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Exodus 22

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1 21:37 When a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and shall butcher it, or sell it, he shall repay five cattle for the ox, and four of the flock for the sheep.

2 1 If a thief be found while digging·​·through, and be smitten, and die, no bloods* shall be shed for him.

3 2 If the sun have risen upon him, bloods shall be shed for him; repaying he shall repay; if he have nothing, he shall·​·be·​·sold for his theft.

4 3 If finding the theft be·​·found in his hand, from an ox even·​·to a donkey, even·​·to an animal·​·of·​·the·​·flock, living; he shall repay two times.

5 4 When a man shall desolate* a field or a vineyard, and shall send·​·out his brutish beast, and it shall desolate* the field of another; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, he shall repay.

6 5 When a fire shall go·​·forth, and shall find thorns, and a stack is devoured, or the standing·​·grain, or the field; he who burns the burning, repaying he shall repay.

7 6 When a man shall give to his companion silver or vessels to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be·​·found, he shall repay double.

8 7 If the thief be· not ·found, the master of the house shall be brought·​·near to God, to see if he has put·​·forth his hand into the business of his companion.

9 8 Over every word of transgression, Over an ox, Over a donkey, Over an animal·​·of·​·the·​·flock, Over raiment, Over every lost thing, of which he shall say that it is this, even·​·to God shall come the word of the two of them; he whom God shall condemn shall repay two times to his companion.

10 9 When a man shall give to his companion a donkey, or an ox, or an animal·​·of·​·the·​·flock, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be broken, or be taken·​·captive, no one seeing it;

11 10 the promise of Jehovah shall be between the two of them, to see if he has put·​·forth his hand into the business of his companion, and his master has taken it, and he shall not repay.

12 11 And if stealing it shall be stolen from him, he shall repay to its master.

13 12 If tearing it shall be torn, he shall bring a witness for it*; he shall not repay that which was torn.

14 13 And when a man shall ask from his companion, and it be broken, or die, the master thereof not being with it, repaying he shall repay.

15 14 If the master thereof be with it, he shall not repay; if he is a hireling he shall come in his hire.

16 15 And when a man shall entice a virgin who is not betrothed, and shall lie with her, endowing he shall endow her to himself for a woman.

17 16 If her father refusing shall refuse to give her to him, he shall weigh silver according·​·to the dowry of virgins.

18 17 Thou shalt not let· a sorceress ·live.

19 18 All who lie with a beast, dying he shall·​·die.

20 19 He who sacrifices to gods, except to Jehovah alone, shall be doomed.

21 20 And a sojourner thou shalt not exploit, and thou shalt not subjugate him; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

22 21 Any widow and orphan you shall not afflict.

23 22 If afflicting thou shalt afflict him, and crying he shall cry to Me, hearing I will hear his cry;

24 23 and My anger shall be·​·fierce, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall become widows, and your sons orphans.

25 24 If thou shalt lend silver to My people, the afflicted with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; you shall not set usury on him.

26 25 If taking·​·as·​·a·​·pledge thou shalt take·​·as·​·a·​·pledge thy companion’s raiment, even at the going·​·in of the sun thou shalt return it to him.

27 26 For it is his only covering, it is his raiment for his skin, in which he may lie·​·down; and it shall be, that he shall cry to Me, and I will hear; for I am gracious.

28 27 Thou shalt not revile God, and a chief among thy people thou shalt not curse.

29 28 The firstfruits of thy grain, and the firstfruits of thy wine,* thou shalt not delay. The firstborn of thy sons thou shalt give to Me.

30 29 So shalt thou do for thine ox, and for thy flock; seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day thou shalt give it to Me.

31 30 And you shall be men of holiness to Me; and flesh that is torn in the field you shall not eat; you shall cast it to the dog.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9125

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9125. 'If a thief is caught digging through' means if it is not apparent that good or truth is being taken away. This is clear from the meaning of 'digging through' as perpetrating evil in concealment, and - when said of a thief - as taking away good or truth by means of falsity arising from evil so as not to be seen, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a thief' as one who takes away good and truth, dealt with in 5135, 8906, 9018, 9020, and in the abstract sense as truth or good that has been taken away. The term 'abstract sense' is used because angels, who see the internal sense of the Word, think in abstraction from persons, 5225, 5287, 5434, 8343, 8985, 9007. The Word too in its internal sense has spiritual realities instead of worldly objects, without any narrowing down to persons or places.

[2] As regards the meaning of 'digging through' as perpetrating evil in concealment, and - when said of a thief - as taking away good or truth by means of falsity arising from evil so as not to be seen, all this is evident from the consideration that a distinction is drawn here between a theft committed by digging through and a theft committed when the sun has risen, spoken of in the next verse. That 'digging through' has this meaning is also clear from places in the Word in which the expression occurs, as in Jeremiah,

Yes, in your skirts the blood of poor innocent souls is found. I have found those things not by digging through but on them all. Jeremiah 2:34.

This refers to foul kinds of love and the evils resulting from them. 'I have found those things not by digging through' stands for not discovering them by investigating secretly. Therefore it says those things are 'on them all', that is, they are visible everywhere. In Ezekiel,

He brought me to the door of the court, where I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall. He said to me, Dig, now, through the wall. I therefore dug through the wall, and behold, a door. Ezekiel 8:7-8.

This refers to the abominations of the house of Israel which they performed secretly. 'Digging through the wall' means going in secretly and seeing what they do. In Amos,

If they dig through into hell, from there My hand will take them. Or if they mount up into heaven, from there I will throw them down. Amos 9:2.

'Digging through into hell' means hiding oneself there, and so among falsities arising from evil. Hell consists in falsity arising from evil, since that falsity reigns there. The falsities there are called darkness, within which they hide away from the light of heaven; for they flee from the light of heaven, which is Divine Truth from the Lord. In Job,

The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight, saying, No eye will see me. And he will put on a covering for his face. He digs through 1 houses in the darkness. In the daytime they mark [them] for themselves; they do not acknowledge the light. For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death, since they acknowledge the terrors of the shadow of death. Job 24:15-17.

Here 'digging through houses' plainly stands for secretly plundering another's goods. For it says that 'he digs through houses in the darkness'; that he watches for twilight, so that no eye may see him; that he puts a covering on his face; they do not acknowledge the light; also that the morning is the shadow of death to them.

[3] The use of 'digging through a house' to mean secretly taking away another's good has its origin in representatives in the next life. There when angels are talking about falsity secretly destroying good, this destruction appears as the digging through of a wall when it is represented on a lower level, where the things angels talk about are manifested in visual images. On the other hand, when angels are talking about truth approaching good and linking itself to it, that approach is represented as an open door through which people enter. This is why the Lord, who spoke in accordance with representatives in heaven and in accordance with correspondences, says in John,

Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. John 10:1-2.

And in Luke,

Know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming he would certainly have been awake and would not have permitted his house to be dug through. 2 Luke 12:39.

Here also 'the thief' is one who destroys forms of the good of faith by means of falsities. 'Digging through a house' means carrying out such destruction secretly, since it is done when the householder is not awake. So it is also that coming like a thief means coming without being recognized, because he does not come through the door but by some other way. In John,

If you are not awake I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:3.

And in the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief; blessed is he who is awake. Revelation 16:15.

'Coming like a thief' means coming without being recognized and unexpectedly.

The Lord is spoken of in such a way because the meaning is that the door in a person is closed by falsity arising from evil.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. or He breaks into

2. or to be broken into

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