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Ezekiel 41

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1 And he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.

2 And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.

3 Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.

4 And he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.

5 Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.

6 And the side-chambers were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side-chambers round about, that they might have hold [therein], and not have hold in the wall of the house.

7 And the side-chambers were broader as they encompassed [the house] higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house [continued] upward; and so one went up [from] the lowest [chamber] to the highest by the middle [chamber].

8 I saw also that the house had a raised basement round about: the foundations of the side-chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.

9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side-chambers, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side-chambers that belonged to the house.

10 And between the chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.

11 And the doors of the side-chambers were toward [the place] that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.

12 And the building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.

13 So he measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, a hundred cubits long;

14 also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits.

15 And he measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at the back thereof, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, a hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;

16 the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the threshold, ceiled with wood round about, and [from] the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),

17 to [the space] above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.

18 And it was made with cherubim and palm-trees; and a palm-tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;

19 so that there was the face of a man toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm-tree on the other side. [thus was it] made through all the house round about:

20 from the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm-trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.

21 As for the temple, the door-posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance [thereof] was as the appearance [of the temple].

22 The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before Jehovah.

23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.

24 And the doors had two leaves [apiece], two turning leaves: two [leaves] for the one door, and two leaves for the other.

25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm-trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a threshold of wood upon the face of the porch without.

26 And there were closed windows and palm-trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side-chambers of the house, and the thresholds.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9659

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9659. 'And there shall be eight boards and their bases [made] from silver' means support in every respect from good and through truth that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'eight' as what is so in every respect, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'boards' as good that lends support, dealt with in 9634; and from the meaning of 'bases [made] from silver' as support provided through truth from good, dealt with in 9643.

[2] 'Eight' means in every respect because this number has the same meaning as two and four, being the product of these when multiplied together. 'Two' and 'four' mean being joined together, completely so, 5194, 8423, 8877, and consequently also mean what is complete, 9103, and therefore what is so in every respect; for what exists in completeness does so in every respect. Another reason why 'eight' means what exists in completeness and in every respect is that since 'a week' means a whole period from beginning to end, 2044, 3845, 'the eighth day' means a complete state, from which a new beginning then commences. This explains why males had to be circumcised on the eighth day, Genesis 17:12; 21:4, for circumcision was a sign of purification from foul kinds of love by means of the truth of faith, 2039, 2046 (end), 2799, 3412, 3413, 4462. The foreskin corresponded to the defilement of good by those kinds of love, 4462, 7045, 7225, and the knife of flint with which circumcision was carried out was a sign of the truth of faith by means of which purification was accomplished, 2039 (end), 2046 (end), 2799, 7044.

[3] What exists in completeness and in every respect is also meant by 'eight' following 'seven' in Micah,

When Asshur comes into our land and treads our palaces we will set up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men (homo), and they will feed 1 the land of Asshur with the sword; and he will deliver [us] from Asshur. Micah 5:5-6.

'Asshur' stands for reasoning on the basis of one's own intelligence about the Church's forms of good and its truths. Deliverance totally or in every respect from consequent falsity is meant by 'eight princes of men' who will bring destruction, 'princes of men' being the leading truths that rise out of good.

[4] The fact that 'eight' means completeness and in every respect is also clear from an experience I had involving the admission and reception of some communities into heaven, about which see 2130. I saw as many as twelve communities received first, and after them as many as eight more; for people admitted and received into heaven are those who have been purified from earthly things, that is, from all love of them, and have gone on to receive instruction. The number eight on that occasion was a sign of that which was complete.

[5] 'Eight' has a similar meaning elsewhere in the Word, for example where it says that the portico of the gateway was 'eight cubits' long from the house, and that there were 'eight steps' up to the house, in Ezekiel 40:9, 31, 41. The description there is of the new house, by which the Lord's New Church is meant, truths leading to good and from good back to truths being meant by 'the portico' and 'the steps'.

[6] Anyone who does not know that spiritual realities or real things are implied by the numbers used in the Word cannot possibly see any such reality nor thus anything holy in the measures and numbers where the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and after these the new house, new temple, and new land in Ezekiel, are described, when yet not a syllable in the Word is devoid of spiritual meaning. Let all who have intelligence weigh up in their mind what the measures and numbers in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel really mean, also the measures and numbers in John, at Revelation 21:17, where it says that the angel measured the wall of the new Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this measure was that of a man (homo), that is, of an angel, and also in the following, besides many other places,

Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man (homo), that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:18.

For more about all numbers in the Word, that they mean spiritual realities or real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973, and places where the specific meaning of certain numbers has been shown.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. destroy

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9103

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9103. 'And four of the flock for the member of the flock' also means the corresponding punishment carried out in full. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as joined together, for 'four' is similar in meaning to 'two' because four is the product of two times two (for the meaning of 'two' as joined together, see 5194, 8423, and therefore also 'four', 1686, 8877), from which it follows that those numbers also mean to the complete amount, since what has been joined together is complete; and from the meaning of 'a member of the flock' as interior good, dealt with just above in 9099. The corresponding punishment is meant by 'repaying', at this point 'four of the flock for one member of the flock', 9102. Interior good is what charity in the interior man is called, exterior good being charity in the exterior man. The latter good must receive life from the former, for the good of charity in the interior man is the good of spiritual life, and the good of charity in the exterior man is the good of natural life from the spiritual. This exterior good enters a person's feelings as delight, but not so interior good. Instead this enters his awareness that it ought to be so, and enables his mind to feel contented. In the next life however interior good too enters into a person's feelings.

[2] No one can know the reason why five oxen were to be used in repayment for an ox, and four of the flock for the member of the flock, unless he knows what 'theft' is in the spiritual sense, and also what 'an ox' and 'a member of the flock' are. What these things mean has been explained, namely taking away and alienating exterior and interior good, the taking away being done by evil and the alienation by falsity. Consequently punishment and the restoration of them are meant by 'five' end 'four'; for all numbers in the Word serve to mean spiritual things, see 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, at this point things having to do with restoration. That is to say, the number 'five' refers to restoration of exterior good to a great degree, and the number 'four' to restoration of interior good in full. The reason why interior good must be restored completely is that this good constitutes a person's spiritual life; and unless his spiritual life is restored completely the exterior good constituting his natural life cannot be restored; for the latter life is restored by means of the former, as may be recognized from a person's regeneration. The external man is regenerated by means of the internal, see 9043, 9046, 9061; but good in the external or natural man cannot be restored completely because the blow it has been struck remains there as a scar that becomes hardened. These are the things implied by those numbers.

[3] Something further must be said briefly about the restoration of the exterior good constituting a person's natural life by means of the interior good constituting his spiritual life. The natural level of a person's mind sees things in the light of the world, the light that is called natural illumination. A person acquires this illumination through objects entering his awareness by means of sight and hearing, that is, by impressions of objects received from the world. Thus the person sees those objects with his mind's eye almost exactly as his physical eye sees them. Initially the objects that he is made aware of through those senses are all a pleasure and delight to him. Later on, when still a young child, he makes distinctions among the objects that are a delight to him, and thereby learns to discriminate, gradually doing so more and more accurately. When the light from heaven flows into these things the person begins to see them spiritually, discriminating initially between the ones that are useful and those that are not useful. As a consequence he starts to see the truth clearly; for that which he sees to be useful he sees to be true, and that which he does not see to be useful he sees to be not true. This ability to see truth increases as the inflowing light from heaven grows brighter, until eventually he discriminates not only between truths, but even between truths within these truths. And this he does ever more clearly, as the communication between the internal man and the external man is improved and opened up; for the light of heaven flows in from the Lord through the internal man into the external. From this the person now has perception; nevertheless this is still not spiritual perception.

[4] Spiritual perception does not grow out of natural truths but out of spiritual truths, spiritual truths being what are called the truths of faith. The reason why spiritual perception grows out of these truths is that the light of heaven is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. It is the light that shines for the angels' eyes; it also shines in their understanding and imparts intelligence and wisdom to them, in varying amounts, depending on its reception within good. Therefore, if spiritual perception is to grow a person must have cognitions or knowledge of spiritual things in his natural, and such knowledge of spiritual things must come from revelation. When the light of heaven flows into them it flows into what are its own; for as has been stated, that light is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3341, 3636, 3643, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4415, 4527, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6608. This is how a person acquires intelligence and wisdom in such matters as belong to eternal life; and they increase in the measure that such light - that is, in the measure that the truths of faith - are received within good, the good being charity.

[5] The fact that the natural or external man is regenerated, and also undergoes amendment and is restored by means of the internal, may be recognized from what has now been stated. Things in the external or natural man receive life from the light of heaven; for this light is living, because it emanates from the Lord, who is Life itself. They do not receive their life from natural light, since this light is in itself dead. If therefore things in natural light are to have life there must be an inflow of the living light, coming from the Lord through the internal man. This inflow adjusts itself to cognitions of truth present in the natural that are analogous and correspond, and to other things there that can serve. From this it is evident that a person's external or natural must be regenerated by means of his internal; and the good in the natural that has been taken away or alienated has to be amended and restored by the same means.

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