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Deuteronomy 9

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1 Hear, O Israel; Thou art crossing·​·over the Jordan today, to go·​·in to possess nations greater and more numerous than thyself, cities great and fortified to the heavens,

2 a people great and made·​·high, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak!

3 And know today, that Jehovah thy God is He who crosses·​·over before thee; as a devouring fire He shall blot· them ·out, and He shall humble them before thee. And thou shalt dispossess them, and make· them ·perish hastily, as Jehovah has spoken to thee.

4 Say not thou in thy heart, after Jehovah thy God has pushed· them ·out from before thee, saying, For my justice Jehovah has brought· me ·in to possess this land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah dispossesses from before thee.

5 Not for thy justice, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go·​·in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God dispossesses them from before thee, and so·​·that He may secure the word which Jehovah promised to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6 Know that Jehovah thy God gives thee not this good land to possess it by thy justice; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

7 Remember, forget not, that thou hast enraged Jehovah thy God in the wilderness; from the day that thou didst go·​·out from the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious with Jehovah.

8 And in Horeb you enraged Jehovah, and Jehovah was·​·angry with you to blot· you ·out.

9 When I was gone·​·up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah cut with you, then I dwelt in the mountain forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water;

10 and Jehovah delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which Jehovah spoke with you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

11 And it was, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Jehovah gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

12 And Jehovah said to me, Arise, come·​·down hastily from hence; for thy people whom thou hast brought·​·out from Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have hastily turned·​·aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten image.

13 Furthermore Jehovah said to me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people;

14 let· Me ·go, and I will blot· them ·out, and wipe·​·away their name from under the heavens; and I will make thee into a nation more numerous and greater than they.

15 And I turned and came·​·down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were on my two hands.

16 And I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against Jehovah your God, and had made you a molten calf; you had turned·​·aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you.

17 And I caught up the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.

18 And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which you sinned, in doing evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him.

19 For I was afraid of the faces of the anger and the fury with which Jehovah was·​·enraged against you to blot· you ·out. But Jehovah hearkened to me even at that time.

20 And Jehovah was· very ·angry with Aaron to blot· him ·out; and I prayed for Aaron also at that time.

21 And I took your sin which you had made, the calf, and burnt· it ·up with fire, and beat· it ·in·​·pieces, and ground it well, until it was made·​·thin as dust; and I cast its dust into the brook going·​·down from the mountain.

22 And at Taberah, and at Massah*, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, you were enraging Jehovah.

23 And when Jehovah sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go·​·up and possess the land which I have given you; then you rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah your God, and you believed not, nor obeyed His voice.

24 You have rebelled against Jehovah from the day that I knew you.

25 Thus I fell down before Jehovah forty days and forty nights, as I fell down before; for Jehovah had said He would blot· you ·out.

26 And I prayed to Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovih*, destroy not Thy people and Thine inheritance, whom Thou hast redeemed in Thy greatness, whom Thou hast brought·​·out from Egypt with a firm hand.

27 Remember Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; turn· not Thy ·face to the hardness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin;

28 lest the land whence Thou broughtest· us ·out say, Because Jehovah was· not ·able to bring them into the land of which He spoke to them, and because from His hatred of them, He has brought· them ·out to make· them ·die in the wilderness.

29 But they are Thy people and Thine inheritance, whom Thou broughtest·​·out by Thy great power and by Thy stretched·​·out arm.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 7673

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7673. 'Stretch out your hand' means an exercising of power. This is clear from the meaning of 'stretching out' as that which is connected with the exercising of control, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, 6292, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518. The reason why 'stretching out the hand' means the exercising of power is that there is power in the hand or arm when it is stretched out. When therefore Jehovah is said to stretch out His hand or arm, boundless or infinite power in action is meant. This explains why Jehovah told Moses on so many occasions, when miracles were to be performed, to stretch out his hand or his rod; for example,

Stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, and they will be blood. Exodus 7:19.

Stretch out your hand over the rivers, and cause frogs to rise up. Exodus 8:1-2. 1

Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land, and it will then be lice. Exodus 8:11, 12. 2

Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and there will be hail. Exodus 9:22-23.

Such words would never have been used but for the meaning of 'stretching out the hand' in the highest sense as Jehovah's almighty power.

[2] The same thing is meant by Joshua's being told to stretch out his javelin, described in his book as follows,

Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand towards Ai. When therefore Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand towards Ai, the ambush rose up quickly out of their place and ran, as soon as he stretched out his hand, and came to the city and took it. Joshua did not withdraw his hand which he had stretched out together with the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai had been utterly destroyed. Joshua 8:18-19, 26.

Being representative of God's almighty power, this too, like all other representative actions when they were commanded in those times, had force.

[3] There are a number of other places in which almighty power is described when it says that Jehovah 'stretches out His hand', or else His 'outstretched hand' or His 'outstretched arm' is spoken of. It is described by Jehovah stretching out His hand in Isaiah,

The anger [of Jehovah] has been roused against His people, and He has stretched out His hand over them and struck them, and the mountains were shaken. Isaiah 5:25.

In Ezekiel,

I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him. Ezekiel 14:9, 13.

In the same prophet,

I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations. Ezekiel 25:7.

I will stretch out My hand over Edom, and cut off from it man and beast. I will stretch out My hand over the philistines, and cut off . . . Ezekiel 25:13, 16.

Other places like these are Ezekiel 35:3; Isaiah 31:3; Zephaniah 1:4; 2:13. The use of 'outstretched hand' to describe almighty power occurs in Isaiah,

Jehovah's outstretched hand is over all the nations; who will turn it back? Isaiah 14:26, 27.

In Jeremiah,

I will fight with you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, and in anger and in fury. Jeremiah 21:5.

In Isaiah,

Still His hand is outstretched. Isaiah 9:12, 17; 10:4.

The use of 'outstretched arm' occurs in Jeremiah,

I have made the earth, man, and beast by My great strength and by My outstretched arm. Jeremiah 27:5.

In the same prophet,

You have made heaven and earth by Your great power and Your outstretched arm; there is no matter 3 that is too impossible for You. Jeremiah 32:17.

Here it is self-evident that 'outstretched arm' means almighty power. The same applies to many other places in which the expression 'by a strong hand and an outstretched arm' is used, such as Deuteronomy 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 9:29; 11:2; 26:8; 1 Kings 8:42; 2 Kings 17:36; Jeremiah 32:21; Ezekiel 20:33, 34.

[4] There are places too in which Jehovah is said to 'stretch out the heavens', and in these places also 'stretching out' means almighty power; that is to say, He expands the limits of heaven and fills those who are there with life and wisdom, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens like a thin veil, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40:22.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, spreads out the earth, gives breath 4 to His people upon it, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:5.

In Jeremiah,

. . . He who makes the earth by His power, prepares the world by His wisdom, and stretches out the heavens by His intelligence. Jeremiah 51:15.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

There are still more places besides these, such as Isaiah 44:24; 45:12; Psalms 104:2.

From all this one may now see why Moses was commanded to stretch out his hand and rod, that miracles were performed when he did so, and that 'stretching out the hand' for that reason means the exercising of power, and in the highest sense almighty power.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1Exodus 8:5-6 in English Bibles

2Exodus 8:16-17 in English Bibles

3. or word

4. literally, soul

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