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Lamentations 1

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1a καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τὸ αἰχμαλωτισθῆναι τὸν ισραηλ καὶ ιερουσαλημ ἐρημωθῆναι ἐκάθισεν ιερεμιας κλαίων καὶ ἐθρήνησεν τὸν θρῆνον τοῦτον ἐπὶ ιερουσαλημ καὶ εἶπεν

1 πῶς ἐκάθισεν μόνη ἡ πόλις ἡ πεπληθυμμένη λαῶν ἐγενήθη ὡς χήρα πεπληθυμμένη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἄρχουσα ἐν χώραις ἐγενήθη εἰς φόρον

2 κλαίουσα ἔκλαυσεν ἐν νυκτί καὶ τὰ δάκρυα αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τῶν σιαγόνων αὐτῆς καὶ οὐχ ὑπάρχει ὁ παρακαλῶν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἀγαπώντων αὐτήν πάντες οἱ φιλοῦντες αὐτὴν ἠθέτησαν ἐν αὐτῇ ἐγένοντο αὐτῇ εἰς ἐχθρούς

3 μετῳκίσθη ἡ ιουδαία ἀπὸ ταπεινώσεως αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπὸ πλήθους δουλείας αὐτῆς ἐκάθισεν ἐν ἔθνεσιν οὐχ εὗρεν ἀνάπαυσιν πάντες οἱ καταδιώκοντες αὐτὴν κατέλαβον αὐτὴν ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν θλιβόντων

4 ὁδοὶ σιων πενθοῦσιν παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἐρχομένους ἐν ἑορτῇ πᾶσαι αἱ πύλαι αὐτῆς ἠφανισμέναι οἱ ἱερεῖς αὐτῆς ἀναστενάζουσιν αἱ παρθένοι αὐτῆς ἀγόμεναι καὶ αὐτὴ πικραινομένη ἐν ἑαυτῇ

5 ἐγένοντο οἱ θλίβοντες αὐτὴν εἰς κεφαλήν καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῆς εὐθηνοῦσαν ὅτι κύριος ἐταπείνωσεν αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀσεβειῶν αὐτῆς τὰ νήπια αὐτῆς ἐπορεύθησαν ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ κατὰ πρόσωπον θλίβοντος

6 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ θυγατρὸς σιων πᾶσα ἡ εὐπρέπεια αὐτῆς ἐγένοντο οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῆς ὡς κριοὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκοντες νομὴν καὶ ἐπορεύοντο ἐν οὐκ ἰσχύι κατὰ πρόσωπον διώκοντος

7 ἐμνήσθη ιερουσαλημ ἡμερῶν ταπεινώσεως αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπωσμῶν αὐτῆς πάντα τὰ ἐπιθυμήματα αὐτῆς ὅσα ἦν ἐξ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων ἐν τῷ πεσεῖν τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς εἰς χεῖρας θλίβοντος καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ βοηθῶν αὐτῇ ἰδόντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῆς ἐγέλασαν ἐπὶ μετοικεσίᾳ αὐτῆς

8 ἁμαρτίαν ἥμαρτεν ιερουσαλημ διὰ τοῦτο εἰς σάλον ἐγένετο πάντες οἱ δοξάζοντες αὐτὴν ἐταπείνωσαν αὐτήν εἶδον γὰρ τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς καί γε αὐτὴ στενάζουσα καὶ ἀπεστράφη ὀπίσω

9 ἀκαθαρσία αὐτῆς πρὸς ποδῶν αὐτῆς οὐκ ἐμνήσθη ἔσχατα αὐτῆς καὶ κατεβίβασεν ὑπέρογκα οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ παρακαλῶν αὐτήν ἰδέ κύριε τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου ὅτι ἐμεγαλύνθη ἐχθρός

10 χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐξεπέτασεν θλίβων ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιθυμήματα αὐτῆς εἶδεν γὰρ ἔθνη εἰσελθόντα εἰς τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτῆς ἃ ἐνετείλω μὴ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτὰ εἰς ἐκκλησίαν σου

11 πᾶς ὁ λαὸς αὐτῆς καταστενάζοντες ζητοῦντες ἄρτον ἔδωκαν τὰ ἐπιθυμήματα αὐτῆς ἐν βρώσει τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ψυχήν ἰδέ κύριε καὶ ἐπίβλεψον ὅτι ἐγενήθην ἠτιμωμένη

12 οὐ πρὸς ὑμᾶς πάντες οἱ παραπορευόμενοι ὁδόν ἐπιστρέψατε καὶ ἴδετε εἰ ἔστιν ἄλγος κατὰ τὸ ἄλγος μου ὃ ἐγενήθη φθεγξάμενος ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐταπείνωσέν με κύριος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ

13 ἐξ ὕψους αὐτοῦ ἀπέστειλεν πῦρ ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις μου κατήγαγεν αὐτό διεπέτασεν δίκτυον τοῖς ποσίν μου ἀπέστρεψέν με εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἔδωκέν με ἠφανισμένην ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ὀδυνωμένην

14 ἐγρηγορήθη ἐπὶ τὰ ἀσεβήματά μου ἐν χερσίν μου συνεπλάκησαν ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλόν μου ἠσθένησεν ἡ ἰσχύς μου ὅτι ἔδωκεν κύριος ἐν χερσίν μου ὀδύνας οὐ δυνήσομαι στῆναι

15 ἐξῆρεν πάντας τοὺς ἰσχυρούς μου ὁ κύριος ἐκ μέσου μου ἐκάλεσεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ καιρὸν τοῦ συντρῖψαι ἐκλεκτούς μου ληνὸν ἐπάτησεν κύριος παρθένῳ θυγατρὶ ιουδα ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐγὼ κλαίω

16 ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου κατήγαγεν ὕδωρ ὅτι ἐμακρύνθη ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὁ παρακαλῶν με ὁ ἐπιστρέφων ψυχήν μου ἐγένοντο οἱ υἱοί μου ἠφανισμένοι ὅτι ἐκραταιώθη ὁ ἐχθρός

17 διεπέτασεν σιων χεῖρας αὐτῆς οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ παρακαλῶν αὐτήν ἐνετείλατο κύριος τῷ ιακωβ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ οἱ θλίβοντες αὐτόν ἐγενήθη ιερουσαλημ εἰς ἀποκαθημένην ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν

18 δίκαιός ἐστιν κύριος ὅτι τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ παρεπίκρανα ἀκούσατε δή πάντες οἱ λαοί καὶ ἴδετε τὸ ἄλγος μου παρθένοι μου καὶ νεανίσκοι μου ἐπορεύθησαν ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ

19 ἐκάλεσα τοὺς ἐραστάς μου αὐτοὶ δὲ παρελογίσαντό με οἱ ἱερεῖς μου καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροί μου ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐξέλιπον ὅτι ἐζήτησαν βρῶσιν αὐτοῖς ἵνα ἐπιστρέψωσιν ψυχὰς αὐτῶν καὶ οὐχ εὗρον

20 ἰδέ κύριε ὅτι θλίβομαι ἡ κοιλία μου ἐταράχθη καὶ ἡ καρδία μου ἐστράφη ἐν ἐμοί ὅτι παραπικραίνουσα παρεπίκρανα ἔξωθεν ἠτέκνωσέν με μάχαιρα ὥσπερ θάνατος ἐν οἴκῳ

21 ἀκούσατε δὴ ὅτι στενάζω ἐγώ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ παρακαλῶν με πάντες οἱ ἐχθροί μου ἤκουσαν τὰ κακά μου καὶ ἐχάρησαν ὅτι σὺ ἐποίησας ἐπήγαγες ἡμέραν ἐκάλεσας καιρόν καὶ ἐγένοντο ὅμοιοι ἐμοί

22 εἰσέλθοι πᾶσα ἡ κακία αὐτῶν κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου καὶ ἐπιφύλλισον αὐτοῖς ὃν τρόπον ἐποίησαν ἐπιφυλλίδα περὶ πάντων τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων μου ὅτι πολλοὶ οἱ στεναγμοί μου καὶ ἡ καρδία μου λυπεῖται

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #5433

Studere hoc loco

  
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5433. 'You have come to see the nakedness of the land' means that nothing would please them more than to know for themselves that they are not truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming to see' as wishing to know that a thing is so, and therefore as nothing would give greater pleasure than to know it; from the meaning of 'the nakedness' as a lack of truths, thus that they are not truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the land' as the Church (see 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355, 4447, 4535). So that 'the nakedness of the land' here means a lack of truths known to the Church. The reason 'the nakedness' means a deprivation or lack of truths is that 'clothes' in general means truths, while each specific type of garment means some particular kind of truth, see 2576, 3301, 4545, 4677, 4741, 4742, 4763, 5248, 5319, and therefore 'the nakedness' means a lack of truths, as will also be seen from the places below that are quoted from the Word.

[2] The implications of this may be seen from what has been stated immediately above in 5472, where it is said that people who do not learn truths for truth's own sake and for their life's sake, but for the sake of material gain, inevitably think that the truths known to the Church are not truths. The reason for this is that the affection for gain is an earthly affection, whereas the affection for truth is a spiritual one. One or the other must have dominion, for no one can serve two masters. Consequently where one affection exists the other does not, so that where the affection for truth is present the affection for gain is absent, and where the affection for gain is present the affection for truth is absent. This being so, if the affection for material gain has dominion, then inevitably nothing pleases the person more than to know that truths are not truths. Yet nothing else pleases him more than when others believe that truths are truths. If the internal man looks downwards, that is to say, towards earthly things and makes these everything, he cannot possibly look upwards and have anything there since earthly things completely swallow up and smother everything. The reason for this is that the angels from heaven who are present with a person cannot dwell among earthly things; they therefore depart, in which case spirits from hell draw near who, while they are present with a person, cannot dwell among heavenly things. As a consequence he then thinks that heavenly things are of no importance, while earthly ones are everything. And when that person thinks that earthly things are everything, he believes himself to be more learned and wiser than everybody else, in that he himself does not accept the truths known to the Church, and at the same time says that they exist for those who are simple. The affection that moves a person is therefore either an earthly affection or else a heavenly one, for he cannot have his being simultaneously with angels from heaven and with spirits from hell; for if he did he would be left hanging between heaven and hell. But when he is moved by an affection for truth for truth's own sake, that is, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom (where Divine Truth is present) and so for the Lord's sake, he is among angels. He does not in this case despise material gain insofar as it enables him to lead his life in the world. But such gain is not his end in view, only the useful purposes it serves which are seen by him as intermediate ends leading on to an ultimate heavenly one. This being so, his heart is by no means at all set on material gain.

[3] The fact that 'the nakedness' means a lack of truths may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in John,

To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy, so that I have need of nothing - when you do not know that you are wretched and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked.... Revelation 3:17.

Here being 'naked' stands for suffering from a scarcity of truth. In the same place,

I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in the fire, and white garments to clothe you, and do not let the shame of your nakedness be manifested. Revelation 3:18.

'Buying gold' stands for acquiring good and making this one's own, 'that you may become wealthy' for acquiring it to the end that celestial and spiritual good may be present; 'white garments' stands for spiritual truths, 'the shame of nakedness' for the lack of any goodness or truth. For 'buying' means acquiring and making one's own, see 5374; 'gold' celestial and spiritual good, 1551, 1552; 'garments' truths, 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319; while 'white' is attributed to truth because this comes from the light of heaven, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.

[4] In the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked. Revelation 16:15.

'He who keeps his garments' stands for the person who hangs on to truths. 'So that he may not walk naked' stands for so that he is not without truths. In Matthew,

The King will say to those at His right hand, I was naked and you clothed Me around, and to those at His left, I was naked and you did not clothe Me around. Matthew 25:36, 43.

'Naked' stands for the good who acknowledge that within themselves no good or truth at all exists, 4958.

[5] In Isaiah,

Is not this the fast, to break your bread for the hungry, and that you may bring afflicted outcasts to your house, when you see the naked and cover him? Isaiah 58:7.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became a menstruous woman; all who honoured her despised her, for they saw her nakedness. Lamentations 1:8.

Here 'nakedness' stands for a lack of truths. In Ezekiel,

You reached full beauty, your breasts were formed and your hair had grown; but you were naked and bare. I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. You did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare. Ezekiel 16:7-8, 22.

[6] This refers to Jerusalem, by which the Ancient Church is meant - what it was like when it was first established and what it came to be like after that. That is to say, initially it was lacking in truths, after which it was furnished with them, but finally it cast them aside. In the same prophet,

If a man is righteous, one who has executed judgement and righteousness, he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. Ezekiel 18:5, 7.

'Covering the naked with clothing' stands for furnishing with truths those who desire truths. In Hosea,

Lest I strip her naked, present her as she was on the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a land of dryness, and slay her with thirst. Hosea 2:3.

'Stripping her naked' stands for leaving her without truths. In Nahum,

I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. Nahum 3:5.

'Showing the nations its nakedness' stands for its ugliness. All ugliness is a result of the absence of truths, all beauty a result of the presence of them, 4985, 5199.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #4007

Studere hoc loco

  
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4007. 'Every one that had white in it' means that which has truth in it. This is clear from the meaning of 'white' as truth, but strictly speaking as the Lord's Righteousness and Merit, and from this the Lord's righteousness and merit as these exist with man, dealt with in 3301, 3993. 'White' has that meaning because the light of heaven which radiates from the Lord, a light which is the source of splendour and brightness, means truth. Anything therefore on which that light falls and is made splendid and bright is that which is called the Lord's righteousness and merit existing with man. Those who acknowledge this, the Lord's righteousness, and who from good take it to themselves and reject their own, are specifically the ones meant by 'the righteous' whom the Lord refers to, in Matthew,

The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:43.

[2] The fact that that which is 'white', being splendid and bright, has this meaning is also evident from other places in the Word, as in Moses,

His eyes will be redder than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. Genesis 49:12.

This refers to Judah, who represents the Lord as regards the Divinity of His Love, and in the internal sense the celestial kingdom, and so the celestial man, see 3881. 'Eyes redder than wine' means Divine Wisdom, and 'teeth whiter than milk' means Righteousness. In David,

You will purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; You will wash me, and I shall become whiter than snow. Psalms 51:7.

'Washing and becoming whiter than snow' stands for being purified from sins by means of receiving and putting on the Lord's righteousness. In John,

In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man. His head and hair were white, like white wool, like snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire. Revelation 1:13-14.

[3] In the same book,

You have a few names in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers will be clad in white garments. Revelation 3:4-5.

In the same book,

I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you. Revelation 3:18.

In the same book,

To each soul under the altar were given white robes. Revelation 6:9, 11.

In the same book,

I saw, standing before the throne and before the Lamb those clothed in white robes. One of the elders said to me, These clothed in white robes - who are they, and where have they come from? I said to him, Sir, you know. He said to me, These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:9, 13-14.

In the same book,

The angels were clothed in linen, white and splendid, and were girded around their breasts with golden girdles. Revelation 15:6.

In the same book,

I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; to him a crown was given. Revelation 6:2.

And elsewhere,

After this I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. His armies in heaven were following Him on white horses and were clothed in linen white and clean. Revelation 19:11, 14.

[4] In all these places 'white' means the truth of faith; 'white garments' and 'white robes' have no other meaning. But the truth of faith does not exist with any who believe that they have faith of themselves and so believe that they are wise of themselves. Rather, it exists with those who believe that their faith and wisdom come from the Lord, for faith and wisdom are imparted to them because they do not ascribe any truth or good at all to themselves. Even less do they believe that they possess any merit through the truths and goods residing with them, and less still any righteousness, but only by ascribing these to the Lord, and so everything to His grace and mercy. This is what 'putting on white garments' means, and also what 'being made white in the blood of the Lamb' means. There are two things which all who enter heaven cast aside, namely their proprium and consequent confidence, and merit that is their own or self-righteousness. Then they assume a heavenly proprium which comes from the Lord, and the Lord's merit or righteousness. And to the extent that these are so assumed those persons advance further into heaven. These two things specifically are meant by 'red' and by 'white'; 'red' means the good of love and is present with those people at that time, 'white' the truth of faith.

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