9 (ASV)

The rivers. According to the pointing of the Hebrew text this is the two rivers, as is expressed in the margin. This peculiar form has caused some perplexity, especially because in the vision of Zechariah (Zechariah 14:8) the waters are represented as divided, half of them flowing to the Dead Sea and half of them to the Mediterranean. It is clear, however, that only one river is intended here, flowing into the Dead Sea.

Possibly there is an allusion in the dual form to the Jordan flowing with it into the sea; but this vision throughout pays so little regard to the natural features of the country that it seems more likely that the dual form is simply used to express the greatness of the river, “a double river.” By a division of the word and a slight change in the vowels the expression would become “river of the sea,” that is, flowing into the sea.

Shall live. This is to be understood as a pregnant expression; all kinds of life shall spring into being wherever the waters come. The same thing is emphatically repeated at the close of the verse, and in the intermediate clause the same thought is expressed by very great multitude of fish.