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Genèse 19

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1 Or, sur le soir les deux Anges vinrent à Sodome, et Lot était assis à la porte de Sodome, et les ayant vus, il se leva pour aller au-devant d'eux, et se prosterna le visage en terre.

2 Et il [leur] dit : Voici, je vous prie, Messieurs, retirez-vous maintenant dans la maison de votre serviteur, et logez-y cette nuit, et lavez vos pieds; puis vous vous lèverez le matin, et continuerez votre chemin; et ils dirent : Non, mais nous passerons cette nuit dans la rue.

3 Mais il les pressa tant, qu'ils se retirèrent chez lui; et quand ils furent entrés dans sa maison, il leur fit un festin, et fit cuire des pains sans levain, et ils mangèrent.

4 Mais avant qu'ils s'allassent coucher, les hommes de la ville, les hommes de Sodome, environnèrent la maison, depuis le plus jeune jusqu'aux vieillards, tout le peuple depuis un bout [jusqu'à l'autre.

5 Et appelant Lot, ils lui dirent : Où sont ces hommes qui sont venus cette nuit chez toi? Fais-les sortir, afin que nous les connaissions.

6 Mais Lot sortit de [sa maison] pour leur [parler] à la porte, et ayant fermé la porte après soi,

7 Il leur dit : Je vous prie, mes Frères, ne [leur] faites point de mal.

8 Voici, j'ai deux filles qui n'ont point encore connu d'homme; je vous les amènerai, et vous les traiterez comme il vous plaira, pourvu que vous ne fassiez point de mal à ces hommes; car ils sont venus à l'ombre de mon toit.

9 Et ils lui dirent : Retire-toi de là. Ils dirent aussi : Cet homme seul est venu pour habiter [ici] comme étranger, et il voudra nous gouverner? Maintenant nous te ferons pis qu'à eux. Et ils faisaient violence à Lot; et ils s'approchèrent pour rompre la porte.

10 Mais ces hommes avançant leurs mains, retirèrent Lot à eux dans la maison, et fermèrent la porte.

11 Et ils frappèrent d'éblouissement les hommes qui étaient à la porte de la maison, depuis le plus petit jusqu'au plus grand; de sorte qu'ils se lassèrent à chercher la porte.

12 Alors ces hommes dirent à Lot : Qui as-tu encore ici qui t'appartienne, soit gendre, soit fils, ou filles, ou quelque autre qui t'appartienne en la ville? Fais-les sortir de ce lieu.

13 Car nous allons détruire ce lieu, parce que leur cri est devenu grand devant l'Eternel, et il nous a envoyés pour le détruire.

14 Lot sortit donc et parla à ses gendres, qui devaient prendre ses filles, et [leur] dit : Levez-vous, sortez de ce lieu, car l'Eternel va détruire la ville; mais il semblait à ses gendres qu'il se moquait.

15 Et sitôt que l'aube du jour fut levée, les Anges pressèrent Lot, en disant : Lève-toi, prends ta femme et tes deux filles qui se trouvent [ici], de peur que tu ne périsses dans la punition de la ville.

16 Et comme il tardait, ces hommes le prirent par la main, et ils prirent aussi par la main sa femme et ses deux filles, parce que l'Eternel l'épargnait; et ils l'emmenèrent, et le mirent hors de la ville.

17 Or, dès qu'ils les eurent fait sortir, l'[un] dit : Sauve ta vie, ne regarde point derrière toi, et ne t'arrête en aucun endroit de la plaine; sauve-toi sur la montagne, de peur que tu ne périsses.

18 Et Lot leur répondit : Non, Seigneur, je te prie.

19 Voici, ton serviteur a maintenant trouvé grâce devant toi, et la gratuité que tu m'as faite de préserver ma vie est merveilleusement grande, mais je ne me pourrai sauver vers la montagne, que le mal ne m'atteigne, et que je ne meure.

20 Voici, je te prie, cette ville-là est proche; je puis m'y enfuir, et elle est petite; je te prie, que je m'y sauve; n'est-elle pas petite? Et mon âme vivra.

21 Et il lui dit : Voici, je t'ai exaucé encore en cela, de ne détruire point la ville dont tu as parlé.

22 Hâte-toi, sauve-toi là, car je ne pourrai rien faire jusqu'à ce que tu y sois entré; c'est pourquoi cette ville fut appelée Tsohar.

23 Comme le soleil se levait sur la terre, Lot entra dans Tsohar.

24 Alors l'Eternel fit pleuvoir des cieux, sur Sodome et sur Gomorrhe, du soufre et du feu, de la part de l'Eternel;

25 et il détruisit ces villes-là, et toute la plaine, et tous les habitants des villes, et le germe de la terre.

26 Mais la femme de Lot regarda en arrière, et elle devint une statue de sel.

27 Et Abraham, se levant de bon matin, vint au lieu où il s'était tenu devant l'Eternel;

28 et, regardant vers Sodome et Gomorrhe, et vers toute la terre de cette plaine-là, il vit monter de la terre une fumée comme la fumée d'une fournaise.

29 Mais il était arrivé lors que Dieu détruisit les villes de la plaine, qu'il s'était souvenu d'Abraham, et avait envoyé Lot hors de la subversion, quand il détruisit les villes où Lot habitait.

30 Et Lot monta de Tsohar, et habita sur la montagne avec ses deux filles, car il craignait de demeurer dans Tsohar, et il se retira dans une caverne avec ses deux filles.

31 Et l'aînée dit à la plus jeune : Notre père est vieux, et il n'y a personne sur la terre pour venir vers nous, selon la coutume de tous les pays.

32 Viens, donnons du vin à notre père, et couchons avec lui; afin que nous conservions la race de notre père.

33 Elles donnèrent donc du vin à boire à leur père cette nuit-là; et l'aînée vint, et coucha avec son père, mais il ne s'aperçut point ni quand elle se coucha, ni quand elle se leva.

34 Et le lendemain l'aînée dit à la plus jeune : Voici, j'ai couché la nuit passée avec mon père, donnons-lui encore cette nuit du vin à boire, puis va, et couche avec lui, et nous conserverons la race de notre père.

35 En cette nuit-là donc elles donnèrent encore du vin à boire à leur père, et la plus jeune se leva et coucha avec lui; mais il ne s'aperçut point ni quand elle se coucha, ni quand elle se leva.

36 Ainsi les deux filles de Lot conçurent de leur père.

37 Et l'aînée enfanta un fils, et appela son nom Moab; c'est le père des Moabites jusqu'à ce jour.

38 Et la plus jeune aussi enfanta un fils, et appela son nom Ben-Hammi; c'est le père des enfants de Hammon jusqu'à ce jour.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10300

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10300. 'Salted' means the desire which truth has for good. This is clear from the meaning of 'salt' as desire belonging to the love which truth has for good, dealt with below, so that 'salted' means something in which that desire is present. The reason why the desire which truth has for good needs to be present is that this desire causes the two to be joined together; for to the extent that truth desires good it becomes joined to it. Truth and good joined together is what is called the heavenly marriage, which constitutes heaven itself with a person. Therefore when the desire for them to be joined together exists within the worship of God, within every single part of it, heaven - and accordingly the Lord - is present there within every single part. This is meant by the requirement for the incense to be salted. 'Salt' receives this meaning from its conjunctive properties; for it makes ingredients all combine and consequently brings out their flavour. Indeed it causes water and oil to combine, which otherwise do not combine.

[2] When it is known that 'salt' means the desire for truth and good to be joined together it may be seen what the Lord's words in Mark mean,

Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes tasteless, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves. Mark 9:49-50.

'Everyone will be salted with fire' means that each person must have a desire that is present as a result of true love. 'Every sacrifice will be salted with salt' means that the desire present as a result of true love must exist within all worship. 'Tasteless salt' means a desire present as a result of a love other than that true love. 'Having salt in themselves' means possessing truth that has a desire for good.

Love is meant by 'fire', see 4906, 5071(end), 5215, 6314, 6832, 10055.

Worship in general is meant by 'sacrifice', 922, 6905, 8680, 8936.

Can anyone without knowledge of what 'fire' means, or what 'salt' and 'being salted' mean, know what 'being salted with fire' means, why a sacrifice had to be salted, or what the command to have salt in themselves means?

[3] Something similar occurs in Luke,

Any of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple. Salt is good; but if the salt is made tasteless, by what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; people will throw it outdoors. Luke 14:33-35.

'Renouncing all their possessions' means loving the Lord above all things, 'possessions' being what is a person's own. 'Tasteless salt' means desire that springs from the proprium or self, thus from self-love and love of the world. This kind of desire is meant by salt that is tasteless, fit for nothing, as also in Matthew,

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt is tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It no longer has any use, except to be thrown outdoors and trodden down by people. Matthew 5:13-14.

[4] The need for all worship to contain truth that has a desire for good is also meant by the requirement that every offering of a minchah should be salted, and that the salt of Jehovah's covenant should be on every offering, Leviticus 2:13. By 'the minchah and offering' which compose the sacrifice worship is meant, as above; and the salt is called in that verse 'the salt of Jehovah's covenant' because 'covenant' means a joining together, see 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396, 9416. Also desire is the actual ardour that flames from and so is an extension of love, and love is spiritual togetherness.

[5] Just as truth's desire for good has the capacity to link things together, so falsity's desire for evil has the capacity to separate them; and that which has the capacity to separate them also has the capacity to destroy them. For this reason 'salt' in the contrary sense means the destruction and laying waste of truth and good, as in Jeremiah,

Cursed is the man (vir) who makes flesh his arm. He will not see when good comes; but he will inhabit very hot places, a salt land which is not inhabited. Jeremiah 17:5-6.

'Making flesh his arm' means trusting in himself, in his proprium, and not in the Divine, 10283; and since the proprium consists in loving self more than God and the neighbour, self-love is what those words describe. This is why it says that he will not see when good comes, and that he will inhabit very hot places and a salt land, that is, will lead a life ruled by foul kinds of love and their desires, which have destroyed the Church's goodness and truth.

[6] In Zephaniah,

It will be like Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle, and a saltpit, and a waste forever. Zephaniah 2:9.

'A place abandoned to the nettle' stands for the ardour and passion in a person's life that spring from self-love. 'A saltpit' stands for the desire falsity possesses; and because this is destructive of truth and good, the expression 'a waste forever' is used. The reason for its being said that 'it will be like Gomorrah' is that Gomorrah and Sodom mean self-love, 2220.

[7] Where it said at Genesis 19:26 that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she turned her face towards those cities, the meaning was the laying waste of truth and good; for in the internal sense 'turning the face' towards something means loving it, 10189. This explains why the Lord says,

Let him not return to the things behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:31-32.

And in Moses,

Its whole land will be brimstone and salt, and a burning, as at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 29:23.

Here, as also elsewhere in the Word, 'land' is used to mean the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325.

[8] So it was that cities which were not to be inhabited any longer were sown with salt after they had been destroyed, Judges 9:45.

From all this it is evident that in the genuine sense 'salt' means the desire that truth has for good, thus its conjunctive power, and in the contrary sense the desire that falsity has for evil, thus its destructive power.

[9] Anyone therefore who knows that 'salt' means truth's desire for good and the force that joins the two together is also able to know what is meant where it says that the water of Jericho was healed by Elisha, by his throwing salt into its source, 2 Kings 2:19-22. For Elisha, like Elijah, represented the Lord in respect of the Word, 2762, 8029; 'water' means the truths of the Word, 'the water of Jericho', and in like manner 'the source' of that water, meaning the truths of the Word in the literal sense; and 'salt' means the desire truth has for good, the joining together of the two, and consequent healing.

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

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Jeremiah 17

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1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars;

2 while their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees on the high hills.

3 My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a spoil, [and] your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.

4 You, even of yourself, shall discontinue from your heritage that I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you don't know: for you have kindled a fire in my anger which shall burn forever.

5 Thus says Yahweh: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.

6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

7 Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose trust Yahweh is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?

10 I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

11 As the partridge that sits on [eggs] which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.

12 A glorious throne, [set] on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.

13 Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be disappointed. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.

14 Heal me, O Yahweh, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for you are my praise.

15 Behold, they tell me, Where is the word of Yahweh? let it come now.

16 As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you; neither have I desired the woeful day; you know: that which came out of my lips was before your face.

17 Don't be a terror to me: you are my refuge in the day of evil.

18 Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed; let them be dismayed, but don't let me be dismayed; bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

19 Thus said Yahweh to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 and tell them, Hear the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

21 Thus says Yahweh, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22 neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day holy, neither do any work: but make the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

23 But they didn't listen, neither turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.

24 It shall happen, if you diligently listen to me, says Yahweh, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;

25 then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.

26 They shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing [sacrifices of] thanksgiving, to the house of Yahweh.

27 But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.