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Exodus 21

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1 De Lovbud, du skal forelægge dem, er følgende:

2 Når du køber dig en hebræisk Træl, skal han trælle i seks År, men i det syvende skal han frigives uden Vederlag.

3 Er han ugift, når han kommer til dig, skal han frigives alene; er han gift, skal hans Hustru frigives sammen med ham.

4 Hvis hans Herre giver ham en Hustru og hun føder ham Sønner eller Døtre, da skal Hustruen og hendes Børn tilhøre hendes Herre, og Trællen frigives alene.

5 Hvis han imidlertid erklærer: "Jeg har fået Kærlighed til min Herre, min Hustru og mine Børn, jeg vil ikke have min Frihed!"

6 da skal hans Herre føre ham hen til Gud og stille ham op ad Døren eller Dørstolpen, og hans Herre skal gennembore hans Øre med en Syl, og så skal han være hans Træl for Livstid.

7 Når en Mand sælger sin Datter som Trælkvinde, skal hun ikke frigives som Trællene.

8 Dersom hun pådrager sig sin Herres Mishag, efter at han har haft Omgang med hende, skal han tillade, at hun købes fri; han har ikke Lov at sælge hende til fremmede Folk, når han har gjort Uret imod hende;

9 hvis han derimod bestemmer, at hun skal være hans Søns Hustru, skal han behandle hende, som det tilkommer Døtre.

10 Hvis han tager sig en anden, har han ikke Lov at forholde den første den Kødspise, Klædning og ægteskabelige et, der tilkommer hende.

11 Forholder han hende nogen af disse tre Ting, skal hun frigives uden Vederlag og Betaling.

12 Den, der slår en Mand ihjel, skal lide Døden.

13 Gør han det imidlertid ikke med Forsæt, men styres hans Hånd af Gud, vil jeg anvise dig et Sted, hvor han kan ty hen.

14 Når derimod en handler med Overlæg, så han med List slår sin Næste ihjel, da skal du rive ham bort fra mit Alter, for at han kan lide Døden.

15 Den, der slår sin Fader eller Moder, skal lide Døden.

16 Den, der stjæler et Menneske, skal lide Døden, hvad enten han har solgt det, eller det endnu findes hos ham.

17 Den, der forbander sin Fader eller Moder, skal lide Døden.

18 Når der opstår Strid mellem Mænd, og den ene slår den anden med en Sten eller med Næven, så at han vel ikke dør deraf, men dog må holde Sengen,

19 så skal Gerningsmanden være sagesløs, hvis han kan stå op og gå ud støttet til sin Stok; kun skal han godtgøre ham hans Tidsspilde og sørge for hans Helbredelse.

20 Når en Mand slår sin Træl eller Trælkvinde med sin Stok, så de dør på Stedet, skal han straffes derfor;

21 men hvis de bliver i Live en Dag eller to, skal han ikke straffes; det er jo hans egne Penge.

22 Når Mænd kommer i Slagsmål og støder til en frugtsommelig Kvinde, så hun nedkommer i Utide, men der ellers ingen Ulykke sker, da skal han bøde, hvad Kvindens Mand pålægger ham, og give Erstatning for det dødfødte Barn.

23 Men hvis der sker en Ulykke, skal du bøde Liv for Liv,

24 Øje for Øje, Tand for Tand, Hånd for Hånd, Fod for Fod,

25 Brandsår for Brandsår, Sår for Sår, Skramme for Skramme.

26 Når en Mand slår sin Træl eller sin Trælkvinde i Øjet og ødelægger det, skal han give dem fri til Erstatning for Øjet;

27 og hvis han slår en Tand ud på sin Træl eller Trælkvinde, skal han give dem fri til Erstatning for Tanden.

28 Når en Okse stanger en Mand eller Kvinde ihjel, skal Oksen stenes, og dens Kød må ikke spises, men Ejeren er sagesløs;

29 men hvis Oksen allerede tidligere har villet stange, og dens Ejer er advaret, men alligevel ikke passer på den, og den så dræber en Mand eller Kvinde, da skal Oksen stenes, og dens Ejer skal også lide Døden;

30 men hvis der pålægges ham Sonepenge, skal han betale så stor en Løsesum for sit Liv, som der kræves af ham.

31 Også hvis den stanger en Dreng eller en Pige, skal han behandles efter samme Lovbud.

32 Men hvis Oksen stanger en Træl eller Trælkvinde, skal han betale deres Herre tredive Sekel Sølv, og Oksen skal stenes.

33 Når en Mand tager Dækket af en Cisterne eller graver en Cisterne uden at dække den til, og en Okse eller et Æsel så falder deri,

34 da skal Brøndens Ejer erstatte det; han skal give Dyrets Ejer Erstatning i Penge, men det døde Dyr skal tilfalde ham,

35 Når en Mands Okse stanger en andens Okse ihjel, skal de sælge den levende Okse og dele Pengene, og ligeledes skal de dele det døde dyr.

36 Men hvis det er vitterligt, at Oksen tidligere har villet stange, og dens Ejer ikke har passet på den, da skal han erstatte Okse med Okse, men det døde Dyr skal tilfalde ham.

   


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Arcana Coelestia # 8995

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8995. 'If she is bad in the eyes of her master' means if the affection for truth springing from natural delight is not in agreement with spiritual truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'female slave', to whom the word 'bad' refers, as an affection springing from natural delight, dealt with in 8993, 8994, and from the meaning of 'bad', when it refers to that affection and its relationship with spiritual truth, as being not in agreement with, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'in the eyes of' as in the perception of, dealt with in 2789, 2829, 4083, 4339; and from the meaning of 'master' as spiritual truth, dealt with in 8981.

[2] The implications of all this must be stated. 'A female slave' is an affection for truth springing from the delights that belong to self-love and love of the world, as stated above in 8993, 8994; and this affection is able to be joined to spiritual truth. This may be recognized from the consideration that an affection for spiritual truth is an internal affection or one that resides in the internal man, whereas an affection for truth springing from natural delight resides in the external man. The internal affection that belongs to the spiritual man is joined unceasingly to the external affection that belongs to the natural man, yet in such a way that the internal affection for truth acts as master and the external affection as slave. For it is in keeping with Divine order that the spiritual man should be master over the natural man, 8961, 8967. When the spiritual man is master the person is looking upwards; this is represented by having the head in heaven. But when the natural man is master the person is looking downwards, which is represented by having the head in hell.

[3] To make this transparently clear something more must be stated. By the truths they learn and the good deeds they perform most people hope to acquire some gain from their country, or some important position. If these are regarded as the end in view, the natural man is the master and the spiritual man the slave. But if they are regarded not as the end, only as the means to the end, the spiritual man is the master and the natural man the slave, as accords exactly with the things stated in 7819, 7820. For when people consider gain or position as the means to an end and not the end itself, they are not considering gain or position but the end, which is useful service. A person for example who desires wealth, and acquires it for the sake of useful service which he loves above all things, does not delight in wealth for its own sake; he delights in it for the sake of useful service. The spirit of useful service itself constitutes spiritual life in a person, and the wealth merely serves him as means, see 6933-6938. From this one may also see what the natural man must be like if it is to be joined to the spiritual - it must regard gain and important positions, that is, wealth and eminence, as the means and not the end. What a person regards as the end constitutes the actual life within him, since he loves it more than all things. For what a person loves, that is his end in view.

[4] Anyone who does not know that a person's end in view, or what amounts to the same thing, his love, constitutes the person's spiritual life, consequently that a person is where his love is - in heaven if that love is heavenly, in hell if it is hellish - cannot grasp the situation in these matters. He may suppose that the delight belonging to natural kinds of love - self-love and love of the world - cannot be in agreement with spiritual truth and good. He may suppose this because he does not know that when a person is being regenerated he must be turned upside down, and that when he has been turned upside down he is positioned with his head in heaven, whereas before being turned upside down he was positioned with his head in hell. He was positioned with it in hell when he had the delights of self-love or love of the world as his end in view; but he is positioned with his head in heaven when he has those delights as the means to his end. For the person's end or love, and this alone, has life. The means to the end however have no life of their own but receive life from the end; therefore the means in relation to the final end are called intermediate ends, which have life in the measure that they look to the final end, which is the chief one. So it is that, when a person has been regenerated, consequently when he has loving the neighbour and loving the Lord as his end, he has loving self and the world as the means. When a person is like this, when he looks to the Lord, he rates himself and also the world as nothing. If he does rate himself as something, it is in order that he may be able to serve the Lord. Before this however his attitude had been the opposite. Then he had been full of self-regard and had rated the Lord as nothing; or if had rated Him as something, it had been in order that gain or position might consequently come his way.

[5] All this makes clear the nature of the arcanum concealed in these regulations regarding female slaves from among the daughters of Israel, that is to say, the regulations that although they were slaves they were, if 'good', betrothed to their master who had bought them, or to his son; but if they were 'bad' they were not betrothed but either redeemed or sold, according to the contents of these verses. Betrothing even female slaves, or having them as concubines, was permitted in the representative Church, particularly in the Jewish and Israelite, because a wife represented the affection for spiritual truth, whereas a female slave represented the affection for natural truth, so that a wife represented the internal aspect of the Church with a person, but a female slave the external aspect. The latter was represented by Hagar who was betrothed to Abraham, and also by the two female slaves betrothed to Jacob.

[6] All this now shows what is meant in the internal representative sense by the regulation that 'if she is bad' a female slave cannot be betrothed. That is to say, 'if she is bad' means if the affection springing from natural delight - 'a female slave' - is not in agreement with the spiritual man. This lack of agreement is brought about primarily because that affection wishes to be the master and is of a disposition and mind that cannot be bent towards a love of the Lord. Furthermore the agreement or disagreement of the affection springing from natural delight with the spiritual is determined by the essential nature of them both; but a division of them into their numerous categories would be too long and tedious. A female slave or servant-girl may also mean an affirmative means that serves to join together the external man and the internal man, see 3913, 3917, 3931.

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