The Bible

 

Ézéchiel 27

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1 La parole de l'Eternel me fut adressée, en ces mots:

2 Et toi, fils de l'homme, Prononce sur Tyr une complainte!

3 Tu diras à Tyr: O toi qui es assise au bord de la mer, Et qui trafiques avec les peuples d'un grand nombre d'îles! Ainsi parle le Seigneur, l'Eternel: Tyr, tu disais: Je suis parfaite en beauté!

4 Ton territoire est au coeur des mers; Ceux qui t'ont bâtie t'ont rendue parfaite en beauté.

5 Avec des cyprès de Senir ils ont fait tous tes lambris; Ils ont pris des cèdres du Liban pour t'élever un mât;

6 Ils ont fabriqué tes rames avec des chênes de Basan, Et tes bancs avec de l'ivoire travaillé dans du buis, Et apporté des îles de Kittim.

7 Le fin lin d'Egypte avec des broderies Te servait de voiles et de pavillon; Des étoffes teintes en bleu et en pourpre des îles d'Elischa Formaient tes tentures.

8 Les habitants de Sidon et d'Arvad étaient tes rameurs, Et les plus experts du milieu de toi, ô Tyr, étaient tes pilotes.

9 Les anciens de Guebal et ses ouvriers habiles étaient chez toi, Pour réparer tes fissures; Tous les navires de la mer et leurs mariniers étaient chez toi, Pour faire l'échange de tes marchandises.

10 Ceux de Perse, de Lud et de Puth, servaient dans ton armée, C'étaient des hommes de guerre; Ils suspendaient chez toi le bouclier et le casque, Ils te donnaient de la splendeur.

11 Les enfants d'Arvad et tes guerriers garnissaient tes murs, Et de vaillants hommes occupaient tes tours; Ils suspendaient leurs boucliers à tous tes murs, Ils rendaient ta beauté parfaite.

12 Ceux de Tarsis trafiquaient avec toi, A cause de tous les biens que tu avais en abondance; D'argent, de fer, d'étain et de plomb, Ils pourvoyaient tes marchés.

13 Javan, Tubal et Méschec trafiquaient avec toi; Ils donnaient des esclaves et des ustensiles d'airain En échange de tes marchandises.

14 Ceux de la maison de Togarma Pourvoyaient tes marchés de chevaux, de cavaliers et de mulets.

15 Les enfants de Dedan trafiquaient avec toi; Le commerce de beaucoup d'îles passait par tes mains; On te payait avec des cornes d'ivoire et de l'ébène.

16 La Syrie trafiquait avec toi, A cause du grand nombre de tes produits; D'escarboucles, de pourpre, de broderies, De byssus, de corail et de rubis, Elle pourvoyait tes marchés.

17 Juda et le pays d'Israël trafiquaient avec toi; Ils donnaient le froment de Minnith, La pâtisserie, le miel, l'huile et le baume, En échange de tes marchandises.

18 Damas trafiquait avec toi, A cause du grand nombre de tes produits, A cause de tous les biens que tu avais en abondance; Elle te fournissait du vin de Helbon et de la laine blanche.

19 Vedan et Javan, depuis Uzal, Pourvoyaient tes marchés; Le fer travaillé, la casse et le roseau aromatique, Etaient échangés avec toi.

20 Dedan trafiquait avec toi En couvertures pour s'asseoir à cheval.

21 L'Arabie et tous les princes de Kédar trafiquaient avec toi, Et faisaient le commerce en agneaux, en béliers et en boucs.

22 Les marchands de Séba et de Raema trafiquaient avec toi; De tous les meilleurs aromates, De toute espèce de pierres précieuses et d'or, Ils pourvoyaient tes marchés.

23 Charan, Canné et Eden, Les marchands de Séba, d'Assyrie, de Kilmad, Trafiquaient avec toi;

24 Ils trafiquaient avec toi en belles marchandises, En manteaux teints en bleu, en broderies, En riches étoffes contenues dans des coffres Attachés avec des cordes, faits en bois de cèdre, Et amenés sur tes marchés.

25 Les navires de Tarsis naviguaient pour ton commerce; Tu étais au comble de la richesse et de la gloire, Au coeur des mers.

26 Tes rameurs t'ont fait voguer sur les grandes eaux: Un vent d'orient t'a brisée au coeur des mers.

27 Tes richesses, tes marchés et tes marchandises, Tes mariniers et tes pilotes, Ceux qui réparent tes fissures Et ceux qui s'occupent de ton commerce, Tous tes hommes de guerre qui sont chez toi Et toute la multitude qui est au milieu de toi Tomberont dans le coeur des mers, Au jour de ta chute.

28 Aux cris de tes pilotes, Les plages d'alentour trembleront;

29 Et tous ceux qui manient la rame descendront de leurs navires, Les mariniers, tous les pilotes de la mer. Ils se tiendront sur la terre;

30 Ils feront entendre leurs voix sur toi, Et pousseront des cris amers; Ils jetteront de la poussière sur leurs têtes Et se rouleront dans la cendre;

31 Ils se raseront la tête à cause de toi, Ils se revêtiront de sacs, Et ils pleureront sur toi dans l'amertume de leur âme, Avec une vive affliction.

32 Dans leur douleur, ils diront une complainte sur toi, Ils se lamenteront sur toi: Qui était comme Tyr, Comme cette ville détruite au milieu de la mer?

33 Quand tes produits sortaient des mers, Tu rassasiais un grand nombre de peuples; Par l'abondance de tes biens et de tes marchandises, Tu enrichissais les rois de la terre.

34 Et quand tu as été brisée par les mers, Quand tu as disparu dans les profondeurs des eaux, Tes marchandises et toute ta multitude Sont tombées avec toi.

35 Tous les habitants des îles sont dans la stupeur à cause de toi, Leurs rois sont saisis d'épouvante, Leur visage est bouleversé.

36 Les marchands parmi les peuples sifflent sur toi; Tu es réduite au néant, tu ne seras plus à jamais!

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1175

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1175. And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning.- That this signifies grief, and confession that by a life according to that religion and its doctrine they were damned, is evident from the signification of casting dust upon their heads, which denotes mourning on account of damnation. - That this is on account of life according to that religion and its doctrine, follows as a consequence; - and from the signification of crying out, weeping and mourning, which denotes a state of grief on account of those things, to cry out having reference to doctrine, while to weep and mourn signify grief of soul and heart, as above (n. 1164). The reason why casting dust upon the head denotes mourning on account of damnation, is, because by dust is signified what is damned, and head the man himself. Dust signifies what is damned, because the hells are beneath and the heavens above; and from the hells an exhalation of falsity from evil arises perpetually, consequently the dust over them signifies what is damned, concerning which see also above (n. 742). On account of this signification of dust it was usual in the representative church to cast dust upon the head, when any one had committed evil, and repented, for by that means they testified their repentance.

[2] That this was the case is evident from the following passages.

In Ezekiel:

"They shall cry out bitterly and shall cast dust upon their heads, they shall roll themselves in ashes" (27:30);

by casting dust upon their heads is signified mourning on account of damnation; and by rolling themselves in ashes is signified mourning yet deeper; for ashes signify what is damned, because the fire that produces them signifies infernal love.

In Lamentations:

"They sit upon the earth, the elders of the daughter of Zion keep silence, they have cast up dust upon their heads, the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground" (2:10).

These things represented a state of grief and mourning, because of evils and falsities - of which they repented - and thus confession that they were accursed. The daughter of Zion signifies the church, and the virgins of Jerusalem signify the truths of doctrine. To sit upon the earth and keep silence signifies grief of mind; to cast up dust upon the head signifies confession that they were accursed, and to hang down the head to the earth, signifies confession that they were in hell.

In Job:

The friends of Job "rent their garments, and scattered dust upon their heads towards heaven" (2:12).

To scatter dust upon the head towards heaven signifies mourning, because Job appeared to be accursed. Mourning on account of the curse of evil is signified by dust upon the head, while by rending the garments is signified mourning on account of the curse of falsity. The signification of rolling themselves in the dust, in Micah 1:10, is similar.

That penitence was similarly represented, is clear also from Job:

"I repent upon dust and upon ashes" (42:6).

Since dust signifies damnation, it was therefore said to the serpent,

"Upon thy belly shalt thou walk, and dust thou shalt eat, all the days of thy life" (Genesis 3:14).

The serpent signifies infernal evil with those who pervert the truths of the Word, and by that means artfully and craftily deceive. Similarly in Isaiah:

"Dust shall be the serpent's bread" (65:25).

It is evident from these things that dust signifies what is accursed; and that to cast dust upon the head means to testify to damnation.

[3] Continuation.- These things having been stated, an explanation shall be given of the nature of affection, and afterwards why man is led of the Lord by means of affections and not by means of thoughts, and lastly it shall be shown that a man cannot be saved in any other way.

1. . What is the nature of affection. The meaning of affection is similar to that of love, but love is, as it were, the fountain, and affections are, as it were, the streams which flow from it; they are thus also continuations of it. Love is like a fountain in man's will; his affections, which are its streams, flow by continuity into his understanding, and there by means of light from truths they produce thoughts, precisely as the influences of heat in a garden cause germinations by means of the rays of light. Love also, in its origin, is the heat of heaven, truths in their origin are the rays of the light of heaven, and thoughts are germinations from their union. From such a union spring all the societies of heaven, which are innumerable, and which in their essence are affections; for they are from the heat which is love, and from the wisdom which is light proceeding from the Lord as a sun. For this reason, those societies, in proportion as the heat in them is united to the light, and the light is united to the heat, are affections for good and truth. This is the origin of the thoughts of all who are in those societies. From this it is evident, that the societies of heaven are not thoughts, but affections; that, consequently, to be led by these societies is to be led by affections, or to be led by affections is to be led by societies, and therefore in what now follows, instead of societies the term affections shall be applied.

[4] 2. . It shall now be shown why man is led of the Lord by means of his affections, and not by means of his thoughts. While man is led of the Lord by means of his affections, he is capable of being led according to all the laws of the Lord's Divine Providence; but not if he is led by means of his thoughts. Affections do not manifest themselves before a man, but thoughts do; affections again produce thoughts, but thoughts do not produce affections; it appears as if thoughts had this power, but it is a fallacy. And since affections produce thoughts, they also produce everything belonging to man, because they constitute his life. This is also well known in the world. For if you retain a man in his own affection, you have him in bonds, and can lead him where you please, and, in this case, one reason goes as far as a thousand; but if you do not retain him in his own affection, reasons are of no avail; for his affection, not being in harmony with these, perverts, rejects, or destroys them. The case would be similar if the Lord were to lead man by means of his thoughts immediately, and not by means of his affections. Also, when a man is led of the Lord by means of his affections, it appears to him as if he thought freely from himself, and as if he also spoke and acted in the same way. Hence, it is, that the Lord does not teach man without the use of means, but by the employment of them, such as the Word, doctrines, and preaching from the Word, and conversation, and intercourse with others; for from these things man thinks freely as if from himself.

[5] 3. . That man can be saved in no other way, follows both from what has been said concerning the laws of the Divine Providence, and also from this fact, that thoughts do not give rise to affections in man. For if man knew the whole contents of the Word, and everything of doctrine, even to the arcana of wisdom which the angels possess, and moreover thought and spoke of them, while his affections were still concupiscences of evil, it would not nevertheless be possible for him to be led out of hell by the Lord. It is therefore evident, that if man were taught from heaven by influx into his thoughts, it would be like casting seed upon the highway, or into water, upon snow, or into fire.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.