Bibliorum

 

Esekiel 42

Study

   

1 Så førte han mig ut til den ytre forgård på veien mot nord, og derefter førte han mig til de kammer som lå midt imot den avsondrede plass og midt imot bygningen i nord,

2 til langsiden, som målte hundre alen, med inngang mot nord, og bredden var femti alen.

3 Ut mot den tyve alen brede plass som hørte til den indre forgård, og ut mot stengulvet i den ytre forgård var det svalgang mot svalgang i tre stokkverk.

4 Og foran kammerne var det en gang på ti alens bredde til det indre, en vei på én alen, og deres dører vendte mot nord.

5 Og de øverste kammer var mindre enn de andre; for svalgangene tok mere rum fra dem enn fra de nederste og de midterste i bygningen;

6 for de lå i tre stokkverk, men hadde ingen søiler, således som forgårdene hadde; derfor blev rummet i de øverste kammer mindre enn i de nederste og midterste, fra jorden og opefter.

7 Og en mur som var utenfor, langsmed kammerne, mot den ytre forgård, gikk foran kammerne; den var femti alen lang.

8 For lengden av de kammer som lå mot den ytre forgård, var femti alen, men mot templet hundre alen.

9 Og nedenfor disse kammer var inngangen fra øst, når en gikk inn i dem fra den ytre forgård.

10 Der hvor forgårdens mur mot øst var bredest, foran den avsondrede plass og foran bygningen, lå det også kammere,

11 og foran dem var det en vei; de var av utseende som de kammer som lå mot nord, og av samme lengde og bredde som de, og de hadde alle sine utganger og sine innretninger som de, og som dørene på dem,

12 så var også dørene på de kammer som lå mot syd; der var en dør ved begynnelsen av veien, veien foran den tilsvarende mur, veien mot øst, hvor en gikk inn til dem.

13 sa han til mig: Kammerne mot nord og kammerne mot syd, som ligger mot den avsondrede plass, de er hellige kammer, hvor prestene, som står Herren nær, skal ete det høihellige; der skal de legge det høihellige, både matofferet og syndofferet og skyldofferet; for det er et hellig sted.

14 Når prestene går inn, skal de ikke gå ut igjen fra helligdommen i den ytre forgård, men de skal legge av der* de klær som de gjør tjeneste i; for de er hellige; de skal ta på sig andre klær og så nærme sig til den plass som er for folket. / {* d.e. i kammerne; ESK 42, 13. 44, 19.}

15 Og da han var ferdig med målingen i det indre hus, førte han mig ut gjennem den port hvis forside vendte mot øst; og han målte der rundt omkring.

16 Han målte østsiden med målestangen: den var fem hundre stenger efter målestangen rundt omkring.

17 Han målte nordsiden: den var fem hundre stenger efter målestangen rundt omkring.

18 Også sydsiden målte han: den var fem hundre stenger efter målestangen.

19 Så gikk han omkring vestsiden og målte fem hundre stenger efter målestangen.

20 På alle fire sider målte han det; det hadde en mur rundt omkring, fem hundre stenger lang og fem hundre bred, til å skille mellem det hellige og det som ikke var hellig.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Revealed #861

Studere hoc loco

  
/ 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.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Revealed #502

Studere hoc loco

  
/ 962  
  

502. Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. This symbolizes the two hellish loves, namely, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, loves which are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

Sodom symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, as we shall presently see; and Egypt symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, as we shall also presently see. So, because these two loves are symbolized, therefore the city is called, spiritually speaking, Sodom and Egypt.

These two loves are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, because people are born with these two loves, and they come into them as they grow up. Nor can these loves be removed except by God the Savior and by a life in accordance with His commandments, and God cannot remove them unless people turn to Him, and neither is a life in accordance with His commandments possible unless a person is led by Him. Actually it is possible, but not a life that contains anything of heaven and so of the church.

A life like that is possible only from Him who is life. That the Lord is that life may be seen in John 1:1, 4; 5:26; 6:33-35ff., 11:25-26; 14:6, 19, and in many other places.

[2] A love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, are the principal loves of all the loves in hell, and so are the origin of all the evils and thus of all the falsities in the church. This is something unknown at the present day. The delights of these loves, which surpass the delights of all the heart's pleasures, cause it to be unknown, even though they are, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt.

That Sodom is a love of ruling springing from a love of self can be seen from the description of Sodom in Genesis, where we are told that when angels arrived there, the inhabitants tried to forcibly assault them at the house of Lot, and that fire and brimstone rained down on them from heaven (Genesis 19:1ff.). Fire and brimstone symbolize that love, together with its appetites.

I saw similar sights when cities and societies of people like that were overthrown at the time of the Last Judgment and their inhabitants cast into hell.

These loves and their accompanying evils are symbolized by Sodom and Gomorrah in the following passages: Isaiah 1:10; 3:8-9; 13:19.

[3] That this love is symbolically meant by Sodom is unknown in the world, but remember it and recall it when you come after death into the world of spirits and you will be completely convinced.

It should be known, however, that a love of ruling springing from a love of self and a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services are two different things. The latter love is a heavenly love, while the first is a hellish one. Consequently, when one is in first place, the other is in last place; which is to say, when a love of ruling springing from a love of self forms the head, then a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services - which is a love of serving the neighbor originating from the Lord - forms first the feet, then the soles of the feet, and finally is trampled underfoot.

On the other hand, when a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services - which, as we said, is a heavenly love - forms the head, then a love of ruling springing from a love of self - which, as we said, is a hellish love - forms first the feet, then the soles of the feet, and finally is trampled underfoot.

Still, these two loves can hardly be distinguished by a person in the world. That is because in outward appearance they are similar. But they can be told apart by this, that a heavenly love is present in people who turn to the Lord and live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, while a hellish love is present in people who do not turn to the Lord, and who do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

  
/ 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.