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1 E IL Signore disse a Mosè: Tagliati due tavole di pietra, simili alle primiere; e io scriverò in su quelle tavole la parole ch’erano in su le primiere che tu spezzasti.

2 E sii presto domattina, e sali la mattina in sul monte di Sinai, e presentati quivi davanti a me, in su la sommità del monte.

3 E non salga teco alcuno, nè anche si vegga alcuno in tutto il monte, nè anche pasturi alcun bestiame, minuto o grosso, dirincontro a questo monte.

4 Mosè adunque tagliò due tavole di pietra, simili alle primiere; e si levò la mattina seguente a buon’ora, e salì in sul monte di Sinai; come il Signore gli avea comandato; e prese in mano quelle due tavole di pietra.

5 E il Signore scese nella nuvola, e si fermò quivi con lui, e gridò: Il Nome del Signore.

6 Il Signore adunque passò davanti a lui, e gridò: Il Signore, il Signore, l’Iddio pietoso e misericordioso, lento all’ira, e grande in benignità e verità;

7 che osserva la benignità in mille generazioni; che perdona l’iniquità, il misfatto, e il peccato: il quale altresì non assolve punto il colpevole; anzi fa punizione della iniquità de’ padri sopra i figliuoli, e sopra i figliuoli de’ figliuoli, fino alla terza e alla quarta generazione.

8 E Mosè subito s’inchinò a terra, e adorò.

9 E disse: Deh! Signore; se io ho trovata grazia davanti agli occhi tuoi, venga ora il Signore nel mezzo di noi; questo popolo è veramente un popolo di collo duro; ma tu, perdonaci le nostre iniquità e il nostro peccato, e possedici.

10 E il Signore disse: Ecco, io fo patto nel cospetto di tutto il tuo popolo; io farò maraviglie, quali non furono mai create in tutta la terra, nè fra alcuna nazione; e tutto il popolo, nel mezzo del quale tu sei, vedrà l’opera del Signore; conciossiachè quello che io farò teco sia cosa tremenda.

11 Osserva quello che oggi ti comando. Ecco, io scaccerò d’innanzi a te gli Amorrei, e i Cananei, e gl’Hittei e i Ferezei, e gli Hivvei, e i Gebusei.

12 Guardati che tu non faccia lega con gli abitanti del paese, nel qual tu entrerai; che talora essi non ti sieno in laccio nel mezzo di te.

13 Anzi disfate i loro altari, e spezzate le loro statue, e tagliate i lor boschi.

14 Perciocchè tu non hai da adorare altro dio; conciossiachè il nome del Signore sia: Il Geloso; egli è un Dio geloso.

15 Guardati dunque che tu non faccia lega con gli abitanti di quel paese; che talora, quando essi fornicheranno dietro a’ lor dii, e sacrificheranno loro, non ti chiamino, e tu non mangi de’ lor sacrificii.

16 E non prenda delle lor figliuole per li tuoi figliuoli; e ch’esse, fornicando dietro a’ lor dii, non facciano parimente fornicare i tuoi figliuoli dietro agl’iddii loro.

17 Non farti alcun dio di getto.

18 Osserva la festa solenne degli Azzimi; mangia Azzimi sette giorni, come io ti ho comandato, nel tempo ordinato del mese di Abib; conciossiachè nel mese di Abib tu sii uscito di Egitto.

19 Tutto quello che apre la matrice è mio; e di tutto il tuo bestiame sarà fatta offerta per ricordanza, cioè: dei primi parti del tuo minuto e del tuo grosso bestiame.

20 Ma riscatta con un agnello, o con un capretto, il primogenito dell’asino; e se pur tu non lo riscatti, fiaccagli il collo; riscatta ogni primogenito d’infra i tuoi figliuoli; e non comparisca alcuno davanti a me vuoto.

21 Lavora sei giorni, e riposati al settimo giorno; riposati eziandio nel tempo dell’arare e del mietere.

22 Celebra ancora la festa solenne delle Settimane, ch’è la festa delle primizie della mietitura del grano; e parimente la festa solenne della ricolta de’ frutti, all’uscita dell’anno.

23 Tre volte l’anno comparisca ogni maschio tuo davanti alla faccia del Signore, dell’Eterno Signore Iddio d’Israele.

24 Perciocchè io scaccerò le genti d’innanzi a te, e allargherò i tuoi confini; e quando tu salirai per comparir davanti alla faccia del Signore Iddio tuo, tre volte l’anno, niuno sarà mosso da cupidità per assalire il tuo paese.

25 Scannando il mio sacrificio, non ispandere il sangue di esso con pan lievitato; e non sia il sacrificio della festa della Pasqua guardato la notte infino alla mattina.

26 Porta nella Casa del Signore Iddio tuo le primizie de’ primi frutti della tua terra. Non cuocere il capretto nel latte di sua madre.

27 Poi il Signore disse a Mosè: Scrivi queste parole, perciocchè su queste parole io ho fatto patto teco e con Israele.

28 E Mosè stette quivi col Signore quaranta giorni e quaranta notti; senza mangiar pane, nè bere acqua; e il Signore scrisse sopra quelle tavole le parole del patto, le dieci parole.

29 Ora, quando Mosè scese dal monte di Sinai, avendo le due Tavole della Testimonianza in mano, mentre scendeva dal monte, egli non sapeva che la pelle del suo viso era divenuta risplendente, mentre egli parlava col Signore.

30 Ed Aaronne e tutti i figliuoli d’Israele riguardarono Mosè; ed ecco, la pelle del suo viso risplendeva; onde temettero di accostarsi a lui.

31 Ma Mosè il chiamò; ed Aaronne e tutti i principali ritornarono a lui alla raunanza; e Mosè parlò loro.

32 E, dopo questo, tutti i figliuoli d’Israele si accostarono, ed egli comandò loro tutte le cose che il Signore gli avea dette nel monte di Sinai.

33 E quando ebbe finito di parlar con loro, egli si mise un velo in sul viso.

34 E quando Mosè veniva davanti alla faccia del Signore, per parlar con lui, si toglieva il velo, finchè uscisse fuori; poi, come era uscito, diceva a’ figliuoli d’Israele ciò che gli era comandato.

35 E i figliuoli d’Israele, riguardando la faccia di Mosè, vedevano che la pelle del suo viso risplendeva. Poi egli si rimetteva il velo in sul viso, finchè entrasse a parlar col Signore.

   


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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Arcana Coelestia # 3727

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3727. As regards the meaning of 'a pillar', the reason why it means a holy boundary and so the ultimate degree of order is that in most ancient times people used to place stones where their boundaries ran which separated one person's property or inheritance from another's. These served as a sign and witness to the existence of the boundaries there. The most ancient people, who in every object and in every pillar thought of something celestial or spiritual, 1977, 2995, thought, when they saw these stones set up as pillars, of the ultimate things present in man, and so of the ultimate degree of order, which is truth in the natural man. And it was from those most ancient people who lived before the Flood that the ancients who lived after it acquired this custom, 920, 1409, 2179, 2896, 2897, and began to regard the stones they set up on their boundaries as sacred, for the reason, as stated, that they meant holy truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order, and also called those stones 'pillars'. This was how it came about that pillars were introduced into their worship, and why they erected them where they had their sacred groves and subsequently their temples, and also anointed them with oil, a point to be dealt with shortly. Indeed the worship of the Ancient Church consisted of things that had been perceived and things that had carried a meaning among the most ancient people prior to the Flood, as is evident from the paragraphs that have just been referred to. Since the most ancient people talked to angels and were in their company while still on earth, they received it from heaven that 'stones' means truth and 'wood' good; see just above in 3720. This then is why 'pillars' means a holy boundary, and so truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order with man. For good which flows in from the Lord by way of the internal man terminates in the external man, and in the truth that is there. Man's thought, speech, and activity, which are the ultimates of order, are nothing else than truths stemming from good. In fact they are the images or forms which good takes, for they belong to the understanding part of the human mind, whereas the good that is within them, and from which they spring, belongs to the will part.

[2] The fact that pillars were erected as a sign and a witness, and were also introduced into worship, and that in the internal sense they mean a holy boundary, or truth within man's natural, which is the ultimate degree of order, becomes clear from other places in the Word, as in the following verses where the subject is the covenant made between Laban and Jacob,

Now come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you. And Jacob took a stone and erected it as a pillar. Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have erected between me and you. This heap is a witness and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and that you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. Genesis 31:44-45, 51-52.

Here 'pillar' means truth, as will be seen in the explanation of those verses.

[3] In Isaiah,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak with the lips of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to Jehovah, which will be a sign and a witness to Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt. Isaiah 19:18-20.

'Egypt' stands for facts which belong to the natural man, 'an altar' for Divine worship in general, for in the second Ancient Church that began with Eber the altar became the first and foremost representative in its worship, 921, 1343, 2777, 2811. 'The midst of the land of Egypt' stands for the primary and inmost aspect of worship, 2940, 2973, 3436. 'Pillar' stands for truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order in the natural. The fact that it stood at the border as a sign and a witness is quite evident.

[4] In Moses,

Moses wrote down all the words of Jehovah and rose up in the morning and built an altar beside Mount Sinai, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Exodus 24:4.

Here similarly 'an altar' was the representative of all worship, and indeed was the representative of good present in worship. 'The twelve pillars' however were the representative in worship of truth that stems from good - 'twelve' meaning every aspect of truth in its entirety, see 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272; and the twelve tribes likewise meaning every aspect of truth in the Church, as in the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown in the next chapter.

[5] Because altars were representative of all good in worship, and the Jewish Church was established so as to represent the celestial Church which acknowledged no other truth than truth stemming from good, which is called celestial truth (for the celestial Church was totally unwilling to separate truth from good, so much so that it was unwilling even to refer to anything of faith or truth without thinking about good, and doing so from good, see 202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718, 3246), truth was therefore represented by the stones of the altar. And they were forbidden to represent it by means of pillars lest in so doing they separated truth from good and by representation worshipped truth instead of good. This accounts for the following prohibition in Moses,

You shall not plant for yourself a grove of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God which you shall make for yourself. And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:21-22.

For worshipping truth separated from good, or faith separated from charity, is contrary to the Divine since it is contrary to order, meant by 'you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates'.

[6] Despite this they did erect them and so represented things that are contrary to order, as is clear in Hosea,

Israel, according to the multiplying of his fruit, multiplies altars; according to the goodness of their land they make well their pillars. But He will overturn their altars, and lay waste their pillars. Hosea 10:1-2.

In the first Book of Kings,

Judah did what was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and they built for themselves high places and pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree. 1 Kings 14:22-23.

In the second Book of Kings,

The children of Israel set up pillars for themselves and groves on every high hill and under every green tree. 2 Kings 17:10.

In the same book,

Hezekiah removed the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the grove, and smashed the bronze snake which Moses had made, because they had been burning incense to it. 2 Kings 18:4.

[7] Since gentile nations too derived through tradition the idea that the holiness of worship was to be represented by means of altars and pillars, and yet they were under the influence of evil and falsity, the altars among the nations therefore mean the evils of worship and the pillars the falsities. This was why the command was given for them to be destroyed. In Moses,

The altars of the nations you shall overthrow, and you shall break down their pillars and tear down their groves. Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3.

In the same author,

You shall not bow down to the gods of the nations, or worship them, or do according to their works, for you shall utterly destroy them, and utterly break down their pillars. Exodus 23:24.

'The gods of the nations' stands for falsities, 'their works' for evils, 'breaking down their pillars' for destroying worship arising out of falsity.

[8] In Jeremiah,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel will break down the pillars of the house of the sun that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire. Jeremiah 43:13.

In Ezekiel,

By means of the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel will trample all your streets, slay the people with the sword, and cause your mighty pillars to come down to the ground. Ezekiel 26:11.

This refers to Tyre. 'Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel' stands for that which lays waste, 1327 (end). 'The hoofs of horses' stands for the lowest form of intellectual concepts, such as facts based on mere sensory impressions - 'hoofs' meaning lowest concepts, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be confirmed elsewhere. 'Horses' stands for matters of the understanding, 2760-2762, 'streets' for truths, and in the contrary sense for falsities, 2336. 'trampling' on them is destroying cognitions of truth, which are meant by 'Tyre' - 'Tyre', the subject here, meaning cognitions of truth, 1201. 'Slaying the people with the sword' stands for destroying truths by means of falsity - 'people' being used in reference to truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, and 'sword' meaning falsity engaged in conflict, 2799. From this one may see what 'causing your mighty pillars to come down to the ground' means - 'might' being used in reference either to truth or to falsity, as is also clear from the Word.

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