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Exodus 22

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1 If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.

5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

7 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:

11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

14 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.

15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;

24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9213

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9213. 'You shall restore it to him even at the going in of the sun' means that it is to be restored before the arrival of a state of shade induced by delights belonging to external kinds of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the going in (or setting) of the sun' as a state of shade induced by delights belonging to external kinds of love. The situation here is that in heaven there are successive changes of heat with things that compose the good of love, and changes of light with those that constitute the truth of faith, thus successive changes in love and faith. In hell too there are successive changes; but they are their opposites, because there they are changes in the love of evil and belief in falsity. Those successive changes correspond to the successive changes of seasons of the year on earth, which are spring, summer, autumn, winter, and spring again, and so on. But in the spiritual world there are states instead of seasons; for the changes are not those of heat and light, but of love and faith. It should be realized however that those successive changes are not the same for one person as they are for another; rather they are different with each individual person, depending on the person's state of life acquired in the world. Sunset in heaven corresponds to a state of shade that comes over the truths of faith, and to a state of coldness that overtakes the good of love to the Lord and towards the neighbour. In such states those there enter into the delights that belong to external kinds of love, delights which put faith in the shade; for when an angel or a spirit is amid things of an external nature he is also in shade; but when amid those of an internal nature he experiences the delights and bliss that belong to heavenly kinds of love, and at the same time experiences the loveliness of faith, or is in the light of truth. These states are what spring seasons and summer seasons on earth correspond to. From all this it may now be seen why it is that 'the going in (or setting) of the sun' means a state of shade induced by delights belonging to external kinds of love. Regarding these successive changes, see what has been shown already in 5097, 5672, 5962, 6110, 7083, 8426, 8615, 8644, 8812.

[2] The things stated above show what people should understand by the explanation that factual knowledge of truths which has been dispersed by illusions that are a product of sensory impressions is to be restored before the arrival of a state of shade induced by delights belonging to external kinds of love, meant by 'If you take your companion's clothing as a pledge you shall restore it to him even at the going in of the sun'. They should understand that truths removed by illusions are to be restored while the person is still in the light of truth; for while in that light he can regain them and also dispel the falsities that illusions have introduced. But he cannot do so when in a state of shade induced by delights belonging to external kinds of love, because those delights turn truths away, and the shade does not receive them. So the illusions cling to the person and are adopted as his own. The reason why external delights or those of the external man are like this is that they attach themselves to the world, and are also aroused and so to speak brought alive by its heat. It is different with internal delights or bliss, or those of the internal man. These attach themselves to heaven, and are also aroused and brought alive by its heat, which is love coming from the Lord.

[3] This judgement or law is delivered elsewhere in Moses in the following words, No one shall take 1 as a pledge the mill or the milling stone, for he takes the [person's] livelihood 2 as a pledge. Deuteronomy 24:6.

'The mill' means the kinds of things that are of service in acquiring faith, and charity after that, 7780, and 'the soul' means the life of faith springing from charity, 9050, from which it is evident what 'not taking the mill as a pledge, for one takes the soul as a pledge' means. In the same author,

You shall not turn aside the right of the sojourner or of the orphan, nor shall you take a widow's clothing as a pledge. Deuteronomy 24:17.

'Taking a widow's clothing as a pledge' means taking away by any means at all the truths which good has a desire for. 'Clothing' means truth, as above in 9212, and 'a widow' someone in possession of good who has a desire for truths, or in the abstract sense good that has a desire for truths, 9198. For if truth is taken away, good together with its desire perishes.

[4] Still in the same author,

If you lend your companion something you shall not go into his house to get the pledge. You shall stand outside; but the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge outdoors. If the man is needy you shall not lie down upon his pledge; you shall surely restore the pledge to him at the going down of the sun, in order that he may lie down in his own clothing and bless you; and it shall be righteousness before your God. Deuteronomy 24:10-13.

The law that the lender should stand outside and the pledge be brought out to him means the proper manner of response to truths that have been communicated; for 'lending' means communicating, 9174, and 'taking a pledge' means response. Nobody can know that these things are meant except from the kinds of things that take place in the next life, thus unless he knows what 'going into a house' means, what 'standing outside' means, and so what 'bringing outdoors' means.

[5] In the next life those who go into another's house and talk together in the same room communicate their thoughts to everyone there in such a way that they are fully convinced that they themselves are the authors of those thoughts. But if they stand outside, the thoughts are indeed perceived by them, but as if another, not they, were the author of them. This is an everyday occurrence in the next life. Those therefore who share the same opinion or feel the same way about something are seen together in the same house; and this is all the more true if they are seen together in the same room of the house. But when a difference of opinion arises among the same people, all disappear from before the eyes of those with whom they differ. Appearances such as these occur everywhere and unceasingly in the next life. The reason why they do so is that likeness of thought links people together and leads to their presence with one another; for thought is inward sight, and distances between places in that life do not exist in the way they do in the world.

[6] All this shows what 'not going into the house but standing outside to receive the pledge' means, namely not putting pressure on another or playing on his emotions to get him to corroborate truths known to oneself, but to listen to and accept his responses as they are in his own mind. For those who put pressure on another or play on his emotions to get him to corroborate truths known to themselves make this other person think or speak not from himself but from them. And when anyone thinks and speaks from another the truths present with him are thrown into disorder; nor is he improved by this, unless he is the kind of person who is still ignorant of those truths. All this makes plain once again that the Word in every detail contains matters that correspond to the kinds of things that exist in the spiritual world.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, He shall not take, reading Non...accipiet for Non...accipies (You shall not take)

2. literally, the soul

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