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1 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,
1-5. The coming of the Lord when all things of the church have been destroyed by knowledges (scientifics) of the natural man. P. P.
1-26. See Chapter XXIX., 1-21. A. 1165.
See Chapter XVI., 26, 28, 29· R. 503.
Summarily taken this chapter is a lamentation over the church vastated by falses which favor the evils of the natural man, for from the natural man separate from the spiritual flow all evils, and thence all falses, which pervert and destroy the tru ths and goods of the church. Lamentation over that vastation is expressed by: how! ye. A day of clouds stands for the state of the church when truths are not understood consequently when in falses. E. 654.
2 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Wail ye, Alas for the day!
3 For the day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.
2,3. Woe for the day, for the day is near, the approach of the day of Jehovah, the day of clouds. D. P., Page 69.
2, 3, 9. By day is meant the coming of the Lord. L. 4.
Away was prepared by the Baptism of John, because through it men were introduced into the future church of the Lord, and inserted in heaven among those who expected and desired the Messiah. T. 689.
2 21. See Chapter XXIX., 2, 18. L. 28. 3: A day of cloud means a cloud of falsity. The time of the nations means the heathen or wickedness. A. 488.
The day of Jehovah, great and near. Jehovah is the Lord. L. 38.
4 And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
5 Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6 Thus saith Jehovah: They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord Jehovah.
4-6. Egypt here signifies external knowledges, Cush internal know ledges of interior things, so also Tut. They are called the foundations because they signify internal knowledges from the Word. A. 1164.
Tut and Cush are mentioned together in the Word because internal knowledges are signified. See Chapter XXIX., 1-21. A. 1165, 1166.
6-9. Then all who trust in these knowledges will perish through evil loves. P. P.
7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
8 And they shall know at I am Jehovah, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed.
7, 12. See Chapter XIII., 14, 15. Coro. 59.
They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted, and will make their land and its fulness devastate. D. P., Page 7.
9 In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish upon them, as in the day of Egypt; for, lo, it cometh.
9. Cush (Ethiopia) stands for internal knowledges from the Word, confirming false conclusions from things known. A. 1164.
10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
10-12. By such the truths of the church will be destroyed through reasonings from the natural man, derived from falsities, even until there is nothing left but falsities. P. P.
11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
11, 12. By Egypt are here signified the scientifics of the natural man, subservient to the intelligence of the rational and spiritual man. The destruction of scientific truths by falsi ties is signified by drawing their swords against Egypt, swords signifying falsities destroying truths. By the slain are signified they who perish by falsities, by making the rivers dry - the deprivation of the knowledge and perception of truth,- to sell land into the hand of the wicked, and to make it waste by the hand of strangers is signified to destroy by evils and by falsities. Strangers stand for falsities. E. 518.
12 And I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
12. To make the rivers dry signifies that there is no longer anything spiritual. A. 806.
Selling and being sold means to alienate truths. E.840.
13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments upon No.
13, 14. See Chapter XXIX., 13-15. A. 1196.
13-19. All things which are of the knowledge (scientifics) of the natural man, of every kind, become hell. P. P.
15 And I will pour my wrath upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.
16 And I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis shall have adversaries in the day-time.
17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity.
18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus will I execute judgments upon Egypt; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
15, 16. The difficulty of receiving the truths of doctrine from the Word is described by many things which rela te to the pain in travailing. R. 535.
The natural births mentioned in the Word involve spiritual births. T. 583.
By Egypt, Sin, and No are signified the scientifics and fallacies appertaining to the natural man, which hinder his being reformed by truths from the Word. These will be known but still not received in the life, but thus no reformation will be effected. This is signified by: Sin shall. travail in labor (have great pain). By travailing in labor is signified to receive the truths of the Word by hearing or reading. By bringing forth is meant to make fruitful and produce them in act, to live according to them, and so to be reformed. E. 721.
15-18. Those are described who are in knowledges and hatch from these falsites, from which evils come. Egypt is here acquired knowledge, Sin evil which is from falsity, and No falsity which is from evil. A. 8398.
16. Where mention is made of conception, of or conceiving, bearing or bringing forth, these things are meant only in a spiritual sense. Fruitfulness as to the things of doctrine is meant. A. 2584.
18. As there are clouds which are of a thinner and brighter quality, and also such that "are grosser and blacker, the former appear beneath the heavens, but the latter about some of the hells. It is hence evident that, in the opposite sense, clouds also signify the falsities of evil, which are contrary to truths from good. Such is the case here. E. 594
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it hath not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
20-23. They will have no truth, thus no power. P. P.
22. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stands for knowledges which pervert and destroy truths and goods of faith. To break his arms means to disperse their strength, and thus to disperse them. A. 9163.
22, 24, 25. Power is signified in the Word by the hands, arms, and shoulders. A. 4933.
24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.
25 And I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
24-26. This will take place through reasonings from the natural man, P. P.
Author: Emanuel Swedenborg (Compiled by Robert S. Fischer 1925)
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