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Ezekiel 31

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1 And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the third [month], in the first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying:

2 `Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and unto his multitude: To whom hast thou been like in thy greatness?

3 Lo, Asshur, a cedar in Lebanon, Fair in branch, and shading bough, and high in stature, And between thickets hath its foliage been.

4 Waters have made it great, The deep hath exalted him with its flowings, Going round about its planting, And its conduits it hath sent forth unto all trees of the field.

5 Therefore higher hath been his stature than all trees of the field, And multiplied are his boughs, and long are his branches, Because of many waters in his shooting forth,

6 In his boughs made a nest hath every fowl of the heavens, And under his branches brought forth hath every beast of the field, And in his shade dwell do all great nations.

7 And he is fair in his greatness, In the length of his thin shoots, For his root hath been by great waters.

8 Cedars have not hid him in the garden of God, Firs have not been like unto his boughs, And chesnut-trees have not been as his branches, No tree in the garden of God hath been like unto him in his beauty,

9 Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that [are] in the garden of God.

10 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness,

11 I give him into the hand of a god of nations, He dealeth sorely with him, In his wickedness I have cast him out.

12 And cut him off do strangers, The terrible of nations, and they leave him, On the mountains and in all valleys have his thin shoots fallen, And broken are his boughs at all streams of the land, And go down from his shade do all peoples of the land, and they leave him.

13 On his ruin dwell do all fowls of the heavens, And on his boughs have been all the beasts of the field,

14 In order that none of the trees of the waters May become haughty because of their stature, Nor give their foliage between thickets, Nor any drinking waters stand up unto them in their haughtiness, For all of them are given up to death, Unto the earth -- the lower part, In the midst of the sons of men, Unto those going down to the pit.

15 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of his going down to sheol I have caused mourning, I have covered for him the deep, and diminish its flowings, And restrained are many waters, And I make Lebanon black for him, And all trees of the field have been covered for him.

16 From the sound of his fall I have caused nations to shake, In My causing him to go down to sheol, With those going down to the pit, And comforted in the earth -- the lower part, are all trees of Eden, The choice and the good of Lebanon, All drinking waters.

17 Also they with him have gone down to sheol, Unto the pierced of the sword, And -- his arm -- they dwelt in his shade in the midst of nations.

18 Unto whom hast thou been thus like, In honour and in greatness among the trees of Eden, And thou hast been brought down with the trees of Eden, Unto the earth -- the lower part, In the midst of the uncircumcised thou liest, With the pierced of the sword? It [is] Pharaoh, and all his multitude, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 756

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756. 'All the fountains of the great deep were split open' means the full extent of temptation involving things of the will. This becomes clear from what has been stated already about temptations being of two kinds, the first involving things of the understanding, the second those of the will, and about the latter being severe in comparison with the former. It is clear as well from the fact that up to now temptation involving things of the understanding has been the subject. It is similarly clear from the meaning of 'the deep' as evil desires and derivative falsities, as shown already in 18, and also in the following in the Word: In Ezekiel,

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, When I make you a city laid desolate, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up over you, and many waters have covered you. Ezekiel 26:19.

Here 'the deep' and 'many waters' stand for the full extent of temptation.

In Jonah,

The waters closed around me, even to my soul, the deep surrounded me. Jonah 2:5.

Here similarly 'the waters' and 'the deep' stand for the full extent of temptation.

In David,

Deep is calling to deep at the noise of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and all Your waves have gone over me. Psalms 42:7.

This plainly stands for the full extent of temptation. In the same author,

He rebuked the Sea Suph and it became dry; He caused them to go through the deeps, as in a desert, and He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and He delivered them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries. Psalms 106:9-11.

Here 'the deep' stands for temptations in the wilderness.

[2] In early times 'the deep' meant hell, and delusions and persuasions of falsity were likened to waters and streams, and also smoke, pouring out of it. This is also what the hells of some people look like, that is to say, like deeps and like seas. These in the Lord's Divine mercy will be described later on. The evil spirits who are responsible for man's vastation, and also for temptation, come from these places. And their delusions which they infuse, and the desires with which they inflame man, are like deluges and vapours pouring out of there. For, as has been stated, man is joined to hell through evil spirits, and to heaven through angels. Consequently when 'all the fountains of the deep' are said to have been 'split open' matters of that kind are meant. The fact that hell is called the deep, and the foul things that come from there are called streams, is clear in Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, On the day he went down into hell, I made him mourn, I covered the deep over him, and I restrained its streams, and the great waters were stayed. Ezekiel 31:15.

Hell is also called 'the deep' in John, in Revelation 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3.

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