Bible

 

Ezekiel 27

Studie

   

1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

2 `And thou, son of man, lift up concerning Tyre a lamentation, and thou hast said to Tyre:

3 O dweller on the entrances of the sea, Merchant of the peoples unto many isles, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: O Tyre, thou -- thou hast said: I [am] the perfection of beauty.

4 In the heart of the seas [are] thy borders, Thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

5 Of firs of Senir they have built to thee all thy double-boarded ships, Of cedars of Lebanon they have taken to make a mast for thee,

6 Of oaks of Bashan they made thine oars, Thy bench they have made of ivory, A branch of Ashurim from isles of Chittim.

7 Of fine linen with embroidery from Egypt hath been thy sail, To be to thee for an ensign, Of blue and purple from isles of Elishah hath been thy covering.

8 Inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad have been rowers to thee, Thy wise men, O Tyre, have been in thee, They [are] thy pilots.

9 Elders of Gebal and its wise men have been in thee, Strengthening thy breach; All ships of the sea and their mariners, Have been in thee, to trade [with] thy merchandise.

10 Persian and Lud and Phut Have been in thy forces -- thy men of war. Shield and helmet they hung up in thee, They -- they have given out thine honour.

11 The sons of Arvad, and thy force, [Are] on thy walls round about, And short swordsmen in thy towers have been, Their shields they have hung up on thy walls round about, They -- they have perfected thy beauty.

12 Tarshish [is] thy merchant, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For silver, iron, tin, and lead, They have given out thy remnants.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech -- they [are] thy merchants, For persons of men, and vessels of brass, They have given out thy merchandise.

14 They of the house of Togarmah, [For] horses, and riding steeds, and mules, They have given out thy remnants.

15 Sons of Dedan [are] thy merchants, Many isles [are] the mart of thy hand, Horns of ivory and ebony they sent back thy reward.

16 Aram [is] thy merchant, Because of the abundance of thy works, For emerald, purple, and embroidery, And fine linen, and coral, and agate, They have given out thy remnants.

17 Judah and the land of Israel -- they [are] thy merchants, For wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, And honey, and oil, and balm, They have given out thy merchandise.

18 Damascus [is] thy merchant, For the abundance of thy works, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Vedan and Javan go about with thy remnants, They have given shining iron, cassia, and cane, In thy merchandise it hath been.

20 Dedan [is] thy merchant, For clothes of freedom for riding.

21 Arabia, and all princes of Kedar, They [are] the traders of thy hand, For lambs, and rams, and he-goats, In these thy merchants.

22 Merchants of Sheba and Raamah -- they [are] thy Merchants, For the chief of all spices, And for every precious stone, and gold, They have given out thy remnants.

23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, merchants of Sheba, Asshur -- Chilmad -- [are] thy merchants,

24 They [are] thy merchants for perfect things, For wrappings of blue, and embroidery, And for treasuries of rich apparel, With cords bound and girded, for thy merchandise,

25 Ships of Tarshish [are] thy double walls of thy merchandise, And thou art filled and honoured greatly, In the heart of the seas.

26 Into great waters have they brought thee, Those rowing thee, The east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas.

27 Thy wealth and thy remnants, Thy merchandise, thy mariners, And thy pilots, strengtheners of thy breach, And the traders of thy merchandise, And all thy men of war, who [are] in thee, And in all thine assembly that [is] in thy midst, Fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy Fall,

28 At the voice of the cry of thy pilots shake do the suburbs.

29 And come down from their ships have all handling an oar, Mariners, all the pilots of the sea, on the land they stand,

30 And have sounded for thee with their voice, And cry bitterly, and cause dust to go up on their heads, In ashes they do roll themselves.

31 And they have made for thee baldness, And they have girded on sackcloth, And they have wept for thee, In bitterness of soul -- a bitter mourning.

32 And lifted up for thee have their sons a lamentation, And they have lamented over thee, who [is] as Tyre? As the cut-off one in the midst of the sea?

33 With the outgoing of thy remnants from the seas, Thou hast filled many peoples, With the abundance of thy riches, and thy merchandise, Thou hast made rich things of earth.

34 The time of [thy] being broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, Thy merchandise and all thy assembly in thy midst have fallen.

35 All inhabitants of the isles have been astonished at thee, And their kings have been sore afraid, They have been troubled in countenance.

36 Merchants among the peoples have shrieked for thee, Wastes thou hast been, and thou art not -- to the age!'

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 4748

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

4748. 'And their camels carrying spices, and resin' and stacte' means interior natural truths. This is clear from the general meaning of 'camels' as things belonging to the natural man which serve the spiritual, and from their specific meaning as general facts within the natural man, dealt with in 3048, 3071, 3114, 3143, 3145, 4156; and from the meaning of 'spices, resin, and stacte' as interior natural truths joined to the good there, which are dealt with below. Among the ancients, sweet smelling and fragrant substances were used in their sacred worship; from these substances they obtained their frankincense and incense, similar substances being mixed with oil for their anointings. But no one today knows why those fragrances were used, for the reason that no knowledge at all exists of the fact that all aspects of the worship of the ancients had their origin in the spiritual and celestial things existing in heaven, or that those aspects of it corresponded to these. Mankind has been removing itself so far from spiritual and celestial things, immersing itself in natural, worldly, and bodily ones, that it lives in obscurity, many people having a negative attitude of mind to the existence of anything spiritual or celestial.

[2] The reason frankincense and incense were used among the ancients in sacred acts of worship is that 'odour' corresponds to perception, and 'a fragrant odour' - like that of the aromas which various kinds of spices have - to a pleasing and acceptable perception, as is the perception of truth derived from good, or of faith from charity. Indeed the correspondence of one to the other is such that, as often as it pleases the Lord, actual perceptions in the next life are converted into odours. Regarding these, see what has already been told from experience in 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634. What specifically is meant here by 'spices, resin, and stacte' may be seen from other places where these three are mentioned. In general they mean interior truths within the natural, but those truths which are derived from the good there; for truths do not on their own constitute the natural, but good does by means of truths. Consequently variations exist, conditioned by what the truth joined to the good is like and therefore by what the good is like, since the particular nature of the good depends on what the truths are like.

[3] 'Gilead' means exterior good like that belonging to the senses, called pleasure, 4117, 4124, while 'Egypt' in the good sense means facts, which are the external truths of the natural man that correspond to, that is, are in accord with, that good, 1462. Therefore the reference to Ishmaelites from Gilead bringing down those aromatic commodities on camels to Egypt means bringing their own interior truths, based on their own facts, to the facts meant by 'Egypt', which matters are dealt with below. Interior truths are conclusions based on exterior truths, that is, on facts; for the facts belonging to the natural man are the means that enable conclusions to be drawn about interior truths and thereby to identify them, just as a person identifies another's state of mind in his facial expressions and in the twinkling of light in his eyes, as well as in his tone of voice and his gestures.

[4] Because such truths are the means by which a person's natural is made more perfect and also receives correction, healing is therefore associated with spices of this kind - with resin, for example, in Jeremiah,

Is there no balsamic resin in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why has not the healing of the daughter of my people arisen? Jeremiah 8:22.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Gilead to take resin, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no healing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.

In the same prophet,

Suddenly Babel has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Take resin for her pain; perhaps she will be healed. Jeremiah 51:8.

[5] Wares similar to this mean spiritual things, as is quite evident in John,

The merchants of the earth will weep and will mourn over Babel, that nobody buys their wares any longer, wares of gold and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and bronze, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and draught-cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and the bodies and souls of people. Revelation 18:11-13.

These wares would never have been listed in this specific manner if each and all had not meant the kinds of things that exist in the Lord's kingdom and in His Church. Otherwise they would have been words that had no real meaning. It is well known that 'Babel' means those who turn all worship of the Lord into worship of themselves, so that profanity exists inwardly while outwardly they are doing what is holy. This being so, 'their wares' means the things which, for the sake of worship of themselves, they themselves have invented enthusiastically and skillfully, as well as doctrinal teachings and ideas of good and truth from the Word which they have twisted to suit themselves. Thus the individual wares mentioned in these verses mean specific features of their invention, 'cinnamon, incense, ointment, and frankincense' meaning truths that are derived from good, but with those people perverted truths and falsities that are the products of evil.

[6] Something similar may be seen in what is recorded in Ezekiel regarding the wares of Tyre,

Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders. Wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, and oil, and resin, they exchanged for your trading. Ezekiel 27:17.

Here also 'resin' means truth derived from good. To one who has no belief in the internal sense of the Word all these expressions will be mere words and so vessels with nothing in them, when in fact they hold Divine, celestial, and spiritual things within them.

  
/ 10837  
  

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