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Ezekiel 48

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1 And these are the names of the tribes: From the north end along the way of Hethlon, as one entereth into Hamath, Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus northward unto near Hamath -- the east and west side [belonging] to him -- shall Dan have one [portion].

2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, Asher one.

3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, Naphtali one.

4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, Manasseh one.

5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, Ephraim one.

6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, Reuben one.

7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, Judah one.

8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the heave-offering that ye shall offer, five and twenty thousand [cubits] in breadth, and in length as one of the parts from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.

9 The heave-offering that ye shall offer unto Jehovah shall be five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth.

10 And for them, for the priests, shall be the holy heave-offering, toward the north five and twenty thousand, and toward the west the breadth ten thousand, and toward the east the breadth ten thousand, and toward the south the length five and twenty thousand: and the sanctuary of Jehovah shall be in the midst of it.

11 [It shall be] for the priests that are hallowed of the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge and went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

12 And this offering heaved from the heave-offering of the land shall be unto them a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.

13 And answering to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: the whole length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.

14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the first-fruits of the land: for it is holy unto Jehovah.

15 And the five thousand that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a common [place] for the city, for dwellings and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst of it.

16 And these shall be the measures thereof: the north side four thousand and five hundred [cubits], and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty [cubits], and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.

18 And the residue in length, alongside the holy heave-offering, shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward: it shall be alongside the holy heave-offering; and the increase thereof shall be for the support of them that serve the city.

19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.

20 The whole heave-offering shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand; ye shall offer the holy heave-offering foursquare with the possession of the city.

21 And the rest shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy heave-offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the five and twenty thousand of the heave-offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, answering to the [other] portions: it shall be for the prince; and the holy heave-offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst of it.

22 And from the possession of the Levites and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which shall be the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.

23 And as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin one [portion].

24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon one.

25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar one.

26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun one.

27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad one.

28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be from Tamar [to] the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, by the torrent, unto the great sea.

29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord Jehovah.

30 And these are the goings out of the city. On the north side, four thousand and five hundred [cubits] by measure.

31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.

32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred, and three gates: the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.

33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred [cubits] by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.

34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, [and] their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.

35 Round about it was eighteen thousand [cubits]; and the name of the city from that day, Jehovah is there.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6502

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6502. 'And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians' means preservation from evils which would hinder it, that is to say, the joining together. This is clear from the meaning of 'commanding' as flowing into, dealt with in 5732; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal, dealt with just above in 6499; and from the meaning of 'the physicians' as preservation from evils (for it is apparent from the train of thought here that the preservation is from evils which would hinder the joining together referred to immediately above in 6501). From all this it is evident that 'Joseph commanded his servants the physicians' means an influx from the internal regarding preservation from evils which would hinder the joining together. The reason why 'the physicians' means preservation from evils is that in the spiritual world 'sicknesses' are evils and falsities. Spiritual diseases are nothing else, for evils and falsities rob the internal man of good health; they introduce mental disorders and at length states of depression. Nothing else is meant in the Word by 'sicknesses'.

[2] In the Word 'physicians', 'medicine', and 'medicaments' mean forms of preservation from evils and falsities. This is clear from places where they are mentioned, as in Moses,

If you obediently hear the voice of your God, and do what is good in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not put on you any sickness that I put on the Egyptians; for I, Jehovah, am your Physician. Exodus 15:26.

'Jehovah the Physician' stands for the preserver from evils; for these evils are meant by 'sicknesses on the Egyptians'. The fact that 'sicknesses on the Egyptians' means evils and falsities that arise when people reason about the arcana of faith on the basis of factual knowledge and false notions will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown where those sicknesses are dealt with. But spiritual ones are meant, as is evident from its being said that if they heard the voice of God, did what was good, gave ear to His precepts, and kept His statutes, none of those sicknesses would be put on them.

[3] In addition the Lord calls Himself 'a Physician' in the same sense in Luke,

Those who are healthy have no need of a physician but those who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:31, 32

Here also 'a physician' stands for a preserver from evils; for 'those who are healthy' is used to mean the righteous, and 'those who are ill' sinners. In Jeremiah,

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of My people? 1 Jeremiah 8:22.

'A physician' stands for preservation from falsities in the Church, for 'the health of the daughter of My people' is the truth of doctrine there.

[4] In the Word healing, cures, remedies, and medicaments are spoken of not in a natural but in a spiritual sense, as is evident in Jeremiah,

Why have You stricken us so that there is no remedy for us? Await peace, but no good comes; a time of healing, but behold, terror. Jeremiah 14:19; 8:15.

In the same prophet,

I will bring health and curing to it, 2 and I will heal them, and reveal to them the crown of peace, and truth. Jeremiah 33:6.

In the same prophet,

There is none judging your judgement for healthiness; you have no restorative medicaments. Jeremiah 30:13.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no healing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, every tree for food, whose leaf does not fall and whose fruit does not fail; it is reborn monthly, for its waters are flowing out from the sanctuary, wherefore its fruit is for food, and its leaf for a medicament. Ezekiel 47:12.

Here the prophet is describing a new house of God or a new temple, by which a new Church is meant, and in a more internal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom. Therefore by 'the river upon whose bank there is rising up every tree for food' is meant things that belong to intelligence and wisdom, 108, 109, 2702, 3051 - 'trees' are perceptions and recognition of what is good and true, 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 4552; 'food' is forms of good and truths themselves, 680, 4459, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5915; 'waters going out from the sanctuary' are truths that compose intelligence, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668; 'the sanctuary' is celestial love, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Human, which is the source of that love; 'fruits which are for food' means forms of the good of love, 917, 983, 2846, 2847, 3146; and 'leaf which is for a medicament' means the truth of faith, 885. From this it is evident what 'a medicament' means, namely that which preserves from falsities and from evils; for the truth of faith, when it leads to goodness of life because it leads away from evil, acts as a preserver.

Footnotes:

1. literally, Why then has there not gone up the health of the daughter of My people?

2. literally, I will cause health and curing to go up to it.

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