Arcana Coelestia # 9166
9166. 'An oath of Jehovah shall be between them both' means enquiry made through truths from the Word regarding every single aspect of these things. This is clear from the meaning of 'an oath' as confirming through truths, dealt with in 2842, 3037, 3375, so that 'an oath of Jehovah' means doing so through truths from the Word, for the Word contains Jehovah's truths, that is, God's truths; and from the meaning of 'them both' as in every single aspect, for in the internal sense 'between both' does not mean between two but in every single aspect. 'Two' means things joined together to make a single whole, 1686, 3519, 5194, 8423, thus all that composes the whole, or every single aspect of it. This is what those in heaven perceive 'two' to be; and the reason why they do so is that when a discussion takes place among angels regarding two truths at variance with each other, a scene in which two spirits are arguing with each other presents itself on the level below. And since these spirits are the subordinates of a number of communities, every single aspect of one truth appears with one spirit, and every single aspect of the other truth with the other spirit. From this the angels perceive how the two are able to be linked together. I have been allowed to know from experience that this is what happens. So it is that when the words 'them both' are used in reference to truths they mean in every single aspect. This also is the reason why 'two' means something complete, 9103.
[2] The reason why it was permissible among the Israelite and Jewish nation to swear by Jehovah was that they were not internal, only external people, and when they engaged in the worship of God they did so on an external and not an internal level. The fact that they were like this, see 4281, 4293, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4903, 6304, 8588, 8788, 8806. When the confirmation of a truth comes down into the external man separated from the internal, it is effected by means of an oath; but not so when it comes down into the external by way of the internal. For in the internal man truth appears in its own light, but in the external without the internal truth appears in darkness. This explains why the celestial angels, who inhabit the inmost or third heaven, being in the highest degree of light do not even confirm truths by the use of reasons. Still less do they engage in argument and reasoning about truths; they simply say Yes or No, which they do by virtue of an ability received from the Lord to perceive and see them.
[3] This explains why the Lord has said the following regarding oaths,
You have heard that it was said, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord your oaths. But I say to you, You shall not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your words be, Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil. 1 Matthew 5:33-37.
These words imply that confirmation of God's truths should come from the Lord and not from man, which it does when people are internal and not external. For people who are external confirm truths by means of oaths, but those who are internal do so by means of reasons, while those who are even more internal do not confirm them at all but simply say It is so, or It isn't so. Those who are external are called natural people, those who are internal are called spiritual people, and those even more internal are called celestial people. The last of these - celestial people - have the ability, received from the Lord, to perceive intuitively whether something is true or not, see 2708, 2715, 2718, 3246, 4448, 7877. All this shows what was implied when the Lord said, You shall not swear at all, and also Let your words be Yes, yes; No, no. But why He also said that they were not to swear by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, or by their head, and that any words beyond 'Yes, yes; No, no' are from evil, must be explained.
[4] Swearing by heaven means doing so by Divine Truth, thus by the Lord there. Heaven is heaven not by virtue of the angels regarded in themselves but by virtue of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, thus by virtue of the Lord Himself, within them; for the Divine within them is what enables them to be angels of heaven and be called angels of heaven. This explains why those in heaven are said to be 'in the Lord', why the Lord is the All in every single thing of heaven, and also why angels are God's truths, being recipients of God's truth emanating from the Lord.
Heaven is heaven and is called heaven by virtue of what is Divine and the Lord's there, see 552, 3038, 3700. Angels are God's truths, 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301. Something of the Lord is meant by an angel in the Word, 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 4295, 6280.
Since heaven is the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, it says 'you shall not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne'. 'God's throne' is Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord, 5313, 6397, 9039.
[5] Swearing by the earth however is doing so by the Church, thus by Divine Truth there. For just as heaven is the Lord by virtue of Divine Truth that emanates from Him, so too is the Church, the Church being the Lord's heaven or His kingdom on earth. For the meaning of 'earth' in the Word as the Church, see 662, 1066, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 8732. And since 'the earth' is the Church, the place where what is Divine and the Lord's below heaven exists, it says 'you shall not swear by the earth, for it is God's footstool'. 'Footstool' means God's truth below heaven, which is truth as it exists in the literal sense of the Word; for on this sense God's truth in heaven, which is the Word in the internal sense, rests and so to speak stands. Truth as it exists in the literal sense is meant by 'footstool' in David, in Psalms 99:5; 132:7; in Isaiah 60:13; and in Jeremiah, in Lamentations 2:1.
[6] Swearing by Jerusalem however is doing so by teachings that present truth drawn from the Word. For in a broad sense 'Jerusalem' is the Church, 2117, 3654; but when the words 'the earth', meaning the Church, are used, followed by 'Jerusalem', 'Jerusalem' then means the Church's teachings, consequently teachings that present God's truth drawn from the Word. This is why it is called 'the city of the great [King, who is] God', for 'city' in the internal sense of the Word means teachings that present the truth, see 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4478, 4492, 4493.
[7] Swearing by his head however means a person's doing so by the truth which he himself believes to be the truth and makes part of his faith; for this as it resides with him constitutes 'his head', and it is also what is meant by 'the head' in Isaiah 15:2; 29:10; in Ezekiel 7:18; 13:18; 16:12; 29:18; in Matthew 6:17; and elsewhere. Therefore it also says, 'for you cannot make one hair white or black'. 'Hair' means truth belonging to the external or natural man, 3301, the kind that exists with those who believe the truth not because they perceive it to be the truth but because the teachings of the Church declare it to be so. And since they know the truth on no other grounds than this it says that they are not to swear by it because they cannot make a hair white or black. 'Making a hair white' means declaring on one's own authority that truth is truth, and 'making a hair black' declaring on one's own authority that falsity is falsity. For 'white' is said in reference to truth, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319, and therefore 'black' in reference to falsity.
[8] From all this one may now see what is meant by the command not to swear at all, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor by one's head, namely that a person should not use what is his own to confirm God's truth but what is the Lord's with him. Therefore it also says finally, Your words shall be Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil. Those who have the ability, which comes from the Lord, to perceive and see truth confirm it in this way alone, even as angels of the inmost or third heaven do, the ones who are called celestial angels, spoken about above. The reason why any words beyond 'Yes, yes; No, no' are from evil is that anything beyond them does not come from the Lord but from a person's proprium or self, thus from evil, since a person's proprium is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1044, 1047, 3812 (end), 4328, 5660, 8941, 8944. All this again shows in what way the Lord spoke, that is to say, in such a way that every single word contained an inner meaning, since He spoke from the Divine. Thus He spoke for the benefit of angels at the same time as for men; for angels perceive the Word according to its inner meaning.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. or from the evil one
Exodus 12
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2
"This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
3
Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household;
4
and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
5
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats:
6
and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.
7
They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.
8
They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.
9
Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.
10
You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.
11
This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh's Passover.
12
For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.
13
The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
14
This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
15
"'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16
In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.
17
You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.
18
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening.
19
Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land.
20
You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.'"
21
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover.
22
You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
23
For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you.
24
You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever.
25
It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service.
26
It will happen, when your children ask you, 'What do you mean by this service?'
27
that you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.'" The people bowed their heads and worshiped.
28
The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
29
It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock.
30
Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31
He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said!
32
Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!"
33
The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We are all dead men."
34
The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.
35
The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing.
36
Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They despoiled the Egyptians.
37
The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children.
38
A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock.
39
They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn't leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn't wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food.
40
Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.
41
It happened at the end of four hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt.
42
It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel throughout their generations.
43
Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it,
44
but every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.
45
A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it.
46
In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it.
47
All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48
When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
49
One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you."
50
All the children of Israel did so. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
51
It happened the same day, that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
