<< Ezekiel XXII >>

 1 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 2 And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.
 3 And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her!
 4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
 5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one and full of tumult.
 6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood.
 7 In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
 8 Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
 9 Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.
 10 In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity.
 11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
 12 In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
 13 Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
 14 Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it.
 15 And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
 16 And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
 17 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 18 Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
 20 As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.
 21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
 22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.
 23 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.
 26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
 28 And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken.
 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

1 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2 And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.

1, 2. The church adulterating truths and goods of doctrine. P.P
2-4, 6, 9. This is said against  unmercifulness. A. 374.
    See Chapter XVI., 6, 9. A. 4735.
    See Chapter XVI., 6, 9. A. 9127.
2, 5. The bloody city stands for doctrine which offers violence to the good of charity, which is said to be polluted by name, when it abounds with falsities, and thence with evils, which constitute its quality. E. 148.

3 And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her!
4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one and full of tumult.

3, 4. By day and by time is meant the coming of the Lord. L. 4.
3-6. It is coming nearer to its end. P. P.
4. Bloods crying signifies an accusation of guilt. A. 376.
    Days signify states in general, and years states in particular. Those are spoken of who commit abominations and fill up the measure of their sins. A. 488.
    To come even unto the years means to the end, when the Lord withdraws from the church. A. 2906.
Shedding blood signifies offering violence to good. A. 3400.

6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood.

6, 7. By father and mother, in the internal sense, good and and truth is understood, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine good and Divine truth. A. 3703.
    The internal was to instruct from truths, and to lead by truths to good from affection those who were in ignorance, and to lead by good to truths those who had knowledge, whereby they would have done good in the spiritual sense to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. A. 4844.
    By the command is signified love for the Lord, and therefore the love of good and truth which are from the Lord. Therefore contempt of parents is enumerated among the crimes which are signified by shedding blood. A. 8899.
    In the Word the stranger. the orphan, and the widow are often named together. These three when so joined have one meaning with the angels, namely, that with those who are in the church good and truth are to be conjoined according to order, thus reciprocally truth with good, and good with truth. A. 9200.
    By a widow in the Word is meant one who is without protection, for in the spiritual sense it means one who is in good and not in truth, for truth protects good. R. 764.
    By widows are also signified such of both sexes as are in good and not in truth, and yet desire truth, thus such as are without defence against the false and evil whom however the Lord defends. E. 1121.
6, 9. it was a custom among the ancients when they made an important decision, which was confirmed by the rest, to eat together, by which they signified that they approved of the decision, and thus that they appropriated it to themselves. A. 4745.

7 In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
8 Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

7. By father in the genuine sense is signified good, and in the supreme sense the Lord. A. 3703.
7-9. They destroy truths and goods by means of it. P. P.

9 Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.
10 In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity.
11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12 In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

9, 10. Uncovering nakednesses means revealing the evils of the love of self, and of the world, which are infernal. Uncovering a father's nakednesses means revealing those evils which are from inheritance and from the will. A. 9960.
10-12. They have been guilty of various adulterations
of truth and good. P. P.
12. See Chapter XVIII., 5, 8. A. 9210.

13 Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
14 Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it.
15 And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
16 And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.

13-16. They are destroyed. P. P.
15, 16. See Chapter V., 10-12-15. A. 7051.

17 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.
21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.

17-22. Falsities and evils of every kind are mixed with truths and goods. P. P.
18. Lead, since it is more ignoble than the rest of the metals, signifies evil which is lowest, such as is the evil of the exterior natural. A. 8298.
18-22. The false doctrines are described which the Jews and Israelites compacted from the literal sense of the Word, which they applied to themselves, and to their own loves only. Such doctrines are called the dross of silver because silver signifies the truths of the Word, and dross nothing of truth, or what is abstracted from truth, and rejected. Their false doctrines, which were traditions, applied to their loves of self and of the world therefore it is said that Jehovah would gather them 'in the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it, fire signifying those loves. E. 540.
18, 24. Son of Man signifies the Lord as to the Word. The prophets also were called the son of man. L. 28.

23 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.

23-25. The truth of the Word has been adulterated. P. P.
24 25. Rain signifies the Divine truth from heaven. R. 496.
    By the land which has no rain is signified the nonreception of any influx of Divine truth out of heaven. E.644.

26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken.

26. also its good. P. P.
27. By wolf are signified those who snatch, but here those who snatch away from hell them that have been seized. A. 6441.
    By unjust gain in general is signified every falsity from evil, which perverts the judgments of the mind. This is the case with those who have the world as their end. A.8711.
27-29. Likewise the remaining things which, though false and evil, have been made to appear as though they were true and good. P. P.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

29. By the miserable and poor in the spiritual sense of the Word are meant those who are without the knowledges of truth and good. R. 209.
    See Chapter XVI., 49. E. 238.
30. See Chapter XIII., 5. A. 49 26.
    Nothing is left over. P. P.
31. See Chapter XI., 21. A. 10011.
    See Chapter XVII., 19. E. 577.
    They will perish in hell. P. P.

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