<< Ezekiel XXXII >>

1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou wast likened unto a young lion of the nations: yet art thou as a monster in the seas; and thou didst break forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.
 3 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will spread out my net upon thee with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
 4 And I will leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle upon thee, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
 5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.
 6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of thee.
 7 And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
 8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
 9 I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
 10 Yea, I will make many peoples amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
 11 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
 12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nought the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
 13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
 14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord Jehovah.
 15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Jehovah.
 16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, saith the Lord Jehovah.
 17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
 19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
 20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.
 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
 22 Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;
 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.
 24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
 25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that are slain.
 26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.
 27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, that are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are upon their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
 28 But thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain by the sword.
 29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with them that are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
 30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
 31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, saith the Lord Jehovah.
 32 For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.

1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

1-32. Lament over those who by knowledges (scientifics) have perverted the holy things of the church. P. P.
1, 2. They pervert all truths of the church. P. P.
12-14. The waters and rivers of Egypt are truths of knowledge the hoof of a beast is falsity in the ultimate of the natural, which disturbs truth of knowledge. A. 7729.

2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou wast likened unto a young lion of the nations: yet art thou as a monster in the seas; and thou didst break forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

2. See Chapter XXIX., 3. A.42.
The lion and young lion are celestial good and truth. A. 6367.
    See Chapter XXIX., 3. A. 7293.
    By troubling the waters with the feet, the feet are not here meant but the natural man, which is also the external man, who is purified when he shuns the evils which the spiritual or internal man sees to be evils. Man's natural perverts all things, if it is not washed or purified. Refer to John XIII., 10. R. 49.
    All spiritual temptations are caused by falsities breaking into the thoughts, and infesting the interior mind, thus by reasonings from them, hence also temptations are signified by inundations of waters, and by irruptions of streams and torrents. E. 518.
    See Chapter XXIX., 3, 4. E. 714.
2, 3, 7, 8. The internal sense teaches that outward knowledges pervert the truths of the church, if man enters by them into the arcana of faith, and believes nothing unless he sees it from them, yea, unless he sees it from things of sense. Pharaoh is called king of Egypt from truth of knowledge, for knowledge is truth in the natural; king standing for truth. He is compared to a whale because it, or a sea-monster signifies the generals of knowledges. He came forth with his rivers, because by rivers are signified what is of intelligence, here of insanity. To trouble the waters with his feet means to defile and pervert the truths of faith by the outward knowledges of the natural. The heavens signify the interiors of man, since indeed these are his heavens. These are closed when knowledges have rule over tru ths of faith, or the natural over the spiritual. The words I wish make the stars of heaven dark, signify when all the knowledges of truth and of good perish. A. 6015.
2, 13. Egypt, by which outward knowledges are meant, is spoken of. By the feet and hoofs which disturb the streams and waters knowledges from natural and sensual things are signified. The more such persons reason, the less do they believe. They do not believe before the arcana of faith from which they reason are comprehended from natural and sensual things, which is not to believe at all. A. 2162.
2, 18. It is manifest that the Lord is called the Son of God, as to the Divine Human, and the Son of Man as to the Word. L. 28.

3 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will spread out my net upon thee with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring thee up in my net.

3-8. They fall in to falsities of evil, until they no longer see what is good and true. P. P.

4 And I will leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle upon thee, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with thee.

4. See Chapter XXIX., 5. R. 567.
    See Chapter XXIX., 5. E. 388.
    See Chapter XXIX., 5. E. 650 .

5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of thee.

5. See Chapter XXXI., ro, 14· A. 9489.

7 And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.

7. Black in the Word is descriptive of falsity. R. 312.
    Spoken of Pharaoh, that is, the scientific applied to falsities, which is the case when the natural man enters from scientifics into things spiritual, instead of proceeding contrariwise. This being contrary to order, such persons are thereby led to seize upon falsities, and confirm them for truths. That they cannot then receive any influx from heaven is understood by: "I will cover the heavens." No knowledge of truth is understood by making the stars dark. E. 372.
7, 8. The great lights signify love and faith. They are also called the sun, the moon, and the stars. The meaning here is that by things of sense and of knowledge, love and faith were extinguished. A. 31.
    By the stars are meant truth and good, by the sun love, by the moon faith; for the evils and falsities which cause darkness are treated of. A. 1808.
    To those who are in the evils of the love of self and of the world, that is, to those who are in hatreds against all things of love to the Lord, and of charity toward the neighbor, the light of heaven actually appears as thick darkness. A. 2441.
    In the last period of the church, there will be no longer any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith. A. 2495.
    The last day, or the last state of the church is treated of, when the good of love and of charity will perish. That is the sun being darkened, and the moon not giving her light. A. 4697.
    It is evident that falsities are called darkness. A. 7688.
    By the heavens are signified the angelic hea vens. A. 9408.
    In the Word the Lord as to love is compared to the sun and as to faith to the moon. By the stars knowledges of good and truth are meant. H. 119.
    The coming of the Lord, when there was no longer any good of love and truth of faith remaining in the church, and when there was no knowledge of the Lord.
S. 14.
    Darkness upon the land is falsities in the church. R. 51.
    By the sun in these places is not meant the sun of the world but the sun of the angelic, which is the Lord's Divine love, and Divine wisdom. These are said to be darkened, obscured, covered up, and blackened, when there are falsities and evils in man. R. 53.
    Those have falsities of evils, who do not regard evils as sins; and still more those who, by reasonings from the natural man, and more still from the Word confirm in themselves that evils are not sins. They are in darkness. R. 413.
    Treats of the last time of the Jewish church, which was when the Lord came into the world. B. 78.
    The coming of the Lord, which was when there was no longer any good of love and truth of faith remaining in the church, or any cognition of the Lord, therefore it is called a day of darkness, and of thick darkness. T. 198.
    Darkness upon the land stands for falsities in the church. E. 72.
    These things are said of the natural man separate from the spiritual, which when so separated man is altogether in darkness as to all things of heaven and the church, for of such things the natural man can see nothing from itself, but by the spiritual man from the Lord. E. 401.
    This relates to the last time of the church, when there is no longer any spiritual good and truth, or good and truth of heaven and the church, but only evil and what is false. E. 526.
    All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and will set darkness upon thy land. D. P.,  Page 27.
7-9. This passage is similar to what the Lord foretold concerning the consummation of the present Christian church. Coro. 59.

8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.

8. By the bright lights of heaven are understood the sun love the moon - faith thence derived, the stars - the knowledges of good and truth. Darkness upon the earth means that falsities are in the church. E. 304.

9 I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

9, 10. Those who are outside the church are horrified at their falsities. P. P.

10 Yea, I will make many peoples amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
11 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.

10-12. By a sword is meant the devastation of truth in the church. R. 52.
    A sword means truth combating against what is false. E. 131
    When falsities fight eagerly against truths, there sometimes appears from heaven the splendor or lightning of a sword vibrating, and striking with great terror, whereby they are dissipated who combat from falsities. E.131.
    They destroy all things of the church by reasonings from the natural man. P. P.

12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nought the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.

12, 15. The vastation, desolation, and consummation of the Jewish church is still further mentioned. Coro. 59.
    The violent of the nations shall devastate the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute. D. P., Page 27.

13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord Jehovah.
15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Jehovah.
16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, saith the Lord Jehovah.

13. See Chapter XIV., 13, 17, 19. R. 567.
    By man and beast is signified the interior or spirltual, and the exterior or natural, because man ill relation to his external or natural is nothing but a beast. E. 650.
13-16. They shall be cast into hell, that they may no longer pervert truths in those who are in an affection for truth. P. P.
16, 18. The daughters of the famous nations stand for affections for evil. A. 3024.

17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

17-23. In hell they will be associated with those who have profaned the holy things of the Word. P. P.

18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.

18, 19. Truth defiled by evil of life is signified by the uncircumcised. E. 817.
18, 20, 22, 23, 24. By the multitude of Egypt are signified scientifics of the natural man, which are dead, because they descend not and are not formed as effects, conclusions and confirmations from the truths of the spiritual man. By Ashur are signified reasonings from such scientifics. By wall is signified grief on account of the damnation of those who are principled in such reasonings. The pit stands for hell, where such dead scientifics prevail. The slain with the sword are those condemned to hell by falses. The sepulchres about Ashur, the sides of the pit where Elam is, and the uncircumcised slain with the sword signify the hells where those falses are. E. 659.
18, 23. See Chapter XXXI., 14, 16. A.4728.
18, 27, 29. The hell where they are thrown is also called a sepulchre. D. P., Page 69.

19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.

19. See Chapter XXVIII., 10. F. 54.
19-21. The pierced with the sword are those who are insane by means of knowledges, because by these they extinguish in themselves the faith of truth of the church. A. 4503.
20--24, 29-32. They are said to be pierced, or thrust through, because a sword, by which this is done, signifies the false destroying truth. Coro. 57.

21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

21. The name god and gods are used in the opposite sense, when falsity, and power from falsity are treated of. A. 4402.
21-23, 25, 27. In the opposite sense sepulchre signifies death or hell. A. 2916.

22 Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;

22. See Chapter XXVII., 23, 24. A. rr86.
22, 23, 25, 26. Hell is also called sepulchre where they are thrown, also called graves. D. P., Page 69.

23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

23-27. The earth (the land of the living) signifies the church, because by earth or land the land of Canaan is often meant, in which was the church. A. 285.
    As the earth signifies the church, and where the earth is there is heaven, it is therefore called the earth, or land of the living, and the land of life. E. 304.
23-27, 32. Heaven, because it lives from the Lord, is called the land of the living. A. 290.
23-26, 28-31. Those who are puffed up with the love of self are said to be pierced. A. 290.

24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that are slain.

24. Earth in the opposite sense signifies damnation, since when there is no church with a man, there is damnation. R. 285.
    See Chapter XXVI., 20. E. 304.
24, 25. Also with those who have falsified truths of doctrine. P. P.
Their terror was caused in the land of the living. D. P., Page 69.

26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, that are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are upon their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 But thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain by the sword.
29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with them that are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.

26. The subject here is Egypt, or the outward knowledges by which they wished to explore spiritual things. Meshech and Tubal stand for doctrinal teachings, which are rituals, and which, when there is no love, are called uncircumcised. A. 1151.
26-30. With those who have falsified the letter of the Word. P.P.
30-32. The Zidonians here stand for exterior knowledges, which being without externals are nothing but external knowledges. A. 1201.

31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, saith the Lord Jehovah.
32 For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.

31, 32. Speaking of Egypt as those who pervert truths by reasonings from outward knowledges. A. 3448.
    All of these will be with those who by knowledges (scientifics) have perverted the holy things of the church, and thus they will be separated from those who are of the church, lest they persecute them. P. P.
32. The terror of those is described who are In evils of falsity, and in falsities of evil. A. 9327.

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