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2 Samuel 12

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1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David: and when he was come to him, he said to him: There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor.

2 The rich man had exceeding many sheep and oxen.

3 But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter.

4 And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, to make a feast for that stranger, who was come to him, but took the poor man's ewe, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

5 And David's anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death.

6 He shall restore the ewe fourfold, because he did this thing, and had no pity.

7 And Nathan said to David: Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul,

8 And gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda: and if these things be little, I shall add far greater things unto thee.

9 Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in my sight? Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

10 Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urias the Hethite to be thy wife.

11 Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give them to thy neighhour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun.

13 And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: the Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die.

14 Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die.

15 And Nathan returned to his house. The Lord also struck the child which the wife of Urias had borne to David, and his life was despaired of.

16 And David besought the Lord for the child: and David kept a fast, and going in by himself lay upon the ground.

17 And the ancients of his house came, to make him rise from the ground: but he would not, neither did he eat meat with them.

18 And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died: and the servants of David feared to tell him, that the child was dead. For they said: Behold when the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice: how much more will he afflict himself if we tell him that the child is dead?

19 But when David saw his servants whispering, he understood that the child was dead: and he said to his servants: Is the child dead? They answered him: He is dead.

20 Then David arose from the ground, and washed and anointed himself: and when he had changed his apparel, he went into the house of the Lord: and worshipped, and then he came into his own house, and he called for bread, and ate.

21 And his servants said to him: What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise up, and eat bread.

22 And he said: While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept for him: for I said: Who knoweth whether the Lord may not give him to me, and the child may live?

23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Shall I be able to bring him back any more? I shall go to him rather: but he shall not return to me.

24 And David comforted Bethsabee his wife, and went in unto her, and slept with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon, and the Lord loved him.

25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name, Amiable to the Lord, because the Lord loved him.

26 And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and laid close siege to the royal city.

27 And Joab sent messengers to David, saying: I have fought against Rabbath, and the city of waters is about to be taken.

28 Now therefore gather thou the rest of the people together, and besiege the city and take it: lest when the city shall be wasted by me, the victory be ascribed to my name.

29 Then David gathered all the people together, and went out against Rabbath: and after fighting, he took it.

30 And he took the crown of their king from his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold, set with most precious stones, and it was put upon David's head, and the spoils of the city which were very great he carried away.

31 And bringing forth the people thereof he sawed them, and drove over them chariots armed with iron: and divided them with knives, and made them pass through brickkilns: so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon: and David returned, with all the army to Jerusalem.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 6960

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6960. 'Put your hand into your bosom' means making truth their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with above in 6947; and from the meaning of 'bosom' as love, for the parts of the chest correspond to love since the chest holds within it the heart, which corresponds to celestial love, and the lungs, which correspond to spiritual love, 3635, 3883-3896, 4112, 4113, 4133. And as 'the bosom' therefore corresponds to love it also means that which is one's own, because what constitutes a person's love is that which is his own. For this reason 'putting a hand into one's bosom' here means making something one's own. The fact that making truth one's own is what is meant is evident from the things that follow in the narrative and also from the consideration that truth is what spiritual power consists in, 6948.

[2] The fact that 'the bosom' means that which is a person's true self, and so that which is his own, and from this means making something one's own and joining to oneself through love, is clear from the following places: In Micah,

Do not trust in a companion, put no confidence in a leader; from her who is lying in your bosom guard the doors of your mouth. Micah 7:5.

'Her lying in the bosom' stands for one who has been joined to another through love. So it is also that a wife is called the wife of her husband's bosom, Deuteronomy 28:54; 2 Samuel 12:8, and a husband is called the husband of his wife's bosom, Deuteronomy 28:56; and this is because one belongs to the other. In David,

My prayer falls back onto my bosom. Psalms 35:13.

This stands for its return to himself. In the same author,

Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants - [how] I bear in my bosom all the great peoples. Psalms 89:50.

This stands for what is present with himself, as that which is his own. In Isaiah,

He pastures His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs into His arm, and He carries them in His bosom. Isaiah 40:11.

Here the meaning is similar.

[3] In Luke,

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be given into your bosom. Luke 6:38.

'Being given into the bosom' stands for imparting them as their own. In the same gospel,

After that it happened that Lazarus died and was taken away by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:22.

'Being taken away into Abraham's bosom' stands for being taken to the Lord - whom 'Abraham' is used to mean - by virtue of being joined to Him through love.

[4] In John,

There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of the disciples, whom Jesus loved. Falling towards Jesus' breast he said to Him, Lord, who is it? John 13:23, 25.

'Reclining on the bosom' plainly stands for being loved and being joined through love. In the same gospel,

Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.

'In the bosom of the Father' stands for being one.

[5] 'The bosom' stands for that which is a person's true self, and for making something one's own but not through love, in the following places: In Isaiah,

I will repay, I will repay into their bosom your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together. I will measure the value of their work first into their bosom. Isaiah 65:6-7.

In Jeremiah,

Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jeremiah 31:18.

In David,

Repay our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach to which they have subjected You, O Lord. Psalms 79:12.

'Repaying into their bosom' stands for imparting to their true selves.

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