The Bible

 

Ezekiel 47

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1 And he brought me again to the gate of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east: for the forefront, of the house looked toward the east: but the waters came down to the right side of the temple to the south part of the altar.

2 And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he caused me to turn to the way without the outward gate to the way that looked toward the east: and behold there ran out waters on the right side.

3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went out towards the east, he measured a thousand cubits: and he brought me through the water up to the ankles.

4 And again he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the knees.

5 And he measured a thousand. and he brought me through the water up to the loins. And he measured a thousand, and it was a torrent, which I could not pass over: for the waters were risen so as to make a deep torrent, which could not be passed over.

6 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man. And he brought me out, and he caused me to turn to the bank of the torrent.

7 And when I had turned myself, behold on the bank of the torrent were very many trees on both sides.

8 And he said to me: These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of sand to the east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed.

9 And every living creature that creepeth whithersoever the torrent shall come, shall live: and there shall be fishes in abundance after these waters shall come thither, and they shall be healed, and all things shall live to which the torrent shall come.

10 And the fishers shall stand over these waters, from Engaddi even to Engallim there shall be drying of nets: there shall be many sorts of the fishes thereof, as the fishes of the great sea, a very great multitude :

11 But on the shore thereof, and in the fenny places they shall not be healed, because they shall be turned into saltpits.

12 And by the torrent on the banks thereof on both sides shall grow all trees that bear fruit: their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: every month shall they bring forth firstfruits, because the waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine.

13 Thus saith the Lord God: This is the border, by which you shall possess the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: for Joseph hath a double portion.

14 And you shall possess it, every man in like manner as his brother: concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for a possession.

15 And this is the border of the land: toward the north side, from the great sea by the way of Hethalon, as men go to Sedada,

16 Emath, Berotha, Sabarim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Emath, the house of Tichon, which is by the border of Auran.

17 And the border from the sea even to the court of Enan, shall be the border of Damascus, and from the north to the north: the border of Emath, this is the north side.

18 And the east side is from the midst of Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, and from the midst of Galaad, and from the midst of the land of Israel, Jordan making the bound to the east sea, and thus you shall measure the east side.

19 And the south side southward is from Thamar even to the waters of contradiction of Cades: and the torrent even to the great sea: and this is the south side southward.

20 And the side toward the sea, is the great sea from the borders straight on, till thou come to Emath: this is the side of the sea.

21 And you shall divide this land unto you by the tribes of Israel:

22 And you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that shall come over to you, that shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as men of the same country born among the children of Israel: they shall divide the possession with you in the midst of the tribes of Israel.

23 And in what tribe soever the stranger shall be, there shall you give him possession, saith the Lord God.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9487

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9487. 'Two cubits and a half shall be its length' means all so far as good is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'two and a half' as much and as what is complete, and as all when this number has reference to something Divine (the reason why 'two and a half' means much and what is complete is that this number is similar in meaning to five, ten, a hundred, and a thousand, since twice two and a half makes five, twice five makes ten, and ten times ten makes a hundred; for doubles and multiples have a similar meaning to the simple numbers of which they are the products, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. For the meaning of 'five' as much and completeness, see 5708, 5956, 9102; likewise 'ten', 3107, 4638; also 'a hundred', 2636, 4400; and a thousand, 2575, 8715. So it is that when these numbers are used in reference to something Divine they mean all); and from the meaning of 'length' as good, dealt with in 1613, 8898.

[2] To say that 'length' in the Word means good and 'breadth' truth may seem to be like nonsense; nevertheless this is indeed what they mean. The reason why they do so is that all things without exception in the Word mean realities such as belong to heaven and to the Church, and so such as are connected with the good of love and with the truth of faith. No spatial dimensions such as 'length' and 'breadth' imply can be attributed to these; but instead of spatial dimensions the state of their essential being (esse), which is a state of good, and the resulting state of manifestation (existere), which is a state of truth, can be attributed to them. Furthermore in heaven spatial dimensions are appearances produced by those states, 4882, 9440. From all this it becomes clear that spiritual realities are meant by the measurements and dimensions given in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel, where a new temple and a new land are the subject. They are consequently meant here in Exodus, where the ark, the dwelling-place, the court, the tables there, and the altars are the subject. Such realities are in a similar way meant where the temple in Jerusalem is the subject, also when it says that the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven was square, its breadth being as great as its length, Revelation 21:16; Zechariah 2:1-2. For 'Jerusalem' means a new Church, the character of its good being meant by the measurement of its length, and the character of its truth by that of its breadth.

[3] The fact that 'breadth' or 'broad place' means truth is plainly evident in David,

In distress I called on Jah; He answered me in a broad place. Psalms 118:5.

In the same author,

You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Psalms 31:8.

In Isaiah,

The outstretchings of Asshur's wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isaiah 8:8.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching 1 into the breadths of the earth. Habakkuk 1:6.

'Marching into the breadths of the earth', when said of the Chaldeans, means destroying the truths of faith.

Footnotes:

1. literally, walking

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