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Jeremiah 46

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1 The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3 Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!

4 Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.

5 Why have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and don't look back: terror is on every side, says Yahweh.

6 Don't let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.

7 Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?

8 Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.

9 Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.

10 For that day is [a day] of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.

12 The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.

13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.

14 Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, Stand forth, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.

15 Why are your strong ones swept away? they didn't stand, because Yahweh did drive them.

16 He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.

17 They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.

18 As I live, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

19 You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.

20 Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.

21 Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they didn't stand: for the day of their calamity is come on them, the time of their visitation.

22 The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.

23 They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can't be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him:

26 and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Yahweh.

27 But don't you be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

28 Don't you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 503

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503. We will now say what Egypt symbolizes in the Word: Egypt symbolizes the natural self joined to the spiritual self, and its affection for truth then and consequent knowledge and intelligence. And in an opposite sense it symbolizes the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, and its conceit in its own intelligence then and consequent irrationality in spiritual matters.

Egypt symbolizes the natural self joined to the spiritual self, and its affection for truth then and consequent knowledge and intelligence, in the following passages:

In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt... swearing an oath to Jehovah of Hosts... In that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt... Then Jehovah will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day... (Isaiah 19:18-21)

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, so that the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria - a blessing in the midst of the land, whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is My people Egypt, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance." (Isaiah 19:23-25)

Egypt there is the natural component, Assyria the rational one, and Israel the spiritual one. These three form a person of the church.

That is why the king of Egypt is called "the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings," and Egypt is called "the cornerstone of (the) tribes." (Isaiah 19:11, 13) And regarding Solomon we are told that his wisdom excelled the wisdom of the Egyptians (1 Kings 4:30). We are also told that he "took Pharaoh's daughter as a wife, and brought her into the city of David" (1 Kings 3:1), and that he "built a house for Pharaoh's daughter next to the porch" (1 Kings 7:8).

[2] For this reason Joseph was carried down into Egypt and there became the ruler of the whole land (Genesis 41).

Since Egypt symbolized the natural self in respect to its affection for truth and consequent knowledge and intelligence, therefore Joseph, the husband of Mary, having been warned by an angel, went with the infant Lord into Egypt (Matthew 2:14-15), in fulfillment of the prophecy,

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. (Hosea 11:1)

You caused a vine to come out of Egypt; You... planted it... and caused it to send forth its roots... (Psalms 80:8-9)

For a person is born natural, becomes rational, and later spiritual. Thus is a vine from Egypt planted and caused to take root.

For the sake of this representation, moreover, Abraham sojourned in Egypt (Genesis 12:10ff.). And Jacob was commanded to go with his sons into Egypt, and they also abode there (Genesis 46ff.).

So, too, the land of Canaan, which symbolizes the church, is described to extend "even to the river of Egypt" (Genesis 15:18, 1 Kings 4:21, Micah 7:12). And Egypt is compared to the Garden of Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 31:2, 8, Genesis 13:10).

The knowledge of the natural self is also called "the precious things of Egypt" (Daniel 11:43), and "fine embroidered linen from Egypt" (Ezekiel 27:7).

And so on elsewhere where Egypt is spoken of affirmatively, as in Isaiah 27:12-13.

[3] On the other hand, in an opposite sense Egypt symbolizes the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, and its conceit in its own intelligence then and consequent irrationality in spiritual matters, in the following places:

Because...(Pharaoh's) heart was lifted up in its height, and it set its top among the thick boughs..., aliens... will cut him off and cast him down... In the day when he went down to hell..., I covered the deep over him...(and) you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised... (Ezekiel 31:10-18)

...the foundations (of Egypt) shall be overthrown... ...the pride of her power shall come down... ...and shall be laid waste... her cities... in the midst of the desolate cities... I will set fire to Egypt..., and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them throughout the lands. (Ezekiel 30:1ff.)

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help..., and do not look to the Holy One of Israel... For the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:1, 3)

Egypt rises up like a flood... He says, "I will go up, I will cover the earth, (and) I will destroy... Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! ...The sword shall devour (you), and be... made drunk with blood...; there is no healing for you. (Jeremiah 46:2, 8-11)

How do you say to Pharaoh, "I am the son of the wise, and the son of ancient kings?" Where are your wise men now? ...let them know... The princes of Zoan have become fools...; they have led Egypt astray..., the cornerstone of (the) tribes... Neither will there be any work for Egypt, which may form the head or the tail... (Isaiah 19:1-17)

...prophesy against... Egypt..., O great whale who lie in the midst of your rivers. Because he said, "My river, 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 leave you in the wilderness... Therefore... the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste. (Ezekiel 29:1-12)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 30:1, 2, 7; 2 Kings 18:21.

[4] Since the Egyptians became of such a character, therefore they were rendered desolate as regards all the goods and truths of the church. Their desolations are described by the miracles done there, which were plagues, and these symbolized the many lusts of the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, a natural self which acts only in accordance with its own intelligence and its conceit. The plagues symbolic of its lusts were these:

That the water in the river turned to blood so that the fish died and the river stank. (Exodus 7)

That the streams and ponds brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt. That the dust of the ground turned into lice. That a swarm of noxious flying insects was sent. (Exodus 8)

[That a pestilence occurred so that the livestock of Egypt died.] That sores were caused to break out with pustules on man and beast. That a downpour of hail mixed with fire rained down. (Exodus 9)

That locusts were sent. That darkness occurred through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10).

That all the firstborn in the land of Egypt died. (Exodus 11,12)

And finally, that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 14), which symbolizes hell.

To find what all these things symbolize specifically, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, where they are explained.

It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant by the plagues and diseases of Egypt in Deuteronomy 7:15; 28:60; what is symbolically meant by drowning in the river of Egypt in Amos 8:8; 9:5; and why it is that Egypt is called a land of bondage in Micah 6:4, the land of Ham in Psalms 106:22, and an iron furnace in Deuteronomy 4:20, 1 Kings 8:51.

[5] The reason Egypt symbolizes both intelligence and irrationality in spiritual matters was that the Ancient Church, which extended through many kingdoms in Asia, existed also in Egypt, and at that time the Egyptians, more than any others, cultivated a study of the correspondences between spiritual and natural things, as is apparent from the hieroglyphs there. But when that study among them was turned into magic and became idolatrous, then their intelligence in spiritual matters became irrational. Egypt symbolizes this, therefore, in an opposite sense.

It can be seen from this what the great city means, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Ezekiel 32

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1 It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you did break forth with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.

3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.

4 I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.

5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height.

6 I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you.

7 When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.

8 All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord Yahweh.

9 I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.

10 Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.

11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you.

12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.

13 I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.

14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord Yahweh.

15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Yahweh.

16 This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord Yahweh.

17 It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.

19 Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.

20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.

21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

22 Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;

23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

24 There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.

25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.

26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.

27 They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.

29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.

30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh.

32 For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.