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Ezekiel 1

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1 And it cometh to pass, in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth of the month, and I [am] in the midst of the Removed by the river Chebar, the heavens have been opened, and I see visions of God.

2 In the fifth of the month -- it is the fifth year of the removal of the king Jehoiachin --

3 hath the word of Jehovah certainly been unto Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of Jehovah.

4 And I look, and lo, a tempestuous wind is coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire catching itself, and brightness to it round about, and out of its midst as the colour of copper, out of the midst of the fire.

5 And out of its midst [is] a likeness of four living creatures, and this [is] their appearance; a likeness of man [is] to them,

6 and four faces [are] to each, and four wings [are] to each of them,

7 and their feet [are] straight feet, and the sole of their feet [is] as a sole of a calf's foot, and they are sparkling as the colour of bright brass;

8 and hands of man under their wings -- on their four sides, and their faces and their wings -- [are] to them four;

9 joining one unto another [are] their wings, they turn not round in their going, each straight forward they go.

10 As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right [are] to them four, and the face of an ox on the left [are] to them four, and the face of an eagle [are] to them four.

11 And their faces and their wings are separate from above, to each [are] two joining together, and two are covering their bodies.

12 And each straight forward they go, whither the spirit is to go, they go, they turn not round in their going.

13 As to the likeness of the living creatures, their appearances [are] as coals of fire -- burning as the appearance of lamps; it is going up and down between the living creatures, and brightness [is] to the fire, and out of the fire is going forth lightning.

14 And the living creatures are running, and turning back, as the appearance of the flash.

15 And I see the living creatures, and lo, one wheel [is] in the earth, near the living creatures, at its four faces.

16 The appearance of the wheels and their works [is] as the colour of beryl, and one likeness [is] to them four, and their appearances and their works [are] as it were the wheel in the midst of the wheel.

17 On their four sides, in their going they go, they turn not round in their going.

18 As to their rings, they are both high and fearful, and their rings [are] full of eyes round about them four.

19 And in the going of the living creatures, the wheels go beside them, and in the living creatures being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels.

20 Whither the spirit is to go, they go, thither the spirit [is] to go, and the wheels are lifted up over-against them, for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.

21 In their going, they go; and in their standing, they stand; and in their being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels over-against them; for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.

22 And a likeness [is] over the heads of the living creatures of an expanse, as the colour of the fearful ice, stretched out over their heads from above.

23 And under the expanse their wings [are] straight, one toward the other, to each are two covering on this side, and to each are two covering on that side -- their bodies.

24 And I hear the noise of their wings, as the noise of many waters, as the noise of the Mighty One, in their going -- the noise of tumult, as the noise of a camp, in their standing they let fall their wings.

25 And there is a voice from above the expanse, that [is] above their head: in their standing they let fall their wings.

26 And above the expanse that [is] over their head, as an appearance of a sapphire stone, [is] the likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne a likeness, as the appearance of man upon it from above.

27 And I see as the colour of copper, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I have seen as the appearance of fire, and brightness [is] to it round about.

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so [is] the appearance of the brightness round about.

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High

  

'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.

(Verweise: Arcana Coelestia 1735, 2148, 8153; Divine Love and Wisdom 103)

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Arcana Coelestia #4013

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4013. 'Jacob took for himself fresh rods of poplar' means the power proper to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a rod' as power, and from the meaning of 'poplar' as the good of the natural, dealt with below. 'A rod' is referred to in various places in the Word, and in every case it means power, for one reason because of its use by shepherds in the exercise of power over their flocks, and for another because it served to support the body, and existed so to speak for the sake of the right hand - for 'the hand' means power, 878, 3387. And because it had that meaning a rod was also used in ancient times by a king; and the royal emblem was a short rod and also a sceptre. And not only a king used a rod, but also a priest and a prophet did so, in order that he too might denote by means of his rod the power which he possessed, as Aaron and Moses did. This explains why Moses was commanded so many times to stretch out his rod, and on other occasions his hand, when miracles were performed, the reason being that 'a rod' and 'the hand' means Divine power. And it is because 'a rod' means power that the magicians of Egypt likewise used one when performing magical miracles. It is also the reason why at the present day a magician is represented with a rod in his hand.

[2] From all these considerations it may be seen that power is meant by 'rods'. But in the original language the word used for the rod that a shepherd, or else a king, or else a priest or a prophet possessed, is different from that used for the rods which Jacob took. The latter were used by wayfarers and so also by shepherds, as becomes clear from other places, such as Genesis 32:10; Exodus 12:11; 1 Samuel 17:40, 43; Zechariah 11:7, 10. In the present verse, it is true, the rod is not referred to as one supporting the hand but as a stick cut out from a tree, that is to say, from the poplar, hazel, or plane, to be placed in the troughs in front of the flock. Nevertheless the word has the same meaning, for in the internal sense it describes the power of natural good and from that the good that empowers natural truths.

[3] As regards 'the poplar' from which a rod was made, it should be recognized that trees in general mean perceptions and cognitions - perceptions when they have reference to the celestial man, but cognitions when they have reference to the spiritual man, see 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972. This being so, trees specifically mean goods and truths, for it is these that are involved in perceptions and cognitions. Some kinds of trees mean the interior goods and truths which belong to the spiritual man, such as olives and vines, other kinds mean the exterior goods and truths which belong to the natural man, such as the poplar, the hazel, and the plane. And because in ancient times each tree meant some kind of good or truth, the worship which took place in groves accorded with the kinds of trees there, 2722. The poplar referred to here is the white poplar, so called from the whiteness from which it gets its name. Consequently 'poplar' means good which was a product of truth, or what amounts to the same, the good of truth, as also in Hosea 4:13, though in this instance the good has been falsified.

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