<< Ezekiel XXVI >>

 1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 2 Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:
 3 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up.
 4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
 5 She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah; and she shall become a spoil to the nations.
 6 And her daughters that are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
 7 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people.
 8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against thee, and cast up a mound against thee, and raise up the buckler against thee.
 9 And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
 11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets; he shall slay thy people with the sword; and the pillars of thy strength shall go down to the ground.
 12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the waters.
 13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
 14 And I will make thee a bare rock; thou shalt be a place for the spreading of nets; thou shalt be built no more: for I Jehovah have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
 15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at thee.
 17 And they shall take up a lamentation over thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there!
 18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at thy departure.
 19 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee;
 20 then will I bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living:
 21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt no more have any being; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord Jehovah.

1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:

1, 2. They imagine that all things of the church consist of knowledges, which are meant by Tyre. P. P.
2. The prophet Ezekiel is called son of man. L. 28.
    The destruction of the church is treated of. By Tyrus are meant the knowledges of good and truth, which are introductory truths. Jerusalem stands for the church in regard to the doctrine of tru th, hence it is called the doors (gates) of the people E. 208.
See Chapter XIII., 14, 15 Coro. 59.

3 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.

3, 4. The love of self in worship, on the worship of self is called a tower, because a city signifies doctrine, and cities were formerly fortified with towers. A. 1306.
    Thereby came falsities which destroy the ultimates of doctrine. P. P.
3, 4, 14. See Chapter XXIV., 7, Add: where there is no good there is nothing but mere falsities. E. 411 .
4, 8, 9, 12. The wall, in an opposite sense, signifies falsities which are to be destroyed. A. 6419.

5 She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah; and she shall become a spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughters that are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

5, 6. These and also affections for truth are destroyed by scientifics (knowledges). P. P.
6. The devastated are also called the pierced. Cora. 59.
6, 8. The good and beauty of love and faith is described by daughter. A. 490.

7 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people.
8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against thee, and cast up a mound against thee, and raise up the buckler against thee.
9 And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.

7-11. Tyre signifies the church as to knowledges of truth, and the king of Babylon their falsifica tion and profanation. It is on this account that he would come with chariots and with horsemen. W. H. A.
    By Tyre is signified the church as to knowledges of tru th, the same falsified is meant by the horses of Babylon. R. 298.
7-12. Much reason from the natural man will destroy all truth, from which comes self-intelligence. P. P.
7, 8, 10, 11. A chariot represents doctrine. R. 437.
By Tyrus is signified the church in relation to the knowledges of truth, by the king of Babylon the destruction of truth by falsities and profanation. The north Irorn which he shall come stands for every false principle, and specifically the hell from whence it rises. Chariots, horses and horsemen doctrines which give rise to false reasonings. The daughters who shall be slain in the field with the sword mean affections for truth which shall be extinguished by falsities. Daughters mean the affections for truth, the field is the church where those affections are. To slay is to extinguish. E. 355.
7, 11, 12. Tyre the church as to knowledges of good and truth. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel is profanation which destroys. This occurs when the goods and truths of the church serve as means to favor the evils of the loves of self and of the world by wrong application, for in such case the evils of such loves are inwardly in the heart, and the holy things of the church are in the mouth. The hoofs of the horses are the outermost naturals, which are mere sensual knowledges, and streets are the tru ths of faith. Riches and merchandise are knowledges of good and truth. A. 10227.
7, 12 By rich in the Word in the spiritual sense are meant those who are in the knowledges of truth and good. Such knowledges are spiritual riches. H. 365.
9, 10, 11. By the sword is meant vastation. Babel vastates. A. 2799.

10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets; he shall slay thy people with the sword; and the pillars of thy strength shall go down to the ground.
12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the waters.

10, 11. Chariots, in the opposite sense, signify doctrinals of evil and falsity - and outward knowledges confirm them. A. 5321.
    Speaking of Nebuchadnezzar devastating Tyre. His horses stand for perverted intellectuals, a horseman for what springs from such an intellectual, the wheels of a chariot for falsities of doctrine. The hoofs of the horses are falsities. A. 772 9.
11. The hoops of the horses are external knowledges that pervert truth. A. 2336.
    Nebuchadnezzar stands for what causes vastation, the hoofs of the horses for the lowest intellectual things, such as knowledges from mere things of sense. Horses stand for intellectual things, streets for truths, in the opposite sense for falsities. To tread down is to destroy the knowledges of truth signified by Tyre. To slay the people with the sword is to destroy truths by what is false. A. 3727.
    The pillars of thy strength (strong garrisons) refers to the pillars which were in use by the ancien ts. They signified the holy of worship. A. 10643.
11, 12. Streets signify the truths or falsities of doctrine. R. 501 .
    By the king of Babel is signified the profanation and ultimate destruction of truth, by the treading down with the hoofs of his horses the destruction of all the truth of the church by the fallacies of the sensual man E. 652 .
12. By riches and merchandise are not meant worldly, but spiritual and celestial riches and merchandise. A. 643.
    Spiritual riches and wealth are signified when these are mentioned in the Word. Spiritual riches are knowledges of truth and good. R. 206.
    Wood signifies natural good. R. 774.
    These things are said. concerning the devastation of all the truths and good of the church by evils and falses. The wealth which they shall despoil are the knowledges of truth, the merchandise of which they shall make a prey are the knowledges of good, the walls to be destroyed are doctrinals, the house overturned are the things belonging to the mind, thus those which are of the understanding and the will, for there man dwells. E. 1145.

13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
14 And I will make thee a bare rock; thou shalt be a place for the spreading of nets; thou shalt be built no more: for I Jehovah have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

13. Songs are predicated of truths. A. 4137.
    The noise of songs signifies the joy of confession, the sound of harps gladness from spiritual tru ths and goods. E. 326.
13, 14. The vas tation of all truth is signified by: I will make thee like the top of a rock. The top or barren part of a rock stands for desolation. E. 323.
    Thus all affection for spiritual truth will perish, so that nothing of the church will any longer remain. P. P.

15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at thee.
17 And they shall take up a lamentation over thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there!

15-18. Their end will be in hell, which will cause the rest of them to be in terror. P. P.
15, 16, 18. The natural mind or natural man as to the truths, and as to the falsities thereof, is signified by islands in the Word. As to truths with those in whom the spiritual mind is opened, as to falsities with those in whom it is shut. E. 406.
16. Speaking of Tyre. The robes and the broidered garments stand for knowledges of what is learned, and thus for lower truths. A. 2576.
The princes of the sea are the primary external knowledges, or knowledges of memory, which are called dogmas. The sea is external knowledge in general, robes are external truths. A. 9688.
    This is said of Tyre by which the knowledges of good and truth are meant. The vastation of these in the church is here described. The robes which they shall lay aside are the truths of faith, which are in the intellectual part, but the garments of embroidery are truths of knowledge, which are in the natural. A. 9825.
Robes, mantles, and cloaks signify truths in general, because they were general articles of clothing. R. 328.
    Here by Tyre the church is meant in which the knowledges of good and truth are destroyed. That they have no longer any truths by which the church is formed, is signified by the princes of the sea coming down from their thrones. The princes of the sea are primary scientific truths, to come down means their destruction, also the destruction of in telligence. Their state of condemnation is signified by they shall clothe themselves with trembling. E. 395.
    Tyre, the church as to knowledge, but in the present case vastated, that is, those knowledges falsified: The princes of the sea descending from their throne, means that the knowledges of truth shall reign no more with the men of that church, for all reigning is of Divine truth. They shall sit upon the earth signifies to be in faIses, as in the spiritual world the hells are under the earths, and exhale continually evils and falses, E. 687.
    False doctrinals are here signified by thrones. E. 988.
16, 17. Tyre means the knowledges of good and truth, the subject here is the vastation of them. Casting off robes and embroidered garments stands for casting off truths of outward knowledge. A. 9755.
16-18. The neglect and loss of the knowledges of truth is here described. By the princes of the sea, who shall come down from their thrones, primary knowledges are meant. The renowned city strong in the sea signifies the power of knowing in all abundance. The seas stand for collections of scientifics, the islands for the nations more remote from truths, which desire knowledges. E. 275.

18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at thy departure.

18. The day of their fall D. P., Page 69.
18-21. Desolation is the apparent deprivation of truth with those who are being regenerated, but the absolute deprivation of it with those who are not being regenerated. A. 5376.

19 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee;
20 then will I bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living:
21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt no more have any being; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord Jehovah.

19. The deep and many waters stand for the extreme of temptation. A. 756.
The deeps stand for the hells, thus also for falsities from lusts; for these make the hells. A. 8278.
19, 20. Waters here stand for evils, and the falsities thence resulting. A. 790.
By bringing up the deep upon Tyre, and causing great waters to cover her, is signified immersion in falsities from hell in great abundance, the deep standing for hell, and great waters for falsities in abundance.The people of old times signifies those who were in hell from the Most Ancient church, just before the deluge, who, above all others, were in falsities of a direful nature. E. 538.
    I shall make thee a desolate city, and set thee in low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old. D. P., Page 68.
19-21. When they have been cast into the hells, the knowledges of truth will be evident to those who will be in heaven, and in the church. P. P.
20. Heaven, because it lives from the Lord, is called the land of the living. A. 290.
    They who descend into the pit stand for those who are sent into vastation. Not to dwell with them that go down into the pit means to be delivered from falsities A. 4728.
    The lower earth (pit) is where those were who belonged to the spiritual church. At this day also, they who are of the church and have filled their ideas with worldly and earthly things, and have caused the truthsof faith to be joined to such things, are let down to the lower earth, and there also are in combats, and this until those worldly and earthly things are separated from the truths of faith, and such things implanted which will prevent their being again conjoined. A. 7090.
    An age (old time) signifies the life after death to eternity. A. 10248.
    Earth in the opposi te sense signifies damnation, since when there is no church with a man, there is damnation. R. 285.
    Earth in the opposite sense means the church vastated, which takes place when the good of love and the truths of faith no longer exist, but instead thereof evil and falsity. E. 304.

Author: Emanuel Swedenborg (Compiled by Robert S. Fischer 1925)