The Bible

 

Ezechiele 27

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1 LA parola del Signore mi fu ancora indirizzata, dicendo:

2 E tu, figliuol d’uomo, prendi a far lamento di Tiro.

3 E di’ a Tiro, che è posta all’entrata del mare, che mercanteggia co’ popoli in molte isole: Così ha detto il Signore Iddio: O Tiro, tu hai detto: Io son compiuta in bellezza.

4 I tuoi confini erano nel cuor del mare; i tuoi edificatori ti aveano fatta compiutamente bella.

5 Fabbricavano tutte le tue navi di tavole d’abeti di Senir; prendevano de’ cedri del Libano, per farti degli alberi di nave;

6 facevano i tuoi remi di querce di Basan; facevano i tuoi tavolati di avorio, e di legno di busso, che era portato dalle isole di Chittim.

7 Il fin lino di Egitto, lavorato a ricami, era ciò che tu spiegavi in luogo di vela; il giacinto, e la porpora, venuta dalle isole di Elisa, erano il tuo padiglione.

8 Gli abitanti di Sidon, e di Arvad, erano tuoi vogatori; i tuoi savi, o Tiro, erano in te; erano i tuoi nocchieri.

9 Gli anziani di Ghebal, e i suoi savi, erano in te, riparando le tue navi sdrucite; tutte le navi del mare, ed i lor marinai, erano in te, per trafficar teco.

10 Que’ di Persia, e di Lud, e di Put, erano tuoi soldati, ne’ tuoi eserciti; appiccavano in te lo scudo e l’elmo; essi ti rendevano magnifica.

11 I figliuoli di Arvad, e il tuo esercito, erano sopra le tue mura, attorno attorno; e i Gammadei erano nelle tue torri, appiccavano le lor targhe alle tue mura d’ogni’ intorno; essi aggiungevano perfezione alla tua bellezza.

12 La gente di Tarsis mercanteggiava teco, con ricchezze d’ogni maniera in abbondanza; frequentavano le tue fiere, con argento, ferro, stagno, e piombo.

13 Que’ di Iavan, di Tubal, e di Mesec, eran tuoi mercatanti; frequentavano i tuoi mercati con anime umane, e vasellamenti di rame.

14 Que’ della casa di Togarma frequentavano le tue fiere con cavalli, e cavalcatori, e muli.

15 I figliuoli di Dedan erano tuoi mercatanti; molte isole passavano per lo traffico delle tue mani; ti pagavano presenti di denti di avorio, e d’ebano.

16 La Siria trafficava teco della moltitudine de’ tuoi lavori; frequentava le tue fiere, con ismeraldi, e porpora, e ricami, e bisso, e coralli, e rubini.

17 Que’ di Giuda, e del paese d’Israele, erano tuoi mercatanti; frequentavano i tuoi mercati, con grani di Minnit, e Fannag, e miele, e olio, e balsamo.

18 Damasco faceva traffico teco della moltitudine de’ tuoi lavorii, con robe d’ogni maniera in abbondanza; con vino di Helbon, e con lana candida.

19 Dan ancora, e il vagabondo Iavan frequentavano le tue fiere; e facevano che ne’ tuoi mercati vi era ferro forbito, cassia, e canna odorosa.

20 Que’ di Dedan erano tuoi mercatanti, in panni nobili, da cavalli, e da carri,

21 Gli Arabi, e tutti i principi di Chedar, negoziavano teco; facevano teco traffico d’agnelli, e di montoni, e di becchi.

22 I mercatanti di Seba, e di Raema, trafficavano teco; frequentavano le tue fiere con aromati squisiti, e con pietre preziose d’ogni maniera, e con oro.

23 Que’ di Haran, di Canne, e di Eden, mercatanti di Seba, e que’ di Assiria, e di Chilmad, trafficavano teco.

24 Essi negoziavano teco in grosso, di balle di giacinto, e di ricami, e di casse di vestimenti preziosi, legate di corde, e fatte di legno di cedro.

25 Le navi di Tarsis erano le tue carovane, ne’ tuoi mercati; e tu sei stata ripiena, e grandemente glorificata nel cuor de’ mari.

26 I tuoi vogatori ti hanno condotta in alto mare; il vento orientale ti ha rotta nel cuor del mare.

27 Le tue ricchezze, e le tue fiere, e il tuo traffico, i tuoi marinai, e i tuoi nocchieri, quelli che riparavano le tue navi sdrucite, e i tuoi fattori, e tutta la tua gente di guerra, ch’era in te, insieme con tutto il popolo, ch’era in mezzo di te, caderanno nel cuor del mare, nel giorno della tua ruina.

28 Alla voce del grido de’ tuoi nocchieri, le barche tremeranno.

29 E tutti quelli che trattano il remo, i marinai, e tutti i nocchieri del mare, smonteranno dalle lor navi, e si fermeranno in terra.

30 E faranno sentir la lor voce sopra te, e grideranno amaramente, e si getteranno della polvere in sul capo, e si voltoleranno nella cenere.

31 E per te si dipeleranno, e si cingeranno di sacchi, e piangeranno per te con amaritudine d’animo, con amaro cordoglio.

32 E prenderanno a far lamento di te, nelle lor doglianze, e diranno di te ne’ lor rammarichii: Chi era come Tiro? chi era pari a quella che è stata distrutta in mezzo del mare?

33 All’uscir delle tue fiere per mare, tu saziavi molti popoli; tu arricchivi i re della terra per l’abbondanza delle tue ricchezze, e del tuo commercio.

34 Nel tempo che tu sei stata rotta dal mare, nelle profondità delle acque, la tua mercatanzia, e tutto il tuo popolo son caduti in mezzo di te.

35 Tutti gli abitanti delle isole sono stati attoniti di te, e i loro re ne hanno avuto orrore, e ne sono stati conturbati in faccia.

36 I mercatanti fra i popoli hanno zufolato sopra te; tu sei divenuta tutta spaventi, e tu non sarai mai più in perpetuo.

   


To many Protestant and Evangelical Italians, the Bibles translated by Giovanni Diodati are an important part of their history. Diodati’s first Italian Bible edition was printed in 1607, and his second in 1641. He died in 1649. Throughout the 1800s two editions of Diodati’s text were printed by the British Foreign Bible Society. This is the more recent 1894 edition, translated by Claudiana.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #70

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70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.

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