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Deuteronomy 28:68

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68 And Jehovah will bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

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Arcana Coelestia # 3901

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3901. The reason why the final state of the Church is compared to eagles gathered together where there is a carcass or body is that 'eagles' means man's rational ideas. When used in reference to forms of good 'eagles' means true rational ideas, but when used in reference to forms of evil 'eagles' means false rational ideas, or reasonings. 'Birds' in general means a person's thoughts, and in both the genuine and the contrary senses, 40, 745, 776, 866, 991, 3219; and each species has some individual meaning, 'eagles' meaning rational ideas because they are high-flyers and sharp-sighted. This meaning may be seen from many places in the Word, from which let the following be brought forward to confirm it. First, places where true rational ideas are meant: in Moses,

Jehovah found His people [Jacob] in a wilderness land and in the emptiness, the howling, the lonely place He encompassed him, instructed him, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, takes one, carries it on its wings. Deuteronomy 32:10-11.

That which is described here and compared to the eagle is instruction in the truths and goods of faith. The actual process up to the point when a person becomes rational and spiritual is what this description and comparison contains. All comparisons in the Word are made by means of meaningful signs, in this case by 'the eagle', which means the rational.

[2] In the same author,

Jehovah said to Moses, You have seen the things which I did to the Egyptians, and I bore you on eagles' wings so that I might bring you to Myself. Exodus 19:3-4.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

Those who await Jehovah will be renewed with strength; they will mount up with strong wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31.

'Being renewed with strength' stands for growth in the willing of good, 'mounting up with strong wings like eagles' for growth in the understanding of truth, and so growth of the rational. Here, as elsewhere, dual expressions are used to present the subject, the first of a pair involving good which belongs to the will, the second truth which belongs to the understanding. 'Running and not being weary' and 'walking and not fainting' are similar dual expressions.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Speak a parable about the house of Israel, and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, A great eagle with long pinions, full of feathers, in its embroidery, came on Lebanon and took a twig of the cedar. He carried it into a land of trade, he placed it in a city of perfumers. It sprouted and became a spreading vine. There was another great eagle with great wings and full of feathers, towards which, behold, this vine directed its roots, and sent out its branches towards it to water it from the beds of its young plants in a good field, by many waters. But it will be laid waste. He sent his ambassadors to Egypt that they might give him horses and many people. Ezekiel 17:2-9, 15.

The eagle mentioned first stands for the rational enlightened by the Divine, the eagle mentioned second for the rational originating in the proprium, subsequently perverted by means of reasonings based on sensory evidence and factual knowledge - 'Egypt' standing for factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, and 'horses' for understanding resulting from all this, 2761, 2762, 3217.

[4] In Daniel,

A vision of Daniel. Four beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion, but had eagle's wings. I watched it until its wings were torn away and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on its feet like a human being; and the heart of a human being was given to it. Daniel 7:3-4.

That which is described by 'a lion which had eagle's wings' is the first state of the Church, 'eagle's wings' in this case meaning rational ideas originating in the proprium. And when these had been removed, rational ideas and desires in the will which had a Divine origin were given to it. These are meant by the lifting up of the eagle from the ground and the standing of it on its feet like a human being, and the gift to it of the heart of a human being.

[5] In Ezekiel,

As for the likeness of the faces of the four living creatures or cherubs, each of the four had the face of a human being, and the face of a lion on the right side; and each of the four the face of an ox on the left side; and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Their wheels were called Galgal; and each one had four faces - the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 10:13-14.

In John,

Around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a human being, the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Revelation 4:7.

Clearly, those living creatures that were seen mean Divine arcana, as consequently does the likeness of their faces. But exactly which arcana are meant cannot be known unless one knows what 'lion', 'calf', 'human being', and 'eagle' mean in the internal sense. It is evident that 'the face of an eagle' means vigilance and therefore providence, for the cherubs who were represented by the living creatures in Ezekiel mean the Lord's providence which guards against anyone entering the mysteries of faith from himself and his own rationality as the starting point, see 308. This also shows that when 'an eagle' is used in reference to a human being the rational is meant in the internal sense. It has this meaning because an eagle is a high-flyer and from its more exalted position has a wide view of things below.

[6] In Job,

Is it through your intelligence that the hawk flies up and spreads its wings towards the south? Is it at your command 1 that the eagle lifts itself up and makes its nest up high? Job 39:26-27.

In this verse it is evident that 'the eagle' means reason which is an attribute of intelligence. This was what 'eagle' meant in the Ancient Church, for the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, 3540 (end). In fact the writing of almost all the books of that period involved the use of meaningful signs, but with the passage of time meaningful signs have been so eclipsed that it is not even known that 'birds' in general means thoughts, even though these are referred to many times in the Word and in those places quite clearly is meant something different from birds.

[7] As regards 'the eagle' in the contrary sense meaning rational ideas that are not true, and so are false, this is evident from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah will raise up above you a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, as an eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation. Deuteronomy 28:49-50.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, he comes up [like] clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we have been laid waste! Jeremiah 4:13.

In the same prophet,

Your bragging has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill; because, like the eagle, you have made your nest up high, I will cast you down from there. Behold, he mounts up and flies like an eagle, and spreads his wings over Bozrah; and the heart of the powerful men of Edom has become on that day like the heart of a woman in distress. Jeremiah 49:16, 22.

In the same prophet,

Our pursuers were swifter than eagles; they pursued us over the mountains, they laid in wait for us in the wilderness. Lamentations 4:19.

In Micah,

Make yourself bald, and shave your head for the children of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.

In Obadiah,

If you raise yourself up like the eagle, and if you place your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there. Obad. verse 4.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and headlong nation, marching into the breadths of the earth, to inherit habitations that are not its own. Its horses are swifter than leopards. 2 Its horsemen will come from afar. They will fly in like an eagle hastening to devour. Habakkuk 1:6, 8.

[8] In all these places 'eagles' means falsity that has been introduced through reasonings - the delusions of the senses and external appearances being the source of that falsity. 'The Chaldeans' referred to in the last of the Prophets quoted means people who outwardly are holy but inwardly are under the influence of falsity, see 1368, and these like Babel are those who lay waste the Church, 1367. 'The breadths of the earth' means truths (the vastation of which is meant by 'marching into the breadths of the earth') see 3433, 3434, and 'horses' their intellectual concepts, which are similar, 2761, 2762, 3217. What is meant by 'an eagle hastening to devour' is clear from all this, namely a hastening to make man desolate of truths, for the desolation of the Church is the subject in these verses. Comparisons are made with eagles, but as has been stated, comparisons in the Word are made by means of meaningful signs. From all this one may now see what is meant by the comparison with the eagles which will be gathered together where the carcass is.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, mouth

2. The Latin means eagles, but the Hebrew means leopards, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Jeremiah 49

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1 Of the children of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people well in its cities?

2 Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who did possess him, says Yahweh.

3 Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

4 Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? who trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come to me?

5 Behold, I will bring a fear on you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

6 But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, says Yahweh.

7 Of Edom. Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.

9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?

10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.

11 Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.

12 For thus says Yahweh: Behold, they to whom it didn't pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.

13 For I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.

14 I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

15 For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.

16 As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.

17 Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.

18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.

19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who will stand before me?

20 Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

21 The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.

22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

23 Of Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.

24 Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?

26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh of Armies.

27 I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.

28 Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Thus says Yahweh: Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.

29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Terror on every side!

30 Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you.

31 Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says Yahweh; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.

32 Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh.

33 Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.

34 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

35 Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

36 On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

37 I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them;

38 and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes, says Yahweh.

39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Yahweh.