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Deuteronomio 33

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1 OR quest’è la benedizione con la quale Mosè, uomo di Dio, benedisse i figliuoli d’Israele, avanti la sua morte.

2 Disse adunque: Il Signore venne di Sinai, E apparve loro di Seir; Egli risplendè dal monte di Paran, E venne dalle decine delle migliaia de’ santi, Avendo dalla sua destra il fuoco della Legge, per darla loro.

3 Benchè tu ami i popoli, Tutti i santi di esso son nella tua mano; Ed essi stanno fra i tuoi piedi, Affin di ricevere delle tue parole.

4 Mosè ci ha data la Legge, Che è una eredità alla raunanza di Giacobbe.

5 Ed egli è stato Re in Iesurun, Quando si raunavano i Capi del popolo, Insieme con le tribù d’Israele.

6 Viva RUBEN, e non muoia; Ma sieno i suoi uomini pochi.

7 E quest’è la benedizion di GIUDA. Mosè adunque disse: Ascolta, o Signore, la voce di GIUDA, E riconducilo al suo popolo; Bastingli le sue mani, E siigli in aiuto, per liberarlo da’ suoi nemici.

8 Poi disse di LEVI: I tuoi Tummim e Urim sieno al tuo uomo pietoso, Il qual tu provasti in Massa, E col quale tu contendesti alle acque di Meriba;

9 Il quale dice di suo padre e di sua madre: Io non l’ho veduto; E il quale non ha riconosciuti i suoi fratelli, E non ha conosciuti i suoi figliuoli; Perciocchè essi hanno osservate le tue parole, E guardato il tuo patto.

10 Essi insegneranno le tue ordinazioni a Giacobbe, E la tua Legge ad Israele; Essi presenteranno il profumo alle tue nari, E i sacrificii da ardere interamente, sopra il tuo Altare.

11 O Signore, benedici il suo esercito, E gradisci l’opera delle sue mani; Trafiggi le reni a coloro che si solleveranno contro a lui, E a coloro che l’odieranno, sì che non possano risorgere.

12 Di BENIAMINO disse: L’amato del Signore abiti in sicurtà con lui; Egli del continuo gli farà riparo, Ed esso abiterà fra le sue spalle.

13 Poi disse di GIUSEPPE: Il suo paese sia benedetto dal Signore, Delle delizie del cielo, della rugiada, e dell’abisso che giace a basso,

14 E delle delizie che il sole fa produrre, E parimente delle delizie che le lune fanno nascere.

15 E del meglio de’ monti antichi, E delle cose preziose de’ colli eterni.

16 E delle delizie della terra, e di tutto ciò ch’ella contiene, E del favor di colui che stava nel pruno; Venga quello sopra il capo di Giuseppe, E sopra la sommità del capo Di colui ch’è stato messo da parte d’infra i suoi fratelli.

17 Egli ha una bravura, come il primogenito di un toro; E le sue corna son come corna di liocorno; Con quello egli cozzerà i popoli tutti quanti, Fino alle stremità della terra. E queste son le decine delle migliaia d’Efraim, E queste son le migliaia di Manasse.

18 Poi disse di ZABULON: Rallegrati, Zabulon, nella tua uscita; E tu, ISSACAR, ne’ tuoi tabernacoli.

19 Essi chiameranno i popoli al Monte, E quivi sacrificheranno sacrificii di giustizia; Perciocchè suggeranno la dovizia del mare, E i tesori nascosti della rena.

20 Poi disse di GAD: Benedetto sia colui che allarga GAD; Egli se ne sta come un fiero leone, E lacera braccio e testa.

21 Egli l’ha provveduto delle primizie del paese, Perciocchè ivi era riposta la parte del Legislatore; Ed egli è venuto co’ capi del popolo; Egli ha eseguita la giustizia del Signore, E i suoi giudicii, con Israele.

22 Poi disse di DAN: DAN è come un leoncello Che salta di Basan.

23 Poi disse di NEFTALI: NEFTALI è sazio di benevolenza, E ripieno della benedizione del Signore; Tu avrai possessione dall’Occidente, e dal Mezzodì.

24 Poi disse di ASER: Aser sarà benedetto in figliuoli; Egli sarà l’aggradevole fra i suoi fratelli, E tufferà il suo piè nell’olio.

25 I tuoi calzari saranno ferro e rame; E la tua forza durerà quanto i tuoi giorni.

26 O Iesurun, ei non v’è niuno pari a Dio, Ch’è portato, come sopra un carro, Sopra i cieli in tuo aiuto, E nella sua altezza sopra le nuvole,

27 Che son l’abitacolo dell’eterno Dio, E di sotto son le braccia eterne. Egli ha scacciato d’innanzi a te il nemico; E ha detto: Distruggi.

28 Laonde Israele abiterà da parte in sicurtà; L’occhio di Giacobbe sarà verso un paese di frumento e di mosto; I suoi cieli eziandio stilleranno la rugiada.

29 Beato te, Israele. Quale è il popolo pari a te, Salvato dal Signore, Ch’è lo scudo della tua salvezza, E la spada della tua altezza? Laonde i tuoi nemici s’infingeranno inverso te, E tu calcherai i loro alti luoghi.

   


To many Protestant and Evangelical Italians, the Bibles translated by Giovanni Diodati are an important part of their history. Diodati’s first Italian Bible edition was printed in 1607, and his second in 1641. He died in 1649. Throughout the 1800s two editions of Diodati’s text were printed by the British Foreign Bible Society. This is the more recent 1894 edition, translated by Claudiana.

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Apocalypse Explained # 70

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70. The feet are said to be "like unto burnished brass," because burnished brass is polished brass, shining from something fiery; and "brass" in the Word signifies natural good. Metals are equally significative with the rest in the Word. "Gold" in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; "silver" signifies the truth thereof, which is spiritual good: "brass" natural good which is outmost good, and "iron" the truth thereof, which is natural truth.

Metals have such significations from correspondence; for in heaven many things are seen shining as if from gold and silver, and also many things as if from brass and iron; and it is there known that by these the goods and truths mentioned above are signified. It was from this that the ancients, who had a knowledge of correspondences, named the ages according to these metals; calling the first age the "golden," because innocence, love, and wisdom therefrom then ruled; but the second "silver," because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom then ruled; the third age "brazen" or "copper," because mere natural good, which is justness and sincerity of moral life, then ruled; but the last age they called "iron," because mere truth without good then ruled, and when that rules, falsity also rules. All this was from the spiritual signification of these metals.

[2] From this it can be known what is signified by the image seen in a dream by Nebuchadnezzar:

The head of which was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and sides of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay (Daniel 2:23, 33);

namely, the state of the church in respect to good and truth, from its first time to its last; its last time was when the Lord came into the world. When it is known that "gold" signifies celestial good, "silver" spiritual good, "brass" natural good, and "iron" natural truth, many arcana in the Word, where these metals are mentioned, can be understood. Thus what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice (Isaiah 60:17).

[3] But as the signification of "brass," as meaning natural good, is here treated of, I will cite only a few passages where "brass" is mentioned, as signifying that good. Thus in Moses:

Asher acceptable unto his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil. Thy shoe iron and brass, and as thy days thy fame (Deuteronomy 33:24-25).

"Asher," as one of the tribes, signifies the blessedness of life, and the delight of affections (See Arcana Coelestia 3938-3939, 6408); "to dip the foot in oil" signifies natural delight, "oil" is delight (See n. 9954), "foot" the natural (See just above, n. 69; "the shoe iron and brass" signifies the lowest natural from truth and good, "the shoe" is the lowest natural (See n. 1748, 1860, 6844), "iron" is its truth, and "brass" its good (as above). In the same:

Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a wealthy land; a land out of whose stones thou mayest hew out iron, and out of its mountains brass (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

In Jeremiah:

I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee and not prevail against thee (Jeremiah 15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; with the soul of man and with vessels of brass they traded thy merchandise (Ezekiel 27:13).

In this chapter the traffickings of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges of good and truth; by the names "Javan," "Tubal," and "Meshech," are signified such things as are of good and truth, of which knowledges treat; the "soul of man" is truth of life; "vessels of brass" are scientifics of natural good. (What is signified by "Tyre" may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by "traffickings," n. 2967, 4453; what by "Tubal and Meshech," n. 1151; what by "Javan," n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the "soul of man," n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by "vessels," n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318) In the same:

The feet of the cherubs sparkled like the appearance of polished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).

What "cherubs" and "feet" signify, see above n. 69.

[4] In the same:

I saw and behold there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a line of flax was in his hand; and he was standing in the gate (Ezekiel 40:3).

It was because this angel measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, that his appearance was seen as the appearance of brass. He who knows that "brass" signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, can in some measure know why:

The altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the grating about it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4);

as also why:

The great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47).

[5] He who knows what "brass" signifies may also enter into the arcanum why it was commanded that a serpent of brass be set up for the people to look at, of which it is thus written in Moses:

Jehovah sent serpents among the people, and they bit the people. And He said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a standard, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, and looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a standard; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived (Numbers 21:6, 8-9).

That this "serpent" signified the Lord, He Himself teaches in John:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life (John 3:14-15).

By the "serpent" is signified that which is the ultimate of life with man, and is called the external sensual, which is the natural. Because this ultimate in the Lord was Divine, a serpent of brass was made among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative; and this signified that if they would look to the Divine Human of the Lord they would live again, that is, if they would believe in Him they would have eternal life, as the Lord Himself also teaches. (That to "see" is in the spiritual sense to believe, see above, n. 37, 68; and that the "serpent" is the external sensual, which is the ultimate of man's life, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313) That "brass" and "iron" in the Word also signify what is hard (as in Isaiah 48:4; Daniel 7:19 where), will be seen in what follows.

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