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Ezekiel 48

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1 And these [are] the names of the tribes: From the north end unto the side of the way of Hethlon, at the coming in to Hamath, Hazar-Enan, the border of Damascus northward, unto the side of Hamath, and they have been his -- side east and west, Dan one,

2 and by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, Asher one,

3 and by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, Naphtali one,

4 and by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, Manasseh one,

5 and by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, Ephraim one,

6 and by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, Reuben one,

7 and by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, Judah one,

8 and by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side is the heave-offering that ye lift up, five and twenty thousand broad and long, as one of the parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary hath been in its midst.

9 The heave-offering that ye lift up to Jehovah [is] five and twenty thousand long, and broad ten thousand.

10 And of these is the holy heave-offering for the priests, northward five and twenty thousand, and westward [in] breadth ten thousand, and eastward [in] breadth ten thousand, and southward [in] length five and twenty thousand: and the sanctuary of Jehovah hath been in its midst.

11 For the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who erred not in the erring of the sons of Israel, as the Levites erred,

12 even the heave-offering hath been to them, out of the heave-offering of the land, most holy, by the border of the Levites.

13 `And [to] the Levites over-against the border of the priests [are] five and twenty thousand [in] length, and [in] breadth ten thousand, all the length [is] five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.

14 And they do not sell of it, nor exchange, nor cause to pass away the first-fruit of the land: for [it is] holy to Jehovah.

15 And the five thousand that is left in the breadth, on the front of the five and twenty thousand, is common -- for the city, for dwelling, and for suburb, and the city hath been in its midst.

16 And these [are] its measures: the north side five hundred, and four thousand, and the south side five hundred, and four thousand, and on the east side five hundred, and four thousand, and the west side five hundred, and four thousand.

17 And the suburb to the city hath been northward, fifty and two hundred, and southward, fifty and two hundred, and eastward, fifty and two hundred, and westward, fifty and two hundred.

18 `And the residue in length over-against the heave-offering of the holy [portion is] ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward, and it hath been over-against the heave-offering of the holy [portion], and its increase hath been for food to the servants of the city,

19 even [to] him who is serving the city, they serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.

20 All the heave-offering [is] five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand, square do ye lift up the heave-offering of the holy [portion] with the possession of the city.

21 `And the residue [is] for the prince, on this side and on that side of the heave-offering of the holy [portion], and of the possession of the city, on the front of the five and twenty thousand of the heave-offering unto the east border, and westward, on the front of the five and twenty thousand on the west border, over-against the portions of the prince; and the heave-offering of the holy [portion], and the sanctuary of the house, hath been in its midst.

22 And from the possession of the Levites, from the possession of the city, in the midst of that which is to the prince, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, there is to the prince.

23 `As to the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin one,

24 and by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon one,

25 and by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar one,

26 and by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun one,

27 and by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad one,

28 and by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border hath been from Tamar [to] the waters of Meriboth-Kadesh, the stream by the great sea.

29 This [is] the land that ye separate by inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these [are] their portions -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

30 `And these [are] the outgoings of the city on the north side, five hundred, and four thousand measures.

31 And the gates of the city [are] according to the names of the tribes of Israel; three gates northward: the gate of Reuben one, the gate of Judah one, the gate of Levi one.

32 And on the east side five hundred, and four thousand, and three gates: the gate of Joseph one, the gate of Benjamin one, the gate of Dan one.

33 And the south side five hundred, and four thousand measures, and three gates: the gate of Simeon one, the gate of Issachar one, the gate of Zebulun one.

34 The west side five hundred, and four thousand, their gates three: the gate of Gad one, the gate of Asher one, the gate of Naphtali one.

35 Round about [is] eighteen thousand, and the renown of the city [is] from the day Jehovah [is] there.'

   

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Apocalypse Explained #438

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438. Verse 6. Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand sealed, signifies charity towards the neighbor, and that all who are in it are in heaven and come into heaven. This is evident from the signification of "the tribe of Asher," as being the spiritual affection which is charity (of which presently); and from the signification of "twelve thousand sealed," as being those who are in heaven and who come into heaven (as above, n. 433). That "the tribe of Asher" signifies love towards the neighbor, which is called charity, will be made clear from what follows, and is also clear from this, that the twelve tribes taken together represented heaven and the church, and therefore signify these in the Word, and that each tribe represented, and thence signifies, some universal essential that is a constituent of heaven and the church. Heaven and the church are constituted, in general, of three universal essentials, namely, love to the Lord, charity towards the neighbor, and the obedience of faith; love to the Lord is signified by the first three tribes, Judah, Reuben, and Gad (as was shown above); charity towards the neighbor is signified by these three tribes, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh; while the obedience of faith is signified by the three tribes next named, Simeon, Levi, and Issachar; the conjunction of all of these with the Lord is signified by the last three tribes, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. This, in brief, is the signification of all these tribes named in this order, for their signification is determined by the order in which they are named (as has been said and shown above, n. 431, 435, 436).

[2] Furthermore, the "sealed" mean those who have been separated from the evil and received into heaven; and the first three tribes mean those who have been received into the highest or third heaven, in which all are in love to the Lord; the three tribes next named, which are now under consideration, mean those who have been received into the middle or second heaven, in which all are in charity towards the neighbor; while the three tribes that next follow mean those who have been received into the lowest or first heaven, where those are who are in the obedience that is called the obedience of faith; and the last three tribes mean the reception of all these into the three heavens by the Lord; for there are three heavens, distinguished from one another according to the degrees of the good of love. From all this it can first be seen that this second class of tribes, that is, the three tribes, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh, mean those who are in charity towards the neighbor; "the tribe of Asher" meaning charity towards the neighbor; "Naphtali" the regeneration of those who are in that charity, and "Manasseh" their good of life.

[3] But what "Asher" signifies in the Lord's kingdom, that is, in the church, shall first be told. "Asher" signifies the blessedness of spiritual affections, and thence spiritual affection itself; and as spiritual affection is what is called love towards the neighbor or charity, so "Asher" here signifies charity; consequently the "twelve thousand" of that tribe here signify all who are in charity, and are thus in the second or middle heaven. That Asher was so called from what is blessed or from blessedness is evident both from the meaning of the word in Hebrew and also from what was said of him by Leah the wife of Jacob, when he was born, which is the following:

Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said, In my blessedness, for the daughters will call me blessed; and she called his name Asher (Genesis 30:12, 13).

"The daughters who should call her blessed" signify the spiritual affections of truth, which constitute the church, from which is every internal blessedness that is heavenly, in which blessedness those are who are in charity towards the neighbor, for charity towards the neighbor is the spiritual affection of truth (as was just said above); and the spiritual affection of truth is to love truth in its essence, that is, to love truth because it is truth; moreover, the neighbor, in the spiritual sense, is nothing else than good and truth, and charity is love for this (as can be seen from what is said and shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, on Love towards the Neighbor, which is called Charity, n84-107. The rest of the passage may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 3936-3939).

[4] That "Asher" signified blessedness which is of love and charity is further evident from the blessing of Asher by Israel his father:

From Asher his bread is fat, and he shall yield the delicacies of a king (Genesis 49:20).

"From Asher" signifies from celestial and spiritual affections, which are those of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor; "his bread is fat," signifies delight from good; "and he shall yield the delicacies of a king" signifies pleasure from truth. (This is further explained in Arcana Coelestia 6408-6410.)

[5] "Asher" has a similar significance in Moses' blessing, namely, the delight of the affection of truth from the Word; the blessing is this:

Of Asher he said, Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable unto his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil; thy shoe is iron and brass; and as the days so thy fame (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Moses' blessing of the sons of Israel contains arcana respecting the Word; and "Asher," who is the one last mentioned there signifies the spiritual affection of truth from the Word; therefore it is said, "Blessed above sons be Asher, let him be acceptable to his brethren," "sons" signifying truths, and "brethren" the church from truths; and "blessed" and "acceptable" are predicated of the affection of truths. The good of love, from which are the truths of the Word in the sense of the letter, is signified by "dipping his foot in oil;" "foot" signifies truth in ultimates, which is the truth of the sense of the letter of the Word, and "oil" signifies the good of love. That the ultimate of the Word is natural truth and good is signified by "thy shoe is iron and brass;" natural truth is signified by "iron," and natural good by "brass," and the ultimate by "shoe." That the Word is to endure to eternity is signified by "as the days so thy fame." (That "iron" signifies natural truth, see above, n. 176; that "brass" signifies natural good, n. 70; and that "shoe" signifies the ultimate of the natural, which is the sensual, see Arcana Coelestia 1748, 2162, 6844)

[6] Because "Asher" signifies the delight of affections, such as those have who are in truths from the sense of the letter:

That tribe encamped, together with the tribe of Dan and the tribe of Naphtali, to the north (Numbers 2:25-31).

The encampments of the sons of Israel in the wilderness represented the arrangements of the angelic societies in the heavens (See above, n. 431), and there to the north are the dwelling places of those who, from the good of charity, are in the affection of spiritual knowledges.

[7] That "Asher" signifies spiritual blessedness, which is blessedness from love and charity, can be seen in Ezekiel, where the new land and the new city are treated of, and that land is distributed as an inheritance among all the tribes of Israel; and to the city twelve gates are assigned, one for each tribe. The inheritance of Asher is there described in chapter Ezekiel 48:1-3, and the gates in these words:

The corner towards the sea four thousand and five hundred; 1 the gates of the city three; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. Round about eighteen thousand; and the name of the city from that day, Jehovah-is-there (verses 34, 35).

The "land" that was to be distributed for an inheritance signifies the church; the "sons of Israel" among whom it was to be distributed, signify all truths from good in the complex that belong to the church; the "city" signifies the doctrine of truth from good of love, therefore it is called Jehovah shammah, or "Jehovah-is-there;" the "gates" signify introductory truths, which are doctrinals; the number "four thousand and five hundred" signifies all truths from good, and "eighteen thousand" all the truths of doctrine encompassing and defending. This makes clear not only that each and all things there mentioned, even to the numbers, signify the things of the church, but also that no tribe of Israel is there meant, each tribe named standing for some universal essential of the church. It is evident, moreover, that "Asher" here signifies the spiritual affection of truth, which makes one with charity towards the neighbor. (That "Asher" signifies eternity in the highest sense, in the internal sense the felicity of life from blessedness of affections that are of love and charity, and in the external sense natural delight therefrom, see in Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408.)

Fotnoter:

1. The photolithograph has "five hundred and four thousand" for "four thousand and five hundred."

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