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Zechariah 8

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1 And the word of Jehovah of hosts came [to me], saying,

2 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.

3 Thus saith Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, The holy mountain.

4 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

6 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts.

7 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;

8 and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

9 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets that were in the day that the foundation of the house of Jehovah of hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.

10 For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in, because of the adversary: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.

11 But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts.

12 For [there shall be] the seed of peace; the vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.

13 And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing. Fear not, [but] let your hands be strong.

14 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil unto you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I repented not;

15 so again have I thought in these days to do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

16 These are the things that ye shall do: speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates;

17 and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah.

18 And the word of Jehovah of hosts came unto me, saying,

19 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The fast of the fourth [month], and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace.

20 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: [It shall] yet [come to pass], that there shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities;

21 and the inhabitants of one [city] shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of hosts: I will go also.

22 Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Jehovah.

23 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days [it shall come to pass], that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8339

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8339. 'With timbrels and with dances' means praise from joy and gladness. This is clear from the meaning of 'timbrel' as that which has regard to an affection for spiritual good, or to the good of truth, and means the delight or joy belonging to it, dealt with just above in 8337; and from the meaning of 'dance' as that which has regard to an affection for spiritual truth, and means the delightful feeling or gladness belonging to it, dealt with below. In ancient times not only musical instruments and singing served to bear witness to gladness of heart but also dancing. Joyful feelings in the heart or interior things erupted into various activities in the body, such as singing and also dancing. Since in ancient times the glad feelings excelling all others were spiritual ones, that is, feelings springing from affections belonging to spiritual kinds of love, which were affections for goodness and truth, people were allowed, when they engaged in singing and musical harmony, to dance as well and so in dancing also to bear witness to their joy. This explains why 'dancing' is mentioned in the Word, meaning the glad feelings that belong to affections for truth, or to faith grounded in good or charity, as in Jeremiah,

Again you will adorn your timbrels, 1 and will go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Their life 2 will become like a watered garden, and they will not sorrow any more. Then will the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together. Jeremiah 31:4, 12-13.

In the same prophet,

The joy of our heart has ceased 3 , our dance has been turned into mourning. Lamentations 5:15

In David,

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. Psalms 30:11.

In the same author,

Let them praise His name in dancing, with timbrel and harp let them make melody to Him. Psalms 149:3; 150:4.

Also the gentiles played and danced when they worshipped their gods, as is clear in Exodus 32:6, 19.

[2] The words 'joy and gladness' are used because 'joy' in the Word has reference to good and 'gladness' to truth. This is why 'joy' and 'gladness' are mentioned many times in the Word both together, as in Isaiah,

Behold, joy and gladness consist in slaying oxen ... Isaiah 22:13.

In the same prophet,

They will obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 35:10.

In the same prophet, Joy and gladness will be found in Zion, confession and the voice of song. Isaiah 51:3, 11.

In Jeremiah,

The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. Jeremiah 33:11.

In Zechariah,

The fast of the tenth [month] will be to the house of Judah one of joy and gladness. Zechariah 8:19.

In David,

You shall cause me to hear joy and gladness. Psalms 51:8.

In these places both are mentioned because 'joy' has reference to good and 'gladness' to truth; if this were not so the use of one word would have been sufficient. This holy way of speaking is used in the Word in order that the heavenly marriage, that is, the marriage of goodness and truth, might be present in every detail there, 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 4138 (end), 5138, 5502, 7945.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. See footnote on page 138.

2. lit. soul

3. Reading cessavit (has ceased), which Swedenborg has in his rough draft, for cessabit (will cease).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.