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Ezekiel第22章

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

2 `And thou, son of man, dost thou judge? dost thou judge the city of blood? then thou hast caused it to know all its abominations,

3 and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it hath made idols on it for defilement.

4 By thy blood that thou hast shed thou hast been guilty, And by thine idols that thou hast made thou hast been defiled, And thou causest thy days to draw near, And art come in unto thine years, Therefore I have given thee a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands.

5 The near and the far-off from thee scoff at thee, O defiled of name -- abounding in trouble.

6 Lo, princes of Israel -- each according to his arm Have been in thee to shed blood.

7 Father and mother made light of in thee, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in thy midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in thee.

8 My holy things thou hast despised, And My sabbaths thou hast polluted.

9 Men of slander have been in thee to shed blood, And on the mountains they have eaten in thee, Wickedness they have done in thy midst.

10 The nakedness of a father hath one uncovered in thee, The defiled of impurity they humbled in thee.

11 And each with the wife of his neighbour hath done abomination, And each his daughter-in-law hath defiled through wickedness, And each his sister, his father's daughter, hath humbled in thee.

12 A bribe they have taken in thee to shed blood, Usury and increase thou hast taken, And cuttest off thy neighbour by oppression, And Me thou hast forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!

13 And lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of thy dishonest gain that thou hast gained, And for thy blood that hath been in thy midst.

14 Doth thy heart stand -- are thy hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done [it].

15 And I have scattered thee among nations, And have spread thee out among lands, And consumed thy uncleanness out of thee.

16 And thou hast been polluted in thyself Before the eyes of nations, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'

17 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man,

18 The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them [are] brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace -- dross hath silver been,

19 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your all becoming dross, Therefore, lo, I am gathering you unto the midst of Jerusalem,

20 A gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, Unto the midst of a furnace -- to blow on it fire, to melt it, So do I gather in Mine anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted you.

21 And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And ye have been melted in its midst.

22 As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon you.'

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

24 `Son of man, say to it, Thou [art] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a day of indignation.

25 A conspiracy of its prophets [is] in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst.

26 Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And Between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst.

27 Its princes in its midst [are] as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain.

28 And its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, `Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed -- without judgment.

30 And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land -- not to destroy it, And I have not found.

31 And I pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#6432

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6432. 'The blessings of the breasts' means with affections for goodness and truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breasts' as affections for goodness and truth. 'The breasts' means those affections because the breasts communicate with the generative organs, and for that reason they too belong to the province of conjugial love (regarding that province see 5050-5062). Now conjugial love corresponds to the heavenly marriage, which is a marriage of goodness and truth (for conjugial love comes down from that marriage, see 2618, 2728, 2729, 2803, 3132, 4434, 4835, 6179), and therefore 'the breasts' means affections for goodness and truth. In addition they derive that meaning from the fact that the breasts are what feed infants and so mean, through the affection that goes with breast-feeding, conjugial love when joined to the love of offspring.

[2] The same affections are also meant by 'the breasts' in Isaiah,

You will suck the milk of nations, and the breasts of kings you will suck. Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron silver. Isaiah 60:16-17.

'Sucking the breasts of kings' stands for good obtained from truth, for by 'kings' truths are meant, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148. 'The milk of nations' and 'the breasts of kings' plainly mean some profoundly spiritual matter, for those words would otherwise be meaningless. The fact that goodness and truth are meant is clear from the words that follow, which are 'Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron silver'; for 'bronze' is natural good, 425, 1551, and 'gold' celestial good, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658; 'iron' is natural truth, 425, 426, and 'silver' spiritual truth, 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112.

[3] In Ezekiel,

As regards increase, I gave you to be like the seed of the field, out of which you grew up and matured and reached full beauty; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Ezekiel 16:7.

This refers to Jerusalem, which here means the Ancient spiritual Church. 'Breasts that were formed' stands for interior affections for goodness and truth, 'your hair had grown for exterior affections belonging to the natural - 'hair' being the natural as regards truth, see 3301, 5247, 5569-5573. These words plainly contain a spiritual sense which is not visible in the letter, for without that sense why would it say of Jerusalem that its breasts were formed and its hair had grown?

[4] In the same prophet,

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt. In their youth they committed whoredom; there their breasts were squeezed, and there they contemplated their virgin busts. Ezekiel 23:2-3, 8, 21.

This passage in Ezekiel states that the two women are Jerusalem and Samaria, by whom Churches are meant in the internal sense. The statement that in their youth they committed whoredom with Egypt means that they falsified the truths of the Church by their use of factual knowledge - 'committing whoredom' is falsifying truths, see 2466, 4865, and 'Egypt' is factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5700, 5702. Consequently 'their breasts were squeezed' stands for affections for goodness and truth that became perverted through falsifications. The fact that the women's whoredom and the squeezing of their breasts mean such things can be seen by those who are prepared to look into what is meant in the description of those women.

[5] In Hosea,

Contend with your mother, let her remove her whoredoms from her sight, 1 and her adulteries from between her breasts, lest perhaps I strip her naked, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. Hosea 2:1, 3.

'Mother' here stands for the Church, 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5581, whoredoms' for falsifications of truth, 2466, 4865, 'adulteries' for adulterations of good, 2466, 2729, 3399. Consequently 'adulteries from between her breasts' stands for adulterated affections for goodness and truth, 'stripping naked' for depriving of all truth, 1073, 4958, 5437, 'making like a wilderness, setting like a dry land, and slaying with thirst' for the annihilation of all truth.

[6] In the same prophet,

Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Hosea 9:14.

'Dry breasts' stands for affections for neither truth nor good. In Isaiah,

O women without anxiety, stand still, hear My voice; O confident daughters, perceive My speech with your ears. Strip and make yourself bare, and gird [sackcloth] around your waist 2 - people beating themselves on their breasts for the fields of unmixed wine, and the fruitful vine. Isaiah 32:9, 11-12.

'Daughters' stands for affections, 2362, 3024, 3963, 'being stripped bare' for being deprived of truth, 1073, 4958, 5433, 'girding [sackcloth] around one's waist' for suffering grief over good that has been lost, 'beating on breasts' for suffering grief over the good of truth that has been lost. Since these things are meant, it also says 'for the fields of unmixed wine, and the fruitful vine'; for 'the field' is the Church in respect of good, thus the Church's good, 2971, 3196, 3310, 3766, and 'vine' is the spiritual Church, and therefore the good of truth, 5113, 6375, 6376.

[7] In the Book of Revelation,

I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe, and surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts. Revelation 1:12-13.

'Golden lampstands' are truths of good, 'the Son of Man' is Divine Truth, 'surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts' the good of love. Anyone may deduce from the holiness of the Word that the things John saw concealed within themselves realities such as belong to the Lord's kingdom and His Church; for what holiness would there be in making predictions about kingdoms in the world? From this one may recognize that they are heavenly things that are meant by 'lampstands' and by 'the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe, and surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts'.

[8] In Luke,

A certain woman lifted up her voice out of the crowd; 3 she said about Jesus, Blessed is the womb that carried You, and the breasts that You sucked. But Jesus said, Rather than that, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Luke 11:27-28.

The Lord's reply shows what 'blessed is the womb' and what 'the breasts' mean - 'those who hear the Word of God and keep it', thus affections for truth which exist with those who hear the Word or God, and affections for good which exist with those who keep it, that is, put it into practice.

脚注:

1. literally, faces

2. literally, upon your loins

3. literally, the people

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