Bible Strands
Ezekiel 47:6
“Son of man, do you see this?” he asked. Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The visionary addresses Ezekiel as "Son of man" after measuring a river that has grown too deep to cross. He then leads Ezekiel back to the riverbank to question his perception before revealing the trees along its edges.
The words — The phrase הֲ/רָאִ֣יתָ (ha./ra.'I.ta) translates literally to "do you see," functioning as a direct challenge to prophetic perception. The term שְׂפַת (sefat) literally means "bank," marking the precise location where the vision shifts from measurement to observation.
The thread — This prophetic questioning pattern appears in Ezekiel 40:4 and Ezekiel 44:5, where the divine messenger commands attention to visions. Jeremiah 1:11 similarly uses the direct query "what do you see?" to initiate prophetic revelation.
Why it lands — The text demands active visual confirmation rather than passive reception. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine revelation proceeds through deliberate observation of physical details.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 40:4 “Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”
- Ezekiel 44:5 The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.
- Jeremiah 1:11 And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
- Ezekiel 8:6 “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing—to drive Me far from My sanctuary? Yet you will see even greater abominations.”
- Ezekiel 8:17 “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!
- Zechariah 4:2 “What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.
- Zechariah 5:2 “What do you see?” asked the angel. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
- Matthew 13:51 Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered.