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Joshua 11

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1 Da Kong Jabin af Hazor hørte herom sendte han Bud til Kong Jobab af Madon og Kongerne af Sjimron og Aksjaf.

2 og til Kongerne nordpå i Bjergene, i Arabalavningen sønden for Kinnerot, i Lavlandet og på Højdedraget vestpå ved Dor,

3 til Kana'anæerne i Øst og Vest, Amoriterne, Hivviterne, Perizziterne og Jebusiterne i Bjergene og Hetiterne ved Foden af Hermon i Mizpas Land;

4 og de drog ud med alle deres Hære, Krigsfolk talrige som Sandet ved Havets Bred, og med en stor Mængde Heste og Stridsvogne.

5 Alle disse Konger slog sig sammen og kom og lejrede sig i Forening ved Meroms Vand for at angribe Israel.

6 Men HE EN sagde til Josua: "Frygt ikke for dem! Thi i Morgen ved denne Tid vil jeg lade dem ligge faldne foran Israel; deres Heste skal du lamme, og deres Vogne skal du brænde!"

7 Da kom Josua med hele Hæren uventet over dem ved Meroms Vand og kastede sig over dem,

8 og HE EN gav dem i Israels Hånd, så de slog dem og forfulgte dem til den store Stad Zidon, til, Misrefot Majim og Mizpes Lavning i Øst, og huggede dem ned, så ikke en eneste af dem blev tilbage.

9 Josua gjorde derpå med dem, som HE EN havde sagt ham; deres Heste lammede han, og deres Vogne brændte han.

10 Ved den Tid vendte Josua om og indtog Hazor, og Kongen huggede han ned med Sværdet; Hazor var nemlig fordum alle disse Kongerigers Hovedstad;

11 og de huggede hver levende Sjæl i den ned med Sværdet og lagde Band på dem, så ikke en levende Sjæl blev tilbage; og Hazor stak han i Brand.

12 Alle hine Kongsbyer med deres Konger undertvang Josua, og han huggede dem ned med Sværdet og lagde Band på dem, som HE ENs Tjener Moses havde påbudt.

13 Men ingen af de Byer, som lå på deres Høje, stak Israel i Brand, alene med Undtagelse af Hazor; den stak Josua i Brand.

14 Kvæget og alt det andet, der røvedes fra disse Byer, beholdt Israeliterne som Bytte; men alle Menneskene huggede de ned med Sværdet til sidste Mand uden at lade en eneste levende Sjæl blive tilbage.

15 Hvad HE EN havde pålagt sin Tjener Moses, havde Moses pålagt Josua, og det gjorde Josua; han undlod intet som helst af, hvad HE EN havde pålagt Moses.

16 Således indtog Josua hele dette Land, Bjerglandet, hele Sydlandet, hele Landskabet Gosjen, Lavlandet, Arabalavningen, Israels Bjergland og Lavland,

17 fra det nøgne Bjergdrag, som højner sig hen imod Seir, indtil Ba'al Gad i Libanons Dal ved Hermonbjergets Fod; og alle deres Konger tog han til Fange, huggede dem ned og dræbte dem.

18 I lang Tid førte Josua Krig med disse Konger

19 Der var ingen By, som sluttede Overenskomst med Israeliterne, undtagen Hivviterne, som boede i Gibeon. Alt tog de i Kamp;

20 thi HE EN voldte, at de forhærdede deres Hjerter, så de drog i Kamp mod Israel, for at de skulde lægge Band på dem uden Skånsel og udrydde dem, som HE EN havde pålagt Moses.

21 Ved den Tid drog Josua hen og udryddede Anakiterne af Bjerglandet, af Hebron, Debir og Anab, og af hele Judas og hele Israels Bjergland; på dem og deres Byer lagde Josua Band.

22 Der blev ingen Anakiter tilbage i Israeliternes Land, kun i Gaza, Gat og Asdod blev der Levninger tilbage.

23 Således indtog Josua hele Landet, ganske som HE EN havde sagt til Moses, og Josua gav Israel det i Eje efter deres Afdelinger, Stamme for Stamme. Og Landet fik o efter Krigen.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 11

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Joshua 11: Joshua conquers the entire land.

In this chapter, the Canaanite kings of the north, east and west heard that Israel had conquered all of the southern Canaanite territories. Jabin, king of Hazor, called upon the other Canaanite kingdoms to join forces and attack Israel with a great army.

The Lord reassured Joshua, “Be not afraid because of them: for tomorrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel” (verse 6). So Joshua counterattacked, and Israel defeated the Canaanites just as the Lord had said.

The rest of the chapter is an account of Joshua’s victories, now here, now there. Israel destroyed each of the Canaanite cities and territories and not one of them was left undefeated (See Swedenborg’s work, The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 161-164). In all of Canaan, only the Gibeonites were spared because they had made a peace treaty with Israel. The chapter closes with these words: “So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had said to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land had rest from war” (verse 23).

Now we turn to the spiritual meaning of all this, and its meaning for us. Because of our inherited, human nature, each of us has internal things we have to contend with in our natural life. These Canaanites - the faults we must overcome - are described by the compass points: north, south, east and west. Here are the spiritual meanings of the four cardinal directions (see Swedenborg’s work, Heaven and Hell 141-153):

West = less love

East = greater love

North = less light and wisdom

South = greater light and wisdom

Swedenborg tells us that heaven is organized by this principle. Angels with the clearest perception of love live in the eastern region of heaven, while those with a more hazy understanding live in the west. The same thing applies to the north/south axis; those in a “clear light of wisdom” live in the south, and those in a “dim light of wisdom” live in the north (Heaven and Hell 148). These poles represent angels’ states of love and wisdom, and their use. Just like people on earth, angels experience varying states of love and wisdom - sometimes more, sometimes less - but with angels this leads to them turning again to the Lord to acknowledge that he is their God.

The same pattern exists in hell, but instead of love and wisdom there is self-love (or even hatred) and false thinking from this distorted love. In hell, the degree of intensity in these states is between the rage to dominate and the exhaustion of failing.

In our life on earth, we experience states of both heaven and hell. As we are only partly regenerated, we rapidly switch between these states because of our emotions and the upheavals of life in this world. This chapter about the conflict between Israel and the Canaanites represents our own, personal decisions about what will be the ruling influence in our lives - heaven or hell (See Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 5982).

The end of this chapter offers two important statements describing the conflict between heaven and hell. The first one (in verse 20) says the Lord hardened the hearts of Israel’s enemies so that they came to attack, and consequently were destroyed. This tells us that we have to see our evils for what they are in order to turn away from them (See Swedenborg’s unpublished work, Charity 179-180).

The second statement (verses 21-22) says that Joshua completely destroyed the Anakim, except beyond the borders of the land. The Anakim were giants, and they stand for those enormous tensions and rages which evil spirits from hell bring us at times. This (reassuringly) helps us see that we are not like that ourselves, but we could be if we let those evil spirits make a home in our hearts and minds (Arcana Caelestia 2909[3]).

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine # 161

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161. To do the work of repentance, is to desist from sins after he has thus confessed them, and from a humble heart has made supplication for remission, and to live a new life according to the precepts of charity and faith.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.