The Bible

 

Ezekiel 1

Study

1 And it cometh to pass, in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth of the month, and I [am] in the midst of the Removed by the river Chebar, the heavens have been opened, and I see visions of God.

2 In the fifth of the month -- it is the fifth year of the removal of the king Jehoiachin --

3 hath the word of Jehovah certainly been unto Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of Jehovah.

4 And I look, and lo, a tempestuous wind is coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire catching itself, and brightness to it round about, and out of its midst as the colour of copper, out of the midst of the fire.

5 And out of its midst [is] a likeness of four living creatures, and this [is] their appearance; a likeness of man [is] to them,

6 and four faces [are] to each, and four wings [are] to each of them,

7 and their feet [are] straight feet, and the sole of their feet [is] as a sole of a calf's foot, and they are sparkling as the colour of bright brass;

8 and hands of man under their wings -- on their four sides, and their faces and their wings -- [are] to them four;

9 joining one unto another [are] their wings, they turn not round in their going, each straight forward they go.

10 As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right [are] to them four, and the face of an ox on the left [are] to them four, and the face of an eagle [are] to them four.

11 And their faces and their wings are separate from above, to each [are] two joining together, and two are covering their bodies.

12 And each straight forward they go, whither the spirit is to go, they go, they turn not round in their going.

13 As to the likeness of the living creatures, their appearances [are] as coals of fire -- burning as the appearance of lamps; it is going up and down between the living creatures, and brightness [is] to the fire, and out of the fire is going forth lightning.

14 And the living creatures are running, and turning back, as the appearance of the flash.

15 And I see the living creatures, and lo, one wheel [is] in the earth, near the living creatures, at its four faces.

16 The appearance of the wheels and their works [is] as the colour of beryl, and one likeness [is] to them four, and their appearances and their works [are] as it were the wheel in the midst of the wheel.

17 On their four sides, in their going they go, they turn not round in their going.

18 As to their rings, they are both high and fearful, and their rings [are] full of eyes round about them four.

19 And in the going of the living creatures, the wheels go beside them, and in the living creatures being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels.

20 Whither the spirit is to go, they go, thither the spirit [is] to go, and the wheels are lifted up over-against them, for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.

21 In their going, they go; and in their standing, they stand; and in their being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels over-against them; for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.

22 And a likeness [is] over the heads of the living creatures of an expanse, as the colour of the fearful ice, stretched out over their heads from above.

23 And under the expanse their wings [are] straight, one toward the other, to each are two covering on this side, and to each are two covering on that side -- their bodies.

24 And I hear the noise of their wings, as the noise of many waters, as the noise of the Mighty One, in their going -- the noise of tumult, as the noise of a camp, in their standing they let fall their wings.

25 And there is a voice from above the expanse, that [is] above their head: in their standing they let fall their wings.

26 And above the expanse that [is] over their head, as an appearance of a sapphire stone, [is] the likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne a likeness, as the appearance of man upon it from above.

27 And I see as the colour of copper, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I have seen as the appearance of fire, and brightness [is] to it round about.

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so [is] the appearance of the brightness round about.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #908

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

908. 'Every wild animal of all flesh that is with you' means everything that has been made living within the member of this Church. This is clear from the fact that 'wild animal' refers to Noah, the member of this Church who has now been regenerated, and plainly has reference to the things that follow, namely to 'birds, beasts, and creeping thing that creeps', for the words used are 'every wild animal of all flesh that is with you - birds, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creeps over the earth'. In the original language the word for wild animal strictly speaking means life or that which is living; but when used in the Word it means not only that which is living but also that which in one sense is not living, or a wild animal. Consequently unless a person is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word he cannot always know what is meant. The reason it carries both meanings is that the member of the Most Ancient Church, in humiliating himself before the Lord, acknowledged that he himself was not living, not even a domestic beast, but an animal living in the wild, for he knew that man is such when regarded in himself or as to the proprium. Consequently the same word means that which is living and also means a wild animal.

[2] As to its meaning that which is living, this is clear in David,

Your wild animals will dwell in it (the inheritance of God); You, O God, will strengthen the needy with Your goodness. Psalms 68:10.

Here, because he is to dwell in the inheritance of God, nothing else is meant by 'wild animal' than a regenerate person, and so, as is the case here, that which is alive in him. In the same author,

Every wild animal of the forest is mine, beasts on mountains of thousands; I know every bird of the mountains, and the wild animal of My field is with Me. Psalms 50:10-11.

Here too 'wild animal of the field with Me', that is, with God, stands for a regenerate person and so for things with him that are alive. In Ezekiel,

In its branches all the birds of the air 1 made their nests, and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to the formation of the spiritual Church and so stands for things with the member of the Church that are alive. In Hosea,

I will make a covenant on that day with the wild animals of the field and with the birds of the air. 1 Hosea 2:18.

This refers to people who are to be regenerated, with whom a covenant is to be made. Indeed the application of 'wild animal' to that which is alive extends even to the cherubs or angels seen by Ezekiel being called four wild animals, in Ezekiel 1:5, 13-15, 19; 10:15.

[3] That 'wild animal' in the contrary sense stands in the Word for that which is not alive, or a fierce wild animal, is clear from many places. Let just the following examples serve to confirm the point: In David,

Give not the soul of Your turtle dove to the wild animal. Psalms 74:19.

In Zephaniah,

The city has become a desolation, a place for the wild animal to lie down in. Zephaniah 2:15.

In Ezekiel,

They will no more be a prey to the nations, and the wild animal of the land will not devour them. Ezekiel 34:28.

In the same prophet,

Upon its ruin will dwell every bird of the air, 1 and on its branches will be every wild animal of the field. Ezekiel 31:13.

In Hosea,

There I will devour them like a lion, the wild animals of the field will tear them apart. Hosea 13:8.

In Ezekiel,

To the wild animal of the earth, and to the birds of the air 1 have I given [you] for food. Ezekiel 19:5.

The usage recurs fairly often. Moreover since the Jews were confined solely to the sense of the letter, and understood wild animal by 'wild animal' and bird by 'bird', they did not wish to know of, still less acknowledge, the inner contents of the Word, and so receive instruction. Indeed they themselves were so cruel, and such wild animals, that they took delight in not burying enemies they had slain in battle and in exposing them to be devoured by birds and by wild animals. These things also show what a wild animal man is.

Footnotes:

1. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

  
/ 10837  
  

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