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Jeremiah 17

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1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond, Graven on the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars,

2 As their sons remember their altars and their shrines, By the green tree, by the high hills.

3 O My mountain in the field -- thy strength, All thy treasures -- for a prey I give, Thy high places for sin in all thy borders.

4 And thou hast let go -- even through thyself, Of thine inheritance that I gave to thee, And I have caused thee to serve thine enemies, In a land that thou hast not known, For a fire ye have kindled in Mine anger, Unto the age it doth burn.

5 Thus said Jehovah: Cursed [is] the man who doth trust in man, And hath made flesh his arm, And from Jehovah whose heart turneth.

6 And he hath been as a naked thing in a desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.

7 Blessed [is] the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

8 And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.

9 Crooked [is] the heart above all things, And it [is] incurable -- who doth know it?

10 I Jehovah do search the heart, try the reins, Even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

11 A partridge hatching, and not bringing forth, [Is] one making wealth, and not by right, In the midst of his days he doth forsake it, And in his latter end -- he is a fool.

12 A throne of honour on high from the beginning, The place of our sanctuary,

13 The hope of Israel [is] Jehovah, All forsaking Thee are ashamed, And `My apostates' in the earth are written, For they have forsaken Jehovah, A fountain of living waters.

14 Heal me, O Jehovah, and I am healed, Save me, and I am saved, for my praise [art] Thou.

15 Lo, they are saying unto me: `Where [is] the word of Jehovah? pray, let it come.'

16 And I hastened not from feeding after Thee, And the desperate day I have not desired, Thou -- Thou hast known, The produce of my lips, before Thy face it hath been,

17 Be not Thou to me for a terror, My hope [art] Thou in a day of evil.

18 Let my pursuers be ashamed, and let not me be ashamed -- me! Let them be affrighted, and let not me be affrighted -- me! Bring in on them a day of evil, And a second time [with] destruction destroy them.

19 Thus said Jehovah unto me: `Go, and thou hast stood in the gate of the sons of the people, by which kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all gates of Jerusalem,

20 and thou hast said unto them: Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates,

21 Thus said Jehovah, Take ye heed to yourselves, And ye bear not a burden on the day of rest, Nor have ye brought [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem.

22 Nor do ye take out a burden from your houses on the day of rest, Yea, any work ye do not do, And ye have sanctified the day of rest, As I have commanded your fathers.

23 And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they stiffen their neck not to hear, And not to receive instruction.

24 And it hath been, if ye certainly hearken unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, So as not to bring in a burden By the gates of this city on the day of rest, And to sanctify the day of rest, So as not to do in it any work --

25 Then entered by the gates of this city have kings and princes, Sitting on the throne of David, Riding in a chariot, and on horses, They, and their princes, the man of Judah, And inhabitants of Jerusalem, And this city hath remained to the age.

26 And they have come in from cities of Judah, And from suburbs of Jerusalem, And from the land of Benjamin, And from the low country, And from the hill-country, and from the south, Bringing in burnt-offering, and sacrifice, And present, and frankincense, And Bringing praise [to] the house of Jehovah.

27 And if ye do not hearken unto me to sanctify the day of rest, And so as not to bear a burden, And to come in at the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest, Then I have kindled a fire in its gates, And it hath consumed the high places of Jerusalem, And it is not quenched!'

   

Commentary

 

Green

  
by Danielle Schnarr

The color green is almost exclusively used in connection with plants in the Bible, and the meaning is closely connected to the meaning of plants as well. Plants, in general, represent facts, knowledge that we can gather from the world. Green plants are ones that are alive and growing. Since life represents love and goodness, it makes sense that green plants are facts that have the potential for good use. It also indicates that they are the kinds of things we learn through directly through our senses, since to identify green plants we need to actually see the greenness.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 507; Apocalypse Revealed 426; Arcana Coelestia 7691)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #507

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507. And all green grass was burnt up, signifies that all true knowledge [scientificum] was destroyed by the cupidities of the same loves. This is evident from the signification of "grass," as being knowledge [scientificum] (of which presently); also from the signification of "green," as being truth and living from truth, because as green grass serves as food for animals, so true knowledge serves for spiritual nourishment for man; for whatever is produced in fields, in gardens, and in plains, and serves for nourishment either for man or beast, has a correspondence with such things as serve for the nourishment of the spirit and mind, and such nourishment is called spiritual nourishment. Like things appear in the spiritual world, from the correspondence of spiritual things with natural things; and as the Word in the letter is natural, and is written by correspondences, it is here said that "the third part of the trees and all green grass were burnt up," which means in the spiritual sense that all perception and knowledge of truth and good, as well as all true knowledge [scientificum] are destroyed, by these two corporeal, terrestrial, and merely natural loves.

[2] By true knowledge [scientifica] is meant all knowledge by which spiritual truth is confirmed, and which has life from spiritual good. For by knowledges [scientifica] a man may become wise or he may become insane. A man becomes wise by knowledges when he uses them to confirm the truths and goods of the church, which are spiritual truths and goods; and he becomes insane by knowledges when he uses them to invalidate and refute the truths and goods of the church. When they are used to confirm the truths and goods of the church they are called true knowledges, as also living knowledges; but when they are used to invalidate and refute the truths and goods of the church they are called false knowledges, and also dead knowledges. Knowledges [scientiae] are only means to uses, and they are such as the uses are that spring from them. They are living knowledges when man by means of them acquires for himself intelligence and wisdom. All intelligence and wisdom is from truths that are from heaven; such intelligence and wisdom, because it is from heaven, that is, from the Lord through heaven, is living, because it is the very spiritual life of man; but from falsities there can be no intelligence and wisdom, and if it is supposed to exist in anyone, yet it is dead, because it is from hell.

[3] This has been said to make known that "green grass" signifies true knowledge [scientificum], which is living, but "grass burnt up" signifies false knowledge, which is dead. When truth and good, which come from heaven, find no receptacle in the cognitions and knowledges with man, but evils and falsities which are from hell are received, then knowledges [scientifica] are not living but dead, and correspond to grass withered and burnt up. It is similar with man himself, for a man is such a man as the cognitions and knowledges are alive in him; for from living knowledges [scientiae] he has intelligence, but from knowledges not living he has no intelligence; and if they are dead in consequence of the confirmation of falsities by them there is insanity and folly.

[4] Such a man, from correspondence, is compared in the Word to "grass," and is also called "grass" in the following passages. In Isaiah:

The inhabitants have become as the herb of the field, as the greenness of the tender herb, as the grass of the housetops and as a field scorched before it is grown up (Isaiah 37:27; 2 Kings 19:26).

In David:

The wicked are cut down in haste as the grass, and wither as the greenness of the herb (Psalms 37:2).

In the same:

As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth (Psalms 103:15).

In the same:

The haters of Zion shall be as the grass of the housetops, which withereth before it is plucked up (Psalms 129:6).

In Isaiah:

The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and they shall see. The voice said, Cry; and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its holiness is as the flower of the field; the grass hath dried up and the flower hath fallen off because the breath of Jehovah hath blown upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass hath dried up, the flower hath fallen off; but the Word of our God shall stand up forever (Isaiah 40:5-8).

This is said of the Lord's coming, and of the revelation of Divine truth from Him at that time, which is meant by "the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and they shall see." That there will then be no true knowledge [scientificum] and no spiritual truth with men, is signified by "all flesh is grass, all its holiness is as the flower of the field; the grass hath dried up, the flower hath fallen off," "grass" meaning true knowledge, and "the flower of the field" spiritual truth. That man is such is meant by "all flesh is grass," and by "surely the people is grass; the grass is dried up;" "all flesh" meaning every man, and "people" those who are in truths, here those who are in falsities.

[5] In the same:

I am He that comforteth you; who art thou, that thou fearest man that dieth, and a son of man that is given for grass? (Isaiah 51:12).

These words signify that all things are from the Lord, and nothing from self-wisdom and self-intelligence. "Man" means man in respect to wisdom, and the "son of man" the same in respect to intelligence; that this latter is mere knowledge [scientifia] is meant by "is given for grass."

[6] In the same:

I will pour out My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up in the midst of the grass (Isaiah 44:3, 4).

The "spirit of Jehovah" signifies the Divine truth, and "blessing" signifies its multiplication and fructification; intelligence thence through true knowledges (scientifica) is signified by "springing up in the midst of the grass."

[7] In David:

Jehovah who causeth the grass to spring forth for the beast, and herb for the service of man (Psalms 104:14).

In the same:

Jehovah who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to spring forth upon the mountains, who giveth to the beast his food (Psalms 147:8, 9).

In Moses:

My doctrine shall flow down as the rain, My Word shall drop as the dew, as the mist on the grass, and as the drops on the herb (Deuteronomy 32:2).

In these passages "grass" signifies true knowledge [scientificum], and "the herb of the field" spiritual truth; for "the herb of the field" means what springs up in a field at first, that is, when it has just been plowed, therefore it is called "herb for the service of man." It is said "grass for the beast," and "as food for the beast," because "beast" signifies in the Word the affection of the natural man, and to this, true knowledge is for food and nourishment.

[8] In Job:

Behold the behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox (Job 40:15).

"Behemoth" has the same meaning as "beast" in the Word, namely, the natural affections that belong to man, therefore it is said, "behold behemoth, which I have made with thee." His spiritual pasture is true knowledge; this is meant by "he eateth grass as an ox."

[9] That "green" signifies what is living can be seen without further explanation; for any vegetable subject while it is growing, that is, while it lives as it were, is green, but when it is no longer growing, or is as it were dying, its greenness perishes; therefore "green" or "to be green" signifies living or to be living; as can be seen also from the following passages (Jeremiah 11:16; 17:8; Ezekiel 17:24; 20:47; Hosea 14:8; Psalms 37:35; 52:8; 92:10) and elsewhere.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.