The Bible

 

Ezekiel 14:23

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23 And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Commentary

 

Sons of the stranger

  

'Sons of the stranger' signify counterfeit truths, or falsities. 'Our sons' signify the doctrines of truth, and 'our daughters,' the doctrines of good, as in Psalm 144:11-12.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 489; Psalms 144:11)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8937

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8937. 'Your flocks and your herds' means forms of good, internal and external. This is clear from the meaning of 'flocks' as internal forms of good, and from the meaning of 'herds' as external forms of good, both dealt with in 2566, 5913. The reason why 'flocks' means internal forms of good is that to flocks belong lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, rams, and he-goats, and these mean such things as are forms of innocence and forms of celestial and spiritual love in the internal man. And the reason why 'herds' means external forms of good is that to herds belong oxen, young oxen, and calves, and these mean such things as are forms of good and truth in the external man. For what was meant by 'oxen', see 2180, 2566, 2781; 'young oxen' and 'calves', 1824, 2830; 'lambs', 3519, 3994, 7840; 'sheep', 4169; 'kids' and 'she-goats', 3519, 4005, 4006, 4871; 'rams', 2830, 4170; and he-goats', 4169 (end), 4769.

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