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Hesekiel 11

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1 Und mich hub ein Wind auf und brachte mich zum Tor am Hause des HERRN, das gegen Morgen stehet; und siehe, unter dem Tor waren fünfundzwanzig Männer. Und ich sah unter ihnen Jasanja, den Sohn Assurs, und Platja, den Sohn Benajas, die Fürsten im Volk.

2 Und er sprach zu mir: Menschenkind diese Leute haben unselige Gedanken und schädliche Ratschläge in dieser Stadt.

3 Denn sie sprechen: Es ist nicht so nahe, laßt uns nur Häuser bauen; sie ist der Topf, so sind wir das Fleisch.

4 Darum sollst du, Menschenkind, wider sie weissagen.

5 Und der Geist des HERRN fiel auf mich und sprach zu mir: Sprich: So sagt der HERR: Ihr habt also geredet, ihr vom Hause Israel; und eures Geistes Gedanken kenne ich wohl.

6 Ihr habt viele erschlagen in dieser Stadt, und ihre Gassen liegen voller Toten.

7 Darum spricht der HERR HERR also: Die ihr drinnen getötet habt, die sind das Fleisch, und sie ist der Topf; aber ihr müsset hinaus.

8 Das Schwert, das ihr fürchtet, das will ich über euch kommen lassen, spricht der HERR HERR.

9 Ich will euch von dannen herausstoßen und den Fremden in die Hand geben und will euch euer Recht tun.

10 Ihr sollt durchs Schwert fallen, in den Grenzen Israels will ich euch richten; und sollt erfahren, daß ich der HERR bin.

11 Die Stadt aber soll nicht euer Topf sein, noch ihr das Fleisch drinnen, sondern in den Grenzen Israels will ich euch richten.

12 Und sollt erfahren, daß ich der HERR bin; denn ihr habt nach meinen Geboten nicht gewandelt und meine Rechte nicht gehalten, sondern getan nach der Heiden Weise, die um euch her sind.

13 Und da ich so weissagte, starb Platja, der Sohn Benajas. Da fiel ich auf mein Angesicht und schrie mit lauter Stimme und sprach: Ach, HERR HERR, du wirst's mit den Übrigen Israels gar ausmachen!

14 Da geschah des HERRN Wort zu mir und sprach:

15 Du Menschenkind, deine Brüder und nahen Freunde und das ganze Haus Israel, so noch zu Jerusalem wohnen, sprechen wohl untereinander; jene sind vom HERRN ferne weggeflohen, aber wir haben das Land inne.

16 Darum sprich du: So spricht der HERR HERR: Ja, ich habe sie ferne weg unter die Heiden lassen treiben und in die Länder zerstreuet; doch will ich bald ihr Heiland sein in den Ländern, dahin sie kommen sind.

17 Darum sprich: So sagt der HERR HERR: Ich will euch sammeln aus den Völkern und will euch sammeln aus den Ländern, dahin ihr zerstreuet seid, und will euch das Land Israel geben.

18 Da sollen sie kommen und alle Scheuel und Greuel daraus wegtun.

19 Ich will euch ein einträchtig Herz geben und einen neuen Geist in euch geben; und will das steinerne Herz wegnehmen aus eurem Leibe und ein fleischern Herz geben,

20 auf daß sie in meinen Sitten wandeln und meine Rechte halten und danach tun. Und sie sollen mein Volk sein, so will ich ihr Gott sein.

21 Denen aber, so nach ihres Herzens Scheueln und Greueln wandeln, will ich ihr Tun auf ihren Kopf werfen, spricht der HERR HERR.

22 Da schwangen die Cherubim ihre Flügel, und die Räder gingen neben ihnen, und die HERRLIchkeit des Gottes Israels war oben über ihnen.

23 Und die HERRLIchkeit des HERRN erhub sich aus der Stadt und stellete sich auf den Berg, der gegen Morgen vor der Stadt liegt.

24 Und ein Wind hub mich auf und brachte mich im Gesicht und im Geist Gottes nach Chaldäa zu den Gefangenen. Und das Gesicht, so ich gesehen hatte, verschwand vor mir.

25 Und ich sagte den Gefangenen alle Worte des HERRN, die er mir gezeiget hatte.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4503

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4503. 'The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city' means that all his descendants destroyed that doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Jacob' as descendants from Jacob, dealt with above; from the meaning of 'plundering' as destroying; and from the meaning of 'the city' as the doctrine of the Church, dealt with above in 4500. Simeon and Levi's going away after they had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and then Jacob's sons' coming upon the slain and plundering the city, involves an arcanum, the meaning of which is not evident except from the internal sense.

[2] That arcanum is this: After the truth and good of the Church which are represented by 'Simeon and Levi' were wiped out and falsity and evil took their place, further falsities and evils were added, which are meant in the contrary sense by the rest of Jacob's sons. Each son of Jacob represented some general aspect of faith and charity, as has been shown in 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060.

Which aspect is represented by each, see the following:

Reuben, 3861, 3866, 3870;

Judah, 3881;

Dan, 3921-3923;

Naphtali, 3927, 3928;

Gad, 3934, 3935;

Asher, 3938, 3939;

Issachar, 3956, 3957;

Zebulun, 3960, 3961.

These general aspects of faith and charity which those sons represented become falsities and evils of that kind once the truth and good of the Church have been wiped out and those further falsities and evils have been added to them; for falsities and evils are constantly on the increase within the Church once it has been perverted and wiped out. It is these added falsities and evils that are meant by the reference to Jacob's sons coming upon the slain and plundering the city after Simeon and Levi had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and had taken Dinah and gone away.

[3] That 'the slain' in the Word means truths and goods which have been wiped out may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, a garment of the killed - slain with the sword - who go down to the stones of the pit like a dead body trodden underfoot. Isaiah 14:19.

This refers to Babel. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who have profaned the truths of the Church. In the same prophet,

So that their slain are cast out and the stench of their dead bodies rises up. Isaiah 34:3.

This refers to the falsities and evils which infest the Church, 'the slain' standing for these.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The violent of the nations will draw the sword against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your loveliness. They will bring you down into the pit and you will die the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 28:7-8.

This refers to the prince of Tyre who means the leading cognitions of truth and good. 'Dying the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas' stands for those who use facts to hatch falsities and in consequence defile the truths of the Church.

[5] In the same prophet,

They also will go down with them into hell, to those slain with the sword. You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those slain with the sword. Ezekiel 31:17-18.

In the same prophet,

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they will fall in the midst of those slain with the sword; the chief of the powerful ones will speak to him in the midst of hell. Ezekiel 32:19-21.

This refers to Pharaoh and Egypt. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who by their use of knowledge become insane; by their use of it they destroy all belief in the truth known to the Church.

[6] In David,

I have been reckoned with them going down to the pit; I have become as a man with no strength, neglected among the dead, like the slain lying in the sepulchre whom you remember no more and who have been cut off by your hand.

'The slain' in hell - those in the pit and 'in the sepulchre' - stands for those who have destroyed the truths and goods residing with them by means of falsities and evils. Anyone can recognize that these are not in hell merely because they have been slain with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah,

A city of tumults, an exultant city, [your slain] have not been slain with the sword, and they have not been killed in war. All who have been found in you have been bound together in chains. They have fled from far away. Isaiah 22:2-3.

This refers to the illusions resulting from the evidence of the senses which do not enable the truths of the Church to be seen. It refers therefore to people subject to negative doubt, and these are called 'slain but not with the sword'.

[8] In Ezekiel,

I am bringing a sword upon you and destroying your high places; and your altars will be destroyed, and your statues will be broken; and I will cause your slain to lie before your idols. When the slain have fallen in the midst of you, you will know that I am Jehovah. Then you will acknowledge, when the slain are in the midst of their idols, around their altar. Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13.

'The slain' stands for those who are governed by falsities of doctrine.

[9] In the same prophet,

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. They went forth and smote in the city. Ezekiel 9:7.

This is a prophetic vision. 'Defiling the house and filling the courts with the slain' stands for profaning goods and truths. In the same prophet,

You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom you have placed in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot; and he will lead you out from the midst of it. Ezekiel 11:6-7.

[10] Because 'the slain' meant those who have annihilated the truths of the Church by means of falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative Church those who touched one who had been slain were unclean. Such persons are referred to in Moses as follows,

Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

Inquiry was therefore made and atonement effected by means of a heifer. In the same author,

If one is found slain, lying in the field, and it is not known who smote him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come out and they shall measure [the distance] to the cities which are around the one slain. It shall be, that in the city nearest to the one slain the elders of that city shall take a heifer by means of which no work has been done, which has not pulled in the yoke, and they shall bring it down to the river or valley, and there they shall break the heifer's neck. And they shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck has been broken and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it. Expiate Your people Israel, O Jehovah, and do not set innocent blood in the midst of Your people; and the blood shall be expiated for them. Deuteronomy 21:1-8.

[11] These laws were laid down because one who has been slain means the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the Church by means of falsity and evil, as is evident from each detail in the internal sense. The expression 'one slain, lying in the field' is used because 'the field' means the Church, see 2971, 3310, 3766. 'A heifer by means of which no work has been done' means the innocence of the external man which is present within ignorance. Without a clear knowledge of these things meant in the internal sense everyone will be surprised that a procedure such as this for making expiation should ever have been ordained.

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

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 23

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1 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,

2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

3 and they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.

4 The names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

5 Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians [her] neighbors,

6 who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.

7 She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

8 Neither has she left her prostitution since [the days of] Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.

9 Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.

10 These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.

11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister.

12 She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, [her] neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

13 I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.

14 She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

15 dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

16 As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.

17 The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

18 So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.

19 Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt.

20 She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

21 Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.

22 Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side:

23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, [and] all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.

24 They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

25 I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire.

26 They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels.

27 Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution [brought] from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

28 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;

29 and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.

30 These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.

31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.

32 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You will drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much.

33 You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

34 You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.

35 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.

36 Yahweh said moreover to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare to them their abominations.

37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through [the fire] to them to be devoured.

38 Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.

40 Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments,

41 and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.

42 The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of them [twain], and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she [with them].

44 They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.

45 Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.

47 The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

49 They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.