Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3739It shall go forth into a magnificent cedar; and under it shall dwellevery bird of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shallthey dwell (Ezek. 17:23);“bird of every wing” denotes truths of every kind. And again:Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon. All the birds of the heavens madetheir nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the beasts of thefield brought forth, and in his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezek.31:3, 6);“birds of the heavens” in like manner denote truths.[5] Again:Upon his ruin all the birds of the heavens shall dwell, and all thewild animals of the field shall be upon his branches (Ezek. 31:13);where “birds of the heavens” denote falsities. In Daniel:Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream; behold a tree in the midst of theearth; the beast of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of theheaven dwelt in the branches thereof (Dan. 4:10, 12, 18);where again “birds of the heaven” denote falsities.[6] In Jeremiah:I beheld and lo there was no man, and all the birds of the heavenwere fled (Jer. 4:25);“no man” denotes no good (n. 4287); the “birds of the heaven thatwere fled” denotes that truths were dispersed. Again:From the bird of the heavens, even to the beast, they are fled, theyare gone (Jer. 9:10);where the meaning is similar. And in Matthew: