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Daniel 8

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1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared unto me, [even] to me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2 And I saw in the vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was in the fortress of Shushan, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.

3 And I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; and the two horns were high; and one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no beast could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; and he did according to his will, and became great.

5 And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power.

7 And I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged with him, and smote the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; and he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

8 And the he-goat became exceeding great; but when he was become strong, the great horn was broken; and in its stead came up four notable ones toward the four winds of the heavens.

9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which became exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beauty [of the earth].

10 And it became great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and trampled upon them.

11 (And he magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host, and from him the continual [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 And a time of trial was appointed unto the continual [sacrifice] by reason of transgression.) And it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised and prospered.

13 And I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that one who spoke, How long shall be the vision of the continual [sacrifice] and of the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden down under foot?

14 And he said unto me, Until two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings: then shall the sanctuary be vindicated.

15 And it came to pass, when I Daniel had seen the vision, I sought for the understanding of it, and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between [the banks of] the Ulai; and he called and said, Gabriel, make this [man] to understand the vision.

17 And he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was afraid, and fell on my face; and he said unto me, Understand, son of man; for the vision is for the time of the end.

18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep stupor, with my face toward the ground. And he touched me, and set me up where I had stood.

19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be at the end of the indignation: for at the set time the end shall be.

20 The ram that thou sawest having the two horns: they are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 And the rough goat is the king of Greece; and the great horn that was between his eyes is the first king.

22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up in its stead, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

23 And at the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors shall have come to the full, a king of bold countenance, and understanding riddles, shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy marvellously, and shall prosper, and shall practise, and shall destroy the mighty ones, and the people of the saints.

25 And through his cunning shall he cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he will magnify [himself] in his heart, and by prosperity will corrupt many; and he will stand up against the Prince of princes: but he shall be broken without hand.

26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which hath been told is true; but close thou up the vision, for it is for many days [to come].

27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick [certain] days: then I rose up, and did the king's business. And I was astonished at the vision, but none understood [it].

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8153

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8153. 'And the children of Israel went out with a lofty hand' means although they had been rescued by God's power from their attempt to bring them under their control. This is clear from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those who belong to the spiritual Church, that is, who are governed by faith bonded to charity, as immediately above in 8152; from the meaning of 'going out' as being delivered or rescued from the others' attempt to bring them under their control, which attempt is meant by 'pursuing', 8152; and from the meaning of 'a lofty hand' as God's power, for 'hand' means power, 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, 6292, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8069, and 'lofty' means God's. The reason why 'lofty' means God's is that the word is used to indicate heaven, where God is. This is why the Word says of Jehovah or the Lord that He dwells 'in the lofty place' and why He is called 'the Most High', as in Isaiah,

Jehovah is exalted, for He dwells in the lofty place. Isaiah 33:5.

In the same prophet,

Thus said the High and Lofty One inhabiting eternity, whose name is the Holy One, I inhabit the holy and high [place]. Isaiah 57:15.

In David,

Jehovah sent from on high and snatched me away Psalms 18:16.

So it is that Jehovah is called the Most High in Deuteronomy 32:8; Daniel 4:17, 24, 34; 7:18, 22, 25; Psalms 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 46:4; 50:14; 57:2; 82:6. Because 'high' meant heaven, and God in heaven, the worship of God performed by those who belonged to the representative Church was established on mountains and on high places. It was therefore also performed in lofty shrines which they built for themselves, referred to in various places in the historical sections and prophetical parts of the Word, as in Ezekiel,

You built for yourself a lofty shrine, and made a high place for yourself in every street; at every head of a road you built your lofty shrine. Ezekiel 16:24-25, 31.

The reason why God's was meant by 'high' is that the starry heaven was a sign of the angelic heaven, which was also thought to be located there. But the wiser ones among them knew that heaven was not located on high but where the good of love was, and that this resided within a person, wherever he might be. For the meaning of 'high places' as interiors, or forms of good residing in them, see 450, 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 6292

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6292. 'Place your right hand on his head' means that good should accordingly occupy the first place. This is clear from the meaning of 'placing the right hand on a head' as considering to occupy the first place, as above in 6269, 6287. The placing of his hand by one on the head of another when he was going to bless belonged to a custom received from the ancients. For the head is where a person's actual powers of understanding and will reside, whereas the body is where actions in response and in obedience to them are located. Thus 'placing a hand on the head' was a representative act, denoting that a blessing should be imparted to a person's understanding and will, thus to his real self. That same custom originating in those ancient times remains even to this day and is followed at ordinations as well as in blessings.

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