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Hesekiel 47:21

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21 Jakakaa tämä maa keskenänne Israelin sukukuntien mukaan.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9050

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9050. The fact that 'soul' means spiritual life is clear from the meaning of 'soul' as a person's life - the life of his faith, which is spiritual life. Various places in the Word use the expression 'heart and soul', and in those places 'heart' means the life of love and 'soul' the life of faith. A person has two mental powers for receiving life from the Lord, one being called the will, the other the understanding. Love belongs to the power called the will, for forms of the good of love compose its life; but faith belongs to the power called the understanding, for the truths of faith compose its life. Yet these two powers of life with a person nevertheless make one; and when they make one matters of faith are also aspects of love because they are loved, and aspects of love in turn are also matters of faith because they are believed. This is the kind of life that all in heaven possess.

[2] The reason why in the Word the life of love, or what amounts to the same thing, the will, is called 'the heart', and why the life of faith, or what amounts to the same thing, the understanding, is called 'the soul', is this: Those in the Grand Man or heaven who are governed by love to the Lord and are called celestial angels constitute the province of the heart, and those governed by faith in the Lord and from this by charity towards the neighbour constitute the province of the lungs, see 3635, 3883-3896. So it is that 'the heart' in the Word means love, which is the life of the will, while 'the soul' means faith, which is the life of the understanding, 2930, 7542, 8910. For 'soul' in the original language is derived from a word that means breathing, which is the function of the lungs.

[3] The reason why faith belongs to the understanding is that this mental power is enlightened by the Lord when the person receives faith, so that he has light, or discernment of truth, in such things as are matters of faith when he reads the Word. And the reason why love belongs to the will is that this mental power is kindled by the Lord when the person receives love, so that he has the fire of life and keen perception of good.

[4] All this shows what the proper meaning of 'the heart' is in the Word and what the proper meaning of 'the soul' is, as in the following places: In Moses, You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5-6.

In the same author,

You shall love Jehovah your God, and serve Him, with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12; 11:13.

In the same author,

You shall keep the statutes and judgements, and observe them, with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 26:16.

In the Gospels,

Jesus said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and your thought. Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30, 32; Luke 10:27.

'Heart' stands for the life of love, and 'soul' for the life of faith. 'Strength' stands for those things that emanate from the life of love, and so from the heart or will, and 'thought' stands for those that emanate from the life of faith, and so from the soul or an enlightened understanding.

[5] Similarly in Isaiah,

A deceived heart causes him to go astray, so that he does not rescue his soul and say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Isaiah 44:20.

In Jeremiah,

I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in the land in truth, with all My heart and with all My soul. Jeremiah 32:41.

This refers to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord. 'Heart' is attributed to Him because of His Divine Goodness, which is the good of love or mercy with a person, and 'soul' because of His Divine Truth, which is the truth of faith with him.

[6] Few within the Church at the present day know that these things are meant by 'the heart' and 'the soul' in the Word. They do not know them because they have not considered that a person has two powers of mind that are distinct from each other, that is to say, the will and the understanding, and that these two powers must constitute a single mind if the person is to be truly human. Nor have they considered that all things in the whole of creation, both in heaven and in the world, have connection with goodness and truth, and that these must be joined together if they are to be anything or be productive. The outcome of their ignorance of these things has been that they have separated faith from love; for one who is ignorant of those universal laws cannot know that faith has connection with truth and love with good, or that unless faith and love have been joined together they are not anything. Faith without love is not faith, and love without faith is not love. Love receives its specific quality from faith, and faith its life from love, so that faith without love is dead, whereas faith together with love is living. The truth of this becomes clear from every detail in the Word, for where faith is dealt with, so too is love, in order that the marriage of good and truth, that is, heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord, may be present in every single detail there. Regarding the existence of that marriage, see 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 4138 (end), 5138, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339. From all this it is now evident why it is that a member of the Church has not up to now known what is meant in the Word by 'the heart' and what by 'the soul'.

[7] The meaning of 'the soul' in the Word as the life of faith becomes perfectly clear from places where 'the soul' is mentioned, as in the following: In Moses,

No one shall take 1 as a pledge the mill or the milling stone, for he is taking the [person's] soul as a pledge. Deuteronomy 24:6.

It says that he takes the soul as a pledge if he takes the mill because in the internal sense 'the mill' means matters of faith, 7780. In Isaiah,

It will be as when a hungry man dreams - as if he were eating - but when he wakes up his soul is fasting; or as when a thirsty man dreams - as if he were drinking - but when he wakes up, behold, he is faint, and his soul is craving. Isaiah 29:8.

'A fasting soul' and 'a craving soul' stand for the desire to learn the forms of good and the truths of faith. In the same prophet,

If you bring out for the hungry your soul 2 and satisfy the afflicted soul ... Isaiah 58:10.

'Bringing out for the hungry your soul' stands for teaching the truths of faith to one who desires them, and 'satisfying the afflicted soul' stands for teaching the good of faith.

[8] In Jeremiah,

If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed and deck yourself with ornaments of gold, if you widen your eyes with stibium, 3 in vain will you make yourself beautiful; your lovers will abhor you, they will seek your soul. Jeremiah 4:30.

Here 'soul' stands for the life of faith, and therefore for the faith itself present with a person since it composes his spiritual life. The fact that faith is what 'soul' is used to mean is evident from the details of the verse. In the same prophet,

They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah, towards wheat, and towards new wine, and towards oil, and towards the young 4 of the flock and of the herd; and their soul will become like a watered garden. I will water the weary soul, and every soul that sorrows [I will replenish]. Jeremiah 31:12, 25.

'Soul' stands for the life of faith present with a member of the Church, who is said to become like a garden because 'a garden' means intelligence, which consists of the truths of faith, 100, 108, 2702; and the soul is said to be watered because 'being watered' means receiving instruction.

[9] In the same prophet,

In peril of our souls we acquire our bread, because of the sword of the wilderness. Lamentations 5:9.

'Peril of souls' is the risk of loss of belief and therefore of spiritual life; for 'the sword of the wilderness' is falsity engaged in conflict against the truths of faith, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294. In Ezekiel,

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your merchants; untie the souls of men (homo) and vessels of bronze, they traded for you. 5 Ezekiel 27:13.

'The souls of men' stands for the more internal truths of faith derived from good, 'vessels of bronze' for the more external truths of faith derived from good. 'Vessels' are the more external truths or factual knowledge containing truths, 3068, 3079, and 'bronze' is the good of the natural, 425, 1551. Without the knowledge that 'the souls of men' means faith no one could understand what is meant by trading 'with the souls of men and with vessels of bronze'.

[10] In the same prophet,

Every living soul that creeps, wherever the [two] rivers come to, will live; as a result the fish become very many, for these waters go there, and become fresh. Ezekiel 47:9.

This refers to the new temple, that is, to the new spiritual Church from the Lord. 'Living soul that creeps' stands for factual knowledge embodying the truths of faith; 'the fish' which as a result are many are known facts, 40, 991; and 'the rivers' stands for matters of intelligence, which consists of the truths of faith, 2702, 3051. Again no one could know without the internal sense what might be meant by the fish which become many as a result of the rivers going there. In David,

Make me safe, O God, for the waters have come even to my soul. Psalms 69:1.

And in Jonah,

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul. Jonah 2:5.

'Waters' here stands for falsities, and also for temptations caused by falsities that have been introduced, 705, 739, 756, 790, 8137, 8138, 8368.

[11] In Jeremiah,

Jehovah has said, Will not My soul be avenged on a nation which is like this? Jeremiah 5:9, 29.

In the same prophet, Take warning, 6 O Jerusalem, lest My soul turn from you, and I reduce you to a waste.

Since 'soul' is attributed to the Lord it stands for Divine Truth. In John,

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of one dead, from which every living soul died in the sea. Revelation 16:3.

'The sea' stands for known facts in their entirety, 28; 'blood' stands for the truths of faith derived from good, and in the contrary sense for truths of faith that have been falsified and rendered profane, 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326. Therefore 'living soul' stands for life from faith.

[12] In Matthew,

Do not be anxious for your soul, what you are going to eat or what you are going to drink. Matthew 6:25.

'Soul' stands for the truths of faith, 'eating and drinking' for receiving instruction in the goodness and truth of faith; for the internal sense at this point refers to spiritual life and the nourishment of that life. In the same gospel,

Whoever wishes to find his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for My sake will find it. Matthew 10:39.

'Soul' stands for the life of faith, such as believers possess, and in the contrary sense for the life that is not that of faith, such as unbelievers possess. In Luke,

In your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19.

'Possessing their souls' stands for the things of faith and consequently of spiritual life. 'Soul' has a similar meaning in very many other places.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, He shall not take, reading Non ... accipiet for Non ... accipies (You shall not take)

2. i.e. If you bring food out of store for the hungry

3. literally, break open the eyes with stibium. Stibium was a cosmetic used for blackening the eyelids and eyebrows, thereby making the eyes look brighter or more open.

4. literally, the sons

5. literally, they gave your trading

6. literally, Admit castigation

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9229

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9229. 'And men of holiness shall you be to Me' means a state of life then composed of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'men of holiness' as those who are led by the Lord, for the Divine which emanates from the Lord is holiness itself, 6788, 7499, 8127 (end), 8302, 8806. Consequently those who receive that emanation in faith and also in love are called holy ones. Anyone who imagines that a person is holy from any other source, or that anything present with a person is holy apart from that which comes and is received from the Lord is very much mistaken; for that which is the person's own, and is called his proprium, is evil.

The human proprium is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1047, 4328, 5660, 5786, 8480, 8944.

To the extent that a person can be withheld from his proprium, the Lord can be present with him, and therefore to the same extent holiness resides with him, 1023, 1044, 1581, 2256, 2388, 2406, 2411, 8206, 8393, 8988 (end), 9014.

[2] The truth that the Lord is the Only Holy One, and that nothing is holy except that which emanates from the Lord, and so that which a person receives from the Lord, is evident from everywhere in the Word, as in John,

I make Myself holy, that they also may be made holy in the truth. John 17:19.

'Making Himself holy' means making Himself Divine by His own power. Consequently those who receive Divine Truth emanating from the Lord in faith and life are said to be 'made holy in the truth'.

[3] This also explains why after the Resurrection, when the Lord spoke to the disciples, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:22. 'Breathing on (or into)' was a sign that represented the imparting of life through faith and love, as also in Genesis,

Jehovah breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man (homo) became a living soul. Genesis 2:7.

Other examples like this may be seen elsewhere, such as Psalms 33:6; 104:29-30; Job 32:8; 33:4; John 3:8. Therefore also the Word is said to be inspired because it comes from the Lord, and those who wrote the Word have been called 'inspired'. Breathing, and so breathing on or inspiring, corresponds to the life of faith, see 97, 1119, 1120, 3883-3896. This explains why the term spirit in the Word is derived from the word for wind, and holiness from the Lord is called Jehovah's wind, 8286, and why the Holy Spirit is the holiness emanating from the Lord, 3704, 4673 (end), 5307, 6788, 6982, 6993, 8127 (end), 8302, 9199.

[4] So also it says in John 1:33 that the Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and in Luke 3:16 that He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 'Baptizing' in the internal sense means regenerating, 4255, 5120 (end), 9088; 'baptizing with the Holy Spirit' means regenerating by means of the good of faith; and 'baptizing with fire' means regenerating by means of the good of love, 'fire' being the good of love, see 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324. In John,

Who is not going to fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. Revelation 15:4.

In Luke the angel telling Mary about the Lord said,

That which is holy will be born from you. Luke 1:35.

And in Daniel,

I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and behold, a vigilant and holy one came down from heaven. Daniel 4:13.

In these places 'that which is holy' and 'a holy one' stand for the Lord.

[5] Because the Lord alone is holy He is called in the Old Testament the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer, the Saviour, and the Regenerator, as in Isaiah 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11-12, 15; 31:1; 37:23; 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:9, 14; Jeremiah 50:29; 51:5; Ezekiel 39:7; Psalms 71:22; 78:41; 89:18. This is why the Lord in heaven, and consequently heaven itself, is called the dwelling-place of holiness, Jeremiah 25:30; 31:23; 1 Isaiah 63:15; the sanctuary, 2 Ezekiel 11:16; 24:21; and also the mountain of holiness, Psalms 3:4. It is also why the middle of the tent [of meeting], where the ark containing the law was, was called The Holy of Holies, Exodus 26:33-34; for the law in the ark in the middle of the tent [of meeting], represented the Lord in respect of the Word. For the law is the Word, 6752, 7463.

[6] All this shows why it is that the angels are called holy in Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Psalms 149:1; Daniel 8:13; also the prophets, Luke 1:70; and the apostles too, Revelation 18:20. Not that they are holy by their own virtue but that the Lord, who alone is holy and the only source of holiness, makes them so. For truths are meant by 'the angels', because they are those who receive truth from the Lord, 1925, 4085, 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301; teachings which present the truth that comes through the Word from the Lord are meant by 'the prophets', 2534, 7269; and all the truths and forms of the good of faith in their entirety which come from the Lord are meant by 'the apostles', 3488, 3858 (end), 6397.

[7] Consecrations 3 among the Israelite and Jewish people took place in order that the Lord who alone was holy might be represented, and in order that holiness, which He alone is the source of, might be represented. This is the reason for the consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:1ff; Leviticus 8:10-11, 13, 30; the consecration of their garments, Exodus 29:21ff; the consecration of the altar in order that it might be most holy, 4 Exodus 29:37ff; the consecration of the tent of meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table, all the vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and its vessels, and the laver and its base, Exodus 30:26ff.

[8] The truth that the Lord is the real Holiness that was represented is evident also from the Lord's words in Matthew when they are seen in the internal sense,

Fools and blind! Which of the two is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? And which of the two is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? Matthew 23:17-19.

'The temple' represented the Lord Himself, and so did 'the altar', while 'the gold' was a sign of the good that comes from the Lord, and 'the gift' or a sacrifice was a sign of things constituting faith and charity that come from the Lord.

The Lord was represented by 'the temple', see 2777, 3720, and by 'the altar', 2777, 2811, 4489, 8935, 8940. 'Gold' was a sign of good that comes from the Lord, 1551, 1552, 5658, and 'a sacrifice' a sign of worship springing from faith and charity that come from the Lord, 922, 923, 2805, 2807, 2830, 6905, 8680, 8682, 8936.

[9] From all this it is now evident why it is that the children of Israel were called a holy people in Deuteronomy 26:19 and elsewhere, or as in the present verse men of holiness. That is to say, they were so called because every single aspect of their worship represented Divine realities that are the Lord's, and celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom and Church. On this account they were called holy in a representative sense; they themselves were not holy on that account, because representatives had regard to the holy things that were represented, not to the person who represented them, see 665, 1097 (end), 1361, 3147, 3881 (end), 4208, 4281, 4288, 4293, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.

[10] On that account also was Jerusalem called holy, and Zion the mountain of holiness in Zechariah 8:3 and elsewhere, as well as in Matthew,

And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of dead holy ones were raised; and coming out of their tombs after the Lord's resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53.

Here Jerusalem is called 'the holy city', when in fact, quite to the contrary, it was unholy because the Lord was crucified there at that time, for which reason it is called 'Sodom and Egypt' in John,

Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Revelation 11:8.

Yet it is called holy, because it means the Lord's kingdom and the Church, 402, 2117, 3654. The appearance of 'dead holy ones' there, an event witnessed by some in vision, was a sign of the salvation of people who belonged to the spiritual Church, and of the raising of those people to the Holy Jerusalem, which is heaven - the people who had been kept up to that time on the lower earth, spoken of in 6854, 6914, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8049, 8054, 8159, 8321.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1Jeremiah 31:23 refers to a dwelling-place of righteousness [and] mountain of holiness, to be exact

2. i.e. an especially holy place

3. i.e. dedicating persons or things to holy functions or purposes

4. literally, the holiness of holinesses

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