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Jezekilj 28

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1 Opet mi dođe reč Gospodnja govoreći:

2 Sine čovečji, reci knezu tirskom: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što se ponese srce tvoje, te veliš: Ja sam Bog, sedim na prestolu Božjem usred mora; a čovek si a ne Bog, i izjednačuješ srce svoje sa srcem Božjim;

3 Eto mudriji si od Danila, nikakva tajna nije sakrivena od tebe;

4 Stekao si blago mudrošću svojom i razumom svojim, i nasuo si zlata i srebra u riznice svoje;

5 Veličinom mudrosti svoje u trgovini svojoj umnožio si blago svoje, te se ponese srce tvoje blagom tvojim;

6 Zato ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Što izjednačuješ srce svoje sa srcem Božjim,

7 Zato, evo, ja ću dovesti na tebe inostrance najljuće između naroda, i oni će istrgnuti mačeve svoje na lepotu mudrosti tvoje, i ubiće svetlost tvoju.

8 Svaliće te u jamu i umrećeš usred mora smrću pobijenih.

9 Hoćeš li pred krvnikom svojim kazati: Ja sam Bog, kad si čovek, a ne Bog u ruci onog koji će te ubiti?

10 Umrećeš smrću neobrezanih od ruke tuđinske; jer ja rekoh, govori Gospod Gospod.

11 Opet mi dođe reč Gospodnja govoreći:

12 Sine čovečji, nariči za carem tirskim, i reci mu: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Ti si pečat savršenstva, pun si mudrosti, i sasvim si lep.

13 Bio si u Edemu, vrtu Božjem; pokrivalo te je svako drago kamenje: sarad, topaz, dijamant, hrisolit, onih, jaspis, safir, karbunkul, smaragd i zlato; onaj dan kad si se rodio načinjeni ti biše bubnji tvoji i svirale.

14 Ti si bio heruvim, pomazan da zaklanjaš; i ja te postavih; ti beše na svetoj gori Božijoj, hođaše posred kamenja ognjenog.

15 Savršen beše na putevima svojim od dana kad se rodi dokle se ne nađe bezakonje na tebi.

16 Od mnoštva trgovine svoje napunio si se iznutra nasilja, i grešio si; zato ću te baciti kao nečistotu s gore Božje, i zatrću te između kamenja ognjenog, heruvime zaklanjaču!

17 Srce se tvoje ponese lepotom tvojom, ti pokvari mudrost svoju svetlošću svojom; baciću te na zemlju, pred careve ću te položiti da te gledaju.

18 Od mnoštva bezakonja svog, od nepravde u trgovini svojoj oskvrnio si svetinju svoju; zato ću izvesti oganj ispred tebe, koji će te proždreti, i obratiću te u pepeo na zemlji pred svima koji te gledaju.

19 Svi koji te poznaju među narodima prepašće se od tebe; bićeš strahota, i neće te biti do veka.

20 Opet mi dođe reč Gospodnja govoreći:

21 Sine čovečji, okreni lice svoje prema Sidonu, i prorokuj protiv njega,

22 I reci: Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Evo me na tebe, Sidone, i proslaviću se usred tebe, i poznaće se da sam ja Gospod kad izvršim sudove na njemu i posvetim se u njemu.

23 I poslaću pomor u nj, i krv na ulice njegove, i pobijeni će padati usred njega od mača, koji će navaliti na njih sa svih strana, i poznaće da sam ja Gospod.

24 I neće više biti domu Izrailjevom trn koji bode ni žalac koji zadaje bol više od svih suseda njihovih, koji ih plene; i poznaće da sam ja Gospod Gospod.

25 Ovako veli Gospod Gospod: Kad skupim dom Izrailjev iz naroda među koje su rasejani, i posvetim se u njima pred narodima i nasele se u svojoj zemlji koju dadoh sluzi svom Jakovu,

26 Tada će živeti u njoj bez straha, i gradiće kuće, i sadiće vinograde, i živeće bez straha kad izvršim sudove na svima koji ih pleniše sa svih strana, i poznaće da sam ja Gospod Bog njihov.

   

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.

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