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Exodus 3

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1 καὶ μωυσῆς ἦν ποιμαίνων τὰ πρόβατα ιοθορ τοῦ γαμβροῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἱερέως μαδιαμ καὶ ἤγαγεν τὰ πρόβατα ὑπὸ τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος χωρηβ

2 ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς ἐκ τοῦ βάτου καὶ ὁρᾷ ὅτι ὁ βάτος καίεται πυρί ὁ δὲ βάτος οὐ κατεκαίετο

3 εἶπεν δὲ μωυσῆς παρελθὼν ὄψομαι τὸ ὅραμα τὸ μέγα τοῦτο τί ὅτι οὐ κατακαίεται ὁ βάτος

4 ὡς δὲ εἶδεν κύριος ὅτι προσάγει ἰδεῖν ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν κύριος ἐκ τοῦ βάτου λέγων μωυσῆ μωυσῆ ὁ δὲ εἶπεν τί ἐστιν

5 καὶ εἶπεν μὴ ἐγγίσῃς ὧδε λῦσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν σου ὁ γὰρ τόπος ἐν ᾧ σὺ ἕστηκας γῆ ἁγία ἐστίν

6 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς τοῦ πατρός σου θεὸς αβρααμ καὶ θεὸς ισαακ καὶ θεὸς ιακωβ ἀπέστρεψεν δὲ μωυσῆς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ εὐλαβεῖτο γὰρ κατεμβλέψαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ

7 εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν ἰδὼν εἶδον τὴν κάκωσιν τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ ἐν αἰγύπτῳ καὶ τῆς κραυγῆς αὐτῶν ἀκήκοα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐργοδιωκτῶν οἶδα γὰρ τὴν ὀδύνην αὐτῶν

8 καὶ κατέβην ἐξελέσθαι αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς αἰγυπτίων καὶ ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐκείνης καὶ εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς γῆν ἀγαθὴν καὶ πολλήν εἰς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι εἰς τὸν τόπον τῶν χαναναίων καὶ χετταίων καὶ αμορραίων καὶ φερεζαίων καὶ γεργεσαίων καὶ ευαίων καὶ ιεβουσαίων

9 καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ κραυγὴ τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ ἥκει πρός με κἀγὼ ἑώρακα τὸν θλιμμόν ὃν οἱ αἰγύπτιοι θλίβουσιν αὐτούς

10 καὶ νῦν δεῦρο ἀποστείλω σε πρὸς φαραω βασιλέα αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐξάξεις τὸν λαόν μου τοὺς υἱοὺς ισραηλ ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου

11 καὶ εἶπεν μωυσῆς πρὸς τὸν θεόν τίς εἰμι ὅτι πορεύσομαι πρὸς φαραω βασιλέα αἰγύπτου καὶ ὅτι ἐξάξω τοὺς υἱοὺς ισραηλ ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου

12 εἶπεν δὲ ὁ θεὸς μωυσεῖ λέγων ὅτι ἔσομαι μετὰ σοῦ καὶ τοῦτό σοι τὸ σημεῖον ὅτι ἐγώ σε ἐξαποστέλλω ἐν τῷ ἐξαγαγεῖν σε τὸν λαόν μου ἐξ αἰγύπτου καὶ λατρεύσετε τῷ θεῷ ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ

13 καὶ εἶπεν μωυσῆς πρὸς τὸν θεόν ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ισραηλ καὶ ἐρῶ πρὸς αὐτούς ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐρωτήσουσίν με τί ὄνομα αὐτῷ τί ἐρῶ πρὸς αὐτούς

14 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς μωυσῆν ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν καὶ εἶπεν οὕτως ἐρεῖς τοῖς υἱοῖς ισραηλ ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς

15 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πάλιν πρὸς μωυσῆν οὕτως ἐρεῖς τοῖς υἱοῖς ισραηλ κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν θεὸς αβρααμ καὶ θεὸς ισαακ καὶ θεὸς ιακωβ ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοῦτό μού ἐστιν ὄνομα αἰώνιον καὶ μνημόσυνον γενεῶν γενεαῖς

16 ἐλθὼν οὖν συνάγαγε τὴν γερουσίαν τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν ὦπταί μοι θεὸς αβρααμ καὶ θεὸς ισαακ καὶ θεὸς ιακωβ λέγων ἐπισκοπῇ ἐπέσκεμμαι ὑμᾶς καὶ ὅσα συμβέβηκεν ὑμῖν ἐν αἰγύπτῳ

17 καὶ εἶπον ἀναβιβάσω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῆς κακώσεως τῶν αἰγυπτίων εἰς τὴν γῆν τῶν χαναναίων καὶ χετταίων καὶ αμορραίων καὶ φερεζαίων καὶ γεργεσαίων καὶ ευαίων καὶ ιεβουσαίων εἰς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι

18 καὶ εἰσακούσονταί σου τῆς φωνῆς καὶ εἰσελεύσῃ σὺ καὶ ἡ γερουσία ισραηλ πρὸς φαραω βασιλέα αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν ὁ θεὸς τῶν εβραίων προσκέκληται ἡμᾶς πορευσώμεθα οὖν ὁδὸν τριῶν ἡμερῶν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ἵνα θύσωμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν

19 ἐγὼ δὲ οἶδα ὅτι οὐ προήσεται ὑμᾶς φαραω βασιλεὺς αἰγύπτου πορευθῆναι ἐὰν μὴ μετὰ χειρὸς κραταιᾶς

20 καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα πατάξω τοὺς αἰγυπτίους ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς θαυμασίοις μου οἷς ποιήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξαποστελεῖ ὑμᾶς

21 καὶ δώσω χάριν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ ἐναντίον τῶν αἰγυπτίων ὅταν δὲ ἀποτρέχητε οὐκ ἀπελεύσεσθε κενοί

22 αἰτήσει γυνὴ παρὰ γείτονος καὶ συσκήνου αὐτῆς σκεύη ἀργυρᾶ καὶ χρυσᾶ καὶ ἱματισμόν καὶ ἐπιθήσετε ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν καὶ σκυλεύσετε τοὺς αἰγυπτίους

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 141

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141. To eat idol-sacrifices and to commit whoredom, signifies that they may be imbued with evils and with falsities therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "eating," as being to appropriate to themselves, and to be consociated with (See Arcana Coelestia 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 5643, 8001); so also to be imbued with; and from the signification of "idol-sacrifices," which are things consecrated to idols, as being evils of every kind (of which more in what follows); and from the signification of "committing whoredom," as being to falsify truths (of which also more presently). That Balaam counseled Balak to invite the sons of Israel to the sacrifices of his gods appears from what was shown in the preceding article, and from these words of Moses:

Israel abode in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; for he called 1 the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. Especially did the people join themselves to Baal-peor; therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel. And those that were slain were four and twenty thousand (Numbers 25:1-3, 9).

It was among the statutes where sacrifices were instituted that some part of the sacrifices, especially of the thank-offerings, should be burnt from the altar, and some part eaten in the holy place. The "sacrifices" themselves signified worship from love and faith, and the "eating" of them signified appropriation of the good thereof. (That "sacrifices" signified all things of worship from the good of love and faith, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 923, 6905, 8680, 8936, 10042; and "eating" the appropriation of goods, 10109.) As the eating of things sanctified to Jehovah signified the appropriation of good, so the eating of the sacrifices offered to the gods of the nations, and which were called "idol-sacrifices," signified the appropriation of evil.

[2] That to "commit whoredom," in the spiritual sense, signifies to become imbued with falsities, so also to falsify truths, can be seen from many passages in the Word. The same was signified by the whoredoms of the sons of Israel with the daughters of Moab; for all historical parts of the Word involve spiritual things and signify them (as can be seen from the explanations of Genesis and Exodus, called Arcana Coelestia). And as the eating of idol-sacrifices by the sons of Israel and their whoredoms with the daughters of Moab involved such things (for what things signify they involve), therefore it was commanded that the heads of the people should be hung up to Jehovah before the sun; and for the same reason Phinehas the son of Eleazar thrust through a man of Israel and a Midianitish woman in the place of their lust, and for doing that he also was blessed; and for the same reason there were slain of Israel twenty and four thousand (as may be seen, Numbers 25 to the end). Such punishments and such plagues merely because of the eating of idol-sacrifices, and committing whoredom with the women of another nation, would never have been commanded to be done, unless they had involved heinous offenses against heaven and the church, which do not appear in the literal sense of the Word, but only in its spiritual sense. The heinous offenses involved were the profanation at once of the goods and of the truths of the church, and this, as has been said above, was the appropriation of evil and falsity.

[3] That adulteries and whoredoms involve such things is evident from numerous passages in the Word, where they are recounted, which show clearly that they signify the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth, as in the following. In Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thou hast trusted in thy beauty, and hast committed whoredom because of thy renown, so that thou hast poured out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by. Thou has committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great of flesh, and hast multiplied thy whoredom. Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, when there was no satiety to thee, with whom thou committedst whoredom. Thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even to Chaldea, the land of traffic. An adulterous woman receiveth strangers instead of her husband. All give reward to their harlots, 2 but thou hast given reward to all thy lovers, and hast rewarded them that they may come unto thee on every side in thy whoredoms. Wherefore, O harlot! hear the word of Jehovah (Ezekiel 16:15, 26, 28-29, 32-33, 35.).

Who cannot see that by "whoredoms" here are not meant whoredoms in the usual natural sense? For the church in which all the truths of the Word have been falsified is treated of; this is what is meant by "whoredoms;" for "whoredoms" in the spiritual sense, or spiritual whoredoms, are no other than falsifications of truth. "Jerusalem" here is the church; the "sons of Egypt," with whom she committed whoredom, are scientifics and knowledges of every kind, perversely applied to confirm falsities; the "sons of Asshur" are reasonings from falsities; "Chaldea," the land of traffic, is the profanation of truth; the "rewards" that she gave to her lovers are the vendings of falsities; and because of the adulteration of good by the falsifications of truth, that church is called a "woman adulterous while subject to her husband."

[4] In the same:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth. One committed whoredom while subject to me, and chose for lovers the Assyrians her neighbors; she bestowed her whoredoms upon them yet she hath not left her whoredoms in Egypt. The other hath corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms above the whoredoms of her sister; she increased her whoredoms, she loved the Chaldeans; the sons of Babel came to her to the bed of loves, and they defiled her with their whoredom (Ezekiel 23:2-3, 5-8, 11, 14, 16-17).

Here also by "whoredoms" are in like manner meant spiritual whoredoms, as is evident from every particular. "Two women, the daughters of one mother, are the two churches, the Israelitish and the Jewish; "whoredoms" with "the Egyptians," "the Assyrians," "the Chaldeans," signify the like as above; "the bed of loves with the sons of Babel" is the profanation of good.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast committed whoredoms with many companions, thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms, and with thine evil. Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone away upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there committeth whoredom. Perfidious Judah also hath gone away and committed whoredom, so that by the voice of her whoredom she hath profaned the land; she hath committed adultery with stone and with wood (Jeremiah 3:1-2, 6, 8-9).

"Israel" is the church that is in truth, "Judah" the church that is in good, for they represented these two churches. The falsifications of truth are signified by the "whoredoms of Israel," and the adulterations of good by "the whoredoms of Judah." "To go away upon every high mountain and under every green tree and to commit whoredom" is to seek after all the knowledges of good and truth, even from the Word, and to falsify them; "to commit adultery with stone and wood" is to pervert and profane all truth and good; "stone" signifying truth, and "wood" signifying good.

[6] In the same:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man [vir], if there be any doing judgment, seeking truth. When I fed them to the full they committed whoredom and came by troops to the house of the harlot (Jeremiah 5:1, 7).

To "run to and fro through the streets, and to seek in the broad places of Jerusalem," is to see and explore the doctrinals of that church; for "Jerusalem" is the church, and "streets" and "broad places" are doctrinals. "If ye have found a man, if there be any doing judgment, seeking truth," means whether there be any truth in the church. "When I fed them to the full they committed whoredom," means that when truths were revealed to them they falsified them. Such a church, in respect to doctrine, is the "house of the harlot," into which they "came by troops."

[7] In the same:

Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, thine abominations on the hills in the field have I seen. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean (Jeremiah 13:27).

"Neighings" are profanations of truth, because a "horse" signifies the intellectual where there is truth; "the hills in the field" are goods of truth in the church, which have been perverted.

[8] In the same:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness in adulterating and in walking in a lie (Jeremiah 23:14).

They have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their companions' wives, and have spoken My 3 word in My name falsely (Jeremiah 29:23).

To "adulterate" and to "commit adultery" here clearly mean to pervert truths; "the prophets" signifying those who teach truths from the Word; for it is said "in adulterating and walking in a lie," and "they have spoken My word falsely." A "lie" in the Word signifies falsity.

[9] In Moses:

Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your 4 whoredoms even till their carcasses are consumed in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33).

The sons of Israel did not bear whoredoms and were not for that reason consumed in the wilderness, but because they spurned heavenly truths, as is evident from this, that it was so said to them because they wished not to enter into the land of Canaan, but to return to Egypt; "the land of Canaan" signifies heaven and the church, with the truths thereof; and "Egypt" signifies the same falsified and turned into magic.

[10] In Micah:

All her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all the rewards of whoredom shall be burned up with fire; and all her idols will I lay waste, for she hath gathered them from the hire of an harlot, therefore even to the hire of an harlot shall they return (Micah 1:7).

"Graven images" and "idols" signify falsities that are from self-intelligence; "the rewards of whoredom" are the knowledges of truth and good that they have applied to falsities and evils and have thus perverted.

[11] In Hosea:

Jehovah said to the prophet, Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for whoring the land doth commit whoredom in departing from Jehovah (Hosea 1:2).

By this was represented what the quality of the church was, namely, that it was wholly in falsities.

[12] In the same:

They sinned against Me; I will change their glory into disgrace. They committed whoredom; because they have forsaken Jehovah. Whoredom, wine, and new wine, have occupied the heart. Your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (Hosea 4:7, 10-11, 13).

"Whoredom, wine, and new wine," are falsified truths; "whoredom" falsification itself; "wine" interior falsity; "new wine" exterior falsity; "daughters who commit whoredom" are the goods of truth perverted; "daughters-in-law who commit adultery" are evils conjoined with falsities therefrom.

[13] In Isaiah:

It shall come to pass after the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, that she may return to her meretricious hire, and commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the faces of the world; at length her merchandise [and her meretricious hire] shall be holiness to Jehovah (Isaiah 23:17, 18).

"Tyre," in the Word, is the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good; "meretricious hire" the same knowledges applied, by perverting them, to evils and falsities; "her merchandise" the vending of these. "To commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth," is with all and every truth of the church. "Her merchandise and her meretricious hire shall be holiness to Jehovah" because these signify the knowledges of truth and good applied by them to falsities and evils; and by means of the knowledges themselves regarded in themselves, a man can gain wisdom; for knowledges are means of becoming wise, and they are also means of becoming insane. They are the means of becoming insane when they are falsified by being applied to evils and falsities. The like is signified where it is said that:

They should make to themselves friends of the unrighteous mammon (Luke 16:9);

and where it is commanded that:

They should borrow from the Egyptians gold, silver, and raiment, and take them away from them (Exodus 3:22; 12:35-36).

By the "Egyptians" are signified scientifics of every kind which they used to falsify truths.

[14] In Moses:

I will cut off the soul that looketh unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards, to go a-whoring after them (Leviticus 20:5, 6).

In Isaiah:

He entereth into peace, he walketh in uprightness. But draw ye near, ye sons of the enchantress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot (Isaiah 57:2-3).

In Nahum:

Woe to the city of bloods, all in a lie, the horseman ascendeth, and the flaming of the sword, and the flashing of the spear, a multitude of the slain; for the multitude of the whoredoms of the harlot, of the mistress of sorceries, selling the nations through her whoredoms (Nahum 3:1, 3-4).

In Moses:

A covenant must not be made with the inhabitants of the land, lest the sons and daughters go a-whoring after their gods (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the same:

That ye may remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye spy not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye are wont to go a-whoring (Numbers 15:39).

In Revelation:

Babylon hath made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom (Revelation 14:8);

The angel said, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2);

Babylon hath made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3);

He hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her whoredom (Revelation 19:2).

It is manifest that in these passages by "whoredoms" are meant the falsifications of truth.

[15] As such things are signified by "whoredoms" and "adulteries," and as these have the same signification in heaven, therefore in the Israelitish church, which was a representative church, in which all things were significative, the following commands were given:

That there should be no harlot nor whoremonger in Israel (Deuteronomy 23:17);

That the man that committed adultery with the wife of a man, and the man that committed adultery with the wife of his companion should be put to death (Leviticus 20:10);

That the hire of a harlot should not be brought into the house of Jehovah for any vow (Deuteronomy 23:18);

That the sons of Aaron should not take a harlot to wife, nor a woman put away by her husband. That the high priest should take a virgin to wife. That the daughter of a priest, if she profaned herself by committing whoredom, should be burned with fire (Leviticus 21:7, 9, 13-14). (Besides many other passages.)

[16] That "whoredoms" and "adulteries" involve such things has been testified to me from much experience in the other life. The spheres from spirits who have been of such character have made these things evident; from the presence of spirits who have confirmed falsities in themselves, and have applied truths from the sense of the letter of the Word to confirm them, there exhales an abominable sphere of whoredom. Such spheres correspond to all the prohibited degrees (of which, see Lev. 20:11-21) with a difference according to the application of truths to falsities and the conjunction of falsities with evils, especially with evils that gush out of the love of self (of which more may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 384-386).

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. In Hebrew: "they called," as also found in Apocalypse Explained 140, 401; Apocalypse Revealed 114; Arcana Coelestia 10652.

2. In Hebrew: "They give reward to all harlots," as also found in Apocalypse Explained 695; Arcana Coelestia 8904[1-12].

3. In Hebrew: "the word," as also found in Arcana Coelestia 2466, 8904. "My" is found in Apocalypse Revealed 134 and in True Christian Religion 314.

4. In Hebrew: "your," as also found in Apocalypse Explained 633; Arcana Coelestia 2466, 8904, but Apocalypse Revealed 134 has "their."

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Explained # 632

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632. And the holy city shall they trample down, signifies that they will destroy all the doctrine of good and truth from the Word. This is evident from the signification of "the holy city," as being the doctrine of truth and good from the Word; in the sense of the letter "the holy city" means Jerusalem, which in the Word here and there is called "the holy city;" but "Jerusalem" means the church, and a "city" the doctrine of the church; that a "city" [civitas or urbs] signifies doctrine, see above n. 223; therefore "the holy city" signifies the doctrine of Divine truth, for Divine truth is what is called "holy" in the Word n. 204. This is evident also from the signification of "trampling down," as being to destroy altogether, in particular by means of things sensual and natural, consequently by means of fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses, from which when not explained mere falsities spring; such things are signified by "trampling down," because trampling is done by the soles of the feet, and "the soles of the feet" signify the external sensual things of man, and "feet" his natural things. That this signification of "soles" and of "feet" is from correspondence, see above (n. 65, 606; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 96).

[2] It is said that "the nations shall trample down the holy city," because this follows after the words, "The court which is without the temple cast out, for it is given to the nations," and the "court" signifies the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and the external of the Word is what is perverted, and thus adulterated and falsified, by the nations, that is, by those who are in evils and falsities. For, as was said in the preceding article, the external of the Word, which is called the sense of its letter, is for children and the simple-minded, and is therefore written according to appearances, thus for those who are sensual and natural; for infants are first sensual, afterwards natural, and when they advance in age they become spiritual. But when a man does not become spiritual, as is the case with all who live in evil, he does not understand the Word spiritually, but only naturally and sensually, and he who so understands the Word perverts it, and explains it according to the falsities of his religion and according to the evils of his life. This is why it is said that "they shall trample it down." Moreover, those who deny and despise the truths of heaven and the church appear in the spiritual world to trample them under the soles of the feet, and this, as was said above, because the external sensual of man corresponds to the soles of the feet, which are what trample down. It is said that the external sensual of man does this, but it is the sensual of those only who are merely sensual, who are such as deny the truths of heaven and the church, and who also believe nothing except what they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands.

[3] "To trample down" is predicated of such in the following passages also. In Luke:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem shall finally be trampled down by the nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

This has a similar signification as the passage in Revelation here explained, that "the court is given to the nations, and the holy city shall they trample down forty-two months;" for "they shall fall by the edge of the sword" signifies that they shall perish by falsities; "they shall be led captive among all nations" signifies that evils will make a prey of the goods and truths of the church; "Jerusalem shall be trampled down" signifies the destruction of the church in respect to doctrine; for "Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to doctrine; "its being trampled down by the nations" signifies the total destruction of the church by evils of life and falsities of doctrine; "until the time of the nations shall be fulfilled" signifies until evil is consummated (See above, n. 624); this consummation is also signified by the "forty-two months." This, too, like what is said in Revelation, was said by the Lord respecting the time just preceding the Last Judgment.

[4] In Ezekiel:

Is this a small thing to you? Ye feed upon the good pasture, and trample down with your feet the remainder of your pastures; ye drink the sediment of the waters, ye stir up the remainder with your feet; and thus my flock feeds upon what ye have trampled down with your feet, and drink that which is stirred up by your feet (Ezekiel 34:18, 19).

"Good pasture" signifies all that which spiritually nourishes, especially the Word and the knowledges of truth and good therefrom; "to feed upon it and to trample down the remainder with the feet" signifies to so do away with it that it does not appear, and to so destroy it that it is not, and this is done by reasonings from the corporeal-sensual, and from the natural man separated from the spiritual. This therefore is what is meant by "trampling down with the feet;" "the sediment of the waters" signify truths defiled by falsities, for "waters" mean truths, and "to drink thereof" signifies to learn and to receive; "to stir up the remainder of the waters with the feet" signifies to bring nevertheless into confusion by reasonings from the natural man the truths that are not defiled by falsities, "feet" signifying the natural things in man. From this what is signified by "my flock shall drink what is trampled down by the feet, and what is stirred up by the feet," can be seen.

[5] In Daniel:

The he-goat cast the ram to the earth and trampled him down, nor was there anyone to deliver the ram out of his hand; afterwards one horn waxed great from a little one; even to the host of the heavens, and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled them down (Daniel 8:7, 9, 10).

The "he-goat" here signifies faith separated from charity, and the "ram" signifies faith conjoined to charity, thus charity, the same as the "he-goats and sheep" in Matthew 25:31-46; "the one horn that waxed great from a little one" signifies justification by faith alone; "the host of the heavens" signifies all truths and goods of heaven and the church, and the "stars" signify the knowledges of good and truth; therefore "to trample down the ram" and also "the host of the heavens" signifies to destroy charity utterly, and with it all the truths and goods of heaven and the church, and this by the corporeal-sensual; for they who are in faith separated from charity, that is, who believe that they are saved by faith alone whatever their life may be, become corporeal-sensual, and are consequently in falsities in respect to all things of the Word and of the church; for they have no perception of the Word otherwise than according to the ultimate sense of its letter, seeing nothing interiorly in it; and even if they speak truths from the Word they nevertheless perceive them falsely; therefore this is what is signified by "the he-goat cast down to the earth some of the host of the heavens and some of the stars, and trampled them down." That charity towards the neighbor, that is, the good of life, is in like manner destroyed, is meant by "the he-goat cast the ram to the earth and trampled him down;" for they who are in faith separated from charity, who are meant by the "he-goat," make faith the essential and charity the nonessential, therefore they live for the body and the world, and are solicitous about themselves only, and not at all about the neighbor; and those who do this cast charity (which is meant by the "ram, ") to the earth and trample it down.

[6] In Luke:

Some seed fell upon the way and was trampled down, or the fowls of heaven devoured it (Luke 8:5).

"Seed" signifies Divine truth, or the truth of the Word; "to fall upon the way and be trampled down" signifies to be received only by the corporeal-sensual, and not interiorly; for that which is received in the spirit and in the heart is meant by "the seed that fell into the good earth." "The fowls of heaven that devoured it" signify falsities, for all evils and falsities therefrom have their seat in the corporeal-sensual, consequently unless a man becomes spiritual, and thinks from what is spiritual, he thinks nothing but falsities from evil. (What the corporeal-sensual is, and what sensual men are, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50, also above, (n. 342, 543, 550, 552, 554, 556, 559, 563, 569, 570, 580)

[7] In Isaiah:

I will make known to you what I will do to My vineyard; in taking away its hedge that it may be eaten up, and in breaking down its wall that it may be trampled down (Isaiah 5:5).

"Vineyard" here signifies the Lord's church, which is called a spiritual church; "to take away its hedge, and break down its wall," signifies to falsify and thus destroy the truths that defend the church; "the hedge and the wall about the vineyard" have a similar signification as "the wall and the bulwarks about Jerusalem;" "to eat up and trample down the vineyard" signifies to lay waste the church, so that no truth and good can spring up, and thus to destroy it.

[8] In Jeremiah:

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field, they have made the field of desire a wilderness of solitude (Jeremiah 12:10).

Here, too, the "vineyard," like "field," signifies the Lord's church; "to destroy," "to trample down," and "to make a wilderness of solitude" signifies to so destroy that nothing of the good and truth of the church remains. In Isaiah:

Our enemies have trampled down our 1 sanctuary (Isaiah 63:18).

"Enemies" signify the evils of life; "to trample down the sanctuary" signifies to destroy the truths of doctrine from the Word, and this also by means of the corporeal-sensual, for all who are in evils of life are corporeal-sensual.

[9] In David:

The enemy pursueth my soul and overtaketh it, and trampleth down my life to the earth, and maketh my glory to dwell in the dust (Psalms 7:5).

Here, too, "enemy" signifies evil, in general the devil, that is, hell, from which evil comes; and "to trample down the life to the earth and make glory to dwell in the dust" signifies to destroy by means of the corporeal-sensual all truths of heaven and the church; for these constitute spiritual life, and are signified by "glory;" "dust," too, is predicated of the corporeal-sensual, and this is also meant by "walking upon the belly and eating dust," as is here and there said of the serpent.

[10] "To trample down" has a similar signification in the following passages. In Isaiah:

I will make the hypocritical nation to be trampled down like the clay of the streets (Isaiah 10:6).

In Micah:

The enemy of Jehovah shall be for a trampling down like the mire of the streets (Mic. Micah 7:10).

In Zechariah:

They shall be as the mighty ones trampling down the mire of the streets in the war, and they shall fight because Jehovah is with them, and they shall make ashamed them that ride upon horses (Zechariah 10:5).

In Malachi:

Then thou shalt 2 trample down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I am making (Malachi 4:3).

In Isaiah:

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, they shall be trampled down under the feet (Isaiah 28:3).

In the same:

I have trampled down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I have made their victory to descend to the earth (Isaiah 63:6).

In David:

Through Thee will we push down our adversaries; in Thy name will we trample them down that rise up against us (Psalms 44:5).

In the same:

God will trample down our adversaries (Psalms 60:12; 108:13).

"To trample down" in these passages also signifies to destroy, which is done by those who are corporeal-sensual, for those who are such "trample down" all things of heaven and the church, for they are in what is lowest, and their thoughts cannot be elevated by the Lord, for they themselves let them down to the earth, and there they lick the dust. Such are all those that deny the Divine. For all the evils that a man has from birth have their seat in his natural and in his corporeal-sensual; consequently unless he suffers himself to be elevated out of them by the Lord, which is effected by Divine means, which are the truths and goods of faith and love, or by the truths and goods of doctrine and life, he remains in his evils, which are implanted in his natural and in his corporeal-sensual, and then he tramples down the celestial and spiritual things belonging to heaven and the church.

[11] "To tread upon the lion, the adder, serpents, and scorpions," means not only to destroy the evils and falsities that are signified by these, but also not to be hurt by them; this is meant in David:

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample down (Psalms 91:13).

In Luke:

Behold I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, that nothing may by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

This is so said in the Word because those who are in the hells appear before the eyes of good spirits and angels sometimes in the forms of various beasts and serpents, according to the kind of evil and of falsity therefrom in which they are; their thoughts themselves, when they go forth from the intention of their will, present such appearances. Exhalations from their evils and falsities continually breathe forth through the lands that are over these hells, or by which these hells are covered; so that to walk upon such places is dangerous to those who are only natural, and still more to those who are corporeal-sensual; for an exhalation arises therefrom, and a contagion affects those who walk there. But those who are led by the Lord may safely tread upon that earth without infection or infestation, because the interiors that are of their mind, or of their thought and affection, are elevated by the Lord above their corporeal-sensual, which corresponds to the soles of the feet. This makes clear what is meant, in a strict sense, by "treading upon the lion, the adder, the serpents, and the scorpions without being hurt by them," also why it is so said in the Word. But what is signified by a "lion" and by "serpents and scorpions" has been told and shown elsewhere.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Hebrew has "thy," as also fund in Arcana Coelestia 9479.

2. The Hebrew has "ye shall trample."

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.