Apocalypse Explained # 238
238. And miserable and poor, signifies that they do not know that they have neither knowledges of truth nor knowledges of good. This is evident from the signification of "miserable" or "pitiable," as meaning those who are in no knowledges of truth; and from the signification of "poor" as meaning those who are in no knowledges of good. That this is the meaning of "miserable" and "poor" is evident from many passages in the Word, and also from this, that spiritual misery and poverty are nothing else than a lack of the knowledges of truth and good, for the spirit is then miserable and poor; but when the spirit possesses these it is rich and wealthy; therefore also "riches" and "wealth" in the Word signifies spiritual riches and wealth, which are the knowledges of truth and good (as was shown just above, n. 236).
[2] "Miserable and poor" are terms used in many passages in the Word. He who is ignorant of the spiritual sense of the Word believes that by these no others are meant than the miserable and poor in the world. These, however, are not meant, but those who are not in truths and goods and in the knowledges thereof; and by the "miserable" indeed, those who are not in truths because not in the knowledges of truths, and by the "poor" those who are not in goods because not in the knowledges of goods. As these two, truths and goods, are meant by these two expressions, the two in many places are mentioned together; as in the passages that now follow. In David:
I am miserable and poor, Lord, remember me (Psalms 40:17; 70:5). Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, answer me, for I am miserable and poor (Psalms 86:1).
The "miserable and poor" here mean evidently those who are miserable and poor, not in respect to worldly riches but in respect to spiritual riches, as David says this of himself; therefore he also said, "Jehovah, incline thine ear, and answer me."
[3] In the same:
The wicked draw out the sword and bend their bow, to cast down the miserable and poor (Psalms 37:14).
Here also "the miserable and poor" mean evidently those who are spiritually such and yet long for the knowledges of truth and good, for it is said that "the wicked draw out the sword and bend the bow," "sword" signifying falsity combating against truth and striving to destroy it, and "bow" the doctrine of falsity fighting against the doctrine of truth; therefore it is said that they do this "to cast down the miserable and poor." (That "sword" signifies truth combating against falsity, and in a contrary sense, falsity combating against truth, see above, n. 131; and that "bow" signifies doctrine in both senses, see Arcana Coelestia 2686, 2709)
[4] So in another place in the same:
The wicked man hath persecuted the miserable and poor and the broken in heart, to slay them (Psalms 109:16).
In Isaiah:
The fool speaketh folly, and his heart doeth iniquity to practice hypocrisy and to speak error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul, and to make him who thirsteth for drink to want. He counseleth wicked devices to destroy the miserable by words of a lie, even when the poor speaketh judgment (Isaiah 32:6-7).
Here likewise "the miserable and poor" mean those who are destitute of the knowledges of truth and good; therefore it is said that "the wicked counseleth wicked devices to destroy the miserable by the words of a lie, even when the poor speaketh judgment;" "by the words of a lie" means by falsities, and "to speak judgment" is to speak what is right. Because such are treated of, it is also said that he "practices hypocrisy and speaketh error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul and to make him who thirsteth for drink to want." "To practice hypocrisy and to speak error" is to do evil from falsity, and to speak falsity from evil; "to make empty the hungry soul" is to deprive those of the knowledges of good who long for them, and "to make him who thirsteth for drink to want" is to deprive those of the knowledges of truth who long for them.
In the same:
The miserable shall have joy in Jehovah, and the poor of men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 29:19).
Here also "the miserable and poor" signify those who are in lack of truth and good and yet long for them; of these, and not of those who are miserable and poor in respect to worldly wealth, it is said that they "shall have joy in Jehovah, and shall exult in the Holy One of Israel."
[5] From this it can be seen what is signified by the "miserable and poor" in other passages of the Word, as in the following. In David:
The poor shall not always be forgotten; and the hope of the miserable shall not perish for ever (Psalms 9:18).
In the same:
God shall judge the miserable of the people, He shall save the sons of the poor. He shall deliver the poor when he crieth, and the miserable. He shall spare the weak and the poor, and the souls of the poor He shall save (Psalms 72:4, 12-13).
In the same:
The miserable shall see, they that seek Jehovah 1 shall be glad. For Jehovah heareth the poor (Psalms 69:32-33).
In the same:
Jehovah deliverest the miserable from him that is too strong for him, the poor from them that despoil him (Psalms 35:10).
In the same:
The miserable and the poor praise Thy name (Psalms 74:21; 109:22).
In the same:
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the miserable, and the judgment of the poor (Psalms 140:12).
Also elsewhere (as Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 16:49; 18:12; 22:29; Amos 8:4; Deuteronomy 15:11; 24:14). "The miserable" and "the poor" are both mentioned in these passages, because it is according to the style of the Word that where truth is spoken of, good is also spoken of; and in a contrary sense, where falsity is spoken of, evil is also spoken of, since they make a one, and as if it were a marriage; this is why "the miserable and the poor" are mentioned together; for, by "the miserable" those deficient in the knowledges of truth are meant, and by "the poor" those deficient in the knowledges of good. (That there is such a marriage almost everywhere in the prophetical parts of the Word, see Arcana Coelestia 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314.)
For the same reason it is said in what follows, "and blind and naked;" for by "the blind" one who is in no understanding of truth is meant, and by "the naked" one who is in no understanding and will of good. So in the following verse, "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried by fire, and white garments that thou mayest be clothed;" for by "gold tried by fire" the good of love is meant, and by "white garments" the truths of faith. And further, "That the shame of thy nakedness be not manifest; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see," which means, lest evils and falsities be seen. So also elsewhere. But that there is such a marriage in the particulars of the Word, none but those who know its internal sense can see.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. For "Jehovah" the Hebrew has "God."
Numbers 15
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you,
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and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock;
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then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of a tenth part [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of oil:
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and wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of a hin, you shall prepare with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
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"'Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil:
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and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
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When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh;
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then shall he offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil:
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and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
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Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats.
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According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number.
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"'All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
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If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; as you do, so he shall do.
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For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner [with you], a statute forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the foreigner be before Yahweh.
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One law and One ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.'"
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land where I bring you,
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then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh.
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Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering: as the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it.
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Of the first of your dough you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.
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"'When you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses,
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even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations;
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then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, with the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.
25
The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error:
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and all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly.
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"'If one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.
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The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
29
You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.
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"'But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes Yahweh; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
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Because he has despised the word of Yahweh, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.'"
32
While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
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Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
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They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
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Yahweh said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp."
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All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
37
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue:
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and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;
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that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
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I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God."
