Bible

 

Ezechiele 16

Studie

   

1 LA parola del Signore mi fu ancora indirizzata, dicendo:

2 Figliuol d’uomo, dichiara a Gerusalemme le sue abbominazioni, e di’:

3 Così ha detto il Signore Iddio a Gerusalemme: La tua origine, e la tua nazione è dal paese de’ Cananei; tuo padre era Amorreo, e tua madre Hittea.

4 E quant’è al tuo nascimento, nel giorno che tu nascesti, il bellico non ti fu tagliato, e non fosti lavata con acqua, per esser nettata; non fosti punto fregata con sale, nè fasciata di fasce.

5 L’occhio d’alcuno non ebbe pietà di te, per farti alcuna di queste cose, avendo compassione di te; anzi tu fosti gettata sopra la faccia della campagna, per lo sdegno in che altri avea la tua persona, nel giorno che tu nascesti.

6 Ed io passai presso di te, e ti vidi che tu giacevi nel tuo sangue; e ti dissi: Vivi nel tuo sangue; e da capo ti dissi: Vivi nel tuo sangue.

7 Io ti feci crescere a decine di migliaia, come i germogli della campagna; e tu moltiplicasti, e divenisti grande, e pervenisti a somma bellezza; le poppe ti si formarono, e i capelli ti crebbero; ma tu eri ignuda, e scoperta.

8 Ed io passai presso di te, e ti vidi; ed ecco, la tua età era età di amori; ed io stesi il lembo della mia vesta sopra te, e ricopersi la tua nudità; e ti giurai, ed entrai teco in patto, dice il Signore Iddio; e tu divenisti mia.

9 Ed io ti lavai con acqua, e tuffandoti nell’acqua, ti tolsi il tuo sangue d’addosso, e ti unsi con olio.

10 E ti vestii di ricami, e ti calzai di pelle di tasso, e ti cinsi di fin lino, e ti copersi di seta;

11 e ti adornai di ornamenti, e ti misi delle maniglie nelle mani, ed un collare al collo.

12 Ti misi eziandio un monile in sul naso, e degli orecchini agli orecchi, ed una corona di gloria in capo.

13 Così fosti adorna d’oro e d’argento; e il tuo vestire fu fin lino, e seta, e ricami; tu mangiasti fior di farina, e miele, ed olio; e divenisti sommamente bella, e prosperasti fino a regnare.

14 E la fama di te si sparse fra le genti, per la tua bellezza; perciocchè era compiuta, per la mia gloria, che io avea messa in te, dice il Signore Iddio.

15 Ma tu ti sei confidata nella tua bellezza, ed hai fornicato per la tua fama; ed hai sparse le tue fornicazioni ad ogni passante; in lui era di far ciò che gli piaceva.

16 Ed hai presi de’ tuoi vestimenti, e te ne hai fatti degli alti luoghi variati, ed hai fornicato sopra essi; cose le cui simili non avverranno, e non saranno giammai più.

17 Ed hai presi gli ornamenti della tua gloria, fatti del mio oro, e del mio argento, che io ti avea dato, e te ne hai fatte delle immagini di maschi, ed hai fornicato con esse.

18 Tu hai eziandio presi i vestimenti de’ tuoi ricami, ed hai coperte quelle con essi; ed hai loro presentato il mio olio, ed il mio profumo.

19 Parimente hai loro presentato, in odor soave, il mio pane, che io ti avea dato; e il fior della farina, e l’olio, e il miele, con che io ti cibava; e ciò è stato, dice il Signore Iddio.

20 Oltre a ciò, tu hai presi i tuoi figliuoli, e le tue figliuole, che tu mi avevi partoriti, e li hai sacrificati a quelle per essere consumati. Era egli poca cosa delle tue fornicazioni,

21 che tu abbi ancora scannati i miei figliuoli, e li abbi dati a quelle, facendoli passare per lo fuoco?

22 E con tutte le tue abbominazioni e fornicazioni, tu non ti sei ricordata del tempo della tua fanciullezza, quando eri ignuda, e scoperta, e giacevi nel tuo sangue.

23 Ora, dopo tutta la tua malvagità guai, guai a te! dice il Signore Iddio,

24 tu hai eziandio edificato un bordello, e ti hai fatto un alto luogo in ogni piazza publica.

25 In ogni capo di strada, tu hai edificato un tuo alto luogo, ed hai renduta abbominevole la tua bellezza, ed hai allargate le gambe ad ogni passante, ed hai moltiplicate le tue fornicazioni.

26 Ed hai fornicato co’ figliuoli di Egitto, tuoi vicini, molto membruti; ed hai moltiplicate le tue fornicazioni, per dispettarmi.

27 Laonde, ecco, io ho stesa la mia mano sopra te, ed ho diminuita la tua provvisione ordinaria, e ti ho abbandonata alla voglia delle figliuole dei Filistei, che ti hanno in odio, ed hanno vergogna del tuo scellerato procedere.

28 Tu hai eziandio fornicato co’ figliuoli di Assur; perciocchè non eri ancor sazia; tu hai fornicato con loro, e pure ancora non ti sei saziata.

29 Ed hai moltiplicate le tue fornicazioni nel paese di Canaan, fino in Caldea; e pure ancora, con tutto ciò, non ti sei saziata.

30 Quant’è stato il tuo cuor fiacco, dice il Signore Iddio, facendo tutte queste cose, che sono opere d’una baldanzosa meretrice!

31 edificando il tuo bordello in capo d’ogni strada, e facendo i tuoi alti luoghi in ogni piazza pubblica. Or tu non sei stata come le altre meretrici, in quanto tu hai sprezzato il guadagno,

32 o donna adultera, che ricevi gli stranieri in luogo del tuo marito!

33 Ei si premio a tutte le altre meretrici; ma tu hai dati i premii a tutti i tuoi amanti, ed hai loro fatti de’ presenti; acciocchè venissero a te d’ogn’intorno, per le tue fornicazioni.

34 Ed è avvenuto in te, nelle tue fornicazioni, tutto il contrario delle altre donne; in quanto niuno ti è stato dietro, per fornicare; ed anche in quanto tu hai dato premio, e premio non è stato dato a te; e così sei stata al contrario delle altre.

35 Perciò, o meretrice, ascolta la parola del Signore.

36 Così ha detto il Signore Iddio: Perciocchè le tue lordure sono state sparse; e che, nelle tue fornicazioni, la tua nudità è stata scoperta a’ tuoi amanti, e a tutti gl’idoli delle tue abbominazioni; ed anche, per cagion del sangue de’ tuoi figliuoli, che tu hai dati a quelli;

37 perciò, ecco, io adunerò tutti i tuoi amanti, co’ quali hai presi i tuoi diletti; e tutti quelli che tu hai amati, insieme con tutti quelli che hai avuti in odio; e li raccoglierò d’ogn’intorno contro a te, e scoprirò loro la tua nudità, ed essi vedranno tutte le tue vergogne.

38 E ti giudicherò de’ giudicii delle adultere, e di quelle che spandono il sangue, e ti punirò di pena capitale, in ira, e in gelosia.

39 E ti darò nelle lor mani, ed essi disfaranno il tuo bordello, e distruggeranno i tuoi alti luoghi, e ti spoglieranno de’ tuoi vestimenti, e ne porteranno via gli ornamenti della tua gloria, e ti lasceranno ignuda e scoperta;

40 e faranno venir contro a te una gran raunanza di gente, e ti lapideranno con pietre, e ti trafiggeranno con le loro spade;

41 ed arderanno le tue case col fuoco, ed eseguiranno giudicii sopra te, nel cospetto di molte donne; ed io ti farò rimanere di fornicare, ed anche non darai più premii di fornicazione.

42 Ed io acqueterò la mia ira sopra te, e la mia gelosia si rimoverà da te, ed io mi poserò, e non mi adirerò più.

43 Perciocchè tu non ti sei ricordata dei giorni della tua fanciullezza, e mi hai provocato ad ira con tutte queste cose; ecco, io altresì ti renderò il tuo procedere in sul capo, dice il Signore Iddio. Ed anche, con tutte queste abbominazioni, tu non hai commessa scelleratezza.

44 Ecco, tutti quelli che usano di proverbiare proverbieranno di te, dicendo: Qual fu la madre, tale è la sua figliuola.

45 Tu sei figliuola di tua madre, che ebbe a sdegno il suo marito, ed i suoi figliuoli; e sei sorella delle tue sorelle, che hanno avuti a sdegno i lor mariti, e i lor figliuoli; la madre vostra fu Hittea, e il vostro padre Amorreo.

46 Or la tua sorella maggiore è Samaria, con le sue terre, la quale è posta alla tua man sinistra; e la tua sorella minore, che è posta alla tua destra, è Sodoma, con le sue terra.

47 Ed anche non sei camminata nelle lor vie, e non hai fatto secondo le loro abbominazioni, come se ciò fosse stata piccola e leggier cosa; anzi ti sei corrotta in tutte le tue vie, più che esse.

48 Come io vivo, dice il Signore Iddio, Sodoma, tua sorella, con le sue terre, non fecero quanto hai fatto tu, e le tue terre.

49 Ecco, questa fu l’iniquità di Sodoma, tua sorella, con le sue terre: ella ebbe gran gloria, ed abbondanza di pane, ed agio di riposo; ed ella non diede alcun conforto al povero, ed al bisognoso.

50 Ed esse superbirono, e commisero abbominazione nel mio cospetto; laonde io le tolsi via, come vidi che dovea farsi.

51 E quant’è a Samaria, ella non ha peccato a metà quanto tu; e tu hai moltiplicate le tue abbominazioni, più che l’una e l’altra; ed hai giustificate le tue sorelle con tutte le abbominazioni che hai commesse.

52 Tu, che hai giudicate amendue le tue sorelle, porta anche tu il tuo vituperio, per il tuoi peccati, per li quali ti sei renduta più abbominevole di loro; elleno son più giuste di te; ed anche tu sii svergognata, e porta il tuo vituperio, poichè tu giustifichi le tue sorelle.

53 Se mai il le ritiro di cattività, cioè Sodoma e le sue terre, e Samaria e le sue terre, ritrarrò te altresì fra loro dalla cattività delle tue cattività.

54 Acciocchè, consolandole, tu porti il tuo vituperio, e sii svergognata per tutto ciò che hai fatto.

55 E quando le tue sorelle, Sodoma e le sue terre, e Samaria e le sue terre ritorneranno al lor primiero stato, allora eziandio tu e le tue terre, ritornerete al vostro primiero stato.

56 Or Sodoma, tua sorella, non è stata mentovata dalla bocca tua, nel giorno delle tue magnificenze;

57 avanti che la tua malvagità fosse palesata, come fu nel tempo del vituperio che ti fu fatto dalle figliuole di Siria, e di tutti i suoi luoghi circonvicini; e dalle figliuole de’ Filistei, che ti predarono d’ogn’intorno.

58 Tu porti addosso la tua scelleratezza, e le tue abbominazioni, dice il Signore.

59 Perciocchè, così ha detto il Signore Iddio: Io altresì farò inverso te, come tu hai fatto; conciossiachè tu abbi sprezzato il giuramento, per rompere il patto.

60 Ma pure, io mi ricorderò del mio patto, che io feci teco ne’ giorni della tua fanciullezza; e ti fermerò un patto eterno.

61 Allor tu ti ricorderai delle tue vie, e sarai confusa, quando riceverai le tue sorelle maggiori, insieme con le minori di te, le quali io ti darò per figliuole; ma non già secondo il tuo patto.

62 Ed io fermerò il mio patto teco, e tu conoscerai che io sono il Signore;

63 (H16-62) acciocchè tu ti ricordi di queste cose, ed abbi vergogna, e non apra più la bocca, per lo tuo vituperio, dopo che io mi sarà placato inverso te, di tutto ciò che tu avrai fatto, dice il Signore Iddio.

   


To many Protestant and Evangelical Italians, the Bibles translated by Giovanni Diodati are an important part of their history. Diodati’s first Italian Bible edition was printed in 1607, and his second in 1641. He died in 1649. Throughout the 1800s two editions of Diodati’s text were printed by the British Foreign Bible Society. This is the more recent 1894 edition, translated by Claudiana.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Heaven and Hell # 179

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 603  
  

179. Because angels' clothes correspond to their intelligence they also correspond to what is true, since all intelligence comes from divine truth. So it amounts to the same thing whether you say that angels are dressed according to their intelligence or according to divine truth. The reason the garments of some angels gleam as though aflame, while the garments of others shine as though alight, is that flame corresponds to what is good, and light to what is true because of that good. 1 The reason some garments are pure white and soft white and do not shine, while others are of various colors, is that divine good and truth are less dazzling and are also differently accepted among less intelligent people. 2 Pure white and soft white correspond to what is true, 3 and colors correspond to different shadings of truth. The reason angels in the inmost heaven are naked is that they are in innocence, and innocence corresponds to nudity. 5

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] Garments in the Word mean truths by reason of correspondence: 1073, 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536; because truths clothe what is good: 5248. A veil means something of intellect, since discernment is the vessel of what is true: 6378. White garments of linen mean truths from the Divine: 5319, 9469. Flame means spiritual good, and the light from it means truth from that good: 3222, 6832.

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] Angels and spirits are seen wearing clothes that accord with their truths and therefore with their intelligence: 165, 5248, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9814, 9952, 10536. Some garments of angels are radiant, and some are not: 5248.

3. [Swedenborg's footnote] Pure white and soft white in the Word mean what is true, because they come from light in heaven: 3301, 3993, 4001 [4007?].

1042-1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922. Colors mean various things that are matters of intelligence and wisdom: 4530, 4922, 4677, 9466. The precious stones in the Urim and Thummim, depending on their colors, meant all the truths in the heavens that stem from what is good: 9865, 9868, 9905. To the extent that colors are derived from red, they mean what is good; while to the extent that they are derived from white, they mean what is true: 9476.

5. [Swedenborg's footnote] All the people in the inmost heaven are innocent, and therefore seem to be naked: 154, 165, 297, 2736, 3887, 8375, 9960. Innocence is manifested in heaven as nudity: 165, 8375, 9960. For innocent and chaste people, nudity is not a matter of shame because there is no occasion for offense: 165, 213, 8375.

  
/ 603  
  

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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3993

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

3993. 'Removing from it every speckled and spotted member of the flock' means that everything good and true that is meant by 'Laban' and which - when mingled with evil, meant by 'speckled', or mingled with falsity, meant by 'spotted' - will be separated. This is clear from the meaning of 'removing' as separating, and from the meaning of 'member of the flock', in this case she-goats and lambs, as goods and truths, dealt with in 1824, 3519. The fact that these details and those that follow in this chapter hold arcana within them may be recognized from the consideration that for the most part they would not be worth mentioning in the Divine Word if they did not include any deeper arcana than those to be seen in the letter, such as the following: For his wages Jacob asked for the speckled and the spotted among the she-goats and for the black among the lambs; and after this, in the runners he placed rods - which he had peeled down to the white and which were of hazel and of plane - in front of Laban's flocks when these came on heat, and in the case of the lambs he set the faces of the flock towards the variegated and the black in Laban's flock, thereby making himself rich not by the use of a good skill but of an evil one. These details do not seem to hold anything Divine within them, and yet the Word is Divine in every single part, even to the smallest part of a letter. And what is more, knowing all these details does not contribute one tiny bit to a person's salvation, yet being Divine the Word does not contain within itself anything else than such things as lead to salvation and eternal life.

[2] From these details and others like them elsewhere anyone may come to the conclusion that some arcanum is concealed within them, and that although in the literal sense they are the kind of facts that are not worth mentioning, those details - every single one - are pregnant with ideas much more Divine. But what exactly these ideas may be cannot possibly be seen by anyone except from the internal sense, that is, unless he knows the way in which angels perceive these matters; for they perceive the spiritual sense when man sees the historical natural sense. How remote these two senses seem to be from each other when in fact they are closely linked to one another may become quite evident from the historical details explained above and from all other such details. The actual arcanum present within the details here and in those after them in this chapter may, it is true, be known to some extent from what has been stated already about Laban and Jacob - about 'Laban' meaning the kind of good by means of which genuine goods and truths are able to be introduced, while 'Jacob' means the good of truth. Yet few know what natural good corresponding to spiritual good is, even fewer what spiritual good is and that a correspondence ought to exist between the two, and fewer still that a type of good which merely looks like good is the means for introducing genuine goods and truths. This being so, the arcana which describe these matters cannot be explained easily and intelligibly since they fall within the poorly lit parts of the understanding. It is rather like someone talking in a foreign language, in that no matter how clearly the thing is explained in that language the hearer does not understand. Even so, because what is concealed in the internal sense of the Word is to be made known, the actual arcanum within the details here has to be discussed.

[3] In the highest sense the subject at this point is how the Lord made His own Natural Divine, and in the representative sense how the Lord regenerates the natural as it exists with man and brings it into correspondence with his interior man, that is, with that which is going to live after the death of the body. At that point it is called man's spirit which, when released from the body, takes with it every part of the external man except the flesh and bones. If the correspondence of the internal man with the external has not been effected in the temporal state, that is, during a person's life in the body, it is not effected after that. The Lord's joining of the two together through regeneration is the subject in the internal sense here.

[4] Previous sections have dealt with the general truths which a person ought to receive and acknowledge before he can be regenerated, those truths being meant by Jacob's ten sons by Leah and the servant-girls; then they deal - after he has received and acknowledged them - with the joining of the external man to the interior, that is, of the natural man to the spiritual, which was meant by 'Joseph'. Now in the sequence of ideas the subject is the fruitfulness of good and the multiplication of truth which begin to occur once the rational man has been joined to the spiritual, and in the measure that they are so joined. These are the considerations meant by the flock which Jacob acquired to himself by means of Laban's flock. 'Flock' here means good and truth, as it does many times elsewhere in the Word. 'Laban's flock' means the good that is represented by 'Laban', the nature of which has been stated above; 'Jacob's flock' means the genuine good and truth which is acquired by means of that good represented by Laban.

[5] It is the way in which genuine goods and truths are acquired that is described here. Yet this cannot by any means be comprehended unless one knows what is meant in the internal sense by 'speckled', 'spotted', 'black' and 'white', and therefore these must first be dealt with here. That which is speckled or that which is spotted consists of black and of white. In general 'black' means that which is evil, in particular man's proprium since this is nothing but evil. 'Dark' however means that which is false, and in particular false assumptions. 'White' in the internal sense means truth; strictly speaking it means the Lord's Righteousness and Merit, and from this the Lord's righteousness and merit as these exist with man. This whiteness is called bright because it shines from the light that radiates from the Lord. But 'white' in the contrary sense means self-righteousness or one's own merit. Indeed truth devoid of good has such merit within it, for when any good action performed by a person does not stem from the good of truth that person always desires something in return since he acts for the sake of himself. But when good lies behind the truth that a person carries into effect, that truth is enlightened by the light which radiates from the Lord. From this one may see what is meant by 'spotted', namely truth with which falsity has been mingled, and what by 'speckled', namely good with which evil has been mingled.

[6] Actually visible in the next life are colours so beautiful and bright that they defy description, 1053, 1624. They are the product of the variegation of light and shade within white and black. But although it appears before the eyes as light, the light there is unlike the light in the world. The light in heaven includes intelligence and wisdom, for Divine Intelligence and Wisdom from the Lord manifest themselves there as light and also light up the whole of heaven, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3339-3341, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3862. Shade likewise in the next life, although it appears as shade, is unlike shade in the world, since the shade in that life is the absence of light and as a consequence the lack of intelligence and wisdom. So because the white and the black are in the next life a product of light which has intelligence and wisdom within it, and a product of the shade which is the lack of these, it is evident that white and black mean such things as have been stated above. Consequently, since colours are the modifications of light and shade within surfaces consisting of white and black, it is the variegations produced by those modifications that are called colours, 1042, 1043, 1053.

[7] From all this one may see what is meant by speckled, or marked and dotted with black and white specks, namely good with which evil has been mingled, and also what is meant by spotted, namely truth with which falsity has been mingled. These are the things that were taken from 'Laban good' to serve in the introducing of genuine goods and truths. But in what way they are able to serve is an arcanum which can indeed be presented clearly to those who see in the light of heaven because this light, as has been stated, holds intelligence within it, but not to those who see in the light of the world unless their light of the world is lit up by the light of heaven, as it is with those who are regenerate. For every regenerate person sees goods and truths within his own natural light from the light of heaven, because the light of heaven brings sight to his understanding even as the inferior light of the world gives him natural sight.

[8] But all this needs to be taken a little further. No pure good, or good with which evil is not mingled, exists with anyone. Neither does any pure truth, or truth with which falsity is not mingled, exist with him. This is because man's will is nothing but evil, from which falsity is constantly passing into his understanding; for as is well known, he possesses by inheritance the evil that has been accumulated consecutively by his forefathers. From this inheritance he brings out evil into his own actions and makes it his own, adding further evil from himself to the inheritance. But the evils residing with man are of various kinds. There are evils with which goods cannot be mingled and there are evils with which they can. And the same applies to falsities. If this were not so nobody could ever have been regenerated. The evils and falsities with which goods and truths cannot be mingled are ones that are contrary to love to God and love towards the neighbour - forms of hatred, revenge, and cruelty, and consequent contempt for others in comparison with oneself, and also consequent false persuasions. But the evils and falsities with which goods and truths can be mingled are ones that are not contrary to love to God and love towards the neighbour.

[9] Take for example anyone who loves himself more than others and because of that love strives to excel others in private life and in public life, to excel them in knowledge and doctrine, and to be promoted to positions of greater importance than others, and also to greater affluence than others. If at the same time he acknowledges and adores the Lord, from the heart performs acts of kindness to the neighbour, and from conscience behaves justly and fairly, the evil that belongs to his self-love is such that good and truth can be mingled with it. For this is an evil which belongs to a person as his own and into which he is born by heredity. And to take that away from him suddenly would be to put out the fire of life that burns in him at first. But in the case of someone who loves himself more than others and because of that love despises others in comparison with himself, hates those who do not hold him in esteem and so to speak adore him, and therefore enjoys the feelings of hatred that are present in revenge and cruelty, the evil of that love is such that good and truth cannot be mingled with it because they are contraries.

[10] Take as another example anyone who believes that he is pure from sins, and so is cleansed like somebody from whom dirt has been washed away by means of much water, once he has repented and carried out the prescribed penances, or after he has made his confession and heard the confessor declare him free from sins, or after he has been to the Holy Supper. If he leads a new life, being stirred by an affection for good and truth, that falsity is such that good can be mingled with it. But if he goes on leading a carnal and worldly life as before, it is in that case a falsity with which good cannot be mingled. Also, with anyone who believes that man is saved by virtue of believing what is good and not of willing it, and yet who does will what is good and therefore does it, that falsity is such that good and truth can be attached to it. But not so if he does not will what is good and therefore does not do it.

[11] Take yet another example. If anyone does not know that man rises again after death and consequently does not believe in the resurrection, or else if anyone who does know but nevertheless doubts or practically denies it, and yet each one leads a life of truth and goodness, good and truth can be mingled with that falsity also. But if a person leads a life of falsity and evil they cannot be mingled with that same falsity because they are contraries. The falsity destroys the truth, and the evil destroys the good.

[12] And still another example. Pretence and shrewdness which have a good end in view, whether the good of the neighbour, or of one's country, or of the Church, constitute prudence. The evils that are mixed up with them can be mingled with good by reason of and for the sake of the end in view. But presence and shrewdness which have an evil end in view do not constitute prudence but trickery and deceit. Good cannot possibly be joined to these, for deceit which goes with an evil end in view brings what is of hell into every single part of a person, sets evil in the middle, and casts good away to the circumferences. This order is the order itself of hell. And so with countless other examples that could be taken.

[13] The fact that there are some evils and falsities to which goods and truths can be attached may be seen merely from the consideration that so many different dogmas and teachings exist, many of them totally heretical, and yet subscribing to each one there are people who are saved. The same may also be seen from the consideration that among gentiles outside of the Church there is another Church that is the Lord's, and that those are saved who lead charitable lives, even though falsities exist with them, 2589 2604. This could by no means be the case if there were no evils with which goods can be mingled, and no falsities with which truths can be mingled. For the evils with which goods are mingled, and the falsities with which truths are mingled, are wonderfully arranged into order by the Lord. For they are not combined with one another, still less are they made into one, but lie adjacent to and touch one another, so that in fact the goods together with the truths occupy the middle, at the central point so to speak, while the evils and falsities occupy positions radiating outwards to the surrounding areas or circumferences. Consequently the evils and falsities receive light from the goods and truths, and are variegated like patches of white and black created by light radiating from the middle or centre. This constitutes heavenly order. These are the things meant in the internal sense by 'speckled' and 'spotted'.

  
/ 10837  
  

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