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Ezekiel 29

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1 I det tiende år, på den tolvte dag i den tiende måned kom HE ENs Ord til mig således:

2 Menneskesøn, vend dit Ansigt mod Farao, Ægyptens Konge, og profeter mod ham og hele Ægypten.

3 Tal og sig: Så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg kommer over dig, Farao, Ægyptens Konge, du store drage, som ligger midt i dine Strømme, som siger: "Nilen er min, jeg skabte den selv!"

4 Jeg sætter Kroge i Kæberne på dig og lader dine Strømmes Fisk hænge ved dine Skæl og drager dig op af dine Strømme med alle deres Fisk, som hænger ved dine Skæl.

5 Jeg slænger dig hen i Ørkenen med alle dine Strømes Fisk; på åben Mark skal du falde, ej samles op eller jordes; til Jordens Dyr og Himlens Fugle giver jeg dig som Føde.

6 Og kende skal hver en Ægypter, at jeg er HE EN. Fordi du har været en ørkæp for Israels Hus -

7 du splintredes, når de greb om dig, og flænged dem hele Hånden; du brast, når de støtted sig til dig, fik hver en Lænd til at vakle -

8 derfor, så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg bringer Sværd over dig og udrydder Folk og Fæ af dig;

9 Ægypten skal blive til Ørk og Øde; og de skal kende, at jeg er HE EN, fordi du sagde: "Nilen er min, jeg skabte den selv!"

10 Se, derfor kommer jeg over dig og dine Strømme og gør Ægypten til Øde og Ørk fra Migdol til Syene og Ætiopiens Grænse.

11 Hverken Mennesker eller Dyr skal sætte deres Fod der, ingen skal færdes der, og det skal ligge hen uden Indbyggere i fyrretyve År.

12 Jeg gør Ægypten til en Ørk blandt øde Lande, og Byerne skal ligge øde hen blandt tilintetgjorte Byer i fyrretyve År; og jeg spreder Ægypterne blandt Folkene og udstrør dem i Landene.

13 Thi så siger den Herre HE EN: Efter fyrretyvears Forløb vil jeg sanke Ægypterne sammen fra de Folkeslag, de er spredt iblandt,

14 og vende Ægyptens Skæbne og føre dem tilbage til Patros, det Land, de stammer fra, og der skal de blive et lille ige.

15 Det skal blive mindre end de andre iger og ikke mere svinge sig op over Folkene; jeg gør dem få i Tal, for at de ikke mere skal råde over Folkene.

16 Og fremtidig skal de ikke være Israels Huss Tillid og således minde mig om dets Misgerning, når det slutter sig til dem; og de skal kende, at jeg er den Herre HE EN.

17 I det syv og tyvende År på den første Dag i den første Måned kom HE ENs Ord til mig således:

18 Menneskesøn! Kong Nebukadrezar af Babel har ladet sin Hær udføre et stort Arbejde mod Tyrus; hvert Hoved er skaldet, hver Skulder flået, og hverken han eller Hæren fik Løn af Tyrus for det Arbejde, han udførte imod det.

19 Derfor, så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg giver Kong Nebukadrezar af Babel Ægypten; han skal bortføre dets igdom, tage Bytte og røve ov der; og det skal være hans Hærs Løn;

20 som Vederlag for hans Arbejde giver jeg ham Ægypten, fordi de sled for mig, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN.

21 På den Dag lader jeg et Horn vokse frem for Israels Hus, og dig giver jeg at åbne din Mund iblandt dem; og de skal kende, at jeg er HE EN.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6693

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6693. 'Saying, Every son who is born you are to throw into the river' means that all truths that appeared should be drowned in falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; from the meaning of 'being born' as appearing; and from the meaning of 'the river' as those things that constitute intelligence, dealt with in 108, 109, 2702, 3051, here in the contrary sense as those things which are the opposite, namely falsities. The fact that 'throwing into' means drowning in is self-evident.

[2] The meaning of 'the river of Egypt' as the opposite of intelligence, which is falsity, is also clear in Isaiah,

The rivers will recede, the streams of Egypt will diminish and dry up. The papyrus plants next to the river, next to the mouth of the river, and everything sown in the river will wither, be driven away, and be no more. Therefore the fishermen will mourn, and all who cast a hook into the river will be sad, and those who spread nets over the face of the waters will anguish. Isaiah 19:6-8.

Here one should not understand a river by 'the river of Egypt' or fishermen by 'the fishermen' but other things which are not apparent unless one knows how 'Egypt', 'the river' there, and 'the fishermen' are to be understood. If one does know, then the meaning of these verses is apparent. The fact that 'the river of Egypt' means falsity is evident from every detail mentioned in them.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Who is this coming up like a river, whose waters are tossed about like the rivers? Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers his waters are tossed about. For he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Jeremiah 46:7-8.

Here also 'the river of Egypt' stands for falsities. 'Going up and covering the earth' stands for overwhelming the Church, 'destroying the city' stands for destroying the teachings of the Church, 'and those who dwell in it' for doing so to forms of good that come from those teachings. For the meaning of 'the earth' as the Church, see 6649; 'the city' as the teachings of the Church, 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493; and 'those who dwell in it' as forms of good there, 2268, 2451, 2712.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies 1 in the midst of his rivers, who has said, The river is mine and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales, and I will cause you to come up out of the midst of your rivers, in order that 2 all the fish of your rivers may stick in your scales. I will leave in the wilderness you and all the fish of your rivers. Ezekiel 29:3-5, 9-10.

Without the internal sense no one can know what this passage means either. Thus, though it is evident that it is not the country Egypt which is meant, the meaning of the passage remains unknown unless one knows what 'Pharaoh', 'river', 'monster', 'fish', and 'scales', all mean. 'Pharaoh' is the natural where factual knowledge resides, see 5160, 5799, 6015; 'monsters' are general bodies of facts that reside in the natural, 42; 'fish' are the facts subordinate to a general body of them, 40, 991; 'scales' are ideas of a thoroughly external nature, thus sensory impressions, to which factual knowledge that is false clings. When one knows all these meanings one can see what 'the river of Egypt' is used to mean in this passage, namely, falsity.

[5] In the same prophet,

On the day on which Pharaoh goes down into hell I will make him mourn, I will cover the deep over him, and I will restrain its streams, and the great waters will be stayed. Ezekiel 31:15.

In Amos,

Is not the land to be shaken on account of this, and everyone to mourn that inhabits it? Yes, the whole of it comes up like a river, and is cast out, and is drowned as if in the river of Egypt. On that day I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the land in broad daylight. Amos 8:8-9; 9:5.

'The land which will be shaken' stands for the Church, 6649, while 'being drowned as if in the river of Egypt' stands for being destroyed by falsities. And since falsities are meant it says that the sun will go down at noon, and the earth will be darkened in broad daylight. 'The going down of the sun at noon' means that the good of heavenly love will depart, and 'the darkening of the land in broad daylight' that falsities will take possession of the Church. For the meaning of 'the sun' as the good of heavenly love, see 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696; for 'darkness' as falsities, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531; and for 'the earth' as the Church, 82, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1411, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577. Anyone can see that things other than those which appear in the literal sense here - such as that the land will be shaken and every inhabitant will mourn, or that the sun will go down at noon and the land will be darkened in broad daylight - are really meant. Unless one takes 'the land' to mean the Church, 'the river' to mean falsity, and 'the sun' to mean heavenly love, one does not find any other explicable meaning there.

[6] It is because 'the river of Egypt' means falsity that Moses was commanded to strike the waters of that river with his rod, after which they were turned into blood, all fish in the river died, and the river stank, Exodus 7:17-18, 20-21. For the same reason Aaron had to stretch out his hand and rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the pools, from which frogs rose up over the land of Egypt, Exodus 8:5-6. 3 For the meaning of 'the waters' in the contrary sense as falsities, see 790; and since the waters make up the river, 'the river' in relation to them means falsity in general.

Footnotes:

1. Reading cubat (he lies) for cubas (you lie)

2. Reading ut (in order that) for et (and)

3Exodus 8:1-2, in this translation of the Arcana Caelestia

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