Judges 3
1
Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
2
only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof:
3
[namely], the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath.
4
And they were [left], to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.
5
And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
6
and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.
7
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth.
8
Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
9
And when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
10
And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim.
11
And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
12
And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
13
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees.
14
And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15
But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab.
16
And Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
17
And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man.
18
And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute.
19
But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
20
And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
21
And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:
22
and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his body; and it came out behind.
23
Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them.
24
Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber.
25
And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened [them], and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
26
And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirah.
27
And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them.
28
And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and suffered not a man to pass over.
29
And they smote of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man.
30
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
31
And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel.
Arcana Coelestia # 3166
3166. 'And he gave precious things to her brother' means spiritual things passing from there to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'precious things' as spiritual things, dealt with in what follows, and from the meaning of 'a brother' as natural good, dealt with in 3160, and also of 'Laban', to whom 'her brother' refers here, as the affection for good in the natural man, dealt with in 3129, 3130. It is also clear from other parts of the Word that 'precious things' means spiritual things, for example, from the reference to Joseph in Moses,
Blessed by Jehovah is his land, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew, and to the deep lying beneath, and to the precious things of the fruits of the sun, and to the precious things of the produce of the months, and to the precious things of the eternal hills, and to the precious things of the earth and of its fulness. Deuteronomy 33:13-16.
Here 'the precious things of heaven', 'the precious things of the fruits of the sun', 'the precious things of the produce of the months', 'the precious things of the eternal hills', and 'the precious things of the earth' mean various kinds of spiritual things. The word 'precious' was also applied to precious stones, pearls, balms, spices, and similar commodities, which all mean spiritual things.
[2] What spiritual things are has been stated many times already, namely that in the Lord's kingdom there are celestial things and there are spiritual things. Celestial things are forms of good, spiritual things forms of truth from that good. Nothing exists in the universe that is unrelated to good or to truth. Everything to do with use and life is related to good, whereas everything to do with doctrine and knowledge, in particular concerning use and life, is related to truth. Or what amounts to the same, that which belongs to the will is called good or evil, whereas that which belongs to the understanding is referred to as truth or falsity. Good therefore, being that alone which is the expression of love and charity and which flows in from the Lord, is celestial, whereas truth, being that which springs from good, is spiritual. The reason 'precious things' were given to the brother when 'vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments' were given to the sister when she became a bride was that the brother meant good in the natural man, and this good is enlightened when truth is introduced into good in the rational. Indeed this is the origin of all enlightenment of good and truth in the natural man.
