Bible

 

Jeremiah 46

Studie

   

1 The word of Jehovah was to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations;

2 for Egypt, against the host of Pharaoh-necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

3 Arrange ye the shield and the buckler, and approach to the battle.

4 Harness the horses; and go·​·up, ye horsemen, and stand·​·forth with your helmets; scour the lances, and put on the sirons*.

5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned·​·away backward? And their heroes are beaten·​·down, and fleeing have fled, and faced them not; for fear was all around, says Jehovah.

6 Let not the swift flee, nor the mighty·​·man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the hand* of the river Euphrates.

7 Who is this that goes·​·up as the Nile, whose waters tumble as rivers?

8 Egypt goes·​·up as the Nile, and his waters tumble as the rivers; and he says, I will go·​·up, I will cover the land; I will make· the city and those who dwell in her ·perish.

9 Go·​·up, ye horses; and rave, ye chariots; and let the heroes go·​·forth; Kush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.

10 And this is the day for the Lord Jehovih* of Armies, a day of vengeance, that He may be avenged of His adversaries. And the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and soaked* with their blood; for the Lord Jehovih of Armies sacrifices in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt; in vain shalt thou multiply medicines; there is no cure for thee.

12 The nations have heard of thy disgrace, and thy clamor has·​·filled the land; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.

13 The word that Jehovah spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon would come and smite the land of Egypt.

14 Tell ye in Egypt, and make it heard in Migdol, and make it heard in Noph and in Taḥpanḥes; say ye, Stand·​·forth, and prepare for thyself; for the sword shall devour all around thee.

15 Wherefore are thy powerful·​·ones swept·​·away? He stood not, for Jehovah did push· him ·out.

16 He made those who stumble many, yea, a man fell upon his companion; and they said, Arise, and let us return to our people, and to the land of our birth, from the faces of the afflicting sword.

17 They did call there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but an uproar; he has passed the time appointed.

18 As I am alive, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of Armies, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

19 Make for thyself vessels of exile, O daughter who dwells in Egypt; for Noph shall be for a desolation, and be kindled with fire from none dwelling there.

20 Egypt is a very·​·beautiful heifer, but from the north disaster comes; it comes.

21 Also her hirelings are in among her as calves of the stall; for they also are faced back, and are fled away together; they did not stand, for the day of their downfall had come upon them, and the time of their visitation.

22 Her voice shall go as a serpent; for they shall go with a host, and come to her with axes, as hewers of wood.

23 They shall cut·​·off her forest, says Jehovah, for it is not searched·​·out; for they are multiplied more than the locusts, and there is no number for them.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be shamed; she shall be given into the hand of the people of the north.

25 Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, says, Behold, I will visit Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh and those who trust in him;

26 and I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their souls, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the ancient days, says Jehovah.

27 But fear not thou, O My servant Jacob, and be· not ·dismayed, O Israel; for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be·​·quiet and be·​·at·​·ease, and none shall frighten him.

28 Fear thou not, Jacob My servant, says Jehovah; for I am with thee; for I will make a complete end of all the nations whither I have expelled thee; but I will not make a complete end of thee, but chastise thee for the judgment; but rendering·​·innocent I will not render· thee ·innocent

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 195

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

195. The most ancient people did not compare all things in man to beasts and birds but actually called them such. This was their manner of speaking, which also remained throughout in the Ancient Church after the Flood; and a similar manner of speaking was preserved among the Prophets. Man's sensory powers they called serpents, for just as serpents are next to the ground so do the sensory powers come next to the body. Consequently reasonings based on sensory evidence concerning mysteries of faith they called serpent-poisons, and those who reasoned in that way they called serpents. And it is their basing reasonings so much on sensory evidence - that is, on visual, as is the evidence of earthly, bodily, worldly, and natural objects - that is the reason for the statement 'the serpent was subtle, more than every wild animal of the field'.

[2] A similar usage occurs in David,

They make their tongue sharp, like a serpent. Under their lips is the poison of an asp. Psalms 140:3-5.

This refers to people who mislead a person by means of reasonings. In the same author,

They go astray even from the womb, in uttering what is untrue; their poison is like serpent's poison; they are like the poisonous deaf-adder which stops up its ear to the sound of those whispering [to it], of the wise one who belongs to the fraternity [of charmers]. Psalms 58:3-5.

Reasonings whose nature is such that those who resort to them do not even hear that which is wise, that is, do not hear 'the sound of the wise one', are here called 'serpent's poison'. This was the origin of the popular saying with the ancients about 'the serpent stopping its ear'. In Amos,

As if someone went into the house and leaned with his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, and thick darkness, and no brightness in it? Amos 5:19-20.

'His hand against the wall' stands for power that is one's own and trust in sensory evidence, which results in the benightedness described here.

[3] In Jeremiah,

The sound of Egypt will go forth like a serpent, for [her enemies] will go forth in force, and they will come to her with axes, like woodcutters. Let them cut down her forest, says Jehovah, for it will not be explored; they are more numerous than locusts, they are without number. The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame; she will be given into the hand of a people from the north. Jeremiah 46:20, 22-24.

'Egypt' stands for reasoning about Divine matters that is based on sensory evidence and factual knowledge. Reasonings are called 'the sound of a serpent', and the benightedness that results is meant by 'a people from the north'. In Job,

He will suck the poison of asps, the tongue of a viper will kill him; he will not see the brooks, the streams flowing with honey and butter. Job 20:16-17.

'Streams of honey and butter' are spiritual and celestial things, which reasoners will not see. Reasonings are called 'the poison of asps and 'the tongue of a viper'. For more concerning the serpent, see at verses 14-15, below.

  
/ 10837  
  

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