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Ezekiel 27

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1 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,

2 And thou, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre;

3 and say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest at the entry of the sea, that art the merchant of the peoples unto many isles, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, O Tyre, hast said, I am perfect in beauty.

4 Thy borders are in the heart of the seas; thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

5 They have made all thy planks of fir-trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee.

6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim.

7 Of fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy sail, that it might be to thee for an ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning.

8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots.

9 The old men of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to deal in thy merchandise.

10 Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.

11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and valorous men were in thy towers; they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have perfected thy beauty.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise.

14 They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with horses and war-horses and mules.

15 The men of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they brought thee in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.

16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of thy handiworks: they traded for thy wares with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.

17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy merchandise wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.

18 Damascus was thy merchant for the multitude of thy handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for thy wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among thy merchandise.

20 Dedan was thy trafficker in precious cloths for riding.

21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants.

22 The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers; they traded for thy wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

23 Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur [and] Chilmad, were thy traffickers.

24 These were thy traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

25 The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas.

27 Thy riches, and thy wares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the dealers in thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, with all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

28 At the sound of the cry of thy pilots the suburbs shall shake.

29 And all that handled the oar, the mariners, [and] all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand upon the land,

30 and shall cause their voice to be heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

31 and they shall make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.

32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, [saying], Who is there like Tyre, like her that is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

34 In the time that thou wast broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company did fall in the midst of thee.

35 All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished at thee, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their countenance.

36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at thee; thou art become a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4287

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4287. 'For as a prince you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed' means repeated victories in conflicts over truths and goods. This is clear from the meaning of 'contending as a prince' as overcoming in conflicts, in this case conflicts that accompany temptations since these are the subject at present; and from the meaning of 'with God and with men' as conflicts over truths and goods, to be dealt with below.

[2] The subject in the highest sense being the Lord, it is He who is meant in that sense by 'one contending as a prince with God and with men', for by His own power He suffered all temptations and through them overcame the hells. Indeed He allowed into Himself all the hells in their order, and even the angels, as will be explained later on. In so doing he brought into order everything in the heavens and in the hells, and at length glorified Himself, that is, made the Human within Him Divine.

[3] From this it is evident that in the highest sense the Lord is meant by Jacob and Israel, as shown immediately above in 4286. Not only has He Himself 'contended as a prince', that is, has suffered all the conflicts brought about by temptations and has overcome in them, but also He suffers them in every individual human being. But see what has been stated many times already on these matters in the following references,

The Lord suffered the severest temptations, greater than anybody else has done, 1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2816.

Unlike any others the Lord fought out of Divine love, 1690, 1691 (end), 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.

The Lord fought against hereditary evil from the mother, so that at length He was not her son; even so, no evil of His own doing was attached to Him, 1444, 1573, 2025, 2574, 2649, 3318 (end).

Through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through repeated victories the Lord arranged all things into the form which heaven possesses, 1928.

And through repeated victories in conflicts brought about by temptations He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, 1616, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2500, 2523, 2632, 2776.

The Lord suffers the temptations that take place in man, subduing evil and the hells, 987, 1661, 1692 (end).

[4] The arcanum that 'contending with God and with men' means being tempted over truths and over goods is one that is not open to view in the letter. It is clear to anyone, and will also be evident from the explanation given below, that it was not God with whom Jacob contended, for it cannot be said of anyone that he contends with God and prevails. But the internal sense teaches what 'God' and 'men' mean here - that 'God' means truth, and 'men' good. The reason for this is that 'God' in the internal sense means truth, and therefore whenever truth is dealt with the name God is used, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, whereas the term 'man' is used to mean good. And 'man' means good because the Lord is the only Man and anyone else is called such by virtue of Him, 49, 288, 565, 1894. A further reason is that by virtue of Him heaven is man and is called the Grand Man, 684, 1276, 3624-3649, 3741-3750. And this also was why the Most Ancient Church which was governed by celestial good was referred to as Man, 478.

[5] Therefore whenever good is dealt with in the Word, 'man' (homo) means good, as in Isaiah,

I will make the male person (vir homo) more rare than gold, and man (homo) than the gold of Ophir. Isaiah 13:12.

In the same prophet,

The inhabitants of the land will be scorched and few male persons (vir homo) left. Isaiah 24:6.

'Male persons' stands for spiritual good or the good of truth. 'Man' stands for good. In the same prophet, The highways have been laid waste, the wayfarer has ceased. He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, he has no regard for the male person (vir homo). Isaiah 33:8.

In Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, and behold, that which is void and empty, and towards the heavens, and they had no light I looked, and behold, there was no man; and all the birds of the air had flown away. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.

In the same prophet, behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:27.

In Ezekiel,

Your merchants [traded] in the souls of men and vessels of bronze, giving these for your merchandise. Ezekiel 27:13.

In the same prophet, You, O my flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men; I am your God. Ezekiel 34:31.

In the same prophet, They will be cities laid waste, filled with the flock of mankind. Ezekiel 36:38.

In these places 'man' (homo) stands for people who are governed by good, and so stands for good, since good is what causes anyone to be 'man'. Truth however which is grounded in good is referred to in the Word as 'a male person' (vir homo) and also as 'the son of man'.

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