The Bible

 

Ezekiel 27

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

2 `And thou, son of man, lift up concerning Tyre a lamentation, and thou hast said to Tyre:

3 O dweller on the entrances of the sea, Merchant of the peoples unto many isles, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: O Tyre, thou -- thou hast said: I [am] the perfection of beauty.

4 In the heart of the seas [are] thy borders, Thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

5 Of firs of Senir they have built to thee all thy double-boarded ships, Of cedars of Lebanon they have taken to make a mast for thee,

6 Of oaks of Bashan they made thine oars, Thy bench they have made of ivory, A branch of Ashurim from isles of Chittim.

7 Of fine linen with embroidery from Egypt hath been thy sail, To be to thee for an ensign, Of blue and purple from isles of Elishah hath been thy covering.

8 Inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad have been rowers to thee, Thy wise men, O Tyre, have been in thee, They [are] thy pilots.

9 Elders of Gebal and its wise men have been in thee, Strengthening thy breach; All ships of the sea and their mariners, Have been in thee, to trade [with] thy merchandise.

10 Persian and Lud and Phut Have been in thy forces -- thy men of war. Shield and helmet they hung up in thee, They -- they have given out thine honour.

11 The sons of Arvad, and thy force, [Are] on thy walls round about, And short swordsmen in thy towers have been, Their shields they have hung up on thy walls round about, They -- they have perfected thy beauty.

12 Tarshish [is] thy merchant, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For silver, iron, tin, and lead, They have given out thy remnants.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech -- they [are] thy merchants, For persons of men, and vessels of brass, They have given out thy merchandise.

14 They of the house of Togarmah, [For] horses, and riding steeds, and mules, They have given out thy remnants.

15 Sons of Dedan [are] thy merchants, Many isles [are] the mart of thy hand, Horns of ivory and ebony they sent back thy reward.

16 Aram [is] thy merchant, Because of the abundance of thy works, For emerald, purple, and embroidery, And fine linen, and coral, and agate, They have given out thy remnants.

17 Judah and the land of Israel -- they [are] thy merchants, For wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, And honey, and oil, and balm, They have given out thy merchandise.

18 Damascus [is] thy merchant, For the abundance of thy works, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Vedan and Javan go about with thy remnants, They have given shining iron, cassia, and cane, In thy merchandise it hath been.

20 Dedan [is] thy merchant, For clothes of freedom for riding.

21 Arabia, and all princes of Kedar, They [are] the traders of thy hand, For lambs, and rams, and he-goats, In these thy merchants.

22 Merchants of Sheba and Raamah -- they [are] thy Merchants, For the chief of all spices, And for every precious stone, and gold, They have given out thy remnants.

23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, merchants of Sheba, Asshur -- Chilmad -- [are] thy merchants,

24 They [are] thy merchants for perfect things, For wrappings of blue, and embroidery, And for treasuries of rich apparel, With cords bound and girded, for thy merchandise,

25 Ships of Tarshish [are] thy double walls of thy merchandise, And thou art filled and honoured greatly, In the heart of the seas.

26 Into great waters have they brought thee, Those rowing thee, The east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas.

27 Thy wealth and thy remnants, Thy merchandise, thy mariners, And thy pilots, strengtheners of thy breach, And the traders of thy merchandise, And all thy men of war, who [are] in thee, And in all thine assembly that [is] in thy midst, Fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy Fall,

28 At the voice of the cry of thy pilots shake do the suburbs.

29 And come down from their ships have all handling an oar, Mariners, all the pilots of the sea, on the land they stand,

30 And have sounded for thee with their voice, And cry bitterly, and cause dust to go up on their heads, In ashes they do roll themselves.

31 And they have made for thee baldness, And they have girded on sackcloth, And they have wept for thee, In bitterness of soul -- a bitter mourning.

32 And lifted up for thee have their sons a lamentation, And they have lamented over thee, who [is] as Tyre? As the cut-off one in the midst of the sea?

33 With the outgoing of thy remnants from the seas, Thou hast filled many peoples, With the abundance of thy riches, and thy merchandise, Thou hast made rich things of earth.

34 The time of [thy] being broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, Thy merchandise and all thy assembly in thy midst have fallen.

35 All inhabitants of the isles have been astonished at thee, And their kings have been sore afraid, They have been troubled in countenance.

36 Merchants among the peoples have shrieked for thee, Wastes thou hast been, and thou art not -- to the age!'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #70

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70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.