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Exodus 7

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1 And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have given thee as a god to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak to Pharaoh, and let him send the sons of Israel out of his land.

3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My miracles in the land of Egypt.

4 And Pharaoh will not hear you; and I will put My hand upon the Egyptians, and lead out My armies, My people, the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt, with great judgments.

5 And the Egyptians shall·​·know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt, and lead out the sons of Israel from the midst of them.

6 And Moses and Aaron did so; as Jehovah commanded them, so they did.

7 And Moses was a son of eighty years, and Aaron a son of three and eighty years, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

9 And Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, Give for yourselves a miracle, and thou shalt say to Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, it shall become a sea·​·serpent*.

10 And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did as Jehovah had commanded; and Aaron cast his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a sea·​·serpent.

11 And Pharaoh also called the wise and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did so with their enchantments.

12 And they cast every man his rod, and they became sea·​·serpents; and Aaron’s rod swallowed·​·up their rods.

13 And the heart of Pharaoh was made·​·firm, and he hearkened not to them; as Jehovah had spoken.

14 And Jehovah said to Moses, The heart of Pharaoh is made·​·heavy, he refuses to send· the people ·away.

15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning; behold, he goes·​·out to the waters; and thou shalt stand on the lip of the river to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent take in thy hand.

16 And thou shalt say to him, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has sent me to thee, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness; and behold hitherto thou hast not heard.

17 Thus says Jehovah, In this thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; behold I smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

18 And the fish that is in the river shall·​·die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall be·​·weary to drink waters from the river.

19 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch·​·out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over the branches of their Nile, and over their ponds, and over every reservoir of their waters, and they shall be blood; and there shall be blood in all the land of Egypt, and in the trees and in the stones.

20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as Jehovah commanded; and he lifted·​·high the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, to the eyes of Pharaoh, and to the eyes of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned into blood.

21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and there was blood in all the land of Egypt.

22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and the heart of Pharaoh was made·​·firm, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had spoken.

23 And Pharaoh turned· his ·face back, and came to his house, and did not set his heart even to this.

24 And all the Egyptians dug all around the river for waters to drink; for they could not drink of the waters of the river.

25 And seven days were·​·fulfilled after that Jehovah had smitten the river.

   


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.