Bibliorum

 

Esekiel 4

Study

   

1 Og du menneskesønn, ta dig en mursten og legg den foran dig og riss på den en by, Jerusalem,

2 og reis bolverk mot den og bygg skanser mot den og kast op en voll mot den og still op leire mot den og sett murbrekkere mot den rundt omkring!

3 Og ta dig så en jernpanne og sett den som en jernvegg mellem dig og byen og vend ditt ansikt mot den, så den blir kringsatt, og du kringsetter den. Dette skal være et tegn for Israels hus.

4 Og så skal du legge dig på din venstre side og legge Israel-folkets misgjerning på den! I så mange dager som du ligger på den side, skal du bære deres misgjerning;

5 og jeg vil la deres misgjernings år for dig bli like så mange dager - tre hundre og nitti dager - så lenge skal du bære Israel-folkets misgjerning.

6 Og når du er kommet til ende med dem, så skal du annen gang legge dig på din høire side og bære Juda-folkets misgjerning; i firti dager, en dag for hvert år, vil jeg la dig bære den.

7 Og du skal vende ditt åsyn og din nakne arm mot det kringsatte Jerusalem og profetere mot det.

8 Og se, jeg legger rep om dig, så du ikke kan vende dig fra den ene side til den andre, før du er kommet til ende med de dager du holder det kringsatt.

9 Og ta dig så hvete og bygg og bønner og linser og hirse og spelt og legg dem i ett kar og bak dig brød av dem! I så mange dager som du ligger på din ene side, i tre hundre og nitti dager, skal du ete det.

10 Og den mat som du eter, skal være efter vekt, tyve sekel til hver dag; fra tid til tid skal du ete den.

11 Det vann du drikker, skal også være efter mål, sjettedelen av en hin; fra tid til tid skal du drikke det.

12 Som en byggkake skal du ete det, med menneskeskarn skal du steke det for deres øine.

13 Og Herren sa: Således skal Israels barn ete sitt brød urent blandt de folk som jeg vil drive dem bort til.

14 Da sa jeg: Akk, Herre, Herre! Se, min sjel er ikke blitt uren, og noget selvdødt eller sønderrevet har jeg ikke ett fra min ungdom like til nu, og det er ikke kommet urent kjøtt i min munn.

15 sa han til mig: Vel, jeg vil la dig ta kumøkk i stedet for menneskeskarn, så du kan steke ditt brød over den.

16 Og han sa til mig: Menneskesønn! Se, jeg sønderbryter brødets stav i Jerusalem, og de skal ete brød efter vekt og med bekymring og drikke vann efter mål og med forferdelse,

17 så de skal lide mangel på brød og vann og forferdes, den ene med den andre, og visne bort i sin misgjerning.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #4759

Studere hoc loco

  
/ 10837  
  

4759. 'For twenty pieces of silver' means the value set upon it. This is clear from the meaning of 'twenty' as the good and truth stored away by the Lord within the interior man, which are called remnants, dealt with in 2280, and so as holy good or truth. In this case holy truth is meant because the phrase 'twenty pieces of silver' is used, 'silver' meaning truth, 1551, 2954. The same number also means that which is not holy, for most things in the Word have a contrary meaning also, here truth that is not holy in the case of those who alienated Divine Truth, or 'sold Joseph', 4758, but is holy in the case of those who accepted it or 'bought him'. The meaning here therefore is that which is not holy separated from charity, but which is holy in the case of the Ishmaelites, that is, those in whom simple good is present. These are the things that are meant by the value set upon it. The reason why 'twenty' also means that which is not holy is that 'twenty' means remnants, as stated above. If people do not have any remnants of good and truth within their interior man, only evil and falsity instead, their holiness is not holiness, and depending on the kind of evil and falsity present in them it is either filthiness or else profanity.

[2] This further meaning which 'twenty' has of that which is not holy is clear in Zechariah,

I looked, and behold, a flying scroll. And he said to me, What do you see? I said to him, I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, its breadth ten cubits. And he said to me, This curse is going out over the face of the whole land. Zechariah 5:1-3.

In Haggai,

When one came to the winevat to draw fifty measures from the winevat, there were only twenty; I smote you with blight, and all the work of your hands with mildew. Haggai 2:16-17.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Your food which you eat shall be in weight twenty shekels each day; from time to time shall you eat it; and you shall eat it indeed as a barley-cake. As regards that cake, with human excrement you shall make it in their sight. For thus, Jehovah said, shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations. Ezekiel 4:10, 12-13.

In these places 'twenty' stands for that which is unholy, unclean, and profane. The death in the wilderness of all over twenty years - a prediction recorded in Numbers 14:29; 32:11 - also represented that which was holy in the case of those under that age, and that which was not holy in the case of those over it. For all numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670; and remnants are good and truth stored away by the Lord within the interior man, 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 660, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #2075

Studere hoc loco

  
/ 10837  
  

2075. 'And will Sarah, a daughter of ninety years, give birth?' means that truth joined to good will achieve this. This is clear from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as truth joined to good, which is Divine truth, and from the meaning of the number 'ninety', or what amounts to the same, 'nine'. One is bound to be surprised that the number 'a hundred years', which was Abraham's age, means that the Rational belonging to the Lord's Human Essence was to be united to the Divine Essence, and that the number 'ninety years', which was Sarah's age, means that truth joined to good would achieve this. But as there is nothing in the Lord's Word that is not heavenly and Divine, the same must be true of the actual numbers which appear there. That all numbers used in the Word, as with all names used in it, mean real things has been shown in Volume One, in 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893, 1988.

[2] Now as regards the number nine meaning conjunction, more so the number ninety, which is the product of nine times ten, 'ten' meaning remnants by which conjunction is achieved - as shown by what has been said above at the end of 1988 - this is also made clear from the following representatives and meaningful signs. It was commanded that on the tenth day of the seventh month there was to be a day of atonement, and that this was to be a sabbath of rest; 1 and on the ninth day of the seventh month in the evening, from one evening to the next, they were to celebrate the sabbath, Leviticus 23:27, 32.

[3] In the internal sense these details mean conjunction through remnants, that is to say, 'nine' means conjunction and 'ten' remnants. The existence of a Divine arcanum lying concealed within these numbers is quite evident from the months and the days of the year which were to be held sacred, for example, every seventh day was to be a sabbath; every seventh month, as stated here, was to be a sabbath of rests; likewise every seventh year, and also every seven times seventh year, which was to mark the start of a jubilee year. The same applies to all other numbers in the Word, for example, to the number three which has almost the same meaning as seven; to the number twelve which means all things belonging to faith; and to the number ten which, the same as tenths, means remnants, 576; and so on. And in the verses from Leviticus quoted above, unless the numbers ten and nine embodied arcana it would by no means have been commanded that there should be this sabbath of rest 1 on the tenth day of the seventh month, and that they should celebrate it on the ninth day of the month. Such is the Word of the Lord in the internal sense, even though nothing of the sort is evident in the historical sense.

[4] The same applies to what is recorded about Jerusalem being besieged by Nebuchadnezzar in the ninth year of Zedekiah, and about its being breached on the ninth day of the month in the eleventh year, as follows in the Second Book of Kings,

In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel came against Jerusalem, and the city came under siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the month the famine was severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land; and the city was breached. 2 Kings 25:1, 3-4.

'The ninth year, the tenth month' and 'the eleventh year and ninth day of the month when there was a famine in the city and no bread for the people of the land' means in the internal sense that no conjunction by means of the things of faith and charity existed any longer. 'Famine in the city and no bread for the people of the land' means that no faith at all nor any charity at all was left. This is the internal sense of these words which is nowhere apparent in the letter. Matters like these shine out even less from the historical sections of the Word than from the prophetical because the historical incidents captivate the mind (animus), so much that belief in anything deeper there is scarcely possible. Yet all those incidents are representative and the words used to describe them in every case carry spiritual meanings. These matters are hard to believe but they are nevertheless true, see 1769 1772.

V:

1. literally, a sabbath of a sabbath

  
/ 10837  
  

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