Bibliorum

 

以西结书 19

Study

   

1 你当为以色列的王作起哀歌

2 :你的母亲是甚麽呢?是个母狮子,蹲伏在狮子中间,在少壮狮子中养育小狮子

3 在他小狮子中养大个,成了少壮狮子,学会抓食而人。

4 列国见了就把他捉在他们的坑中,用钩子拉到埃及去。

5 母狮见自己等候失了指望,就从他小狮子中又将个养为少壮狮子。

6 他在众狮子中走来走去,成了少壮狮子,学会抓食而人。

7 知道列国的宫殿,又使他们的城邑变为荒场;因他咆哮的声音,遍和其中所有的就都荒废。

8 於是四围邦国各省的人来攻击他,将撒在他身上,捉在他们的坑中。

9 他们用钩子钩住他,将他放在笼中,到巴比伦王那里,将他放入坚固之所,使他的声音以色列上不再见。

10 你的母亲先前如葡萄树,极其茂盛(原文是在你血中),栽於旁。因为多,就多结果子,满生枝子;

11 生出坚固的枝干,可作掌权者的杖。这枝干举在茂密的枝中,而且他生长大,枝子繁多,远远可见。

12 但这葡萄树因忿怒被拔出摔在上;东吹乾其上的果子,坚固的枝干折断枯乾,被烧毁了;

13 如今栽於旷野乾旱无水之

14 也从他枝干中发出,烧灭果子,以致没有坚固的枝干可作掌权者的杖。这是哀歌,也必用以作哀歌

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #280

Studere hoc loco

  
/ 1232  
  

280. And the third animal had a face like a man, signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Divine guard and providence in respect to wisdom. This is evident from the signification of "the face of a man," as being the affection of truth, "face" signifying affection, and "man" the recipient of Divine truth; and because man's rational is from this, "man" signifies wisdom; for man was created that he might be rational and wise; by this he is distinguished from the brute animals; for this reason "man" in the Word signifies wisdom. "Man" signifies both the affection of truth and wisdom, because the affection of truth and wisdom act as one; for he who is in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who is affected by truth, or who loves truth because it is truth, is conjoined to the Lord, since the Lord is in His own truths, and is His truth with man; from this man has wisdom, and from this it is that man is a man. Some suppose that man is a man by reason of his face and body, and that by these he is distinguished from beasts, but they are in an error; man is a man by reason of his wisdom, consequently so far as anyone is wise so far is he a man. Those, therefore, who are wise, appear in heaven and in the light of heaven as men, with a brightness and beauty according to their wisdom; while those who are not wise-which is true of those who are in no spiritual affection, but merely in natural affection, in which man is when he loves truth not because it is truth but because he thence receives glory, honor, and gain-these in the light of heaven appear not as men but as monsters in various forms (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 70, 72, 73-77, 80; and what wisdom is, and what non-wisdom is, n. 346-356).

[2] That "man" in the Word signifies the affection of truth and wisdom therefrom, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Lord, how long? He said, until cities be devastated that they may be without inhabitant, and the houses that there may be no man in them, and the ground be devastated to a waste. Jehovah shall remove man, and forsaken places shall be multiplied in the midst of the land (Isaiah 6:11-12).

These things were not said of the devastation of the earth, that there should no longer be cities and houses therein, or that in these there should be no inhabitant or man, but they were said of the devastation of good and truth in the church; "cities" signifying the truths of doctrine; "inhabitant" the good of doctrine; "houses" the interiors of man which are of his mind; and "man" the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom. This is signified by "the houses shall be devastated, that there may be no man in them." The "land" that shall be devastated to a waste signifies the church. From this it is clear what is signified by "removing man," and by "multiplying the forsaken places in the midst of the land;" "a forsaken place" signifying where there is no good because there is no truth.

[3] In the same:

I will make a man [virum hominem] more rare than pure gold; and [the son of] man6 than the gold of Ophir (Isaiah 13:12).

A [son of] "man" [virum hominem] signifies intelligence, and "man" [hominem] wisdom, and that these were about to be at an end is signified by their being "made rare." Intelligence is distinguished from wisdom by this, that intelligence is the understanding of truth such as the spiritual man has, and wisdom is the understanding of truth such as the celestial man has, whose understanding is from the will of good. From this it is clear what is here signified by [son of] "man" [virum hominem], and what by "man" [hominem].

[4] In the same:

The inhabitants of the earth shall be burnt up, and few men shall be left (Isaiah 24:6).

The "inhabitants of the earth" signify the goods of the church, and these are said "to be burnt up" when the loves of self and of the world begin to rule; that the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom will then be at an end is signified by "few men will be left."

[5] In the same:

The highways have been laid waste; he that passeth through the way hath ceased; he hath made void the covenant, he hath rejected the cities, he regardeth not man (Isaiah 33:8).

This treats of the devastation of the church; "the highways that are laid waste" and "he that passeth through the way who hath ceased" signify that the goods and truths which lead to heaven are no more; "he hath made void the covenant" signifies no conjunction then with the Lord; "he hath rejected the cities" signifies that they spurn doctrine; "he regardeth not man" signifies that he makes no account of wisdom.

[6] In Jeremiah:

I saw the earth, when lo, it was void and empty; and towards the heavens, and their light was not. I saw, when lo there was no man, and all the fowl of the heavens were fled away (Jeremiah 4:23, 25).

This evidently does not mean the earth, that it was void and empty, nor the heavens that there was no light thence nor that there was not a man on the earth, nor that all the fowl of heaven were fled; what is really meant can be seen only from the spiritual sense of the Word. In that sense "earth" signifies the church; that it was "void and empty" signifies that there is no good and truth in the church; the "heavens," where there is no light, signify the interiors of man's mind which are the receptacles of the light of heaven; (the "light" that is not there is Divine truth and wisdom therefrom); therefore it is said, "I saw and lo there was no man"; the "fowl of heaven which were fled away" signify the rational and the intellectual.

[7] In the same:

Behold the days come, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast (Jeremiah 31:27).

"The house of Israel and the house of Judah" signify the church in respect to truth and in respect to good; "the seed of man and the seed of beast" signify the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of truth; for where "man and beast" are mentioned in the Word the spiritual and the natural or the internal and the external, are signified (See Arcana Coelestia 7424, 7523, 7872).

[8] In Zephaniah:

I will take away man and beast; I will take away the fowl of the heavens and the fishes of the sea; I will cut off man from the surfaces of the earth (Zephaniah 1:3).

"To take away man and beast" means to take away the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of truth; "to take away the fowl of the heavens and the fishes of the sea" means to take away spiritual truths and natural truths; and "to cut off man from the surfaces of the earth" means to cut off the affection of truth and wisdom.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are man; I am your God (Ezekiel 34:31).

The "flock of the pasture" signifies spiritual good and truth; the "pasture" is the reception of these from the Lord; it is therefore said, "ye are man, I am your God," "man" standing for the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom.

[10] In the same:

Behold, I am with you, and I will look unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; then I will multiply man upon you, the whole house of Israel; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. I will cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel. Thus the Lord Jehovah hath said, Because ye say, Thou hast been a devourer of man and a bereaver of thy peoples, therefore thou shalt devour man no more, and thy sword shall not bereave any more; the desolate cities shall be full of the flock of man (Ezekiel 36:9-14, 38).

The restoration of the church is here treated of; "Israel" signifies the spiritual church, or the church that is in spiritual good, which is the good of charity; this church is here called "man" from the spiritual affection of truth that makes the church; therefore it is said, "I will multiply man upon you, the whole house of Israel, and I will cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel." "The flock of man," of which "the desolate cities shall be full," signifies spiritual truths of which the doctrines of the church shall be full; "the sword which shall not bereave any more" signifies that falsity shalt no longer destroy truth.

[11] In the same:

Thy mother is a lioness, she lay down among lions; one of her whelps rose up, it learned to tear the prey, it devoured men (Ezekiel 19:2, 3, 6).

"Mother" means the church, here the church perverted; the falsity of evil destroying truth is signified by "the lioness lying down among lions;" "her whelp which learned to tear the prey and devoured men" signifies the primary falsity of their doctrine, which destroyed truths and consumed every affection of them. These things were said of the princes of Israel, by whom primary truths are signified, but here, in a contrary sense, primary falsities.

[12] In Jeremiah:

Hazor shall become an abode of dragons, a waste even forever; a man [vir] shall not dwell there, nor a son of man [hominis] sojourn in her (Jeremiah 49:33).

The church that is in falsities and in no truths is here treated of; "Hazor" signifies the knowledges of truth; the knowledges of falsity are signified by "an abode of dragons;" that there is there no truth and no doctrine of truth is signified by "a man [vir] shall not dwell there, nor the son of man [hominis] sojourn in her," "man" meaning truth, and "the son of man" a doctrine of truth.

[13] In Revelation:

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (Revelation 21:17).

That this signifies, that "the wall of the holy Jerusalem was a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this was the measure of a man, which is that of an angel," no one can understand unless he knows what is signified by "the holy Jerusalem," by its "wall," by the number "one hundred and forty-four," likewise by "man," and by "angel." "The holy Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to doctrine; "wall" signifies truth protecting; the number "one hundred and forty-four" signifies all truths from good in the complex; "man" signifies the reception of these from affection, and "angel" signifies the same; it is therefore said, "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel;" "measure" signifying quality. From this it is clear how these words are to be spiritually understood. (These things may be seen more clearly explained in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 1 .)

[14] Because "man" signifies the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom, "man" also signifies the church, because the church with man is a church from the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom. This makes clear what is meant by "Man" in the first chapters of Genesis, namely, the church that was the first of this earth and the most ancient; this is what is meant by "Adam," or "Man." The establishment of this church is described in the first chapter by the creation of heaven and earth; its intelligence and wisdom by paradise; and its fall by the eating of the tree of knowledge.

[15] But in the highest sense, by "man" is meant the Lord Himself, since from Him are heaven and the church, and the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom with each one of those who constitute heaven and the church; therefore in the highest sense the Lord alone is man; and men in both worlds, spiritual and natural, are men so far as they receive from the Lord truth and good, thus so far as they love truth and live according to it. And from this also it is that the whole angelic heaven appears as one man, and also each society there; and moreover, that the angels appear in a perfect human form. (See further on this in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-67, 68-72, 73-77, 87-102)

[16] It was on this account that the four cherubim, which signify the guard and providence of the Lord that the higher heavens be not approached except through the good of love, were seen as men, although they each had four faces; and that the Lord was seen above them as a Man. That the four cherubim were seen as men is evident in Ezekiel:

This was the appearance of the four animals; they had the likeness of a man, but each one had four faces (Ezekiel 1:5-6).

Likewise the two cherubim upon the mercy-seat were in face like men. That the Lord was seen above the four cherubim as a man is also stated in the same prophet:

Above the expanse which was over the head of the cherubim was as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of the throne a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above (Ezekiel 1:26).

  
/ 1232  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #6419

Studere hoc loco

  
/ 10837  
  

6419. 'Daughters, [each one] marches onto the wall' means going out to fight against falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'a daughter' as the Church, dealt with in 2362, 3963, here the spiritual Church since that Church is the subject; and from the meaning of 'marching onto the wall' as going out to fight against falsity, as is evident from the words that immediately follow - 'they exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him, do the archers; and he will sit in the strength of his bow', meaning the fight put up by falsity against truth.

[2] The expression 'marches onto the wall' is used because the subject in the internal sense is the attack made by falsities on truth and the protection of truth against falsity; for the spiritual Church represented by 'Joseph' is constantly under attack, but the Lord is constantly protecting it. This explains why in the Word all that makes up that Church is compared to a city with a wall, rampart, gates, and bars; and attacks made on the city describe attacks made on truth by falsities. Hence it also is that 'a city' means matters of doctrine, 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493, and 'a wall' the truths of faith that serve to defend, or in the contrary sense falsities that serve to destroy. The first meaning - the truths of faith that serve to defend - may be seen in Isaiah,

Ours is a strong city; He will establish salvation for walls and rampart. Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Isaiah 26:1-2.

In the same prophet,

You will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. Isaiah 60:18.

In the same prophet,

Behold, I have engraved you upon [My] hands, your walls are continually before Me. Isaiah 49:16

'Walls' stands for the truths of faith. In the same prophet,

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have placed watchmen, all day and night they will not be silent, calling Jehovah to mind. Isaiah 62:6.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, 1 I will convert the weapons of war with which you are fighting with the king of Babel, besieging you outside the wall; I Myself will fight with you with an outstretched hand. Jeremiah 21:4-5.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion, He caused rampart and wall to mourn; they will languish together. Her gates have sunk into the earth, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. Lamentations 2:8-9.

In Ezekiel,

The sons of Arvad, and your army, were on your walls round about, and the Gammadim were in your towers; they hung their shields on your walls round about and they made perfect your beauty. Ezekiel 27:11.

This refers to Tyre, which means cognitions of good and truth.

[3] The fact that such things are meant by a city and its walls becomes perfectly clear from the description of the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, as seen by John. From every detail of the description it is evident that a new Church is meant by that city; and by its wall is meant Divine Truth going forth from the Lord. The city is depicted in John as follows,

The holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven, having a wall great and high, having twelve gates - the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He who talked to me measured the city and its gates, and its wall. Its wall was a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The structure of the wall was jasper, and the city pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone. Revelation 21:10, 12, 14, 15, 17-19.

[4] The fact that 'the wall' means Divine Truth going forth from the Lord, and from this means the truth of faith coming out of the good of charity, is evident from the details regarding the wall that are mentioned in that description, such as the detail that the wall had twelve foundations, and in them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; for 'twelve means all, 3272, 3858, 3913, and 'the wall and its foundations' the truths of faith - much the same as is meant by 'the twelve apostles', 3488, 3858 (end), 6397. Then there is the detail that the wall was a hundred and forty-four cubits high, much the same being meant by that number as by twelve, which is all, since it is the product of twelve multiplied by twelve. And since that number used in reference to the wall means all truths and goods of faith, the expression 'which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel' is added. Other details that are given are that the structure of the wall was jasper, and that its foundations were adorned with every precious stone; for 'jasper' and 'precious stones' mean the truths of faith, 114.

[5] The meaning of 'wall' in the contrary sense - falsities that serve to destroy - is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

A day of tumult in the valley of vision. The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has destroyed the wall, so that there is a shout towards the mountain. For Elam bore the quiver with chariots of men (homo), [and] horsemen. The horsemen surely positioned themselves right at the gate. Isaiah 22:5-7.

In the same prophet,

The defence-work of your walls providing refuge 2 He will pull down, cast down, lay flat on the ground, 3 right down into the dust. Isaiah 25:12.

In Jeremiah,

Go up onto its walls and throw down. Jeremiah 5:10.

In the same prophet,

I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, which will consume the palaces of Benhadad. Jeremiah 49:27.

In the same prophet,

Raise a standard against the walls of Babel, keep watch, post watchmen. Jeremiah 51:12.

In Ezekiel,

They will overturn the walls of Tyre, and destroy her towers, and I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock. Ezekiel 16:4, 8-9, 11.

V:

1. The Latin means Jehovah Zebaoth but the Hebrew means Jehovah, the God of Israel.

2. literally, The fortification of refuge of your walls

3. literally, earth or land

  
/ 10837  
  

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