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以西結書 29

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1 第十年十十二日,耶和華的臨到我說:

2 人子啊,你要向埃及法老預言攻擊他和埃及全地,

3 耶和華如此埃及法老啊,我與你這臥在自己河中的魚為敵。你曾:這河是我的,是我為自己造的。

4 我─耶和華必用鉤子鉤住你的腮頰,又使江河中的魚貼住你的鱗甲;我必將你和所有貼住你鱗甲的魚,從江河中拉上來,

5 把你並江河中的魚都拋在曠野;你必倒在田間,不被收殮,不被掩埋。我已將你上野獸、空中飛作食物。

6 埃及一切的居民,因向以色列成了蘆葦的杖,就知道我是耶和華

7 他們用手持住你,你就斷折,傷了他們的;他們倚靠你,你就斷折,閃了他們的腰。

8 所以耶和華如此:我必使刀臨到你,從你中間將人與牲畜剪除。

9 埃及必荒廢淒涼,他們就知道我是耶和華。因為法老:這河是我的,是我所造的,

10 所以我必與你並你的江河為敵,使埃及,從色弗尼塔直到古實境界,全然荒廢淒涼。

11 人的的蹄都不經過,四十年之久並無人居住

12 我必使埃及在荒涼的國中成為荒涼,使埃及城在荒廢的城中變為荒廢,共有四十年。我必將埃及人分散在列國,四散在列邦。

13 耶和華如此:滿了四十年,我必招聚分散在各國民中的埃及人

14 我必叫埃及被擄的人回來,使他們歸回本巴忒羅。在那裡必成為低微的國,

15 必為列國中最低微的,也不再自高於列國之上。我必減少他們,以致不再轄制列國。

16 埃及必不再作以色列家所倚靠的;以色列家仰望埃及人的時候,便思念罪孽。他們就知道我是耶和華

17 二十年正初一日,耶和華的臨到我說:

18 人子啊,巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒使他的軍兵效勞,攻打推羅,以致都光禿,都磨破;然而他和他的軍兵攻打推羅,並沒有從那裡得甚麼酬勞。

19 所以耶和華如此:我必將埃及巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒;他必擄掠埃及群眾,搶其中的財為擄物,奪其中的貨為掠物,這就可以作他軍兵的酬勞。

20 我將埃及他,酬他所效的勞,因王與軍兵是為我勤勞。這是耶和華的。

21 當那日,我必使以色列家的角發生,又必使你─以西結在他們中間得以開;他們就知道我是耶和華

   

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属天的奥秘 # 9836

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9836. “以弗得当有连在两端的两条肩带, 让它相连接” 表用一切努力和能力通过一种完全的结合而在各个方面对良善和真理的永久保存. 这从 “肩”,

“连接” 和 “两端” 的含义清楚可知:

“肩” 是指一切力量和能力 (参看1085, 4931-4937节), 不过 “放在肩上” 和 “扛在肩上” (这话论及下文刻有以色列人名字的两块红玛瑙石) 表示对良善和真理的永久保存 (因为 “以色列人的名字” 表示整体上的一切良善和真理, 这个主题可参看下文);

“连接” 是指一个完全的结合;

“两端”, 或右边和左边, 是指在各个方面 (8613节).

此处的情形是这样: 如前所示, 以弗得代表主的属灵国度的最外在部分. 因此, 刻着以色列人名字的两块红玛瑙石所安放的肩带代表对良善和真理的永久保存; 以弗得连在肩带上, 以及在胸前和背后代表一个完全的结合. 由此可见下文关于肩带和它们上面的雕刻物所阐述的细节表示什么, 即表示用一切努力和能力对良善和真理的永久保存, 因而对天堂的保存. 刻有以色列人名字的这些石头安在以弗得的肩带上, 以此代表属灵国度的最外在部分, 因为一切保存取决于最后和最低层的状况. 事实上, 一切内层事物都在那里终止, 为自己形成一个基础层面, 以便止于其上, 并在上面持续存在. 最后和最低层就像整个身体站立的脚底和双脚, 也像手和臂, 身体通过手和臂行使力量. 此外, 身体的力气都集中在那里. 这也解释了为何手和臂, 以及脚底和脚对应于天堂的最后和最低部分. 能力和力量就存在于最后和最低的事物中, 这一事实在古教会由拿细耳人和他们的头发来代表, 因为他们的力量就存在于头发中, 这从参孙 ( 14:0-16:0), 以及他们的神圣 (3301节) 明显看出来. 他们的头发是他们的离俗, 头发对应于良善和真理的最低层, 或最低层的良善和真理 (参看3301, 5247, 6437节).

能力存在于最后和最低事物中, 以及内层在其适当状况下的保存, 能被那些了解自然界中连续和同步事物是怎么回事的人理解; 即: 连续事物最终都聚集到最后和最低层, 在那里按同样的次序并排存在. 因此, 最后和最低的同步事物服务于在先的连续事物, 如同它们可以倚靠并由此得以保存的相应支撑.

“肩或肩膀, 肩头” 表示在抵抗, 破坏, 或迫使时所用的一切力量和能力. 这一点明显可见于这些经文:

你们用胁边用肩膀拥挤, 又用角骶触一切瘦弱的羊, 以致使它们四散在外.(以西结书 34:21)

同一先知书:

埃及向以色列家成了芦苇的杖. 他们用手持住你, 你就断折, 刺开他们整个肩.(以西结书 29:6, 7)

“刺开整个肩” 表示剥夺领悟真理的一切能力;

“埃及” 是指造成这种剥夺的扭曲的记忆知识.

撒迦利亚书:

他们却不肯听从, 扭转顽梗的肩头.(撒迦利亚书 7:11)

“扭转顽梗” 表示抵抗. 诗篇:

他们想出恶计, 却不得逞; 因为你必用肩膀对抗他们.(诗篇 21:11, 12)

“用肩膀对抗他们” 也表示抵抗, 因而表示能力.

“肩或肩膀, 肩头” 表示能力, 这一点从来世的代表明显看出来, 在那里, 那些抵抗的人看似用肩膀对抗.

放在肩膀上并用肩膀扛表示用一切努力和能力在良善和真理的状态下永久保存. 这一点清楚可见于以赛亚书:

列族必将你的众子怀中抱来, 将你的众女肩上扛来.(以赛亚书 49:22)

此处论述的主题是新教会;

“众子” 表示真理,

“众女” 表示良善;

“肩上扛来” 表示保存他们. 在其适当状况下保存良善也由在从埃及出来, 将抟面盆扛在肩头上时的以色列人来代表 (出埃及记 12:34), 又由在肩头上抬圣物的歌辖子孙来代表 (民数记 7:9). 这解释了为何通过对应说话的主论到找到的那失去的羊说,

“就欢欢喜喜地把它扛在肩上” (路加福音 15:5);

“失去又找着的羊” 是指与悔改, 清醒过来的人同住的良善.

由于 “扛在肩上” 具有这种含义, 故经上也论到那些喜爱并保存金银的人说,

“他们将它们扛在肩上” (以赛亚书 46:7).

“扛” 也表示将某物保持在它的适当状态或状况中 (参看9500节). 由此明显可知刻在以弗得的肩带上所安的两块红玛瑙石上的以色列人的名字表示什么, 以及亚伦要把它们担在两肩上, 作为纪念 (28:12) 表示什么.

“担在肩上” 当论及臣服时, 表示奴役 (参看创世记 49:15; 诗篇 81:6; 以赛亚书 9:4; 10:27; 马太福音 23:4; 西番雅书 3:9); 但当论及统治权时, 表示至高无上的权柄 (以赛亚书 9:6; 22:22).

  
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Thanks to our friends at swedenborgwork.com for their permission to use this translation on the New Christian Bible Study site. ( 衷心感谢”史威登堡著作中文网”许可我们使用该中文译文)

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Apocalypse Explained # 449

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449. Of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed, signifies the conjunction with the Lord of those who are in the lowest heaven. This is evident from the representation of "Benjamin" and the tribe named from him, as being the spiritual-celestial in the natural man, as "Joseph" represents it in the spiritual. The spiritual-celestial is truth conjoined to good; for truth regarded in itself is spiritual, and good is celestial; therefore by "Benjamin" and his tribe the conjunction of truth and good in the natural is signified, and thus here the conjunction with the Lord of those who are in the lowest heaven; for in the lowest heaven are those who are in natural good and truth from the spiritual and the celestial. Those who are in the lowest heaven are either spiritual-natural or celestial-natural; the spiritual-natural there belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the celestial-natural to His celestial kingdom, therefore the spiritual-natural communicate with the second heaven where all are spiritual, while the celestial-natural communicate with the third heaven where all are celestial (as was said in the article above).

[2] From all this the signification in the Word of "Joseph" and of "Benjamin," who were brothers, can be seen. As "Benjamin" signifies truth conjoined to good in the natural man, and thus truth conjoined to good in those who are in the lowest heaven, so he was born to Jacob last, and was called by him "son of the right hand," (Benjamin, in the original, means son of the right hand); also he was born in Bethlehem, and that city signifies truth conjoined to good in the natural. (That he was born in Bethlehem, see Genesis 35:16-19.) He was born the last because the natural, consisting of truth conjoined to good, is the ultimate of the church with man. For with man there are three degrees of life, the inmost, the middle, and the ultimate; in the inmost degree are those who are in the inmost or third heaven, in the middle degree are those who are in the middle or second heaven, and in the ultimate degree are those who are in the lowest or first heaven; so those who are in the inmost degree are called celestial, those who are in the middle are called spiritual, and those who are in the ultimate degree are called either spiritual-natural, or celestial-natural, and the conjunction of these in the ultimate degree is signified by "Benjamin." (Respecting these three degrees of life in man and angel, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 33, 34, 38, 39, 208, 209, 211, 435.) This now is why Benjamin was born the last of the sons of Jacob.

[3] He was called "the son of the right hand" because "son" signifies truth, and "right hand" signifies the power of truth from good, and in the spiritual world truth that is from good in the natural man has all power. All the power the spiritual man has is in this, because the effecting cause is in the spiritual man, and the effect is in the natural, and all the power of the effecting cause puts itself forth through the effect. (That all the power of the spiritual man is in the natural, and through the natural, see Arcana Coelestia 9836.) For this reason he was called "Benjamin," that is, "the son of the right hand." And as "Bethlehem" has a like signification, namely, truth conjoined to good in the natural man, David too was born there, and also anointed as king (1 Samuel 16:1-14; 17:12); for David as king represented the Lord in respect to truth from good, and this, too, is signified by "king" (as may be seen above, n. 29, 31, 205). For the same reason the Lord was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1, 5, 6) because He was born a king, and truth conjoined to good was with Him from birth. For every infant is born natural, and the natural, because it is next to the external senses and the world, is first opened, and this with all men is ignorant of truth and desirous of evil; but in the Lord alone the natural had a desire for good and a longing for truth; for the ruling affection in man, which is his soul, is from the father; and with the Lord, the affection or soul from the Father was the Divine Itself, which is the Divine good of the Divine love.

[4] Because "Benjamin" and his tribe signify truth conjoined to good in the natural man:

His lot in the land of Canaan was between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph; Jerusalem also, where the Jebusites then were, fell to that tribe for an inheritance (Joshua 18:11-28);

so that the sons of Benjamin dwelt there with the Jews, who afterwards occupied that city. The tribe of Benjamin had its lot among the sons of Joseph, because that tribe represented and thence signified the conjunction of good and truth; for "Judah" signifies the good of the church, and "Joseph" the truth of the church. Jerusalem fell to that tribe because "Jerusalem" signified the church in respect to doctrine and worship, and all doctrine of the church is the doctrine of truth conjoined to good, and all worship is effected according to doctrine through the natural man; for, as was said above, worship is an effect from the effecting cause which is in the spiritual man.

[5] From this the signification of "Benjamin" in the following passages can be seen. In Jeremiah:

In hallowing the sabbath they shall come from the cities of Judah and from the circuits of Jerusalem and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland and from the mountain and from the south, bringing burnt-offering and sacrifice and meal-offering and frankincense (Jeremiah 17:26).

This was done for hallowing the sabbath because the "sabbath" signifies the union of the Divine and the Divine Human in the Lord, and in a relative sense the conjunction of His Divine Human with heaven and with the church, and in general the conjunction of good and truth (See Arcana Coelestia 8495, 8510, 10356, 10367, 10370, 10374, 10668, 10730). "The cities of Judah, the circuits of Jerusalem, and the land of Benjamin," signify truths conjoined to good in the natural man; "the cities of Judah" the truths of good; "the circuits of Jerusalem" the truths of doctrine in the natural man, and "the land of Benjamin" their conjunction; for "cities" signify truths, "Judah" the good of the church, "Jerusalem" the doctrine of truth, "circuits" such things as are round about or below, which are the truths of good in the natural man, and "the land of Benjamin" the church in respect to the conjunction of these in the natural man; "from the lowland, from the mountain, and from the south," signifies good and truth in the natural man from a celestial origin and from a spiritual origin; "lowland" signifying good and truth in the natural man, because in lowlands, that is, below the mountains and hills, those dwell who are in the lowest heaven, and are called celestial-natural and spiritual-natural, as was said above; "mountains" signifying those who are in celestial good, and "south" those who are in spiritual good, and thence in the light of truth; "to bring burnt-offering and sacrifice, and meal-offering and frankincense," signifies worship from celestial good and from spiritual good in the natural man; "burnt-offering" signifying worship from celestial good; "sacrifice" worship from spiritual good; "meal-offering and frankincense" good and the truth of good in the natural man. Such is the signification of these words. Why else should it be said that in hallowing the sabbath they should come "from the cities of Judah, from the circuits of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, the mountain, and the south," and why not from the whole land of Canaan?

[6] Because all these particulars signify such things as belong to heaven and the church, like things are also mentioned elsewhere in the same Prophet:

In the cities of the mountain, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the circuits of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that numbereth them (Jeremiah 33:13).

They shall buy fields with silver, and this by writing in a book, and by causing witnesses to witness, in the land of Benjamin, and in the circuits of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, for I will turn back their captivity (Jeremiah 32:8, 44).

In these passages "the land of Benjamin, the circuits of Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, the mountain, the lowland, and the south," have a similar signification as above; thus "Benjamin" signifies the conjunction of truth and good in the natural man, and accordingly the conjunction of truth and good with those who are in the lowest heaven.

[7] In the same:

Gather yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and sounding sound the trumpet, and upon the house of the vineyard kindle a conflagration, for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great breaking up (Jeremiah 6:1).

In the spiritual sense this treats of the devastation of the church in respect to truth and good, because it is against Zion and Jerusalem, for "Zion" signifies the good of the church, and "Jerusalem" its truth; and as "the sons of Benjamin" signify the conjunction of good and truth, they are told "to gather themselves out of the midst of Jerusalem, to sound the trumpet, and upon the house of the vineyard to kindle a conflagration;" "to sound the trumpet" signifying combat against that church from truths that are from good; "house of the vineyard" that church itself, and "to kindle a conflagration" its destruction by evil loves; the "north from which the evil looks forth" signifies the falsity of evil, and "a great breaking up" signifies the dispersion of good and truth.

[8] In David:

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest upon the cherubim shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy might, and come for salvation to us (Psalms 80:1, 2).

"Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh," do not mean Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, but those who are in natural truth and good, and with whom there is a conjunction of these (See above, n. 440), where this is explained).

[9] In the same:

Bless ye God in the assemblies, the Lord from the fountain of Israel. There little Benjamin is over them, the princes of Judah, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali (Psalms 68:26, 27).

Here Benjamin, the princes of Judah, of Zebulun, and of Naphtali, are not meant, but those things of the church that are signified by these tribes; and "little Benjamin" here signifies the innocence of the natural man; the innocence of the natural man is in the conjunction of good and truth there. (This too may be seen explained above, n. 439.)

[10] In the blessing of the sons of Israel by Moses:

Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Jehovah, he shall dwell safely by him. He shall cover him all the day, and he shall dwell between His shoulders (Deuteronomy 33:12).

"Benjamin" here signifies the Word in the ultimate sense, which is natural; for in this blessing by Moses the Word is described, and each tribe signifies something of it; and as the ultimate sense of the Word, which is natural, has in it a marriage of good and truth, as has been shown in many places, therefore Benjamin is called "the beloved of Jehovah," and it is said "he shall dwell safely by him, and He shall cover him all the day, and he shall dwell between His shoulders," "to dwell between the shoulders" meaning in safety and in power.

[11] The signification of "Benjamin" in the prophecy of Israel the father respecting his son (Genesis 49:27) has been explained in the Arcana Coelestia 6439-6444). In that prophecy, Benjamin is the last one treated of, because he signifies the ultimate of the church and of heaven; the ultimate is the natural, in which truth is conjoined to good.

[12] Because this is the signification of "Benjamin":

The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin pitched in the wilderness about the tent of meeting, on the west side (Numbers 2:18-24);

and these three tribes signify all who are in natural truth and good, and in the conjunction of these, "Ephraim" signifying truth in the natural man, "Manasseh" good there (as has been shown above), and "Benjamin" the conjunction of these. These tribes pitched on the west side, because in heaven those dwell at the west and at the north who are in the obscurity of good and in the obscurity of truth, thus who are in natural good and truth; but those dwell at the east and at the south in heaven who are in clearness of good and truth. (Respecting this see in the work on Heaven and Hell 141-153.)

[13] From this it can now be seen what "Benjamin" signifies in the Word, namely, the conjunction of good and truth in the natural man, and its conjunction through good with the spiritual; for all good that is good in the natural man flows in from the spiritual man, that is, through the spiritual man from the Lord. Without such influx there is no good in the natural man; therefore "Benjamin" signifies also the conjunction of the spiritual man with the natural, and "Joseph" the conjunction of the celestial man with the spiritual.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.