Significatio in Ezechielem

Signification in Ezekiel. We consider the human being to be the rational part; the lion, the spirited part; the calf, the appetitive part; the eagle, the conscience set over the rest, which is what Paul calls the spirit of the human being; the one seated upon them, the Father; the spirit, the Holy Spirit; the cloud, the Son; from the north, from the introductory, proceeding toward better things. Radiance, because of being illuminated; fire, because of discipline; the lightning, because punishments come at intervals; the purified part of the soul is called electron; it is to be noted that the likeness of the human being takes precedence. Every rational nature is winged with spiritual wings. They embrace one another, because of community and concord. A human hand is underneath, because of good order. The firmament, because of solidity. The rainbow, because of peace and the covenant with us from God. Sapphire, the hidden things; crystal, the pure and guileless. The feet are straight, because of stability and steadfastness. Fire turning in the middle, not loose and flowing. Radiance, because of the end of rest. The track of the feet, according to Symmachus, of a calf, because of the labor of the earth; according to Aquila, round, because of the most beautiful of shapes. The form of the wheels, according to Symmachus, hyacinthine. Unbending, as a form of the bezek, as if going a difficult path, not having the whole of the light, but as a form of the bezek, which is of the lightning. If the likeness of the human being is perfected, it rules over other human beings; if not, the opposite occurs.

The lion has something—its pride, its vigor—so that we may use it well. The calf, so that we may desire appropriately. Isaiah says: You shall sanctify it in burning fire. From the loins upward, electrum; for the upper parts do not require punishment. From the loins downward, fire—the things of generation; these require punishment. The Spirit first lifts up, purifying; then, for those not purified by this, the fire purifies. The light is a good end; for such are the punishments. There is one principle of the craftsman: to make the underlying material as he wishes and as the art allows—just as God is good and wise, but not as we are, so also is the craftsman, since he is simple and uncompounded; for we, being composite, are not so. Wisdom was justified by her children, calling the wise her children. And again the Savior himself says to them in the passage: The sons of this age are wiser than the sons of light, in their generation—calling the enlightened in knowledge sons of light. And: We were by nature children of wrath, not meaning according to nature, but that in truth those who sin are liable to wrath. And concerning Judas it is written that he is a son of perdition; he called him a son of perdition because he had done the deeds of perdition. Isaiah went about naked and unshod for three years. They say that Moses, after hearing the oracles of God, no longer touched his wife nor fathered children.

An abomination of desolation standing in a holy place, they say, meaning that the temple in Jerusalem will be built later, when the Antichrist is believed by the Jews to be the Christ, and is seated, and is thought to be king of the whole world. And he will come upon the desolation of the world; for it is an abomination of desolation. The three youths, those in Babylon and in the furnace, are said to be sons of Hezekiah, and that Ezekiel was previously a servant of Jeremiah.