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Ezekiel 40

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1 In the twentieth and fifth year of our exile, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten, in this same day the hand of Jehovah was on me, and brought me thither.

2 In the visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel, and caused me to rest in a very tall mountain, and upon it was as it were a building of a city on the south.

3 And He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, and a strand of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

4 And the man spoke to me: Son of man, see with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thy heart to all that I shall cause thee to see; for in·​·order·​·that I might cause thee to see, thou art brought hither; tell all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

5 And behold, a wall on the outside of the house around and around, and in the hand of the man a measuring reed of six cubits, by the cubit and hand·​·breadth; and he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height, one reed.

6 And he came to the gate which faced the way of the east, and went·​·up its stairs, and measured the doorway of the gate, one reed in breadth; and one doorway was one reed in breadth.

7 And the little·​·chamber was one reed in length, and one reed in breadth; and between the little·​·chambers were five cubits; and the doorway of the gate from beside the porch of the gate inside was one reed.

8 And he measured the porch of the gate inside, one reed.

9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its columns, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inside.

10 And the little·​·chambers of the gate on the way of the east were three from here, and three from here; one measure for the three, and one measure for the columns from here and from here.*

11 And he measured the breadth of the entrance of the gate, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.

12 And the border before the little·​·chambers was one cubit, and the border was one cubit from here; and the little·​·chambers were six cubits from here, and six cubits from here.

13 And he measured the gate from the roof of one little·​·chamber to the roof of another; the breadth was five and twenty cubits, entrance in·​·front·​·of entrance.

14 And he made columns of sixty cubits, even to the column of the court of the gate around and around.

15 And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.

16 And there were shutting windows to the little·​·chambers, and to their columns interior to the gate around and around, and thus for the arches; and windows were around and around for the interior; and to each column were palm·​·trees.

17 And he brought me to the outer court, and, behold, there were rooms, and a pavement made for the court around and around; thirty rooms were toward the pavement.

18 And the pavement at the shoulder of the gates alongside the length of the gates was the lower pavement.

19 Then he measured the breadth from the face of the lower gate unto the face of the inner court outside, a hundred cubits east and north.

20 And the gate of the outer court that faced the way of the north, he measured its length, and its breadth.

21 And its little·​·chambers were three from here and three from here; and its columns and its arches were according·​·to the measure of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty in cubits.

22 And its windows, and its arches, and its palm·​·trees, were according·​·to the measure of the gate that faced the way of the east; and by seven stairs they went·​·up into it; and its arches were before them.

23 And the gate of the inner court was in·​·front·​·of the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.

24 And he caused me to go the way of the south, and behold there was a gate on the way of the south; and he measured its columns and its arches according·​·to these measures.

25 And there were windows for it and for its arches around and around, like those windows; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

26 And there were seven stairs going·​·up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm·​·trees, one from here, and one from here, to its columns.

27 And there was a gate for the inner court on the way of the south; and he measured from gate to gate on the way of the south a hundred cubits.

28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate; and he measured the south gate according·​·to these measures,

29 and its little·​·chambers, and its columns and its arches, according·​·to these measures; and there were windows for it and for its arches around and around; fifty cubits was the length, and the breadth twenty and five cubits.

30 And the arches were around and around, the length five and twenty cubits, and the breadth five cubits.

31 And its arches were toward the outer court; and palm·​·trees were at its columns; and its going·​·up had eight stairs.

32 And he brought me into the inner court, the way of the east; and he measured the gate according·​·to these measures.

33 And its little·​·chambers, and its columns, and its arches, were according·​·to these measures; and there were windows for it and for its arches around and around: the length was fifty cubits, the breadth five and twenty cubits.

34 And its arches were to the outer court; and palm·​·trees were toward its columns, from here and from here; and its going·​·up had eight stairs.

35 And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according·​·to these measures;

36 its little·​·chambers, its columns, and its arches, and the windows for it around and around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

37 And its columns were to the outer court; and palm·​·trees were toward its columns, from here and from here; and its going·​·up had eight stairs.

38 And the room and its entrances were by the columns of the gates, where they purged the burnt·​·offering.

39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables from here, and two tables from here, to slaughter on them the burnt·​·offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering.

40 And to the wing from outside going·​·up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other wing, which was to the porch of the gate, were two tables.

41 four tables were from here, and four tables from here, by the wing of the gate; eight tables, on which they slaughtered their sacrifices.

42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt·​·offering, the length one cubit and a half, and the breadth one cubit and a half, and one cubit tall; and they placed on it the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt·​·offering and the sacrifice.

43 And what·​·was·​·set·​·on was of one hand·​·breadth prepared inside around and around; and at the tables was the flesh of the offering.

44 And outside the inner gate were the rooms of the singers in the inner court, which was at the wing of the north gate; and their face was the way of the south; one at the wing of the east gate facing the way of the north.

45 And he spoke unto me, This room, which is facing is the way of the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.

46 And the room whose face is the way of the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, who draw·​·near to Jehovah to minister to Him.

47 And he measured the court, the length a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits, foursquare, and the altar that was before the house.

48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each column of the porch, five cubits from here, and five cubits from here; and the breadth of the gate was three cubits from here, and three cubits from here.

49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the stairs by which they went·​·up to it; and there were pillars by the columns, one from here, and one from here.

   


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

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Apocalypse Explained # 70

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70. The feet are said to be "like unto burnished brass," because burnished brass is polished brass, shining from something fiery; and "brass" in the Word signifies natural good. Metals are equally significative with the rest in the Word. "Gold" in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; "silver" signifies the truth thereof, which is spiritual good: "brass" natural good which is outmost good, and "iron" the truth thereof, which is natural truth.

Metals have such significations from correspondence; for in heaven many things are seen shining as if from gold and silver, and also many things as if from brass and iron; and it is there known that by these the goods and truths mentioned above are signified. It was from this that the ancients, who had a knowledge of correspondences, named the ages according to these metals; calling the first age the "golden," because innocence, love, and wisdom therefrom then ruled; but the second "silver," because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom then ruled; the third age "brazen" or "copper," because mere natural good, which is justness and sincerity of moral life, then ruled; but the last age they called "iron," because mere truth without good then ruled, and when that rules, falsity also rules. All this was from the spiritual signification of these metals.

[2] From this it can be known what is signified by the image seen in a dream by Nebuchadnezzar:

The head of which was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and sides of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay (Daniel 2:23, 33);

namely, the state of the church in respect to good and truth, from its first time to its last; its last time was when the Lord came into the world. When it is known that "gold" signifies celestial good, "silver" spiritual good, "brass" natural good, and "iron" natural truth, many arcana in the Word, where these metals are mentioned, can be understood. Thus what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice (Isaiah 60:17).

[3] But as the signification of "brass," as meaning natural good, is here treated of, I will cite only a few passages where "brass" is mentioned, as signifying that good. Thus in Moses:

Asher acceptable unto his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil. Thy shoe iron and brass, and as thy days thy fame (Deuteronomy 33:24-25).

"Asher," as one of the tribes, signifies the blessedness of life, and the delight of affections (See Arcana Coelestia 3938-3939, 6408); "to dip the foot in oil" signifies natural delight, "oil" is delight (See n. 9954), "foot" the natural (See just above, n. 69; "the shoe iron and brass" signifies the lowest natural from truth and good, "the shoe" is the lowest natural (See n. 1748, 1860, 6844), "iron" is its truth, and "brass" its good (as above). In the same:

Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a wealthy land; a land out of whose stones thou mayest hew out iron, and out of its mountains brass (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

In Jeremiah:

I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee and not prevail against thee (Jeremiah 15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; with the soul of man and with vessels of brass they traded thy merchandise (Ezekiel 27:13).

In this chapter the traffickings of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges of good and truth; by the names "Javan," "Tubal," and "Meshech," are signified such things as are of good and truth, of which knowledges treat; the "soul of man" is truth of life; "vessels of brass" are scientifics of natural good. (What is signified by "Tyre" may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by "traffickings," n. 2967, 4453; what by "Tubal and Meshech," n. 1151; what by "Javan," n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the "soul of man," n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by "vessels," n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318) In the same:

The feet of the cherubs sparkled like the appearance of polished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).

What "cherubs" and "feet" signify, see above n. 69.

[4] In the same:

I saw and behold there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a line of flax was in his hand; and he was standing in the gate (Ezekiel 40:3).

It was because this angel measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, that his appearance was seen as the appearance of brass. He who knows that "brass" signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, can in some measure know why:

The altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the grating about it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4);

as also why:

The great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47).

[5] He who knows what "brass" signifies may also enter into the arcanum why it was commanded that a serpent of brass be set up for the people to look at, of which it is thus written in Moses:

Jehovah sent serpents among the people, and they bit the people. And He said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a standard, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, and looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a standard; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived (Numbers 21:6, 8-9).

That this "serpent" signified the Lord, He Himself teaches in John:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life (John 3:14-15).

By the "serpent" is signified that which is the ultimate of life with man, and is called the external sensual, which is the natural. Because this ultimate in the Lord was Divine, a serpent of brass was made among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative; and this signified that if they would look to the Divine Human of the Lord they would live again, that is, if they would believe in Him they would have eternal life, as the Lord Himself also teaches. (That to "see" is in the spiritual sense to believe, see above, n. 37, 68; and that the "serpent" is the external sensual, which is the ultimate of man's life, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313) That "brass" and "iron" in the Word also signify what is hard (as in Isaiah 48:4; Daniel 7:19 where), will be seen in what follows.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 2930

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2930. 'If you are willing' means if on account of an affection for truth coming from the heart. This is clear from the meaning of 'soul' in the internal sense. The expression 'with heart and soul' or 'with all the heart and with all the soul' occurs in various places in the Word where with all the will and all the understanding is meant. The fact that man possesses the dual powers of will and understanding, and also that the will is separated from the understanding may be well known to everyone, for we are all able to understand what is good and true but nevertheless will what is evil and false. From the beginning the human being was created in such a way that will and understanding with him were to make one, so that he would not think anything other than what he willed, nor will anything other than what he thought. Such is the state with celestial people and such it was in the celestial Church which was called Man or Adam. But with spiritual people, that is, in the spiritual Church, the first ability is separated from the second, that is to say, that of the understanding is separated from that of the will. A spiritual person is reformed by the Lord as to the former, namely the understanding part of his mind, and then within this there is formed a new will and a new understanding, 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256.

[2] The new will there, which is received from the Lord, is what is called 'the heart', while the new understanding is what is called 'the soul'. And when the expression 'with all the heart and with all the soul' is used, with all the will and with all the understanding is meant. This is what is meant by 'heart and soul' in Moses,

This day Jehovah your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and judgements - that you may keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 26:16.

You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5.

In the same author,

Now Israel, what does Jehovah your God require of you except to fear Jehovah your God, to go in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul? Deuteronomy 10:12; 11:13.

In the same author,

In the Book of Kings,

David said to Solomon, Jehovah will establish His Word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If [your] sons take heed to their way to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there will not fail you a man on the throne of Israel. 1 Kings 2:4.

In Matthew,

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:29-30.

[3] The same is also said of Jehovah or the Lord because with the member of the Church He is the source of affection for good, which belongs to the will, and of the affection for truth, which belongs to the understanding; as in Samuel,

I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, [who will do] according to what is in My heart and in My soul. 1 Samuel 2:35.

And in Jeremiah,

I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart, and with all My soul. Jeremiah 32:41.

And there are still other places in the Word where 'soul' means the affection for truth, as in Isaiah,

With my soul I desired You in the night; even with my spirit within me I sought You early. For insofar as Your judgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9.

Here 'soul' stands for an affection for truth, 'spirit' for an affection for good. 'Judgements' has reference to truths, and 'righteousness' to good, see 2235.

[4] In the same prophet,

The fool speaks folly, to make empty the hungry soul, and causes the [soul] thirsting for drink to fail. Isaiah 32:6.

'The hungry soul', which 'the fool makes empty', stands for the desire for good, while 'the soul thirsting for drink', which 'the fool causes to fail', stands for the desire for truth. In Jeremiah,

Their soul will become like a watered garden, and I will water the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul I will replenish. Jeremiah 31:12, 25.

'The soul' stands for the affection for truth and good. In the same prophet,

All its people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food, to revive the soul. A comforter is far from me, one to revive my soul; my sons have been made desolate. They sought food for themselves to revive their soul. Lamentations 1:11, 16, 19.

'The soul' stands for the life of the affection for good and truth, 'food' stands for wisdom and intelligence.

[5] It has been said that 'the soul' means the affection for truth coming from the heart, because some affections for truth exist which do not come from the heart, such as those which come from self-love, which is the desire to be above others; from love of the world, which is the love of gain; and from love of merit. Affections for truth spring in a similar way from these loves, but they are not genuine affections. They come from the will of the flesh, not from the heart. That which comes from the heart comes from the Lord. Furthermore 'the soul' in the Word means in the universal sense all life, see 1000, 1005, 1040, 1742. Indeed in the universal sense the soul constitutes that from which another thing has its being and life. Thus the soul of the body is its spirit, since it is from this that the body has life. The soul of the spirit however is its still more interior life from which it derives its wisdom and intelligence.

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