Ezekiel 9
1
And He crieth in mine ears -- a loud voice -- saying, `Drawn near have inspectors of the city, and each his destroying weapon in his hand.'
2
And lo, six men are coming from the way of the upper gate, that is facing the north, and each his slaughter-weapon in his hand, and one man in their midst is clothed with linen, and a scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and they come in, and stand near the brazen altar.
3
And the honour of the God of Israel hath gone up from off the cherub, on which it hath been, unto the threshold of the house.
4
And He calleth unto the man who is clothed with linen, who hath the scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and Jehovah saith unto him, `Pass on into the midst of the city, into the midst of Jerusalem, and thou hast made a mark on the foreheads of the men who are sighing and who are groaning for all the abominations that are done in its midst.'
5
And to the others he said in mine ears, `Pass on into the city after him, and smite; your eye doth not pity, nor do ye spare;
6
aged, young man, and virgin, and infant, and women, ye do slay -- to destruction; and against any man on whom [is] the mark ye do not go nigh, and from My sanctuary ye begin.'
7
And they begin among the aged men who [are] before the house, and He saith unto them, `Defile the house, and fill the courts with the wounded, go forth.' And they have gone forth and have smitten in the city.
8
And it cometh to pass, as they are smiting, and I -- I am left -- that I fall on my face, and cry, and say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, art Thou destroying all the remnant of Israel, in Thy pouring out Thy wrath on Jerusalem?'
9
And He saith unto me, `The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah [is] very very great, and the land is full of blood, and the city hath been full of perverseness, for they have said: Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah is not seeing.
10
And I also, Mine eye doth not pity, nor do I spare; their way on their own head I have put.'
11
And lo, the man clothed with linen, at whose loins [is] the inkhorn, is bringing back word, saying, `I have done as Thou hast commanded me.'
Arcana Coelestia #9872
9872. 'A tarshish, and a shoham, and a jasper' means the spiritual love of truth, in which higher things terminate. This is clear from the meaning of these stones, which they derive from their colours; for the colour of all the stones in this row is on the white side tinged with blue. The fact that tarshish means the spiritual love of truth is clear from places in the Word where it is mentioned, as in Ezekiel,
Behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubs; the appearance of the wheels was like that of tarshish stone. Ezekiel 1:16; 10:9.
The cherubs' wheels are similar in meaning to a person's arms and feet, which is the power to act and go forward, this power being that of truth springing from good, see 8215. This explains why the appearance of those wheels was like that of tarshish stone; for 'tarshish' means truth springing from spiritual good, which possesses power.
[2] In Daniel,
I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and his body was like tarshish; and his face was like [the appearance] of lightning, and his eyes were like fiery torches. Daniel 10:5-6.
'A man clothed in linen' was an angel from heaven. 'Linen' means truth that is the clothing of good, 7601. By 'loins' conjugial love, which belongs to goodness and truth, is meant, 3021, 4280, 5050-5062. This is why the man's loins are said to have been 'girded with gold of Uphaz', for 'gold' means the good of love, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 9490, 9510. 'The body' however, by virtue of its correspondence, means the good of celestial love and also the good of spiritual love, 6135, while the surface of the body means the truth that springs from that good, which is why the man's body looked like tarshish. So it is that 'tarshish' means the truth that spiritual love desires.
[3] For the meaning of a shoham, the second stone in this row, as the truths of faith that spring from love, see what has been shown in 9476, 9841. As for a jasper, the third and last stone belonging to this row, that it means the truth of faith, this is clear in John's Revelation,
The light of the city, the holy Jerusalem, was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, shining like crystal. Revelation 21:11.
'The holy Jerusalem' means the Church that is going to take the place of the one that is ours at the present day. Its 'light' is the truth of faith and resulting intelligence, 9548, 9551, 9555, 9558, 9561, 9684. Therefore it is likened to 'a jasper stone, shining like crystal'. 'Crystal' as well means the truth of faith springing from good, in the same book,
The construction of the wall of the holy Jerusalem was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. Revelation 21:18.
The wall of the city is described as jasper because 'the wall' means the truth of faith protecting the Church, 6419. And since 'the wall' has this meaning, verse 19 of that chapter says that the first stone constituting its foundations was jasper. For by 'foundation' is meant the truth of faith springing from good, see 9643.
