The Bible

 

Ezekiel 13

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1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

2 `Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and thou hast said to those prophesying from their own heart: Hear ye a word of Jehovah:

3 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wo unto the prophets who are foolish, Who are going after their own spirit, And they have seen nothing.

4 As foxes in the wastes, Thy prophets, O Israel, have been.

5 Ye have not gone up into breaches, Nor do ye make a fence for the house of Israel, To stand in battle in a day of Jehovah.

6 They have seen vanity, and lying divination, Who are saying: An affirmation of Jehovah, And Jehovah hath not sent them, And they have hoped to establish a word.

7 A vain vision have ye not seen, And a lying divination spoken, When ye say: An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have not spoken?

8 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen a lie, Therefore, lo, I [am] against you, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

9 And My hand hath been on the prophets, Who are seeing vanity, and who are divining a lie, In the assembly of My people they are not, And in the writing of the house of Israel they are not written, And unto the ground of Israel they come not, And ye have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

10 Because, even because, they did cause My people to err, Saying, Peace! and there is no Peace, And that one is building a wall, And lo, they are daubing it with chalk.

11 Say to those daubing with chalk -- It falleth, There hath been an overflowing shower, And ye, O hailstones, do fall, And a tempestuous wind doth rend,

12 And lo, fallen hath the wall! Doth not one say unto you, Where [is] the daubing that ye daubed?

13 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have rent with a tempestuous wind in My fury, And an overflowing shower is in Mine anger, And hailstones in My fury -- to consume.

14 And I have broken down the wall that ye daubed with chalk, And have caused it to come unto the earth, And revealed hath been its foundation, And it hath fallen, And ye have been consumed in its midst, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

15 And I have completed My wrath on the wall, And on those daubing it with chalk, And I say to you: The wall is not, And those daubing it are not;

16 The prophets of Israel who are prophesying concerning Jerusalem, And who are seeing for her a vision of peace, And there is no peace, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

17 And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, who are prophesying out of their own heart, and prophesy concerning them,

18 And thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wo to those sowing pillows for all joints of the arm, And to those making the kerchiefs For the head of every stature -- to hunt souls, The souls do ye hunt of My people? And the souls ye have do ye keep alive?

19 Yea, ye pierce Me concerning My people, For handfuls of barley, And for pieces of bread, to put to death Souls that should not die, And to keep alive Souls that should not live, By your lying to My people -- hearkening to lies.

20 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against your pillows, With which ye are hunting there the souls of the flourishing, And I have rent them from off your arms, And have sent away the souls that ye are hunting, The souls of the flourishing.

21 And I have torn your kerchiefs, And delivered My people out of your hand, And they are no more in your hand for a prey, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

22 Because of paining the heart of the righteous with falsehood, And I have not pained it, And strengthening the hands of the wicked, So as not to turn back from his evil way, To keep him alive,

23 Therefore, vanity ye do not see, And divination ye do not divine again, And I have delivered My people out of your hand, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah!'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10011

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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

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