Bible

 

Hosea 9

Studie

   

1 Rejoice not, Israel, exultingly, as the peoples; for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved harlot's hire upon every corn-floor.

2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail her.

3 They shall not dwell in Jehovah's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and in Assyria shall they eat that which is unclean.

4 They shall pour out no [offerings of] wine to Jehovah, neither shall their sacrifices be pleasing unto him: they shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be defiled: for their bread shall be for themselves; it shall not come into the house of Jehovah.

5 What will ye do in the day of assembly, and in the day of the feast of Jehovah?

6 For behold, they are gone away because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Moph shall bury them: their pleasant things of silver, nettles shall possess them; thorns shall be in their tents.

7 The days of visitation are come; the days of recompence are come: Israel shall know [it]: the prophet is a fool, the inspired man is mad, because of the greatness of thine iniquity, and the great enmity.

8 Is Ephraim a watchman with my God? [nay] the prophet is a fowler's snare on all his ways, enmity in the house of his God.

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

10 I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness; as first-ripe fruit on the fig-tree, I saw your fathers at the beginning: they went to Baal-Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame, and became abominations like their lover.

11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away as a bird, -- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!

12 For even should they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, [that] not a man [remain]: for woe also to them when I shall have departed from them!

13 Ephraim, as I saw [him], was a Tyre planted in a beautiful place; but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the slayer.

14 Give them, Jehovah -- what wilt thou Give? -- Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: because of the wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more: all their princes are rebellious.

16 Ephraim is smitten: their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they should bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved [fruit] of their womb.

17 My God hath rejected them, because they hearkened not unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 264

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

264. In the Word references to the conception and bearing of sons are taken in purely a spiritual sense; that is to say, conception stands for the thought and imagination of the heart, and 'sons' for truths. This becomes clear from the following in Hosea,

As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird, away from birth, and from the womb, and from conception. Even if they bring up their sons I will bereave them so that no human being is left. But woe to them when I shall have departed from them! Hosea 9:11-12.

Here 'Ephraim' means those who have intelligence, that is, understanding of truth, while 'sons' means truths themselves. A similar reference is made elsewhere in Hosea to Ephraim, that is, a person who has intelligence but has become unwise,

The pains of childbirth have come upon him, he is an unwise son, for now he will not present himself at the mouth of the womb of sons. Hosea 13:13.

And in Isaiah,

Blush, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not gone into labour, I have not given birth, nor have I reared young men nor brought up young women. As when the report comes to Egypt, they will go into labour over the report of Tyre. Isaiah 27:4-5.

Here 'Sidon' stands for people who have possessed cognitions of faith but have destroyed them by means of facts and have consequently become sterile.

[2] And in the same prophet,

Before she went into labour she gave birth, and before pain came to her she brought forth a male child. Who has heard of such a thing as this? Who has seen such? Does a land give birth in one day? And shall I [bring to the point of birth and not] cause to give birth? said Jehovah. Shall I who cause to give birth shut up [the womb]? said your God. Isaiah 66:7-9.

This refers to regeneration, 'sons' in a similar way meaning the truths of faith. Because goods and truths are the conceptions and births of the heavenly marriage, the Lord too calls them 'sons' in Matthew,

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, but the seed are the sons of the kingdom. Matthew 13:37-38.

And the goods and truths of a saving faith are called 'the sons of Abraham' in John 8:39, for as stated in 255, 'seed' means faith. Consequently 'sons', who are the embodiment of the seed, are the goods and truths of faith. This also is why the Lord, being Himself the Seed, called Himself the Son of Man, that is, the Church's Faith.

  
/ 10837  
  

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