Bible

 

Ezekiel 42

Studie

   

1 And he bringeth me forth unto the outer court, the way northward, and he bringeth me in unto the chamber that [is] over-against the separate place, and that [is] over-against the building at the north.

2 At the front of the length [is] a hundred cubits [at] the north opening, and the breadth fifty cubits.

3 Over-against the twenty [cubits] that are to the inner court, and Over-against the pavement that [is] to the outer court, [is] gallery Over-against gallery, in the three [storeys].

4 And at the front of the chambers [is] a walk of ten cubits in breadth unto the inner part, a way of one cubit, and their openings [are] at the north.

5 And the upper chambers [are] short, for the galleries contain more than these, than the lower, and than the middle one, of the building;

6 for they [are] threefold, and they have no pillars as the pillars of the court, therefore it hath been kept back -- more than the lower and than the middle one -- from the ground.

7 As to the wall that [is] at the outside, over-against the chambers, the way of the outer-court at the front of the chambers, its length [is] fifty cubits;

8 for the length of the chambers that [are] to the outer court [is] fifty cubits, and of those on the front of the temple a hundred cubits.

9 And under these chambers [is] the entrance from the east, in one's going into them from the outer court.

10 In the breadth of the wall of the court eastward, unto the front of the separate place, and unto the front of the building, [are] chambers.

11 And the way before them [is] as the appearance of the chambers that [are] northward, according to their length so [is] their breadth, and all their outlets, and according to their fashions, and according to their openings.

12 And according to the openings of the chambers that [are] southward [is] an opening at the head of the way, the way directly in the front of the wall eastward in entering them.

13 And he saith unto me, `The north chambers, the south chambers, that [are] at the front of the separate place, they [are] holy chambers, where the priests (who [are] near to Jehovah) eat the most holy things, there they place the most holy things, and the present, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering, for the place [is] holy.

14 In the priests' going in, they come not out from the sanctuary unto the outer court, and there they place their garments with which they minister, for they [are] holy, and have put on other garments, and have drawn near unto that which [is] for the people.'

15 And he hath finished the measurements of the inner house, and hath brought me forth the way of the gate whose front [is] eastward, and he hath measured it all round about.

16 He hath measured the east side with the measuring-reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed round about.

17 He hath measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.

18 The south side he hath measured, five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed.

19 He hath turned round unto the west side, he hath measured five hundred reeds with the measuring-reed.

20 At the four sides he hath measured it, a wall [is] to it all round about, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to separate between the holy and the profane place.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Revealed # 861

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 962  
  

861. 20:9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. This symbolically means that, being roused up by followers of the dragon, these people scorned every truth in the church and attempted to destroy everything connected with the New Church and its fundamental doctrine regarding the Lord and life.

To go up over the breadth of the earth means, symbolically, to scorn every truth in the church, because going up over symbolically means to transcend and bypass, thus to scorn. And the breadth of the earth symbolizes the truth in the church, as will be seen below. To surround the camp of the saints means, symbolically, to besiege and try to destroy everything connected with the New Church, as will be seen in the number following next. And the beloved city symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church. That a city symbolizes a church's doctrine may be seen in nos. 194, 501, 502, 712 above. The city is called beloved because its doctrine teaches about the Lord and how to live, as it is the doctrine of the New Jerusalem that is meant here.

That this is the symbolic meaning of these words, no one can see except as a consequence of the Word's spiritual sense. For it cannot possibly enter a person's thought that the breadth of the earth symbolizes the truth in a church, that the camp of the saints symbolizes everything connected with the New Church, both its truths and its goods, and that the city symbolizes its doctrine. Lest the mind remain in a state of doubt, therefore, we must demonstrate what breadth and the camp of the saints symbolize in the spiritual sense, which will make it possible for one to see afterward that the meaning of these words is as we have said.

[2] The breadth of the earth symbolizes the truth in a church because the spiritual world has in it four zones - eastern, western, southern and northern - and the eastern and western zones form its longitude or length, while the southern and northern zones form its latitude or breadth. Moreover, because the inhabitants in the eastern and western zones are ones impelled by the goodness of love, and therefore the east and west symbolize goodness, so likewise does longitude or length. And because the inhabitants in the southern and northern zones are ones impelled by truths of wisdom, and therefore the south and north symbolize truth, so likewise does latitude or breadth. But for more on this subject, see the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 141-153.

That breadth symbolizes truth can be seen from the following passages in the Word:

You (Jehovah) have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in the broad place. (Psalms 31:8)

Out of distress I called on Yah; He answered me in the broad place. (Psalms 118:5)

(Jehovah) led me out into the broad place; He delivered me... (Psalms 18:19)

...I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and impetuous nation which marches into the breadths of the earth... (Habakkuk 1:6)

(The Assyrian) will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over..., and the spreading of his wings will fill the breadth... (Isaiah 8:8)

...Jehovah will pasture them like a lamb in broad pasture. (Hosea 4:16)

And so on elsewhere, as in Psalms 4:1; 66:12, Deuteronomy 33:20.

[3] Nothing else is meant by the breadth of the city New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:16). For since the New Jerusalem means the New Church, its breadth and length cannot symbolically mean its breadth and length, but its truth and goodness. These, indeed, are the measures of a church.

So also in Zechariah:

I said (to the angel), "Where are you going?" He said..., "To measure Jerusalem, to see how great its width is and how great its length." (Zechariah 2:2)

So likewise the breadth and length of the new temple and new earth in Ezekiel, chapters 40-47.

So, too, the length and breadth of the altar of burnt offering, of the Tabernacle, of the table of showbread, of the altar of incense, and of the ark within. So also the length and breadth of the temple in Jerusalem, and of many other things whose dimensions are given.

  
/ 962  
  

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