The Bible

 

Ezekiel 11

Study

   

1 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east-gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and behold, at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

2 Then said he to me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:

3 Who say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.

4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

5 And the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled its streets with the slain.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

9 And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst of it; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:

12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are around you.

13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

14 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Retire far from the LORD: to us is this land given in possession.

16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away from thence all its detestable things, and all its abominations.

19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:

20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

22 Then the cherubim raised their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

24 Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

25 Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shown me.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10011

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

10011. 'And pour it on his head, and anoint him' means a representative sign of Divine Good in the Lord, suffusing His whole Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'pouring oil on Aaron's head' as Divine Good suffusing the Lord's whole Human, for 'oil' means Divine Good, 4582, 9474, 'Aaron' the Lord in respect of Divine Good, 9806, and 'head' the whole Human; and from the meaning of 'anointing' as a representative sign of this thing, dealt with in 9474, 9954. The reason why 'the head' means the whole Human, or the whole person, is that everything in the human being comes down from the head; for the body is an extension from the head. Therefore also what a person thinks or wills, an activity that takes place in the head, presents itself in the body as an effect. The situation with the head is like that with what is highest or inmost in the heavens. This comes down and flows into heavens below, bringing them into being and making them extensions from itself. Therefore also the human head corresponds to the inmost heaven, the body down to the loins to the middle heaven, and the feet to the lowest heaven. In short, in things that are extensions only that which is inmost has life essentially. From this it is evident that since God is the inmost in all things, or what amounts to the same thing, is the highest of them all, from Him alone comes the life that all things possess. Therefore insofar as a person receives what is of God he has life within him.

[2] Furthermore the oil that a priest was anointed with flowed from the top of his head right down onto his body, as may be seen in David,

It is like the good oil upon the head running down onto Aaron's beard, which runs down over the collar 1 of his garments. Psalms 133:2.

In Matthew,

A woman poured an alabaster flask of balm over Jesus' head as He reclined [at the table]. Jesus said, She has poured this balm over My body to [prepare it for] the tomb. Matthew 26:7, 12.

And in Mark,

A woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly spikenard 2 ; and breaking the alabaster flask she poured it over Jesus' head. And Jesus said, This woman has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Mark 14:3, 8.

From these places it is also evident that 'anointing the head' is anointing the whole body.

[3] The use of 'the head' to mean the whole person is further clear from very many places in the Word, for example in Isaiah,

The redeemed of Jehovah will return, and will come to Zion with song, and everlasting joy upon their heads. Isaiah 35:10.

In Moses,

Let the precious things of the produce of the sun, the firstfruits of the mountains of the east, and the precious things of the earth come on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers. Deuteronomy 33:14-16.

In Jeremiah,

Jehovah's storm will burst upon the heads of the wicked. Jeremiah 30:23.

In Ezekiel,

I will bring their way upon their own heads. Ezekiel 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.

[Similar words occur in] Joel 3:4, 7; Obadiah verse 15. In Ezekiel,

Woe to those who make veils upon the head [of persons] of every stature to hunt souls! Ezekiel 13:18.

In David,

God will bruise the head of [His] enemies, the hairy scalp 3 . Psalms 68:21.

From all these places it is now evident that 'head' is used to mean the whole person, so that 'pouring oil on Aaron's head' means Divine Good in the Lord, suffusing His whole Human. While He was in the world the Lord made Himself Divine Truth, and when He left the world He made Himself Divine Good, see the places referred to in 9315(end), 9199(end).

Footnotes:

1. literally, the mouth

2. literally, flask of ointment of liquid and very costly

3. literally, the crown of hair

  
/ 10837  
  

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