The Bible

 

Ezekiel 27

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1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;

3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.

7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.

9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.

11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.

14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.

15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.

16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.

17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.

18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.

21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Assur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.

24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.

27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.

32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.

36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #166

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166. "'Who have not defiled their garments.'" This symbolically means, who possess truths, and have not soiled their worship by evil practices and the falsities attendant on these.

Garments in the Word symbolize truths that clothe good, and in an opposite sense, falsities that clothe evil. For a person embodies either his goodness or his evilness. Truths or falsities are therefore his garments.

Angels and spirits all appear dressed in clothing that reflects the truths of their goodness or the falsities of their evilness - on which subject, see the book Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 177-182. It is apparent from this that not defiling their garments symbolizes their possessing truths and not soiling their worship by evil practices and the falsities attendant on these.

[2] It is apparent from the following passages that garments in the Word symbolize truths, and in an opposite sense, falsities:

Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem... (Isaiah 52:1)

(Jerusalem), I clothed you in embroidered cloth, gave you sandals of badger skin, clothed you with fine linen..., and adorned you with ornaments... You were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth..., (so that) you became exceedingly beautiful... But you took some of your garments and made for yourself multicolored high places, so as to play the harlot on them... You took your embroidered garments... and made for yourself male images with which you played the harlot. 1 (Ezekiel 16:10-18)

The Jewish Church is described here, as having been given truths, because they had the Word, but that they falsified them. To play the harlot means to falsify (no. 134).

[3] The king's daughter is all glorious within, (and) her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in embroidered garments. (Psalms 45:13-14)

The king's daughter is the church in relation to its affection for truth.

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet elegantly, and put ornamentation of gold on your apparel. (2 Samuel 1:24)

This is said of Saul because as a king he symbolized Divine truth (no. 20).

...I will visit judgment on the princes and the king's children, and on all clothed with foreign apparel. (Zephaniah 1:8)

(Your enemies) shall also strip you of your garments, and take away your adornments. (Ezekiel 23:26)

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing (thus) before the Angel, (who said) "Take away the filthy garments from him (and clothe him with other garments). (Zechariah 3:3-5)

...the king came in and saw the guests, and he saw a man... who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" (Matthew 22:11-13)

A wedding garment is Divine truth from the Word.

[4] Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing... (Matthew 7:15)

No one puts a piece of cloth from a new garment on an old garment; otherwise the new one tears (the old), and the piece from the new one does not match the old. (Luke 5:36-37)

Because a garment symbolizes truth, therefore the Lord compares the truths of the previous church, which were external and representative of spiritual ones, to a piece of cloth belonging to an old garment, while comparing the truths of the new church, which were internal and spiritual, to a piece of cloth from a new garment.

...on the thrones... twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments. (Revelation 4:4)

(Those who stood) before the throne... in the presence of the Lamb (were) clothed with white robes..., and they washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9, 13-14)

...white robes were given to each (of those who were under the altar). (Revelation 6:11)

...the armies (of Him who sat on the white horse) followed Him..., clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)

[5] Because angels symbolize Divine truths, therefore angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre appeared in white and shining garments (Matthew 28:3, Luke 24:4).

Because the Lord is Divine good and Divine truth, and truths are meant by garments, therefore when He was transfigured "His face shone like the sun, and His garments became [as white] as the light" (Matthew 17:2), or "blazing white (Luke 9:29), or "shining white, like snow, such that no launderer on earth can whiten them" (Mark 9:3).

Of the Ancient of Days, which also is the Lord, it is said that "His garment was as white as snow" (Daniel 7:9).

Moreover we find the following, too, said of the Lord:

He has anointed... all your garments with myrrh, aloes and cassia. (Psalms 45:7-8)

...He washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)

Who is this who comes from Edom, having sprinkled his garments from Bozrah? This One honorable in His apparel...? ...Why are You red in Your apparel? Your garments as though of one who treads in the winepress...? Their victory is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have polluted all My vesture. (Isaiah 63:1-3)

This also is said of the Lord. His garments there are the Word's truths.

...He who sat on (the white horse)...was clothed with a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11, 13)

[6] From the symbolic meaning of garments it can be seen why the Lord's disciples put their garments upon the donkey and its colt when the Lord was ready to enter Jerusalem, and why the people spread their garments on the road (Matthew 21:7-9, Mark 11:7-8), thus what is symbolically meant by this verse in the Psalms,

They divided My garments..., and over My vesture they cast lots. (Psalms 22:18)

[7] The symbolism of garments makes it apparent moreover why the people rent their garments whenever someone spoke against the Divine truth of the Word (Isaiah 37:1 and elsewhere). Also why they washed their garments in order to purify themselves (Exodus 19:14, Leviticus 11:25, 40; 14:8-9).

Someone who knows what garments symbolize in general and in particular can know what the vestments of Aaron and his sons symbolized - the ephod, the robe, the lace tunic, the girdle, the breeches, and the turban.

Since light symbolizes Divine truth, and a garment likewise, therefore we find it said in the Psalms that Jehovah covers Himself "with light as a with garment" (Psalms 104:2).

Footnotes:

1. The last two clauses are reversed from the order in which they appear in the original Hebrew.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.