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Exodus 23

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1 Du må ikke udsprede falske ygter. Gør ikke fælles Sag med den, der har Uret, ved at optræde som uretfærdigt Vidne.

2 Du må ikke følge Mængden i, hvad der er ondt, eller i dit Vidnesbyrd for etten tage Hensyn til Mængden, så du bøjer etten.

3 Du må ikke tage Parti for den ringe i hans etssag.

4 Når du træffer din Fjendes Okse eller Æsel løbende løse, skal du bringe dem tilbage til ham.

5 Når du ser din Uvens Æsel segne under sin Byrde, må du ikke lade ham i Stikken, men du skal hjælpe ham med at læsse Byrden af.

6 Du må ikke bøje din fattige Landsmands et i hans etssag.

7 Hold dig fra en uretfærdig Sag; og den, som er uskyldig og har et. må du ikke berøve Livet; nej, du må ikke skaffe den et, som har Uret.

8 Tag ikke mod Bestikkelse, thi Bestikkelse gør den seende blind og fordrejer Sagen for dem, der har et.

9 Undertryk ikke den fremmede; I ved jo, hvorledes den fremmede er til Mode, thi I,var selv fremmede i Ægypten.

10 Seks År igennem skal du tilså dit Land og indsamle dets Afgrøde;

11 men i det syvende skal du lade det hvile og ligge urørt, så at de fattige i dit Folk kan gøre sig til gode dermed, og Markens vilde Dyr kan æde, hvad de levner; ligeså skal du gøre med din Vingård og dine Oliventræer.

12 I seks Dage skal du gøre dit Arbejde, men på den syvende skal du hvile, for at dine Okser og Æsler kan få Hvile og din Trælkvindes Søn og den fremmede hvile ud.

13 Hold eder alt, hvad jeg siger eder, efterrettelig; du må ikke nævne andre Guders Navn, det må ikke høres i din Mund.

14 Tre Gange om Året skal du holde Højtid for mig.

15 Du skal fejre de usyrede Brøds Højtid; i syv Dage skal du spise usyret Brød, som jeg har pålagt dig, på den fastsatte Tid i Abib Måned, thi i den Måned vandrede du ud af Ægypten, Man må ikke stedes for mit Åsyn med tomme Hænder.

16 Fremdeles skal du fejre Højtiden for Høsten, Førstegrøden af dit Arbejde, af hvad du sår i din Mark, og Højtiden for Frugthøsten ved Årets Udgang, når du har bjærget Udbyttet af dit Arbejde hjem fra Marken.

17 Tre Gange om Året skal alle dine Mænd stedes for den Herre HE ENs Åsyn.

18 Du må ikke ofre Blodet af mit Slagtoffer sammen med syret Brød. Fedtet fra min Højtid må ikke gemmes til næste Morgen.

19 Du skal bringe det første, Førstegrøden af din Jord, til HE EN din Guds Hus. Du må ikke koge et Kid i dets Moders Mælk.

20 Se, jeg sender en Engel foran dig for at vogte dig undervejs og føre dig til det Sted, jeg har beredt.

21 Tag dig vel i Vare for ham og adlyd ham; vær ikke genstridig imod ham, thi han skal ikke tilgive eders Overtrædelser, efterdi mit Navn er i ham.

22 Når du adlyder ham og gør alt, hvad jeg siger, vil jeg være dine Fjenders Fjende og dine Modstanderes Modstander,

23 Ja, min Engel skal drage foran dig og føre dig til Amoriterne, Hetiterne, Perizziterne, Kana'anæerne, Hivviterne og Jebusiterne, og jeg vil udrydde dem.

24 Du må ikke tilbede eller dyrke deres Guder eller følge deres Skikke; men du skal nedbryde dem og sønderslå deres Stenstøtter.

25 I skal dyrke HE EN eders Gud, så vil jeg velsigne dit Brød og dit Vand og holde Sygdomme borte fra dig.

26 Utidige Fødsler eller Ufrugtbarhed skal ikke forekomme i dit Land, og dine Dages Mål vil jeg gøre fuldt.

27 Jeg vil sende min ædsel foran dig og bringe Bestyrtelse over alle de Folk, du kommer til, og jeg vil drive alle dine Fjender på Flugt for dig.

28 Jeg vil sende Gedehamse foran dig, og de skal drive Hivviterne, Kana'anæerne og Hetiterne bort foran dig.

29 Men jeg vil ikke drive dem bort foran dig i et og samme År, for at Landet ikke skal lægges øde, og for at Markens vilde Dyr ikke skal tage Overhånd for dig;

30 lidt efter lidt vil jeg drive dem bort foran dig, indtil du bliver så talrig, at du kan tage Landet i Besiddelse.

31 Jeg vil lade dine Landemærker nå fra det røde Hav til Filisternes Hav, fra Ørkenen til Floden, thi jeg giver Landets Indbyggere i eders Hånd, så du kan drive dem bort foran dig.

32 Du må ikke slutte Pagt med dem eller deres Guder.

33 De må ikke blive boende i dit Land, for at de ikke skal forlede dig til Synd imod mig, til at dyrke deres Guder, så det bliver dig til en Snare!

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3727

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3727. As regards the meaning of 'a pillar', the reason why it means a holy boundary and so the ultimate degree of order is that in most ancient times people used to place stones where their boundaries ran which separated one person's property or inheritance from another's. These served as a sign and witness to the existence of the boundaries there. The most ancient people, who in every object and in every pillar thought of something celestial or spiritual, 1977, 2995, thought, when they saw these stones set up as pillars, of the ultimate things present in man, and so of the ultimate degree of order, which is truth in the natural man. And it was from those most ancient people who lived before the Flood that the ancients who lived after it acquired this custom, 920, 1409, 2179, 2896, 2897, and began to regard the stones they set up on their boundaries as sacred, for the reason, as stated, that they meant holy truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order, and also called those stones 'pillars'. This was how it came about that pillars were introduced into their worship, and why they erected them where they had their sacred groves and subsequently their temples, and also anointed them with oil, a point to be dealt with shortly. Indeed the worship of the Ancient Church consisted of things that had been perceived and things that had carried a meaning among the most ancient people prior to the Flood, as is evident from the paragraphs that have just been referred to. Since the most ancient people talked to angels and were in their company while still on earth, they received it from heaven that 'stones' means truth and 'wood' good; see just above in 3720. This then is why 'pillars' means a holy boundary, and so truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order with man. For good which flows in from the Lord by way of the internal man terminates in the external man, and in the truth that is there. Man's thought, speech, and activity, which are the ultimates of order, are nothing else than truths stemming from good. In fact they are the images or forms which good takes, for they belong to the understanding part of the human mind, whereas the good that is within them, and from which they spring, belongs to the will part.

[2] The fact that pillars were erected as a sign and a witness, and were also introduced into worship, and that in the internal sense they mean a holy boundary, or truth within man's natural, which is the ultimate degree of order, becomes clear from other places in the Word, as in the following verses where the subject is the covenant made between Laban and Jacob,

Now come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you. And Jacob took a stone and erected it as a pillar. Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have erected between me and you. This heap is a witness and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and that you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. Genesis 31:44-45, 51-52.

Here 'pillar' means truth, as will be seen in the explanation of those verses.

[3] In Isaiah,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak with the lips of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to Jehovah, which will be a sign and a witness to Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt. Isaiah 19:18-20.

'Egypt' stands for facts which belong to the natural man, 'an altar' for Divine worship in general, for in the second Ancient Church that began with Eber the altar became the first and foremost representative in its worship, 921, 1343, 2777, 2811. 'The midst of the land of Egypt' stands for the primary and inmost aspect of worship, 2940, 2973, 3436. 'Pillar' stands for truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order in the natural. The fact that it stood at the border as a sign and a witness is quite evident.

[4] In Moses,

Moses wrote down all the words of Jehovah and rose up in the morning and built an altar beside Mount Sinai, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Exodus 24:4.

Here similarly 'an altar' was the representative of all worship, and indeed was the representative of good present in worship. 'The twelve pillars' however were the representative in worship of truth that stems from good - 'twelve' meaning every aspect of truth in its entirety, see 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272; and the twelve tribes likewise meaning every aspect of truth in the Church, as in the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown in the next chapter.

[5] Because altars were representative of all good in worship, and the Jewish Church was established so as to represent the celestial Church which acknowledged no other truth than truth stemming from good, which is called celestial truth (for the celestial Church was totally unwilling to separate truth from good, so much so that it was unwilling even to refer to anything of faith or truth without thinking about good, and doing so from good, see 202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718, 3246), truth was therefore represented by the stones of the altar. And they were forbidden to represent it by means of pillars lest in so doing they separated truth from good and by representation worshipped truth instead of good. This accounts for the following prohibition in Moses,

You shall not plant for yourself a grove of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God which you shall make for yourself. And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:21-22.

For worshipping truth separated from good, or faith separated from charity, is contrary to the Divine since it is contrary to order, meant by 'you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates'.

[6] Despite this they did erect them and so represented things that are contrary to order, as is clear in Hosea,

Israel, according to the multiplying of his fruit, multiplies altars; according to the goodness of their land they make well their pillars. But He will overturn their altars, and lay waste their pillars. Hosea 10:1-2.

In the first Book of Kings,

Judah did what was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and they built for themselves high places and pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree. 1 Kings 14:22-23.

In the second Book of Kings,

The children of Israel set up pillars for themselves and groves on every high hill and under every green tree. 2 Kings 17:10.

In the same book,

Hezekiah removed the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the grove, and smashed the bronze snake which Moses had made, because they had been burning incense to it. 2 Kings 18:4.

[7] Since gentile nations too derived through tradition the idea that the holiness of worship was to be represented by means of altars and pillars, and yet they were under the influence of evil and falsity, the altars among the nations therefore mean the evils of worship and the pillars the falsities. This was why the command was given for them to be destroyed. In Moses,

The altars of the nations you shall overthrow, and you shall break down their pillars and tear down their groves. Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3.

In the same author,

You shall not bow down to the gods of the nations, or worship them, or do according to their works, for you shall utterly destroy them, and utterly break down their pillars. Exodus 23:24.

'The gods of the nations' stands for falsities, 'their works' for evils, 'breaking down their pillars' for destroying worship arising out of falsity.

[8] In Jeremiah,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel will break down the pillars of the house of the sun that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire. Jeremiah 43:13.

In Ezekiel,

By means of the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel will trample all your streets, slay the people with the sword, and cause your mighty pillars to come down to the ground. Ezekiel 26:11.

This refers to Tyre. 'Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel' stands for that which lays waste, 1327 (end). 'The hoofs of horses' stands for the lowest form of intellectual concepts, such as facts based on mere sensory impressions - 'hoofs' meaning lowest concepts, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be confirmed elsewhere. 'Horses' stands for matters of the understanding, 2760-2762, 'streets' for truths, and in the contrary sense for falsities, 2336. 'trampling' on them is destroying cognitions of truth, which are meant by 'Tyre' - 'Tyre', the subject here, meaning cognitions of truth, 1201. 'Slaying the people with the sword' stands for destroying truths by means of falsity - 'people' being used in reference to truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, and 'sword' meaning falsity engaged in conflict, 2799. From this one may see what 'causing your mighty pillars to come down to the ground' means - 'might' being used in reference either to truth or to falsity, as is also clear from the Word.

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

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