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Exodus 9

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1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Come to Pharaoh, and speak to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

2 For if thou refuse to send· them ·away, and thou still hold· them ·firmly,

3 behold, the hand of Jehovah shall be on thy livestock which is in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herd, and on the flock; a very heavy pestilence.

4 And Jehovah shall set·​·apart the livestock of Israel from the livestock of the Egyptians, and there shall· nothing ·die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.

5 And Jehovah set an appointed·​·time, saying, Tomorrow Jehovah shall do this word in the land.

6 And Jehovah did this word on the morrow, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died; and of the livestock of the sons of Israel not one died.

7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold there was not so much as one of the livestock of Israel dead; and Pharaoh’s heart was made heavy, and he did not let the people go.

8 And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to you fistfuls of the soot of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heavens to the eyes of Pharaoh.

9 And it shall become powdery dust over all the land of Egypt, and it shall be upon man, and upon the beast, an ulcer flourishing with boils in all the land of Egypt.

10 And they took the soot of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens; and it became an ulcer with boils flourishing on man and on beast.

11 And the magicians were· not ·able to stand before Moses because of the ulcer; for the ulcer was on the magicians and on all Egypt.

12 And Jehovah made· the heart of Pharaoh ·firm, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had spoken to Moses.

13 And Jehovah said to Moses, Get·​·up·​·early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

14 For this time I will send all My plagues to thy heart, and against thy servants, and against thy people; so·​·that thou mayest know that there is no·​·one like Me in all the earth.

15 For now I would put·​·forth My hand, and smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou wouldst be cut·​·off from the earth.

16 Nevertheless for the sake of this have I made thee to stand, so·​·that thou mayest see My power, and so·​·that My name may be recounted in all the earth.

17 As yet thou buildest· thyself ·up against My people, in thy not letting them go.

18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very heavy hail, as has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded even until now.

19 And now send, muster·​·together thy livestock, and all that thou hast in the field; every man and beast, that shall·​·be·​·found in the field, and shall not be gathered to the house, and the hail shall come·​·down on them, and they shall·​·die.

20 He that feared the word of Jehovah of the servants of Pharaoh, made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses.

21 And he that did not set his heart to the word of Jehovah, left his servants and his livestock in the field.

22 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch·​·out thy hand to* the heavens, and there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.

23 And Moses stretched·​·out his rod to the heavens; and Jehovah gave voices and hail, and fire walked toward the land, and Jehovah made hail rain on the land of Egypt.

24 And there was hail, and fire taking itself in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been like it in all the land of Egypt since’ it became a nation.

25 And the hail smote in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from man and even·​·to beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time; Jehovah is just, and I and my people are wicked.

28 Supplicate ye to Jehovah, there has been more than enough voices of God and hail; and I will send· you ·away, and you shall not still stand.

29 And Moses said to him, As I go out of the city, I will spread my palms to Jehovah; and the voices shall stop, and there shall be no more hail; that thou mayest·​·know that the earth is Jehovah’s.

30 And thou and thy servants, I know that you will not yet fear the face of Jehovah God.

31 And the flax and the barley were smitten; for the barley was a maturing·​·ear, and the flax was a stalk.

32 And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they were hidden.

33 And Moses went·​·out of the city from with Pharaoh, and spread his palms to Jehovah; and the voices and the hail stopped and the rain poured· not ·out toward the earth.

34 And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the voices had stopped, and he sinned yet more, and made heavy his heart, he and his servants.

35 And the heart of Pharaoh was made·​·firm, and he did not send· the sons of Israel ·away; as Jehovah had spoken by the hand of Moses.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3048

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3048. 'The servant took ten camels from his master's camels, and went' means [Divine] general facts in the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'the servant' here as the natural man, dealt with above in 3019, 3020; from the meaning of 'ten' as remnants, which are the goods and truths stored away in a person by the Lord, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1906, 2284 (though when 'ten' or remnants is used in reference to the Lord, the Divine things that the Lord acquired to Himself are meant, 1738, 1906); and from the meaning of 'camels' as general facts which, being Divine or things acquired by the Lord, are said to be 'ten' in number, and also to be 'camels from his master's camels'. The words 'he went' mean the introduction which was effected by means of those facts, which is dealt with in this chapter. The whole subject is the process by which truth was joined to good in the Lord's Divine Rational, the first thing to be described in this line of thought being the nature of the process of introduction, referred to in 3012, 3013. The present verse describes how the Lord separated those things in the natural man that came from Himself, that is, that were Divine, from those that came from the mother. Those that came from Himself, or were Divine, are the things through which the introduction was effected, and they are meant here by 'the ten camels from his master's camels'. This explains why much reference is made in subsequent verses to camels, such as that he made the camels kneel down outside the city, verse 11; that Rebekah also gave the camels a drink, verses 14, 19-20; that they were led into the house, and given straw and fodder, verses 31-32; and further on, that Rebekah and her maids rode on the camels, verse 61; and that Isaac saw the camels coming, and that when Rebekah saw Isaac she dropped down from the camel, verses 63-64. The reason they are mentioned so many times lies in the internal sense in which they mean the general facts that are present in the natural man and from which comes the affection for truth that had to be introduced to the affection for good within the rational, this being effected in the ordinary way, as shown above. For the rational as regards truth cannot possibly be born and perfected without facts and cognitions.

[2] That 'camels' means general facts is clear from other places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Isaiah,

A prophecy of the beasts of the south. In the land of distress and anguish are the young lion and the old lion from them, the viper and the flying fiery-serpent. They carry their wealth on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the backs of camels, to a people that do not profit them. And Egypt's help will be in vain and to no advantage. Isaiah 30:6-7.

'The beasts of the south' stands for those who possess cognitions or the light of cognitions but lead evil lives. 'Carrying their wealth on the shoulders of young asses' stands for the cognitions which belong to their rational, 'a young ass' being rational truth, see 2781. 'Their treasures on the backs of camels' stands for the cognitions which belong to their natural, 'the backs of camels' being the natural, 'camels' themselves the general facts there, 'treasures' the cognitions which they consider to be precious. The words 'Egypt's help will be in vain and to no advantage' mean that to them knowledge is of no use, 'Egypt' being knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588 (end). It is evident that camels are not meant by 'camels' here because it is said that the young lion and the old lion carry their treasures on the backs of camels. Anyone may see that some arcanum of the Church is meant by this description.

[3] In the same prophet,

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. Thus said the Lord, Go, set a watchman to point out what he sees. And he saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a chariot of asses, a chariot of camels, and he listened diligently. He answered and said, Fallen, fallen has Babel. Isaiah 21:1, 6-7, 9.

'The wilderness of the sea' stands for the hollowness of knowledge that serves no use. 'A chariot of asses' stands for a mass of specific facts, 'a chariot of camels' for a mass of general facts which are present in the natural man. It is the hollow reasonings found with people meant by Babel which are described in this fashion.

[4] In the same prophet,

Your heart will enlarge itself because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you. A multitude of camels will cover you, dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will spread abroad the praises of Jehovah. Isaiah 60:5-6.

This refers to the Lord, and to the Divine celestial and spiritual things within His natural. 'The abundance of the sea' stands for a vast quantity of natural truth, 'the wealth of the nations' for a vast quantity of natural good. 'A multitude of camels' stands for general facts in abundance, 'gold and frankincense' for goods and truths which are 'the praises of Jehovah'. 'From Sheba' is from the celestial things of love and faith, see 113, 117, 1171. The queen of Sheba's coming to Solomon in Jerusalem with vast amounts of wealth, with camels carrying spices, and very much gold, and precious stones, 1 Kings 10:1-2, represented the wisdom and intelligence which came to the Lord, who in the internal sense of these verses is meant by Solomon. 'Camels carrying spices, gold, and precious stores' means matters of wisdom and intelligence in the natural man.

[5] In Jeremiah,

To Arabia and to the kingdoms of Hazor which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel smote: Arise and go up to Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the east. They will take their tents, their curtains, and all their vessels, and they will bear their camels away from them. Their camels will become booty, and the multitude of their flocks booty, and I will scatter them to every wind. Jeremiah 49:28-29, 32.

Here 'Arabia' and 'the kingdoms of Hazor', used in the contrary sense, stand for people who possess cognitions of celestial and spiritual things but whose only use for them is to be considered wise and intelligent in their own eyes and in those of the world. 'The camels that will be borne away from them to become booty and that will be scattered to every wind' means in general the factual knowledge of those people and their cognitions of good and truth, which will begin to be removed from these people in this life through their belief in things of a contrary nature, and in the next life removed altogether.

[6] In Zechariah,

The plague with which Jehovah will smite all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: It will be a plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass, and every beast. Zechariah 14:12, 15.

'A plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, the ass' stands for the removal of the powers of the understanding which follow one another in the same consecutive order, from rational concepts to natural images. What a horse is, see 2761, 2762; a mule, 2781; an ass, 2781. 'Camels' stands for general facts in the natural man. The pestilence in Egypt 'on the cattle in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the herd, and on the flock', Exodus 9:2-3, had a similar meaning.

From all these places it becomes clear that 'camels' in the internal sense of the Word means general facts which belong to the natural man. General facts are those which include within themselves many particular ones, while these include within themselves those that are specific. All these constitute in general the understanding part of the natural man.

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