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Ezekiel 31

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1 And it was, in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah was unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; to whom art thou likened in thy greatness?

3 Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful boughs, and shadowing woods, and of a tall stature; and his top·​·branch was between the intertwined·​·branches.

4 The waters made· him ·great, the abyss lifted· him ·up with her rivers going all around his plants, and sent·​·out her waterways to all the trees of the field.

5 Therefore his stature was·​·loftier than all the trees of the field, and his limbs were multiplied, and his branches became·​·long from many waters, when he sent· them ·out.

6 All the fowls of the heavens nested in his limbs, and under his branches did all the animals of the field give·​·birth, and in his shadow dwelt all the many nations.

7 And he was·​·beautiful in his greatness, in the length of his offshoots; for his root was by many waters.

8 The cedars did not obscure him in the garden of God; the firs were not likened to his limbs, and the plane·​·trees were not as his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was·​·likened to him in his beauty.

9 I have made him beautiful with the multitude of his offshoots; and all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God were·​·envious of him.

10 Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovih*, Because thou hast made· thyself ·tall in stature, and he has put his top·​·branch in between the intertwined·​·branches, and his heart is exalted in his loftiness;

11 And I have given him into the hand of the powerful one of the nations; dealing he shall deal with him; I have driven· him ·out according·​·to his wickedness.

12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut· him ·off, and have abandoned him; to the mountains and in all the ravines his offshoots are fallen, and his branches are broken in all the channels of the land; and all the people of the land are gone·​·down from his shadow, and have abandoned him.

13 Upon his fall shall all the fowls of the heavens abide, and all the animals of the field shall be in his branches:

14 in·​·order·​·that not any of the trees of the waters be·​·lofty in their stature, neither put their top·​·branch in between the intertwined·​·branches, neither their powerful ones stand in their loftiness, all that drink water; for they are all given to death, to the lower earth, in the midst of the sons of man, to those who go·​·down to the pit.

15 Thus says the Lord Jehovih; In the day of his going·​·down toward hell I caused a mourning; I covered the abyss over him, and I withheld its rivers, and the many waters were held·​·back: and I caused Lebanon to blacken over him, and all the trees of the field over him were fatigued.

16 I made the nations to quake at the voice of his fall, when I made him go·​·down to hell with those who go·​·down to the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the lower earth.

17 They also went·​·down unto hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt in his shadow in the midst of the nations.

18 to whom in·​·this·​·manner art thou likened in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? But thou shalt be brought·​·down with the trees of Eden to the lower earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his crowd, 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 # 6693

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6693. 'Saying, Every son who is born you are to throw into the river' means that all truths that appeared should be drowned in falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; from the meaning of 'being born' as appearing; and from the meaning of 'the river' as those things that constitute intelligence, dealt with in 108, 109, 2702, 3051, here in the contrary sense as those things which are the opposite, namely falsities. The fact that 'throwing into' means drowning in is self-evident.

[2] The meaning of 'the river of Egypt' as the opposite of intelligence, which is falsity, is also clear in Isaiah,

The rivers will recede, the streams of Egypt will diminish and dry up. The papyrus plants next to the river, next to the mouth of the river, and everything sown in the river will wither, be driven away, and be no more. Therefore the fishermen will mourn, and all who cast a hook into the river will be sad, and those who spread nets over the face of the waters will anguish. Isaiah 19:6-8.

Here one should not understand a river by 'the river of Egypt' or fishermen by 'the fishermen' but other things which are not apparent unless one knows how 'Egypt', 'the river' there, and 'the fishermen' are to be understood. If one does know, then the meaning of these verses is apparent. The fact that 'the river of Egypt' means falsity is evident from every detail mentioned in them.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Who is this coming up like a river, whose waters are tossed about like the rivers? Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers his waters are tossed about. For he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Jeremiah 46:7-8.

Here also 'the river of Egypt' stands for falsities. 'Going up and covering the earth' stands for overwhelming the Church, 'destroying the city' stands for destroying the teachings of the Church, 'and those who dwell in it' for doing so to forms of good that come from those teachings. For the meaning of 'the earth' as the Church, see 6649; 'the city' as the teachings of the Church, 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493; and 'those who dwell in it' as forms of good there, 2268, 2451, 2712.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies 1 in the midst of his rivers, who has said, The river is mine and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales, and I will cause you to come up out of the midst of your rivers, in order that 2 all the fish of your rivers may stick in your scales. I will leave in the wilderness you and all the fish of your rivers. Ezekiel 29:3-5, 9-10.

Without the internal sense no one can know what this passage means either. Thus, though it is evident that it is not the country Egypt which is meant, the meaning of the passage remains unknown unless one knows what 'Pharaoh', 'river', 'monster', 'fish', and 'scales', all mean. 'Pharaoh' is the natural where factual knowledge resides, see 5160, 5799, 6015; 'monsters' are general bodies of facts that reside in the natural, 42; 'fish' are the facts subordinate to a general body of them, 40, 991; 'scales' are ideas of a thoroughly external nature, thus sensory impressions, to which factual knowledge that is false clings. When one knows all these meanings one can see what 'the river of Egypt' is used to mean in this passage, namely, falsity.

[5] In the same prophet,

On the day on which Pharaoh goes down into hell I will make him mourn, I will cover the deep over him, and I will restrain its streams, and the great waters will be stayed. Ezekiel 31:15.

In Amos,

Is not the land to be shaken on account of this, and everyone to mourn that inhabits it? Yes, the whole of it comes up like a river, and is cast out, and is drowned as if in the river of Egypt. On that day I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the land in broad daylight. Amos 8:8-9; 9:5.

'The land which will be shaken' stands for the Church, 6649, while 'being drowned as if in the river of Egypt' stands for being destroyed by falsities. And since falsities are meant it says that the sun will go down at noon, and the earth will be darkened in broad daylight. 'The going down of the sun at noon' means that the good of heavenly love will depart, and 'the darkening of the land in broad daylight' that falsities will take possession of the Church. For the meaning of 'the sun' as the good of heavenly love, see 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696; for 'darkness' as falsities, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531; and for 'the earth' as the Church, 82, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1411, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577. Anyone can see that things other than those which appear in the literal sense here - such as that the land will be shaken and every inhabitant will mourn, or that the sun will go down at noon and the land will be darkened in broad daylight - are really meant. Unless one takes 'the land' to mean the Church, 'the river' to mean falsity, and 'the sun' to mean heavenly love, one does not find any other explicable meaning there.

[6] It is because 'the river of Egypt' means falsity that Moses was commanded to strike the waters of that river with his rod, after which they were turned into blood, all fish in the river died, and the river stank, Exodus 7:17-18, 20-21. For the same reason Aaron had to stretch out his hand and rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the pools, from which frogs rose up over the land of Egypt, Exodus 8:5-6. 3 For the meaning of 'the waters' in the contrary sense as falsities, see 790; and since the waters make up the river, 'the river' in relation to them means falsity in general.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Reading cubat (he lies) for cubas (you lie)

2. Reading ut (in order that) for et (and)

3Exodus 8:1-2, in this translation of the Arcana Caelestia

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