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Deuteronomy 21

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1 When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

2 Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:

3 And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

4 And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer:

5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged.

6 And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

7 And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

8 Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:

9 And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

10 If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,

11 And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,

12 Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails,

13 And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.

14 Rut if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.

15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the firstborn,

16 And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before the son of the hated.

17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.

18 If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience:

19 They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of his city, and to the gate of judgment,

20 And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:

21 The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.

22 When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:

23 His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 28

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28. The Firstborn from the dead, signifies from whom is all good in heaven. This is evident from the signification of the "firstborn," as being, in reference to the Lord, Divine good in heaven, thus all good there. The "firstborn" signifies this, because by generations, in general and in particular, spiritual generations are signified, which are the generations of good and truth or of love and faith; from this it is, that by "father," "mother," "sons," "daughters," "sons-in-law," "daughters-in-law," and "son's sons," are signified goods and truths which generate and are generated in their order (Arcana Coelestia 10490), for in heaven there are no other nativities. This being so, by "firstborn" is not meant the firstborn, but the good of heaven and of the church, because this is in the first place. And since it is the Lord from whom all good in heaven is, He is called the "Firstborn." He is called "the Firstborn from the dead," because, when He arose from the dead, He made His Human to be Divine good by union with the Divine that was in Him from conception.

[2] This is why He is called "the Firstborn from the dead," and says of Himself in David:

I will make Him the Firstborn, high above the kings of the earth (Psalms 89:27).

What is meant by His being "high above the kings of the earth" will be seen in a subsequent article.

(That the Lord, when He departed from the world, made His Human Divine good, see Arcana Coelestia 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10076; thus that He came forth from the Father and returned to the Father, n. 3194, 3210; and that after the union, the Divine truth, which is the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, proceeds from Him, n. 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398, 9407. But this arcanum may be seen more fully explained in the small work on The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293-295; and in the passages there cited from the Arcana Coelestia 303-305.)

As the Lord in respect to the Divine Human is called "the Firstborn," for the reason that all good proceeds from Him, so all the firstborn in the Israelitish church were holy to Jehovah; so also the Levites were received in place of all the firstborn in Israel; for by the sons of Levi were represented those of the church who are in the good of charity: therefore also a double portion of inheritance was allotted to the firstborn; all this for the reason that the firstborn signified the good that is from the Lord, and in the highest sense, the Lord Himself in respect to the Divine Human from which is all good. For all things that were commanded in the Israelitish church were representative of Divine things, spiritual and celestial.

[3] That all the firstborn in the Israelitish church were holy to Jehovah appears from Moses, in the following passages:

Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine (Exodus 13:2).

Thou shalt cause to pass over unto Jehovah all that openeth the womb, and every firstling that cometh of a beast, as many as thou hast, the males shall be Jehovah's (Exodus 13:12).

Thou shalt not delay to offer the firstfruits of thy produce, and the firstfruits of thy wine. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen and with thy sheep; seven days it shall be with its dam: on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me. And ye shall be men of holiness unto Me (Exodus 22:29-31).

They were to give also the firstborn of beasts, because these, too, were representative; and because they represented they were also made use of in burnt-offerings and sacrifices.

(What the various beasts in these services represented, see Arcana Coelestia 1823, 3519, 9280, 9980, 10042. Why the Levites were accepted in place of all the firstborn in Israel, see Numbers 3:12, 13, 41, 45; 8:15-20, was, as was said above, because the "sons of Levi" represented, and therefore signified, the good of charity, and "Levi," in the highest sense, signified the Lord as to that good, see Arcana Coelestia 3875, 3877, 4497, 4502, 4503, 10017. A double portion of the inheritance was given to the firstborn, Deuteronomy 21:17, because a "double portion" signified the good of love, Arcana Coelestia 720, 1686, 5194, 8423)

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