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Exodus 8

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1 7:26 And Jehovah said to Moses, Come to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says Jehovah, Send My people away, and they shall serve Me.

2 7:27 And if thou refuse to send, behold I will strike all thy border with frogs.

3 7:28 And the river shall make frogs to crawl, and they shall go·​·up and come into thy house, and into thy bed chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and on thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.

4 7:29 And on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants, shall the frogs go·​·up.

5 1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch thy hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the channels of the Nile, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to go·​·up on the land of Egypt.

6 2 And Aaron stretched his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs went·​·up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 3 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and caused frogs to go·​·up on the land of Egypt.

8 4 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Supplicate ye to Jehovah, and He shall remove the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will send· the people ·away, and they shall sacrifice to Jehovah.

9 5 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Have honor* over me. How·​·long shall I supplicate for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to cut·​·off the frogs from thee, and from thy houses? Only in the Nile shall they be left.

10 6 And he said, To tomorrow. And he said, Be it according·​·to thy word; therefore thou mayest know that there is none as Jehovah our God.

11 7 And the frogs shall be removed from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; only in the Nile shall they be left.

12 8 And Moses and Aaron went out from before Pharaoh; and Moses cried to Jehovah upon the word of the frogs which He had laid on Pharaoh.

13 9 And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

14 10 And they piled· them ·up, heaps and heaps; and the land stank.

15 11 And Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, and he made heavy his heart, and heard them not, as Jehovah had spoken.

16 12 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, and it shall become lice in all the land of Egypt.

17 13 And they did so; and Aaron stretched·​·out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the land, and there was lice on man and on beast; all the dust of the land became lice in all the land of Egypt.

18 14 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring·​·out lice, and they were· not ·able; and there was louse on man and on beast.

19 15 And the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God; and the heart of Pharaoh was made·​·firm, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had spoken.

20 16 And Jehovah said to Moses, Get·​·up·​·early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he goes forth to the waters; and say to him, Thus says Jehovah, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

21 17 For if thou send· not My people ·out, behold I send among thee, and among thy servants, and among thy people, and into thy houses, a flying·​·swarm; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with the flying·​·swarm, and even the ground on which it is.

22 18 And I will set·​·apart in that day the land of Goshen, upon which My people stand, that no flying·​·swarm be there; to the end that thou mayest·​·know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the land.

23 19 And I will set redemption between My people and thy people; tomorrow shall this sign be.

24 20 And Jehovah did so; and there came the heavy flying·​·swarm into the house of Pharaoh, and into the house of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt; the land was destroyed from before the flying·​·swarm.

25 21 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26 22 And Moses said, It is not right to do so, for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God; lo, we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to their eyes, and will they not stone us?

27 23 We will go a way of three days into the wilderness, and will sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as He has said to us.

28 24 And Pharaoh said, I will send you, and you shall sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only being·​·far be· not ·far in going; supplicate for me.

29 25 And Moses said, Behold I go·​·out from thee, and I will supplicate to Jehovah that He may remove the flying·​·swarm from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh delude us again in not sending· the people ·out to sacrifice to Jehovah.

30 26 And Moses went·​·out from with Pharaoh, and he supplicated to Jehovah.

31 27 And Jehovah did according·​·to the word of Moses; and He removed the flying·​·swarm from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one was left.

32 28 And Pharaoh made·​·heavy his heart this time also, and he did not let· the people ·go.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 4876

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4876. 'And your rod which is in your hand' means through the power of this, that is, of this truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a rod' as power, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the hand' too as power, dealt with in 876, 3091, 3387, 3563. The phrase 'which is in your hand' is used because the power of that truth, namely lowest truth, is meant, like that present with the semblance of religion among the Jewish nation, meant here by 'Judah'. Regarding the attribution of power to truth, see 3091, 3563. Frequent mention is made in the Word of 'a rod', yet surprisingly few at the present day know that something in the spiritual world was represented by it, as for instance when Moses was commanded, every time a miracle was performed, to lift up his rod and so it was accomplished. The existence of such knowledge even among gentiles may be recognized from their myths in which rods are assigned to magicians. The reason 'a rod' means power is that it is a support, for it gives support to the hand and arm, and through these to the whole body. This being so, a rod takes on the meaning of the part to which it immediately gives support, namely that of the hand and the arm, both of which mean in the Word the power of truth. Also, the hand and arm correspond to that power in the Grand Man, as will be seen at the ends of chapters.

[2] That 'a rod' represented power is evident, as has been stated, from what is recorded about Moses,

He was commanded to take a rod and use it to perform miracles; so he took the rod of God in his hand. Exodus 4:17, 20.

When the waters in Egypt were struck with the rod, they turned to blood.

Exodus 7:15, 19.

When the rod was stretched out over the streams, frogs came forth. Exodus 8:5-15.

When the dust was struck by the use of the rod, it turned into lice. Exodus 8:16-20.

When the rod was stretched out towards heaven, hail fell. Exodus 9:23.

When the rod was stretched out over the earth, locusts came forth. Exodus 10:3-21.

Since 'the hand', which means power, comes first, while 'a rod' is merely its instrument, the following references to 'the hand' also occur:

The miracles happened when Moses' hand was stretched out. Exodus 10:12-13. When he stretched out his hand towards heaven, thick darkness came over the land of Egypt. Exodus 10:21-22. When he stretched out his hand over the Sea Suph, an east wind made the sea dry land; and when again he stretched out his hand, the waters returned. Exodus 14:21, 26-27.

[3] Reference is in addition made to the rod being used to strike the rock at Horeb, after which water flowed out, Exodus 17:5-6; Numbers 20:7-10. Also, when Joshua was about to fight against Amalek,

Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with God's rod in my hand. And it happened, that when Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. Exodus 17:9-11.

From these references it is quite plain that 'a rod', like the hand, represented power, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine almighty power. It is also evident that at that time representatives constituted the external features of the Church, and that its internal features - which were spiritual and celestial realities such as exist in heaven - corresponded to those external ones, which owed their efficacy to that correspondence. From this it is also evident how crazy those people are who believe that power had been infused into and therefore dwelt in Moses' rod or hand.

[4] The meaning in the spiritual sense of 'a rod' as power is also evident from many places in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem rod and stay, the whole rod of bread, and the whole rod of water. Isaiah 3:1.

'The rod of bread' stands for the support and power provided by the good of love, 'the rod of water' for the support and power provided by the truth of faith. For 'bread' means the good of love, see 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735; and 'water' the truth of faith' 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424. 'The rod of bread' is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalms 105:16.

[5] In addition to this, in Isaiah,

The Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, said, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur, who will smite you with a stick and will lift up the rod over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah will lift up the scourge against him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Oreb, and his rod will be over the sea, which he will lift up in the way of Egypt. Isaiah 10:24, 26.

Here 'the rod' stands for power provided by reasoning and knowledge, like that which those people possess who, with ideas based on factual knowledge, reason against the truths of faith and pervert these or else treat them as worthless. This is what is meant by 'the stick with which Asshur will smite' and by 'the rod which he will lift up in the way of Egypt'. For 'Asshur' means reasoning, see 1186, and 'Egypt' knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.

[6] Similarly in Zechariah,

The pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart. Zechariah 10:11.

In Isaiah,

You relied on the rod of a bruised reed, on Egypt, which, when anyone leans on it, goes into his hand and pierces it. Isaiah 36:6.

'Egypt' stands for factual knowledge, as above; and power in spiritual things which is received from that knowledge is meant by 'the rod of a bruised reed'. By 'the hand which it enters and pierces' is meant power received from the Word. In the same prophet,

Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. Isaiah 14:5

'The rod' and 'the stick' plainly stand for power.

[7] In Jeremiah,

Grieve, all regions surrounding Moab; say, How is the rod of strength, the rod of beauty, broken! Jeremiah 48:17.

'The rod of strength' stands for power received from good, and 'the rod of beauty' for power received from truth.

[8] In Hosea,

My people enquire of their piece of wood, and their rod gives them a reply, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.

'Inquiring of a piece of wood' stands for consulting evils, 'the rod gives reply' for the fact that falsity results from these, its power being derived from the evil to which they give support. 'The spirit of whoredom' stands for the life of falsity resulting from evil. In David,

Even when I walk in the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your stick and Your rod comfort me. Psalms 23:4.

'Your stick and your rod' stands for Divine truth and good, which have power. In the same author,

The rod of the wicked will not rest on the lot of the righteous. Psalms 125:3.

[9] In the same author,

You will break them in pieces with a stick of iron, you will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Psalms 2:9.

'A stick of iron' stands for the power of spiritual truth within the natural, for all natural truth that has spiritual truth present within it possesses power. 'Iron' means natural truth, 425, 426. Similarly in John,

He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations to rule 1 them untie a stick of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces. Revelation 2:26-27. (Also Revelation 12:5; 19:15.)

[10] Because 'a rod' represented the power of truth, that is, the power of good expressed by means of truth, kings therefore had sceptres; and those sceptres were shaped like short rods. For kings represent the Lord as regards truth, while kingship itself means Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4581. The sceptre means the power which is theirs not by virtue of their high position but of truth which must reign. Nor must this be any other kind of truth than that which is grounded in good, and so is primarily Divine Truth, and among Christians is the Lord, the source of all Divine Truth.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, pasture

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