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Ezekiel 16

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1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.

4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.

7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.

19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)

24 That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.

25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.

28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;

31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

39 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.

58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.

59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:

63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #840

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840. (Verse 17) And that no man should be able to buy or sell, save he that hath the mark of the beast. That this signifies prohibition lest any one should learn or teach anything else but what is acknowledged and thence received in doctrine, is evident from the signification of buying and selling, as denoting to acquire knowledges and to communicate them, thus also to learn and to teach, concerning which we shall speak presently; prohibition is signified by that no one may do those things; and from the signification of mark, as denoting a witness and sign of acknowledgment that those belong to the church who are in the so-called truths and the goods of that faith (concerning which see above, n. 836). It is therefore evident, that by lest any one should buy and sell, if he has not the mark of the beast, is signified prohibition, lest any one should learn and teach anything else but what is acknowledged, thus also what is received in doctrine.

The reason why buying and selling signifies to acquire knowledges of truth and good from the Word, and to communicate them, or, what amounts to the same, to learn and teach is, that by wealth and riches, in the Word, are signified the knowledges of truth and good; and by silver and gold, by means of which buying and selling are transacted, are signified the truths and goods of heaven and the church. This is why buying and selling are spoken of in many parts of the Word, also merchandise and business. By those expressions spiritual buying, selling, merchandise, and business are signified.

[2] Thus in Isaiah:

"Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (55:1).

Every one may see that to buy wine and milk is not here meant. And because to buy signifies to acquire for themselves those things that conduce to the spiritual life of man, it is evident that each thing there mentioned is to be understood spiritually. Thus by the waters to which every one that thirsts might go, are signified truths for those who desire them; waters denote truths from the Word, and to thirst is to desire them. That they should be given freely from the Lord, is signified by, "he that hath no money," likewise "without money and without price." To eat signifies to appropriate; wine and milk signify spiritual truth and natural truth thence, both from good.

[3] In Matthew:

The prudent virgins said to the foolish, "Go rather to them that sell, and buy" oil "for yourselves"; "but whilst they went to them to buy, the bridegroom came" (25:9, 10).

By the prudent virgins are signified those in the church with whom faith is conjoined to charity and by the foolish are signified those in the church with whom faith is separated from charity; for lamps signify the truths of faith, and oil signifies the good of love. Hence by going to them who sell and buying, is signified to those who teach, and to learn or acquire for themselves. But because they had not procured for themselves the good of love, and thereby vivified the truths of faith, while they lived in the world, but afterwards indeed procured these things for themselves - and because no one can procure the good of love after death, and retain it - therefore those foolish virgins, by whom are signified all who separate the good of love or the good of charity from the truths of faith, were not admitted to the marriage, and received by the bridegroom. The marriage signifies heaven; and the bridegroom, the Lord.

[4] In the Evangelists:

"Jesus entered into the temple, and cast out all that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of them that sold doves" (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45).

By the sellers and buyers are here signified those who make gain for themselves out of holy things; by the tables of the money-changers is signified - from holy truths; and by the seats of them who sold doves is signified - those who [make this gain for themselves] from holy goods. Therefore it is afterwards said, that they made the temple a den of thieves; thieves denoting those who lay waste the truths and goods of the church, and thence make to themselves gain.

[5] In Luke:

"As it was in the days of Lot," so shall it be in the days of the Son of man, "they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built" (17:28).

By eating and drinking is there signified to live to themselves and the world, and to appropriate to themselves evils and falsities. By buying and selling is signified to procure those things for themselves and to communicate them to others. By planting and building is signified to confirm themselves therein, and to live in them.

[6] In the same

Jesus said, "Now he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise his scrip; but he that hath not, let him sell his garments, and buy a sword" (22:36).

What is meant here by these words is evident from what follows in the same chapter, that is, that everything written must be fulfilled in the Lord, thus that He was about to suffer the passion of the cross. And because this must necessarily distract the minds of those who then lived, and also the minds of the disciples, and cause them to have doubts concerning Him, and His kingdom, and so bring them into temptations; and since these can be shaken off only by means of truths, therefore the Lord says, "He that hath a purse and a scrip, let him take them," that is to say, he who possesses truths from the Word in which it is foretold that Christ should suffer such things, let him take heed lest he put them away. For the purse and the scrip signify the same as the coins and the money contained in them, or the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. But he who hath not, let him sell his garments and buy a sword, signifies, let those who have not truths reject everything of their own, and get truths for themselves, with which to fight against falsities. A sword signifies the combat of the truth against falsity and the destruction of the latter.

[7] Because Tyre, in the Word, signifies the church with respect to the knowledges of truth and good, and thence also the knowledges of truth and good which the church has and which are also serviceable for its doctrine, therefore, where Tyre is treated of in the Word, her tradings are also treated of, by which is signified their acquisition, and also communication to others.

As in Ezekiel:

"All the ships in the sea were for trading thy trading; Tarshish was thy trader in silver, iron, tin, and lead; they gave thy markets. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy merchants; with the persons of men and vessels of brass they gave thy trading. The sons of Dedan were thy merchants; many islands the merchants of thy hand. Syria was thy trader with chrysoprasus. But thy wealth and thy tradings, thy markets, and they who trade thy trading, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall" (27:1, to the end).

In Isaiah:

"Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, because Tyre is laid waste, whose merchants are princes, her traders the honoured of the earth" (23:1, 8).

Who cannot see that by the tradings and merchandise here are not meant tradings and merchandise? For what has the Word in common with such things, which in itself is Divine and heavenly, and teaches man about God, heaven and the church, eternal life, and similar things? Who cannot see, then, that all the particulars there signify spiritual things, pertaining to heaven and the church; not only the names of the places there with which trading was carried on, but also the special kinds of merchandise? But what the particulars in the spiritual sense signify it would be too tedious to unfold in this place. It is sufficient to know, that tradings there signify the acquisition and communication of the knowledges of truth and good; and the merchandise or wares those knowledges, which are multifarious.

[8] That such things are signified is evident also from theses words in Ezekiel:

In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast gotten thee wealth, and hast gotten gold and silver in thy treasures; by the abundance of thy wisdom in thy trading, thou hast multiplied to thee wealth (28:4, 5).

This treats of the prince of Tyre, by whom are meant knowledges (cognitiones) of truth from the Word, by which intelligence and wisdom are procured. And because these same knowledges are signified by wealth, and procuring them is meant by trading, therefore, it is said, "by the multiplication of thy wisdom in thy trading thou hast multiplied to thee wealth."

[9] From these things it is evident,

why the Lord compared the kingdom of the heavens "to a merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one precious pearl, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matthew 13:45, 46).

By pearls are signified knowledges, also truths themselves; and by one precious pearl is signified the acknowledgment of the Lord. By selling all that he had is signified to banish everything of one's own love; and by buying it is signified to procure that Divine truth for himself.

[10] The same is also meant by the treasure hid in a field,

"which a man, having found, hid it, and for joy went and sold all that he had, and bought the field" (Matthew 13:44).

By the treasure is signified the Divine truth in the Word; by the field is signified the church and its doctrine; and by selling all that he had and buying the field is signified, in this case as above, to banish what is one's own and procure for oneself the Divine truth which is in the Lord's church.

[11] Because trading signified the acquisition and possession of truths, therefore the Lord spoke by a parable

Of a man going a journey and giving to his servants talents, that they might trade with them and make gain (Matthew 25:14-20).

And of another:

Who gave to his servants ten pounds, that they might trade with them (Luke 19:12-26).

Similar things are also signified by trading, matters of trade, and traders, in other parts of the Word. So also in the opposite sense, in which the receptions and appropriations of falsities are signified; as in Isaiah 48:15; Ezekiel 16:3; Nahum 3:14; Apoc. 18:3, 11-24. Hence the church in which such things prevail is called

A land of trading (Ezekiel 16:29; 21:30, 31 2 ; 29:14).

Moreover, by selling and being sold is signified to banish truths, and to be alienated from them, and, instead of them, to accept falsities and be captivated by them, as in Isaiah 50:1; 52:3; Ezekiel 30:12; Joel 3:6, 7; Nahum 3:4; Zech. 13:5; Psalm 44:11-13; Deuteronomy 32:30.

From these things it is evident what is properly signified by being redeemed and by redemption, where the Lord is treated of.

As in Isaiah:

"Ye have sold yourselves for nought; therefore ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isaiah 52:3);

and in many other passages.

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