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Joshua 2

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1 And Joshua son of Nun sendeth from Shittim, two men, spies, silently, saying, `Go, see the land -- and Jericho;' and they Go and come into the house of a woman, a harlot, and her name [is] Rahab, and they lie down there.

2 And it is told to the king of Jericho, saying, `Lo, men have come in hither to-night, from the sons of Israel, to search the land.

3 And the king of Jericho sendeth unto Rahab, saying, `Bring out the men who are coming in unto thee, who have come into thy house, for to search the whole of the land they have come in.

4 And the woman taketh the two men, and hideth them, and saith thus: `The men came in unto me, and I have not known whence they [are];

5 and it cometh to pass -- the gate is to [be] shut -- in the dark, and the men have gone out; I have not known whither the men have gone; pursue ye, hasten after them, for ye overtake them;'

6 and she hath caused them to go up on the roof, and hideth them with the flax wood, which is arranged for her on the roof.

7 And the men have pursued after them the way of the Jordan, by the fords, and the gate they have shut afterwards, when the pursuers have gone out after them.

8 And -- before they lie down -- she hath gone up unto them on the roof,

9 and she saith unto the men, `I have known that Jehovah hath given to you the land, and that your terror hath fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted at your presence.

10 `For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your presence, in your going out of Egypt, and that which ye have done to the two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan; to Sihon and to Og whom ye devoted.

11 And we hear, and melt doth our heart, and there hath not stood any more spirit in [any] man, from your presence, for Jehovah your God, He [is] God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath.

12 `And now, swear ye, I pray you, to me by Jehovah -- because I have done with you kindness -- that ye have done, even ye, kindness with the house of my father, and have given to me a true token,

13 and have kept alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and have delivered our souls from death.'

14 And the men say to her, `Our soul for yours -- to die; if ye declare not this our matter, then it hath been, in Jehovah's giving to us this land, that we have done with thee kindness and truth.'

15 And she causeth them to go down by a rope through the window, for her house [is] in the side of the wall, and in the wall she [is] dwelling;

16 and she saith to them, `To the mountain go, lest the pursuers come upon you; and ye have been hidden there three days till the turning back of the pursuers, and afterwards ye go on your way.'

17 And the men say unto her, `We are acquitted of this thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear:

18 lo, we are coming into the land, this line of scarlet thread thou dost bind to the window by which thou hast caused us to go down, and thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all the house of thy father thou dost gather unto thee, to the house;

19 and it hath been, any one who goeth out from the doors of thy house without, his blood [is] on his head, and we are innocent; and any one who is with thee in the house, his blood [is] on our head, if a hand is on him;

20 and if thou declare this our matter, then we have been acquitted from thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear.'

21 And she saith, `According unto your words, so it [is];' and she sendeth them away, and they go; and she bindeth the scarlet line to the window.

22 And they go, and come in to the mountain, and abide there three days until the pursuers have turned back; and the pursuers seek in all the way, and have not found.

23 And the two men turn back, and come down from the hill, and pass over, and come in unto Joshua son of Nun, and recount to him all that hath come upon them;

24 and they say unto Joshua, `Surely Jehovah hath given into our hand all the land; and also, all the inhabitants of the land have melted at our presence.'

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 2      

Napsal(a) Rev. Julian Duckworth and New Christian Bible Study Staff

Joshua Chapter 2: Rahab hides the Israelite spies

Chapter 2 is the fascinating story of the prostitute Rahab, whose house is on the wall of the city of Jericho. Joshua sends two spies to see what Jericho is like, because Jericho lies opposite where they will be crossing the river Jordan. Rahab takes these spies into her house and hides them from the king’s messengers, who come and demand that she hand the men over. Rahab says the men have been and gone, and the king’s messengers leave. She then tells the men hidden on the roof that she knows that the God of Israel will give Jericho into the hands of Israel as he has made them victorious up to this time.

She asks them for kindness for everyone in her family just as she has been kind in hiding and so saving them. The two spies give her their promise and she lets them escape down a cord from her window on the city wall. The men tell her that their promise will be void unless she hangs a scarlet cord in her window and brings all her family into her house. Rahab agrees, and the men escape and return to Joshua, telling him everything and saying that God has given them the city.

There are several rich and important spiritual meanings in this very graphic story. First, we should appreciate that the spies do not seem to go anywhere else in Jericho than to Rahab! The point is, they don’t need to, because Rahab’s prostitution – selling her body for men to enjoy – represents the quality of the whole city of Jericho, which stands almost directly opposite where Israel will cross the Jordan. It must and will be taken. (See Doctrine of Life 46).

In this story, Jericho stands for a sensual life. It's the sort of life that comes into play when anything we know about God’s truth gets perverted and rejected as nothing. No truth, no values, no conscience, nothing! (See Arcana Caelestia 2973[6].) This is why the story involves the prostitute Rahab, because she pictures that level of life.

But Rahab sees herself for what she is and for what her city is, and she knows that with the God of the Israelites coming, there is no future for Jericho. She believes the future lies with Israel and their God.

So what we have in this story is a sinful woman whose mind and heart and actions turn towards repentance, and even a genuine worship and acknowledgement of God. For us, it is the picture of our unspiritual or natural life which is self-gratifying, hedonistic, pleasure-seeking and opportunistic. But hopefully for us it is also the picture of our wish and our intention to believe in and follow God (Arcana Caelestia 5639[2]). If we have that wish and work towards it, as with Rahab, it will eventually save us from ourselves and save everything about us (all Rahab’s family).

Next, we should look at these two men who are to spy out Jericho but who go in to Rahab.
Perhaps a better word than to ‘spy’ is to ‘espy’ which means to observe but even more to take a very long hard look at how a situation is. If we direct that to ourselves we are talking about real self-examination, about looking at how we have been and what we have thought, said and done, or not. We can only examine ourselves properly if we have begun to take on various values and truths, and look at ourselves in their light (Doctrine of Life 6).

There are two men, not one, and this is because our spiritual life involves a love for what is true and a love for what is good (Arcana Caelestia 5194). When we love and want to live by what is true, then things we know becomes things we feel and we have delight in them and doing them.

Lastly, note how these two men are hidden by Rahab high up on the roof, under her drying flax stalks. In the Word, anything up high is a picture of being closer to God, nearer to what is true (Divine Love and Wisdom 103). We see more high up! And the flax is the fibre from which our spiritual clothing – these truths again – can be made. And flax provides linen which was used for the high priest’s robes.

Swedenborg

Výklad(y) nebo odkazy ze Swedenborgových prací:

Arcana Coelestia 9468

Odkazy ze Swedenborgových nevydaných prací:

Apocalypse Explained 608, 1042

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Významy biblických slov

joshua
Joshua, the son of Josedech the high-priest,' as in Zechariah 3:1, signifies the law, or the Word.

son
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....

two
The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see...

spies
'Spies,' as in Genesis 42:9, denote people who learn the church's truth only for gain.

go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...

see
To look,' as in Genesis 18:22, signifies thinking, because seeing denotes understanding. Look not back behind thee,' as in Genesis 19:17, means that Lot, who...

land
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.

jericho
Jericho' signifies instruction and also the good of life because no one can be instructed in the truths of doctrine but he who is in...

come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.

house
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...

Woman
'Virgin' and 'woman,' in the Word, signify the affection of good.

harlot
'A harlot' signifies the affection of falsities, thus the church corrupted.

name
It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and...

lie down
To “lie down” in the Bible represents a state of spiritual serenity, a time when temptations are distant and we are not in spiritual conflict....

night
The sun in the Bible represents the Lord, with its heat representing His love and its light representing His wisdom. “Daytime,” then, represents a state...

Sons of Israel
'The camp of the sons of Israel' represents the church.

israel
Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to...

bring
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “bring” is highly dependent on context, but in general it represents an introduction to a new...

coming
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...

saith
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

came
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...

known
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...

gate
"Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in...

shut
There are only a couple of references in the Writings to "close" used as a verb, and both stem from Amos 9:11, which talks about...

dark
"Darkness" is a state without light. "Light" is truth from the Lord, so "darkness" represents a state where truth is lacking. Here's a cogent passage...

pursue
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...

after
According to Swedenborg, time and space don’t exist in spiritual reality; they are purely natural things that exist only on the physical plane. This means...

Overtake
'To overtake' denotes communication and influx.

go up
When we talk about "going up" in the modern world, we usually mean either that we're going north – which is toward the top of...

roof
'A house-top,' as mentioned in Matthew 24:13, signifies the superior state of a person, and consequently, his state as to good.

flax
Flax, as in Exodus 9:31, signifies truth of the natural exterior principle. A smoking flax, as in Isaiah 42:3, signifies a little of truth from...

wood
In general, plants in the Bible represent facts, thoughts and ideas – intellectual things. This makes sense: Plants are rooted in place, but can grow...

pursued
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...

way
In John 14:6, 'the way is doctrine,' 'the truth' is every thing pertaining to doctrine, and 'the life' is the essential good which is the...

jordan
The river Jordan separates the land of Canaan from the lands to the east. This separation represents the division of the human mind into an internal...

jehovah
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

given
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...

fallen
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "fall" is highly dependent on context in regular language, and is highly dependent on context in a spiritual...

us
Angels do give us guidance, but they are mere helpers; the Lord alone governs us, through angels and spirits. Since angels have their assisting role,...

the inhabitants
'The inhabitants of Teman,' as in Jeremiah 49:20, signifies the evils and falsities opposed to the Lord’s celestial kingdom.

inhabitants
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.

heard
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...

dried
'Withering and drying up,' as in Ezekiel 17:10, referring to the east wind, signifies when there is no good or truth.

Red sea
'The Red sea' signifies hell and damnation, or temptation.

sea
'The sea and the waves roaring' means heresy and controversies in the church and individual.

egypt
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.

kings
The human mind is composed of two parts, a will and an understanding, a seat of loves and affections, and a seat of wisdom and...

Og
'Og, king of Bashan' signifies being in evils of every kind.

hear
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...

melt
'To melt' denotes vanishing before the heat of lust.

man
"Man" is a tricky word to discuss, because the Hebrew of the Old Testament uses six different words that are generally translated as "man," with...

God
When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is...

heavens
"Heaven" and "heavens" are used many times in the Bible, with a couple of variations of meaning. Sometimes it is relatively literal, including times when...

earth
"Earth" in the Bible can mean a person or a group of like-minded people as in a church. But it refers specifically to the external...

beneath
Generally speaking things that are seen as lower physically in the Bible represent things that are lower or more external spiritually. In some cases this...

swear
The Lord swearing by himself signifies that divine truth testifies, for He is divine truth itself, and this testifies from itself and means itself. It...

kindness
In regular language, "mercy" means being caring and compassionate toward those who are in poor states. That's a position we are all in relative to...

father
Father in the Word means what is most interior, and in those things that are following the Lord's order, it means what is good. In...

token
'A token,' as in Genesis 9:12, 13, 17, signifies causing it to be.

mother
In general, mothers in the Bible represent the Lord's church on earth, or the church among those who know and follow the Lord. In some...

brothers
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.

sisters
The Lord calls people who are in truth from the good of charity from Him 'sisters,' as in Matthew 12:50. 'Sister' denotes intellectual truth, when...

souls
The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as "spiritual life," who we are in terms of...

say
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

soul
The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as "spiritual life," who we are in terms of...

die
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.

declare
To "declare" something means to say it formally, publicly and with emphasis; you might say what you think, but you only declare things you're sure...

jehovah's
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

giving
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...

truth
There's a great deal of talk in Swedenborg about "truth" as a concept – it's how we learn the Lord's will, what we must seek...

go down
To go up and to go down: in the Word, mention is made of going up and going down when speaking of going from one...

down
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...

rope
Rope or cord denotes conjunction.

window
'Window' signifies truth in the light.

side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.

wall
'A wall' signifies truth in outer extremes. 'A wall,' as in Revelation 21, signifies the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and so, the truth...

dwelling
Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and re-raised...

mountain
'Hills' signify the good of charity.

three
The Writings talk about many aspects of life using the philosophical terms "end," "cause" and "effect." The "end" is someone’s goal or purpose, the ultimate...

days
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...

back
Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to...

oath
'To sware' is a binding.

scarlet
'Scarlet,' as in Isaiah 1:18, signifies truth derived from good, or truth from a celestial origin, such as is the truth of the Word in...

brethren
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.

gather
To gather, as in Genesis 6:21, refers to those things which are in the memory of man, where they are gathered. It also implies that...

goeth
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...

doors
In a general sense, doors in the Bible represent the initial desires for good and concepts of truth that introduce people to new levels of...

blood
Bloods signify evil, in Ezek. 16:9.

head
The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense that it is what is closest to the Lord....

hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.

words
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...

found
To not to be found any more, signifies not to rise again.

Come down
To come down (Gen. 11:5), is predicated of Jehovah, by reason of his being called the Highest. This is spoken according to appearance.

hill
The Writings tell us that the Lord's love is the sun of heaven, and it is natural for us to look above ourselves to the...

pass
'To pass,' as in Genesis 31:52, signifies flowing in. 'To pass the night,' as in Genesis 24:54, signifies having peace. 'To pass through,' as in...

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