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2 Mosebok 34

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1 Og Herren sa til Moses: Hugg dig ut to stentavler likesom de første! Så vil jeg skrive på tavlene de ord som stod på de første tavler, de som du slo i stykker.

2 Hold dig så rede til imorgen tidlig! Da skal du stige op på Sinai berg og vente på mig der på toppen av fjellet.

3 Ingen må gå med dig op, og ingen må vise sig på hele fjellet, heller ikke må får eller okser beite under dette fjell.

4 Så hugg Moses ut to stentavler likesom de første, og han stod tidlig op om morgenen og steg op på Sinai berg, som Herren hadde befalt ham, og hadde de to stentavler i sin hånd.

5 Og Herren steg ned i skyen og stilte sig der hos ham og ropte ut Herrens navn.

6 Og Herren gikk forbi hans ansikt og ropte: Herren, Herren er en barmhjertig og nådig Gud, langmodig og rik på miskunnhet og sannhet;

7 han bevarer miskunnhet imot tusen ledd, han forlater misgjerning og overtredelse og synd; men han lar ikke den skyldige ustraffet, han hjemsøker fedres misgjerning på barn og på barnebarn, på dem i tredje og på dem i fjerde ledd.

8 Da bøide Moses sig hastig til jorden og tilbad.

9 Og han sa: Herre, dersom jeg har funnet nåde for dine øine, så gå med oss, Herre! For vel er det et hårdnakket folk; men du vil jo forlate oss vår misgjerning og vår synd og gjøre oss til din eiendom.

10 Han svarte: Se, jeg vil gjøre en pakt: For hele ditt folks øine vil jeg gjøre underfulle ting, ting som det ikke har vært make til på hele jorden eller hos noget folkeslag; og hele det folk som du lever blandt, skal Se Herrens gjerning, hvor forferdelig den er, den som jeg vil gjøre for dig.

11 Hold du de bud jeg gir dig idag! Se, jeg vil jage amorittene og kana'anittene og hetittene og ferisittene og hevittene og jebusittene bort for dig.

12 Ta dig i vare så du ikke gjør nogen pakt med innbyggerne i det land du kommer til, forat de ikke skal bli til en snare blandt eder.

13 I skal rive ned deres altere, og I skal slå i stykker deres billedstøtter, og I skal hugge ned deres Astarte-billeder*. / {* et slags avgudsbilleder.}

14 Du skal ikke tilbede nogen fremmed gud; for Herren heter Nidkjær, en nidkjær Gud er han.

15 Ta dig i vare så du ikke gjør nogen pakt med landets innbyggere! For de vil drive avgudsdyrkelse og ofre til sine guder, og når de da innbyr dig, så vil du ete av deres offer.

16 Og du vil ta hustruer blandt deres døtre til dine sønner, og deres døtre vil drive avgudsdyrkelse med sine guder og få dine sønner til å gjøre det samme.

17 Støpte gudebilleder skal du ikke gjøre dig.

18 De usyrede brøds høitid skal du holde; i syv dager skal du ete usyret brød, som jeg har befalt dig, på den fastsatte tid i måneden abib; for i måneden abib drog du ut av Egypten.

19 Alt det som åpner morsliv, hører mig til, alt ditt fe av hankjønn som åpner morsliv, enten det er storfe eller småfe.

20 Og det som åpner morsliv av asener, skal du løse med et stykke småfe, men dersom du ikke løser det, da skal du bryte nakken på det. Hver førstefødt blandt dine sønner skal du løse, og ingen skal vise sig tomhendt for mitt åsyn.

21 Seks dager skal du arbeide, og på den syvende dag skal du hvile; om det så er i våronnen eller høstonnen, så skal du holde hviledagen.

22 Ukenes høitid* skal du holde når du får førstegrøden av hvetehøsten, og innsamlingens høitid** når året er omme. / {* d.e. pinsen, 7 uker efter påske, 3MO 23, 15. 5MO 16, 9.} / {** d.e. løvsalenes høitid, 3MO 23, 34 fg.}

23 Tre ganger om året skal alle menn blandt eder vise sig for Herrens, Israels Guds åsyn.

24 For jeg vil jage hedningene bort for dig og utvide ditt land, og ingen skal attrå ditt land mens du går op for å vise dig for Herren din Guds åsyn tre ganger om året.

25 Du skal ikke ofre blodet av mitt slaktoffer, så lenge det er syret brød hos dig, og påskehøitidens slaktoffer skal ikke bli liggende natten over til om morgenen.

26 Det første av din jords førstegrøde skal du bære til Herren din Guds hus. Du skal ikke koke et kje i dets mors melk.

27 Og Herren sa til Moses: Skriv nu du op disse ord! For efter disse ord har jeg gjort en pakt med dig og med Israel.

28 Og han var der hos Herren firti dager og firti netter uten å ete brød og uten å drikke vann; og han* skrev på tavlene paktens ord, de ti ord. / {* Herren.}

29 Så gikk Moses ned fra Sinai berg, og da han gikk ned fra fjellet, hadde han vidnesbyrdets to tavler i sin hånd; men Moses visste ikke at hans ansikts hud skinte fordi han* hadde talt med ham. / {* Herren.}

30 Og Aron og alle Israels barn så at huden på Moses' ansikt skinte; og de fryktet for å komme nær til ham.

31 Da kalte Moses på dem, og Aron og alle menighetens høvdinger vendte tilbake til ham, og Moses talte til dem.

32 Derefter gikk alle Israels barn nær til, og han bar frem til dem alle de bud som Herren hadde gitt ham på Sinai berg.

33 Og da Moses holdt op å tale til dem, la han et dekke over sitt ansikt.

34 Men når Moses gikk inn for Herrens åsyn for å tale med ham, tok han dekket av, til han gikk ut igjen; og når han kom ut, talte han til Israels barn det som var blitt sagt ham.

35 Og Israels barn så at huden på Moses' ansikt skinte; og Moses la atter dekket over sitt ansikt, til han gikk inn igjen for å tale med ham.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3727

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3727. As regards the meaning of 'a pillar', the reason why it means a holy boundary and so the ultimate degree of order is that in most ancient times people used to place stones where their boundaries ran which separated one person's property or inheritance from another's. These served as a sign and witness to the existence of the boundaries there. The most ancient people, who in every object and in every pillar thought of something celestial or spiritual, 1977, 2995, thought, when they saw these stones set up as pillars, of the ultimate things present in man, and so of the ultimate degree of order, which is truth in the natural man. And it was from those most ancient people who lived before the Flood that the ancients who lived after it acquired this custom, 920, 1409, 2179, 2896, 2897, and began to regard the stones they set up on their boundaries as sacred, for the reason, as stated, that they meant holy truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order, and also called those stones 'pillars'. This was how it came about that pillars were introduced into their worship, and why they erected them where they had their sacred groves and subsequently their temples, and also anointed them with oil, a point to be dealt with shortly. Indeed the worship of the Ancient Church consisted of things that had been perceived and things that had carried a meaning among the most ancient people prior to the Flood, as is evident from the paragraphs that have just been referred to. Since the most ancient people talked to angels and were in their company while still on earth, they received it from heaven that 'stones' means truth and 'wood' good; see just above in 3720. This then is why 'pillars' means a holy boundary, and so truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order with man. For good which flows in from the Lord by way of the internal man terminates in the external man, and in the truth that is there. Man's thought, speech, and activity, which are the ultimates of order, are nothing else than truths stemming from good. In fact they are the images or forms which good takes, for they belong to the understanding part of the human mind, whereas the good that is within them, and from which they spring, belongs to the will part.

[2] The fact that pillars were erected as a sign and a witness, and were also introduced into worship, and that in the internal sense they mean a holy boundary, or truth within man's natural, which is the ultimate degree of order, becomes clear from other places in the Word, as in the following verses where the subject is the covenant made between Laban and Jacob,

Now come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you. And Jacob took a stone and erected it as a pillar. Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have erected between me and you. This heap is a witness and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and that you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. Genesis 31:44-45, 51-52.

Here 'pillar' means truth, as will be seen in the explanation of those verses.

[3] In Isaiah,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak with the lips of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to Jehovah, which will be a sign and a witness to Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt. Isaiah 19:18-20.

'Egypt' stands for facts which belong to the natural man, 'an altar' for Divine worship in general, for in the second Ancient Church that began with Eber the altar became the first and foremost representative in its worship, 921, 1343, 2777, 2811. 'The midst of the land of Egypt' stands for the primary and inmost aspect of worship, 2940, 2973, 3436. 'Pillar' stands for truth as it exists in the ultimate degree of order in the natural. The fact that it stood at the border as a sign and a witness is quite evident.

[4] In Moses,

Moses wrote down all the words of Jehovah and rose up in the morning and built an altar beside Mount Sinai, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Exodus 24:4.

Here similarly 'an altar' was the representative of all worship, and indeed was the representative of good present in worship. 'The twelve pillars' however were the representative in worship of truth that stems from good - 'twelve' meaning every aspect of truth in its entirety, see 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272; and the twelve tribes likewise meaning every aspect of truth in the Church, as in the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown in the next chapter.

[5] Because altars were representative of all good in worship, and the Jewish Church was established so as to represent the celestial Church which acknowledged no other truth than truth stemming from good, which is called celestial truth (for the celestial Church was totally unwilling to separate truth from good, so much so that it was unwilling even to refer to anything of faith or truth without thinking about good, and doing so from good, see 202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718, 3246), truth was therefore represented by the stones of the altar. And they were forbidden to represent it by means of pillars lest in so doing they separated truth from good and by representation worshipped truth instead of good. This accounts for the following prohibition in Moses,

You shall not plant for yourself a grove of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God which you shall make for yourself. And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:21-22.

For worshipping truth separated from good, or faith separated from charity, is contrary to the Divine since it is contrary to order, meant by 'you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates'.

[6] Despite this they did erect them and so represented things that are contrary to order, as is clear in Hosea,

Israel, according to the multiplying of his fruit, multiplies altars; according to the goodness of their land they make well their pillars. But He will overturn their altars, and lay waste their pillars. Hosea 10:1-2.

In the first Book of Kings,

Judah did what was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and they built for themselves high places and pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree. 1 Kings 14:22-23.

In the second Book of Kings,

The children of Israel set up pillars for themselves and groves on every high hill and under every green tree. 2 Kings 17:10.

In the same book,

Hezekiah removed the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the grove, and smashed the bronze snake which Moses had made, because they had been burning incense to it. 2 Kings 18:4.

[7] Since gentile nations too derived through tradition the idea that the holiness of worship was to be represented by means of altars and pillars, and yet they were under the influence of evil and falsity, the altars among the nations therefore mean the evils of worship and the pillars the falsities. This was why the command was given for them to be destroyed. In Moses,

The altars of the nations you shall overthrow, and you shall break down their pillars and tear down their groves. Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3.

In the same author,

You shall not bow down to the gods of the nations, or worship them, or do according to their works, for you shall utterly destroy them, and utterly break down their pillars. Exodus 23:24.

'The gods of the nations' stands for falsities, 'their works' for evils, 'breaking down their pillars' for destroying worship arising out of falsity.

[8] In Jeremiah,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel will break down the pillars of the house of the sun that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire. Jeremiah 43:13.

In Ezekiel,

By means of the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel will trample all your streets, slay the people with the sword, and cause your mighty pillars to come down to the ground. Ezekiel 26:11.

This refers to Tyre. 'Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel' stands for that which lays waste, 1327 (end). 'The hoofs of horses' stands for the lowest form of intellectual concepts, such as facts based on mere sensory impressions - 'hoofs' meaning lowest concepts, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be confirmed elsewhere. 'Horses' stands for matters of the understanding, 2760-2762, 'streets' for truths, and in the contrary sense for falsities, 2336. 'trampling' on them is destroying cognitions of truth, which are meant by 'Tyre' - 'Tyre', the subject here, meaning cognitions of truth, 1201. 'Slaying the people with the sword' stands for destroying truths by means of falsity - 'people' being used in reference to truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, and 'sword' meaning falsity engaged in conflict, 2799. From this one may see what 'causing your mighty pillars to come down to the ground' means - 'might' being used in reference either to truth or to falsity, as is also clear from the Word.

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