Ezekiel's vision of the temple river includes a point where the water becomes 'waters of swimming'—deep enough that one must swim rather than wade. This marks the culmination of the river's growth from ankle-deep to chest-deep to unfordable. Swimming as a specific activity appears rarely in biblical texts, which more often describe crossing waters via boat or miraculous parting. Here it serves as a measure of depth, the point at which walking becomes impossible and the stream becomes impassable except by swimming.