IBhayibheli

 

Ezekiel 16

Funda

   

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD to Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.

4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these to thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yes, I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.

7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and become great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thy hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yes, I swore to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

9 Then I washed thee with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15 But thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deck thy high places with divers colors, and play the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and hast made to thyself images of men, and hast committed lewdness with them.

18 And hast taken thy broidered garments, and covered them: and thou hast set my oil and my incense before them.

19 My provisions also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed thee, thou hast even set before them for a sweet savor: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. Is this of thy lewdness a small matter,

21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

22 And in all thy abominations and thy deeds of lewdness thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe to thee! saith the Lord GOD;)

24 That thou hast also built to thee an eminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street.

25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast prostituted thyself to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy lewd deeds.

26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy lewd deeds, to provoke me to anger.

27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thy ordinary food, and delivered thee to the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way.

28 Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yes, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldst not be satisfied.

29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan to Chaldea; and yet with this thou wast not satisfied.

30 How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious lewd woman;

31 In that thou buildest thy eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thy high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, who taketh strangers instead of her husband!

33 They give gifts to all lewd women: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come to thee on every side for thy lewdness.

34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy unlawful commerce, whereas none followeth thee to commit lewdness: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given to thee, therefore thou art contrary.

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness exposed through thy carnal connection with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give to them;

37 Behold therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them on every side against thee, and will uncover thy nakedness to them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

39 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

42 So will I make my fury towards thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me in all these things; behold therefore, I also will recompense thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thy abominations.

44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 And thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thy abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thy abominations which thou hast done.

52 Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thy own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yes, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

54 That thou mayest bear thy own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort to them.

55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former state.

56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57 Before thy wickedness was disclosed, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise thee on every side.

58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thy abominations, saith the LORD.

59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish to thee an everlasting covenant.

61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:

63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

   

Amazwana

 

Rabbah, the daughters of

  

'The daughters of Rabbah' signify people in natural good and yet falsify the truths of the church.

(Izinkomba: Apocalypse Explained 637)

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #443

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

443. Verse 7. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand sealed, signifies obedience, and that all who are in obedience are in heaven, and come into heaven. This is evident, from the representation and consequent signification of "the tribe of Simeon," as being obedience (of which presently); and from the signification of "twelve thousand sealed," as being all who are in heaven and who come into heaven (of which above). The tribes of Simeon, Levi, and Issachar, which are now mentioned, and which constitute the third class of the sealed, signify those who are in the first or lowest heaven, and who come into that heaven. For, as was said above, all who are in heaven, and who come into heaven are here treated of; and as there are, three heavens, the third or inmost, the second or middle, and the first or lowest, those who are in the third, in the second, and in the first are separately treated of. Those who are in the third or inmost heaven and who come into that heaven are signified by "Judah, Reuben, and Gad," these constituting the first class of those sealed; those who are in the second or middle heaven and who come into that heaven are signified by "Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh," these, therefore, constituting the second class of those sealed; but those who are in the first or lowest heaven and who come into that heaven are signified by "Simeon, Levi, and Issachar," these constituting the third class of those sealed.

[2] Those belonging to this first or lowest heaven are all obedient in doing the truths and goods that are commanded in the Word or in the doctrine of the church in which they were born, or that they have heard from some master or religious teacher, from whom they have heard that this or that is true and good, and ought to be done. Most of these are not in truths themselves, but in falsities from ignorance, nevertheless these falsities are accepted by the Lord as truths because they have the good of life for their end, and by this the evils that usually cling to falsities are removed (respecting these falsities, and those who are in them, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21). Such, then, are in the lowest or first heaven. But in the second or middle heaven are all such as are in the spiritual affection of knowing and understanding truth and good, and in the affection of doing it; while in the third or inmost heaven are all such as are in love; but these two classes have already been spoken of above.

[3] "Simeon" and his tribe signify those who are in obedience, because Simeon, the father of the tribe, was named from the word that means "to hear," and "to hear" signifies to obey. This can be seen from the words of Leah his mother when she bare him, which are these:

And Leah conceived again and bare a son, and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I was hated He hath therefore given me this one also; and she called his name Simeon (Genesis 29:33).

(For explanation of these words see Arcana Coelestia 3867-3872; and that "to hear" signifies to obey there, n. 2542, 3869, 4653-4660, 5017, 5471, 5475, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311, 9397, 9926, 10061; and above, n. 14, 108, 249.) Because "Simeon" signifies obedience he also signifies faith, for faith becomes faith in man when he obeys and does the commandments; before this is done the knowledge of such things as man has drawn from the Word, from the doctrine of the church and from preaching, appears as faith, but this is not faith until man does these things; until then it is merely a matter of thought from the memory, in which there is nothing of the will, consequently nothing of the man, for the will is the man himself; it is therefore when a man does this, that is, obeys, that it enters the will, thus the man himself and becomes faith.

[4] This faith, which is obedience, is signified also by Peter, when he is called "Simon;" and the faith that is the affection of truth is signified by Peter when he is called "Simon son of Jonah" (as in Matthew 16:17-19, et seq.; Mark 1:16-18, 36; 14:37, 38; Luke 5:3-11; 7:40-43; 22:31-33, et seq.; Luke 24:34; John 1:40-42; 21:15-21). Because "Simeon" in the Hebrew signifies hearing and hearkening, and thence obedience, as was said above, and "the son of Jonah" signifies truth from good, but "Peter" truth itself, Peter is called by the Lord sometimes "Peter," sometimes "Simon Peter," and sometimes "Simon son of Jonah." That these names have such a signification anyone can see from Peter's having been called by the Lord now "Peter," now "Simon," now "son of Jonah," which was not done without cause or meaning. What was said to him at the time makes clear what is meant; thus when he confessed that the Lord was the Son of God, and in consequence the keys of the kingdom of the heavens were given to him, he is called "Simon son of Jonah" (Matthew 16:17, et seq.) and is also called a rock (petra), as the Lord Himself often is in the Prophets. Again, he is called "Simon son of Jonah" when the Lord said to him, "Lovest thou Me," and he answered, "I love Thee;" but when he presently turned himself away from the Lord and was indignant because John, who signifies the good of charity, was following Jesus, he is called "Peter" (John 21:15-21), "Peter" here signifying truth without good, or faith separate from charity.

[5] From this it can be seen that "Simon," when Peter is so named, has a similar signification as "Simeon" the son of Jacob, namely, obedience, the faith of charity, the affection of truth, and in general, truth from good; for in the Hebrew Simon means hearing, hearkening, and obedience, and Jonah in the Hebrew means a dove, which signifies in the spiritual sense the good of charity; and "the son of Jonah" signifies the truth of that good, or the faith of charity; while "rock" [petra], from which he is named Peter, signifies truth and faith, and in the contrary sense, falsity and absence of faith (See above, n. 411).

[6] That "Simeon" the son of Jacob, with the tribe named from him, signifies obedience, and truth in the will, and thence faith, can also be seen from the contrary sense, in which he signifies non-obedience, and falsity in the will, and thus faith separate from the will, which is no faith; for most things in the Word have also a contrary sense, in which they signify the opposite things. It is in this sense that Simeon is mentioned by Israel his father in the prophecy respecting his sons, where it is said:

Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of violence are their swords; into their secret let not my soul come; in their assembly let not my glory be united. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure 1 they houghed an ox. Accursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:5-7).

"Simeon and Levi are brethren" signifies faith separate from charity; "instruments of violence are their swords" signifies that their doctrinals serve to destroy the works of charity, thus charity itself; "into their secret let not my soul come" signifies that spiritual good does not wish to know the evils of their will; "in their assembly let not my glory be united" signifies that spiritual truth does not wish to know the falsities of their thoughts; "for in their anger they slew a man" signifies that they have wholly turned themselves away from truths, and in their aversion have extinguished faith; "and in their good pleasure they houghed an ox" signifies that from their depraved will they have wholly disabled external good which is of charity; "accursed be their anger, for it is fierce" signifies a grievous aversion from good, and consequent damnation; "and their fury, for it is hard" signifies aversion from truth that is from good; "I will divide them in Jacob" signifies that this faith is to be exterminated from the external church; "and scatter them in Israel" signifies from the internal church also. (For fuller explanation of this see Arcana Coelestia 6351-6361.)

[7] The first three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected and condemned by their father Israel because that prophecy describes the establishment of the church, and the church is not established by faith separate from charity, but by truth and good from the Lord; for the church, even at that time, had fallen into the error that merely knowing the Word, and saying that it is holy, is the essential of the church, and not life or charity, and that the God of heaven and earth is some other than the Lord. For this reason in that prophecy the three sons born first, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected, because "Reuben" there signifies faith alone, "Simeon" faith without charity, and "Levi" the absence of the good of charity; consequently these three in the series signify no church; for when faith alone is assumed as the essential of salvation, charity is immediately rejected and regarded as nonessential and of no value in respect to salvation; and because these three things were signified by these three sons, therefore they were rejected by Israel their father, who signified the church. Moreover, each of these three destroyed the representative of the church, Reuben:

By lying with Bilhah, the maidservant and concubine of his father (Genesis 35:22).

and Simeon and Levi:

By slaying Hamor, his son Shechem, and the whole city, which was the nation descended from Hamor, for no other reason than that Shechem loved their sister Dinah (Genesis 34 to the end).

This deed signifies in the spiritual sense that these two sons of Jacob, in other words, that constituent of the church which they represented, extinguished the truth and good of the Ancient Church, which church yet survived in the nation of Hamor; for this deed signifies in the spiritual sense that every truth and good of the church is extinguished by faith separated from charity. This, therefore, is what is meant in particular by the words of Israel, "into their secret let not my soul come; in their assembly let not my glory be united; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure they houghed an ox;" for "man" [vir] signifies in the Word truth and intelligence, and "ox" moral and natural good. (For fuller explanation of this see Arcana Coelestia 4426-4522.)

[8] And for this reason Simeon was passed by in the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33), and instead of him Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned, by whom the truth and good of the church are signified. But although Simeon and Levi were such, yet elsewhere they signify the faith of charity and charity, "Simeon" the faith of charity, and "Levi" charity. Yea, the tribe of Levi was appointed to the priesthood; for it matters not of what quality the person is who represents, provided he is in external worship according to the laws and statutes; for representation does not regard the person, but only the thing, and nothing is required in the person except the external of worship. (On this see Arcana Coelestia 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3670, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4309, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806, 9229.) For this reason "the tribe of Simeon" in this passage of Revelation and elsewhere in the Word signifies obedience, the faith of charity, the affection of truth, and in general, truth from good, as has been said above. (That "Simeon" and his tribe, when mentioned in a good sense, signify in the highest sense providence, in the internal sense faith in the will, in the interior sense obedience, and in the external sense hearing, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 3869.)

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. The photolithograph has "wrath," the Hebrew "good pleasure" is found on p. 1117, and in AC.

  
Yiya esigabeni / 1232  
  

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