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Ezekiel 16

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1 And the word of Jehovah was unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

3 and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovih* unto Jerusalem; Thy negotiations and thy births are from the land of the Canaanites; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.

4 And as for thy birth, in the day thou wast·​·born thine umbilical·​·cord was not cut·​·off, neither wast thou bathed with water for me to regard; salted thou wast not salted, swaddled thou wast not swaddled.

5 Not an eye spared thee, to do any one of these unto thee, to have pity upon thee; but thou wast cast onto the faces of the field, at the abhorrence of thy soul, in the day that thou wast·​·born.

6 And I passed by thee, and saw thee trodden·​·down in thine own blood, and I said to thee when thou wast in thy bloods*, Live; and, I said to thee when thou wast in thy bloods, Live.

7 As to becoming·​·much, I have put thee as the growth of the field, and thou hast become·​·much and hast grown·​·up, and thou hast come into decorations of decorations; thy breasts are established, and thy hair has grown, and thou wast naked and with nakedness.

8 And I passed by thee, and saw thee, and behold, thy time was the time of loves; and I spread My wing over thee, and covered thy nakedness; and, I promised to thee, and came into a covenant with thee, says the Lord Jehovih, and thou becamest Mine.

9 And I bathed thee with water; and I rinsed thy bloods from on thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 And I clothed thee with embroidery, and shod thee with badger skin, and I bound· thee ·up with fine·​·linen, and I covered thee with silk.

11 And I decked thee with decoration, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace upon thy throat.

12 And I put a jewel above thy nose, and earrings on thine ears, and a crown of adornment on thy head.

13 And thou wast decked with gold and silver; and thy clothes were of fine·​·linen, and silk, and embroidery; thou didst eat flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast· exceedingly ·beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

14 And thy name went·​·out among the nations with thy beauty; for it was all by My honor, which I had set on thee, says the Lord Jehovih.

15 And thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and didst commit·​·harlotry on·​·account·​·of thy name, and didst spill·​·out thy harlotries on all passing·​·by, for him to have.

16 And from thy garments thou didst take, and didst make for thee high·​·places spotted, and didst commit·​·harlotry on them; they shall not come, and it shall not be.

17 And thou hast taken the vessels of thine adornment from My gold and from My silver, which I had given thee, and didst make for thyself images of a male, and didst commit·​·harlotry with them,

18 and didst take thine embroidered garments, and didst cover them; and thou hast put My oil and My incense before them.

19 And My bread which I gave thee, flour, and oil, and honey, I caused thee to eat, and thou hast put it before them for a restful smell; and thus it was, says the Lord Jehovih.

20 And thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, to whom thou hast given·​·birth for Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy harlotries a·​·little matter,

21 that thou hast slaughtered My sons, and given them to cause them to pass·​·through the fire for them?

22 And with all thine abominations and thy harlotries thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and with nakedness, and wast trodden·​·down in thy blood.

23 And it was after all thine evil; Woe, woe to thee! says the Lord Jehovih.

24 And thou hast built for thyself an arch, and hast made for thyself a high·​·place in every avenue.

25 At the head of every way thou hast built thy high·​·place, and hast made thy beauty to be abominated, and hast opened·​·wide thy feet to all who pass·​·by, and multiplied thy harlotries.

26 And thou hast committed·​·harlotry with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy harlotries, to provoke Me.

27 And, behold, I have stretched·​·out My hand over thee, and have diminished thy stated food, and given thee into the soul of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed on account of thy way of crime.

28 And thou hast committed·​·harlotry with the sons of Assyria, without satisfying thyself; and thou hast committed·​·harlotry with them, and wast not even satisfied.

29 And thou hast multiplied thy harlotry in the land of Canaan toward Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied by this.

30 How thy heart is languishing, says the Lord Jehovih, in that thou doest all these things, the deed of a domineering woman, a harlot;

31 in that thou buildest thy arch at the head of every way, and makest thy high·​·place on every avenue; and hast not been as a harlot, for thou scoffest·​·at hire;

32 But as the wife that commits·​·adultery, which takes strangers instead of her husband!

33 They give wages to all the harlots; but thou givest thy wages to all thy lovers, and bribest them to come to thee from all around thy harlotry.

34 And in thee in thy harlotries is the contrary of other women, and after thee they commit· not ·harlotry, and in thy giving hire, and no hire is given to thee, and thus thou art contrary.

35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:

36 thus says the Lord Jehovih; Because thy bronze was spilled·​·out, and thy nakedness revealed by thy harlotries with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thine abominations, and by the bloods of thy sons, which thou didst give to them;

37 behold, therefore I will bring·​·together all thy lovers, with whom thou art·​·agreeable, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even bring· them ·together against thee all around, and will reveal thy nakedness unto them, and they shall see all thy nakedness.

38 And I will judge thee, with the judgments on women who commit·​·adultery and shed blood; and I will give thee blood with fury and zeal.

39 And I will give thee into their hand, and they shall break·​·down thine arch, and shall tear·​·down thy high·​·places; and they shall strip thee of thy garments, and shall take the vessels of thine adornment, and place thee naked and with nakedness.

40 And they shall bring·​·up an assembly against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn·​·up thy houses with fire, and do judgments in thee to the eyes of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from committing·​·harlotry, and also thou shalt not still give hire.

42 And I will make My fury on thee to rest, and My zeal shall be removed from thee, and I will be·​·quiet, and will be provoked no more.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast made Me tremble in all these things; behold, then I also will put thy way upon thy head, says the Lord Jehovih; and thou shalt not do this crime over all thine abominations.

44 Behold, every enunciator shall enunciate against thee, saying, As is her mother, so is her daughter.

45 Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that abhorred her husband and her sons; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which abhorred their men and their sons; your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell upon thy left hand; and thy younger sister, that dwells at thy right·​·hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

47 And thou hast not walked in their ways, and done their abominations; but, as though these were little, small, and loathed, thou wast corrupted more·​·than they in all thy ways.

48 As I am alive, says the Lord Jehovih, Sodom thy sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, satiated with bread; and the tranquility of idleness was to her and to her daughters; neither did she make·​·firm the hand of the afflicted and needy.

50 And they were·​·haughty, and did abomination before Me; and I removed them as I saw good.

51 Neither has Samaria sinned half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own humiliation over thy sins that thou hast made·​·abominable more·​·than they; they are more justified than thou: and, be thou ashamed also, and bear thy humiliation, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 And I shall return their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and I will bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

54 so·​·that thou mayest bear thine own humiliation, and mayest be humiliated in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

55 And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their ancient times, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their times before, and thou and thy daughters shall return to your ancient times.

56 And thy sister Sodom was not reported by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57 before thine evil was revealed, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are all around her, the daughters of the Philistines, having·​·contempt for thee all around.

58 Thou hast borne thy crimes and thine abominations, says Jehovah.

59 For thus says the Lord Jehovih; And I will do with thee as thou hast done, in that thou hast despised the oath in making· the covenant ·of·​·none·​·effect.

60 But I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will raise·​·up unto thee an eternal covenant.

61 And thou shalt remember thy ways, and be humiliated, when thou shalt take thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger; and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 And I will raise·​·up My covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah:

63 so·​·that thou mayest remember, and be·​·ashamed, and there shall not be to thee an open mouth any·​·more on·​·account·​·of thy humiliation, when I have made·​·atonement toward thee for all that thou hast done, says the Lord Jehovih.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9688

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9688. 'The work of an embroiderer' means things that belong to factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the work of an embroiderer', or embroidery, as factual knowledge. A large number of places in the Word speak of that which has been embroidered and of embroidery, and in every case factual knowledge is meant by it. The reason for this goes back to representatives in the next life; there garments embroidered in various ways are seen, and by these garments truths on the level of factual knowledge are meant.

[2] Truths on the level of factual knowledge differ from those on the level of the understanding in the same way as outward things differ from inward ones, or as the natural level with a person differs from the spiritual. Facts serve the understanding as objects from which it may deduce truths; for the power of understanding is the internal or spiritual man's power of sight, and known facts are its objects in the external or natural man. These facts are meant by 'the work of an embroiderer' whereas that power of understanding is meant by 'the work of a designer', 9598, for designing is a function of the understanding, and embroidering a function of the knowledge and skill employed by the understanding. This explains why the objects within the dwelling-place, which were signs meaning inner realities, were the work of a designer, such as the curtains that formed it, verse 1, and the veil between the holy place and the holy of holies, verse 31. But the objects which were signs meaning outer realities were the work of an embroiderer, such as the screen in place of a tent door, and the screen in place of a gate of the court, Exodus 38:18, and also the girdle, Exodus 39:29, 'the girdle' being what is external linking everything internal, 'the court' being the lowest part of heaven, and 'the tent door' the place where there is an exit from the middle heaven into the lowest.

[3] The fact that 'embroidery' and that which has been 'embroidered' mean factual knowledge belonging to the external or natural man is clear from the following places in the Word: In Ezekiel,

Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt was your sail; violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering. Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks; [they exchanged for your wares] chrysoprase and purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen. The merchants of Sheba [came] with balls of violet and with embroidered work. Ezekiel 27:7, 16, 24.

This refers to Tyre, by which those in possession of cognitions or knowledge of truth and good are meant, and in the abstract sense those cognitions themselves, 1201. 'Fine linen with embroidery' means truth on the level of factual knowledge, for 'fine linen' means truth from a celestial origin, 5319, 9469, and 'embroidery' is factual knowledge. This also is the reason why it says that it came from Egypt - for 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 5702, 6004, 6015, 6125, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 6750, 7779 (end), 9391 - and also from Syria and from Sheba, since cognitions of truth and good are meant by 'Syria', 1232, 1234, 3051, 3249, 3664, 3680, 4112, and in like manner by 'Sheba', 1171, 3240. Cognitions of truth and good constitute the Church's factual knowledge. Anybody endowed with the ability to think intelligently and weigh things up can see that in these verses from Ezekiel one should not understand embroidery, fine linen, violet, or purple, but that these commodities mean things such as are worthy of mention in the Word, namely spiritual realities that belong to heaven and the Church.

[4] In the same prophet,

All the princes of the sea will step down from upon their thrones, and will cast away their robes and will strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with tremblings. Ezekiel 26:16.

This too refers to Tyre. 'The princes of the sea' are the first and foremost known facts, which are called dogmas, 'princes' meaning things which are first and foremost, see 1482, 2089, 5044, and 'the sea' factual knowledge in general 28, 2850. 'Robes' are external truths, 'embroidered' are truths on the level of factual knowledge, which too are external ones. For the meaning of 'garments' as truths, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 6918, 9093, 9158, 9212, 9216.

[5] In the same prophet,

I clothed you with embroidered cloth, and shod you with badger; I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk. Thus were you adorned with gold and silver; and your garments were fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. But you took your embroidered garments and covered the images, with which you committed whoredom. 1 Ezekiel 16:10, 13, 18.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which the Church is meant. 'Embroidered garments' stands for truths on the level of factual knowledge. 'Covering the images, with which she committed whoredom' stands for giving strength to falsities, for 'committing whoredom' means perverting truths by bringing them into contact with falsities or with evils. Is there anyone who cannot see that since these verses describe Jerusalem 'fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth' are not used to mean fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth? Yet what they really mean the Christian world does not seek to know, because it supposes that heavenly and spiritual matters in the Word reside in its literal sense; the more internal contents of the Word it calls mystical, but has no interest in them.

[6] In the same prophet,

A great eagle with great wings, with long pinions, full of feathers, 2 which had embroidery ... Ezekiel 17:3.

This refers to the house of Israel, which means the spiritual Church; and this Church is called 'an eagle' by virtue of its perception of truth, 3901, 8764, 'which had embroidery' standing for its possession of factual knowledge. In David,

All glorious is the king's daughter within, in her clothing with gold interweavings; in an embroidered [robe] she will be led to the king. Psalms 45:13-14.

'The king's daughter' stands for an affection for truth, 'an embroidered [robe]' for factual knowledge of truth. In the Book of Judges,

Will they not divide the spoil, ... the spoil of colours for Sisera, the spoil of colours of embroidered work, embroiderers' colour - on the necks of the spoil? 3 Judges 5:30.

In this verse, which is part of the Song of Deborah and Barak, 'embroidered [work]' stands for factual knowledge belonging to the natural man.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Here verse 18 of Ezekiel 16 has become confused with the preceding verse 17.

2. literally, A great eagle, great with wings, long with pinions, and full with feathers,

3. The meaning in the Hebrew of this verse is very obscure. The Latin rendering by Sebastian Schmidt, which Swedenborg relies on here, is literal and equally difficult to make sense of.

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