Bible

 

Daniel 7

Studie

   

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream; he told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens broke forth upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, different one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

5 And behold, another beast, a second, like unto a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; and [it had] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and they said thus unto it: Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another, a little horn, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, [and] its wheels burning fire.

10 A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld therefore, because of the voice of the great words that the horn spoke; I beheld till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given up to be burned with fire.

12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven [one] like a son of man, and he came up even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

15 As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the certainty of all this. And he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things:

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, [that] shall arise out of the earth.

18 But the saints of the most high [places] shall receive the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom for ever, even to the ages of ages.

19 Then I desired to know the certainty concerning the fourth beast, which was different from them all, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet;

20 and concerning the ten horns that were in its head, and the other that came up, and before which three fell: even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose look was more imposing than its fellows.

21 I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them;

22 until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high [places]; and the appointed time arrived, and the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 He said thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And as to the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall arise ten kings; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High [places], and think to change seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half time.

26 And the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27 But the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high [places]. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28 So far is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9470

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

9470. 'And wool of she-goats' means the good from this, that is to say, from the good of mutual love. The reason why 'wool of she-goats' means this good is that 'a she-goat' means the good of innocence in the external or natural man, 3519, 7840, and therefore 'wool' means the truth belonging to that good. However, since not truth but good is meant, the original language does not actually say 'wool of she-goats', only 'she-goats', as is also the case in other places, such as in the following words in Exodus,

All the skilled 1 women brought what they had spun, violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, [and] fine linen thread; and all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun she-goats. Exodus 35:25-26.

'Spinning she-goats' stands for producing things woven from the wool of she-goats.

[2] The fact that 'wool' means truth from a celestial origin, which in itself is good, is clear from places in the Word where the actual word is used, as in Hosea,

[Their mother has committed whoredom.] She said, I will go after my lovers, those giving me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen. Therefore I will return and take back My grain in its season, and I will snatch away My wool and My linen. Hosea 2:5, 9.

This refers to a corrupted Church, meant here by 'mother'. 'The lovers' with whom she is said to have committed whoredom are those who pervert forms of good and truths. 'Bread' and 'water' mean internal forms of the good of love, and the internal truths of faith; 'wool' and 'flax' mean external ones.

[3] In Daniel,

I saw until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. Daniel 7:9.

This refers to the Church laid waste so far as every truth of faith was concerned, and then restored by the Lord, its having been completely laid waste being meant in the words 'thrones were placed'. 'The Ancient of Days' is the Lord in respect of celestial good as this existed in the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial Church. In the Word that good is called 'ancient', its external truth being meant by clothing which was 'white as snow', and its external good by hair of the head which was 'like pure wool'. Similar words occur in John,

... in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man. His head and hair were white, like white wool, like snow. Revelation 1:13-14.

[4] This kind of truth, being in itself good because it is the outward form of celestial good, is again meant by 'wool' in Ezekiel,

Damascus was your merchant in the wine of Helbon and the wool of Zachar. 2 Ezekiel 27:18.

And in Isaiah,

Though your sins are like twice-dyed, they will be as white as snow. Though they are as red as scarlet, they will be as wool. Isaiah 1:18.

[5] Because Aaron's garments represented the kinds of realities that belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, thus the spiritual realities that belong to truth, his 'holy garments' were made of linen and not of wool. For 'linen' is spiritual truth, whereas 'wool' is celestial truth, which in comparison is good. On this account it says in Ezekiel,

The priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, when they enter the gates of the inner court they shall put on the linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them. The linen turbans shall be on their heads, the linen undergarments shall be over their loins. Ezekiel 44:17-18.

The fact that Aaron's garments were made not of wool but of linen is clear from Leviticus 16:4, 32.

[6] From all this it becomes clear that 'linen' means spiritual truth, which is the truth of the good of faith, whereas 'wool' means celestial truth, which is the truth of the good of love. And since those endued with the latter kind of truth cannot be endued with the former, because the two are as different as the light of the sun is from the light of the stars, it was laid down that no one should wear a garment made of wool and linen mixed together, Deuteronomy 22:10-11. The fact that between what is celestial and what is spiritual there is such a difference, and that both cannot be together in one and the same person, see the places referred to in 9277.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, wise

2. The Hebrew word which Swedenborg, following the Latin version of Sebastian Schmidt, renders Zachar is not usually considered to be a proper name.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Bible

 

Revelation 13:2

Studie

       

2 And the beast which I saw was like to a leopardess, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as a lion's mouth; and the dragon gave to it his power, and his throne, and great authority;