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Joshua 10

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1 When Adonisedec king of Jerusalem had heard these things, to wit, that Josue had taken Hai, and had destroyed it, (for as he had done to Jericho and the king thereof, so did he to Hai, and its king,) and that the Gabaonites were gone over to Israel, and were their confederates,

2 He was exceedingly afraid. For Gabaon was a great city, and one of the royal cities, and greater than the town of Hai, and all its fighting men were most valiant.

3 Therefore Adonisedec king of Jerusalem sent to Oham king of Hebron, and to Pharam king of Jerimoth, and to Japhia king of Lachis, and to Dabir king of Eglon, saying:

4 Come up to me, and bring help, that we may take Gabaon, because it hath gone over to Josue, and to the children of Israel.

5 So the five kings of the Amorrhites being assembled together went up: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of Eglon, they and their armies, and camped about Gabaon, laying siege to it.

6 But the inhabitants of the city of Gabaon which was besieged, sent to Josue, who then abode in the camp at Galgal, and said to him: Withdraw not thy hands from helping thy servants: come up quickly and save us, and bring us succour: for all the kings of the Amorrhites, who dwell in the mountains, are gathered together against us.

7 And Josue went up from Galgal, and all the army of the warriors with him, most valiant men.

8 And the Lord said to Josue: Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thy hands: none of them shall be able to stand against thee.

9 So Josue going up from Galgal all the night, came upon them suddenly.

10 And the Lord troubled them at the sight of Israel: and he slew them with a great slaughter in Gabaon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent to Beth-horon, and cut them off all the way to Azeca and Maceda.

11 And when they were fleeing from the children of Israel, and were in the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord cast down upon them great stones from heaven as far as Azeca: and many more were killed with the hailstones than were slain by the swords of the children of Israel.

12 Then Josue spoke to the Lord, in the day that he delivered the Amorrhite in the sight of the children of Israel, and he said before them: Move not, O sun, toward Gabaon, nor thou, O moon, toward the valley of Ajalon.

13 And the sun and the moon stood still, till the people revenged themselves of their enemies. Is not this written in the book of the just? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down the space of one day.

14 There was not before nor after so long a day, the Lord obeying the voice of a man, and fighting for Israel.

15 And Josue returned with all Israel into the camp of Galgal.

16 For the five kings were fled, and had hidden themselves in a cave of the city of Maceda.

17 And it was told Josue that the five kings were found hidden in a cave of the city of Maceda.

18 And he commanded them that were with him, saying: Roll great stones to the mouth of the cave, and set careful men, to keep them shut up:

19 And stay you not, but pursue after the enemies, and kill all the hindermost of them as they flee, and do not suffer them whom the Lord God hath delivered into your hands to shelter themselves in their cities.

20 So the enemies being slain with a great slaughter, and almost utterly consumed, they that were able to escape from Israel, entered into fenced cities.

21 And all the army returned to Josue in Maceda, where the camp then was, in good health and without the loss of any one: and no man durst move his tongue against the children of Israel.

22 And Josue gave orders, saying: Open the mouth of the cave, and bring forth to me the five kings that lie hid therein.

23 And the ministers did as they were commanded: and they brought out to him the five kings out of the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of Eglon.

24 And when they were Drought out to him, he called all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the army that were with him: Go, and set your feet on the necks of these kings. And when they had gone, and put their feet upon the necks of them lying under them,

25 He said again to them: Fear not, neither be ye dismayed, take courage and be strong: for so will the Lord do to all your enemies, against whom you fight.

26 And Josue struck, and slew them, and hanged them upon five gibbets, and they hung until the evening.

27 And when the sun was down, he commanded the soldiers to take them down from the gibbets. And after they were taken down, they cast them into the cave where they had lain hid, and put great stones at the mouth thereof, which remain until this day.

28 The same day Josue took Maceda and destroyed it, with the edge of the sword, and killed the king and all the inhabitants thereof: he left not in it the least remains. And he did to the king of Maceda, as he had done to the king of Jericho.

29 And he passed from Maceda with all Israel to Lebna, and fought against it:

30 And the Lord delivered it with the king thereof into the hands of Israel: and they destroyed the city with the edge of the sword, and all the inhabitants thereof. They left not in it any remains. And they did to the king of Lebna, as they had done to the king of Jericho.

31 From Lebna he passed unto Lachis, with all Israel: and investing it with his army, besieged it.

32 And the Lord delivered Lachis into the hands of Israel, and he took it the following day, and put it to the sword, and every soul that was in it, as he had done to Lebna.

33 At that time Horam king of Gazer, came up to succour Lachis: and Josue slew him with all his people, so as to leave none alive.

34 And he passed from Lachis to Eglon, and surrounded it,

35 And took it the same day: and put to the sword all the souls that were in it, according to all that he had done to Lachis.

36 He went up also with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron, and fought against it:

37 Took it, and destroyed it with the edge of the sword: the king also thereof, and all the towns of that country, and all the souls that dwelt in it: he left not therein any remains: as he had done to Eglon, so did he also to Hebron, putting to the sword all that he found in it.

38 Returning from thence to Dabir,

39 He took it and destroyed it: the king also thereof and all the towns round about he destroyed with the edge of the sword: he left not in it any remains: as he had done to Hebron and Lebna and to their kings, so did he to Dabir and to the king thereof.

40 So Josue conquered all the country of the hills and of the south and of the plain, and of Asedoth, with their kings: he left not any remains therein, but slew all that breathed, as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded him,

41 From Cadesbarne even to Gaza. All the land of Gosen even to Gabaon,

42 And all their kings, and their lands he took and wasted at one onset: for the Lord the God of Israel fought for him.

43 And he returned with all Israel to the place of the camp in Galgal.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 7553

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7553. 'Behold, about this time tomorrow I am causing it to rain an extremely heavy hail' means falsities destroying all things of the Church among them. This is clear from the meaning of 'rain in the form of hail' as falsities arising from evil that destroy forms of the truth and good of faith, thus things of the Church. Those falsities are meant by 'rain in the form of hail' because then the raindrops are like stones and can destroy both men and beasts, as well as crops in the field, and also because they are pieces of ice. In general 'rain' means a blessing, or in the contrary sense a curse, 1445. When it means a blessing a flowing in and receiving of the truth of faith and the good of charity is meant; for that is a blessing. But when 'rain' means a curse falsity opposed to the truth of faith and evil opposed to the good of charity is meant, for these are a curse. 'Rain in the form of hail' however in general means a curse which is brought on by falsity arising from evil, in particular of falsity arising from evil that is opposed to the Church's truths and forms of good.

[2] These kinds of falsity are meant by 'rain in the form of hail' in the following places: In Ezekiel,

I will dispute with Gog with pestilence and blood; and deluging rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone will I cause to rain on him and on his hordes, and on the many peoples that are with him. Ezekiel 38:22.

'Gog' stands for external worship separated from internal, thus for those who, when charity has been annihilated, make Divine worship consist entirely in external observances. 'Hailstones' stands for falsities that arise from evil.

[3] In the same prophet,

Let My hand be against the prophets who see vanity and divine a lie. Say to those who daub [the wall] with what is not suitable that it will fall. There will come deluging rain from which you, O hailstones, will fall; and stormy wind will tear it apart. Ezekiel 13:9, 11.

'Prophets who are seers of vanity and diviners of a lie' stands for those who are teachers of evils and falsities. 'Those who daub [the wall] with what is unsuitable' stands for the fact that they fabricate falsities and make them look like the truth. These people are called 'hailstones' because of their falsities. But in the original language a different word, meaning intense hail, is used here and in the preceding quotation.

[4] In Isaiah,

Then Jehovah will cause His glorious voice 1 to be heard, and His arm will see repose, in the indignation of [His] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, [in] scattering and deluging, and hailstones. Isaiah 30:30-31.

'Hailstones' stands for the laying waste of truth by means of falsities. In the same prophet,

Behold, powerful and strong is the Lord, like a deluge of hail, a killing tempest, like a deluge of mighty overflowing waters, He will cast them down to the earth with His hand. The hail will overturn the refuge of a lie, and the waters will deluge the hiding-place. 2 Isaiah 28:2, 17.

'A deluge' stands for being plunged into falsities, and so for undergoing vastation of truth, 705, 739, 790, 5725, 6853, 'a deluge of hail' for the destruction of truth by means of falsities. In David,

He struck their vine with hail, and their sycamore-fig trees with heavy hail. And He gave up 3 their beasts to the hail, and their flocks to coals of fire. He let loose on them His fierce anger. Psalms 78:47-49.

[5] In the same author,

He made their rain into hail, a flaming fire in their land; and He struck their vines and their fig trees, and broke to pieces the trees of their borders. Psalms 105:32-33.

'Hail' and 'rain' stand for the laying waste of truth and good by means of falsities arising from evil. 'Vine' stands for the truth and goodness of the internal Church, 'sycamore-fig' and 'fig' for the truths and forms of good of the external Church. In the same author,

He who gives snow like wool, He sprinkles the hear-frost like dust; He who discharges His hail like balls - who can stand before His cold? Psalms 147:16-17.

'Hail' stands for falsities arising from evils. In the same author,

He made darkness His hiding-place, and His surroundings His tent - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. From the brightness before Him, clouds passed with hail and coals of fire. Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hail, and coals of fire, so that He sent His arrows and scattered them. Psalms 18:11-14.

'Hail' stands for falsities arising from evils which lay waste truths and forms of good.

[6] In John,

The first angel sounded and there came hail, and fire mixed with blood; and it fell onto the earth so that a third part of the trees were burned, and all green grass was burned up. Revelation 8:7.

'Hail' stands for falsities arising from evil; 'fire mixed with blood' stands for evil desires together with falsified truths; 'the trees which were burned' stands for cognitions of truth that were destroyed by evil desires; and 'the green grass that was burned up' stands for known facts about truth that were destroyed in a similar way. For the meaning of 'fire' as evil desires, see 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7314; of 'blood' as falsified truth, 4775, 6878, 7317, 7326; and of 'trees' as cognitions, 2722 (end), 2972.

[7] In Joshua,

It happened, when they fled before Israel on the descent of Beth Horon, that Jehovah cast down on them large [hail]stones from heaven, as far as Azekah, so that they died. Those who died from the hailstones were more than those whom the children of Israel killed with the sword. Joshua 10:11.

This refers to the five kings who camped against Gibeon. These kings and their peoples represented those who, being steeped in falsities arising from evils, therefore died from the hailstones. Balls of hail are called stones because 'stones' too mean falsities.

From all this one may see what is meant by 'hail' and by 'rain in the form of hail', namely falsities arising from evils. And since these falsities are meant, the laying waste of truth and good is also meant, for falsities arising from evils are what lay them waste.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the glory of His voice

2. The Latin means they will deluge the hiding-place of waters, but the Hebrew means the waters will deluge the hiding-place, which Swedenborg has in his rough draft.

3. literally, shut up

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