Bible

 

Exodus 11

Studie

   

1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Still one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will send· you ·out from this place; when he completely sends· you ·out, driving·​·out he shall drive· you ·out from this place.

2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask a man from his companion, and a woman from her companion, vessels of silver and vessels of gold.

3 And Jehovah gave the people grace in the eyes of the Egyptians. Also, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the eyes of the people.

4 And Moses said, Thus said Jehovah, About midnight I will go·​·out into the midst of Egypt.

5 And every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall·​·die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne, even·​·to the firstborn of the handmaid who is behind the millstones; and every firstborn of the beast.

6 And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such that there has not been any like it, nor shall there be any like it again.

7 And to all the sons of Israel a dog shall not point his tongue, from the man and even·​·to the beast; so·​·that you may·​·know that Jehovah wonderfully·​·makes a distinction between Egypt and a son of Israel.

8 And all these thy servants shall come·​·down to me, and bow· themselves ·down to me, saying, Get thee out, thou, and all the people that is at thy feet; and afterwards I will go·​·out. And he went·​·out from with Pharaoh in fierce anger.

9 And Jehovah said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken to you; so·​·that my miracles may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

10 And Moses and Aaron did all these miracles before Pharaoh; and Jehovah made· the heart of Pharaoh ·firm, and he did not send· the sons of Israel ·away from his land.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 7780

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

7780. 'Even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the mill' means falsified truths of faith that occupy the very last place. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with immediately above in 7779, and since faith is meant, so is truth in its entirety because truth, being that which one ought to believe, is the component of faith; and from the meaning of 'a servant-girl' as a rather external affection for truth, or an affection for knowledge, dealt with in 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, and 'the servant-girl behind the mill' as the most external affection for knowledge since 'behind the mill' means that which occupies the very last place. The expression 'behind the mill' is used because 'the mill' has reference to matters of faith. For by means of a mill grain is ground into flour and so prepared for making bread, and 'flour' means truth which results in good, 'bread' the actual good that results from it. Thus 'sitting at the mill' is acquiring and learning the kinds of things that will be of service to faith, and through faith of service to charity. This is why when the ancients described learning the basic elements of faith they described it as 'sitting at the mill', or learning elements even more basic as 'sitting behind the mill'. It is because such things were meant that in His teachings about the final period of the Church the Lord says,

Two women grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other will be left behind. Matthew 24:41.

These words would never have been used if 'the mill' had not meant matters of faith. For what 'the mill' and 'grinding' mean in the internal sense, see 4335. With regard to the truths of faith that occupy the first place and those that occupy the very last, it should be recognized that the truths of faith which emanate directly from the good of charity occupy the first place, for they are the outward form taken by good, whereas the truths which occupy the last place are bare truths. For when truths derive in succession from good, each degree of them departs further away from it, till at length they become bare truths. This is the kind of truths meant by 'servant-girls behind mills'.

  
/ 10837  
  

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