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Josvas 14

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1 Og dette er de arvelodder som Israels barn fikk i Kana'ans land, og som Eleasar, presten, og Josva, Nuns sønn, og overhodene for familiene i Israels barns stammer delte ut iblandt dem

2 ved loddkasting, så de fikk hver sin arv, således som Herren hadde befalt ved Moses. Det var de ni og en halv stamme som dengang fikk arv;

3 for de to og en halv stamme hadde Moses gitt arv på hin side* Jordan; men levittene hadde han ikke gitt arv iblandt dem. / {* østenfor.}

4 For Josefs barn utgjorde to stammer, Manasse og Efra'im; og levittene fikk ikke nogen del i landet, men bare nogen byer til å bo i med tilhørende jorder for deres buskap og fe.

5 Som Herren hadde befalt Moses, således gjorde Israels barn og skiftet landet.

6 Da trådte Judas barn frem for Josva i Gilgal, og Kaleb, Jefunnes sønn, kenisitten, sa til ham: Du vet hvad Herren sa til Moses, den Guds mann, om mig og om dig i Kades-Barnea.

7 Jeg var firti år gammel da Moses, Herrens tjener, sendte mig fra Kades-Barnea for å utspeide landet; og jeg kom tilbake til ham med svar, efter mitt beste skjønn.

8 Mine brødre, som hadde draget op med mig, gjorde folket motløst; men jeg holdt mig trolig til Herren min Gud.

9 Den dag svor Moses og sa: Sannelig, det land som din fot trådte på, skal være din og dine barns arv til evig tid, fordi du trolig holdt dig til Herren min Gud.

10 Og nu ser du at Herren har gjort med mig som han sa, og latt mig leve i fem og firti år fra den tid Herren talte disse ord til Moses - all den tid Israel vandret i ørkenen; og idag er jeg fem og åtti år gammel.

11 Jeg er ennu like sterk som jeg var den dag Moses sendte mig ut; min styrke er den samme nu som den var dengang, både i strid og til å gå ut og inn.

12 gi mig nu denne fjellbygd som Herren den dag talte om; for du hørte selv dengang at anakittene bor der, og at der er store, faste byer; kanskje Herren er med mig, så jeg får drevet dem bort, således som Herren har sagt.

13 Da velsignet Josva ham, og han gav Kaleb, Jefunnes sønn, Hebron til arv.

14 Således fikk Kaleb, Jefunnes sønn, kenisitten, Hebron til arv, som det er den dag idag, fordi han trolig holdt sig til Herren, Israels Gud.

15 Men Hebrons navn var før Kirjat-Arba*; Arba var den største mann blandt anakittene. Og landet hadde nu ro for krig. / {* Arbas by.}

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 14

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Joshua 14: The territories west of the Jordan, and Caleb’s inheritance.

This chapter tells how the land of Canaan would be distributed among the remaining nine-and-a-half tribes, which would be determined by drawing lots. The tribe of Levi, the priests of Israel, would not receive their own territory, but would be given cities to live in across the land. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, were each recognized as a tribe of Israel to make the number of tribes receiving land equal twelve. Caleb and his people received Mount Hebron as a special inheritance, because he had fully and whole-heartedly followed the Lord God of Israel many years ago.

Casting lots was used in those days to decide many things, because people believed that the outcome showed the will of God. Lots were often sticks or stones, each marked with a symbol, which would be cast much like rolling dice. Then the result would be examined to make a decision. The spiritual meaning of casting lots is that we should allow the Lord to show us what is required, and believe that His providence extends over everything in our lives (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 10773). “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33).

The tribe of Levi, the third of the twelve sons of Jacob, had been set apart from the other tribes during their time in the wilderness; when the war cry “Who is on the Lord’s side?” was given before a battle, it was only the tribe of Levi who had responded. They were appointed as the priests of Israel for this dedication to God. Here, now, we are told that they are to live throughout the land (Arcana Caelestia 6998).

On a spiritual level, the Levites stand for the Lord’s presence throughout the whole of our life. Another way of putting this is that our spirit (and our life) is there throughout the whole of our body. And a third way of seeing this is that every part of our life should be guided by our love for the Lord. Other references to the Levites mention that all the people of Israel are to provide food and gifts for the Levites, reinforcing this same idea.

Caleb gets special treatment; he is given Mount Hebron as a new home for his people. Caleb and Joshua had been sent with 10 other men to spy out the land of Canaan 40 years earlier. They had given it a good report, and had - unsuccessfully - urged the Children of Israel to follow the Lord's leading and conquer the land at that time. Now, Caleb reminds Joshua about the Lord’s words to Moses regarding them, and Moses’ promise to give Caleb an inheritance. At the age of eighty-five, Caleb was still as strong as when spied out the land. He tells Joshua: “Now therefore, give me this mountain and the Lord will be with me to drive out the enemy” (Joshua 14:12). And it is given to him with a blessing from Joshua.

Mount Hebron is in the territory of Judah, west of the Dead Sea and south of what is now Jerusalem. Its name means ‘bound by a common bond’ or ‘accord’. Its spiritual meaning is that it brings diversity into unity, many into one, and for us, harmony in our spiritual life (Arcana Caelestia 3241[2]).

Caleb’s name means ‘bold, fearless, ferocious to enemies’. For us, Caleb is a picture of sureness and determination that to follow the Lord will always lead to success. Caleb never led Israel, but he acts as a right-hand-man to Joshua. Even though Joshua was the one to lead the children of Israel, there is still the need in each of us for Caleb’s enthusiasm, conviction and assurance to move forward with full confidence. His strength never left him, because he felt and lived the strength which the Lord gave him (see Swedenborg’s work, True Christian Religion 137[5]).

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Arcana Coelestia # 4815

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4815. 'That Judah went down from his brothers' means the descendants of Jacob, in particular the tribe of Judah which was separated from the rest. This is clear from the representation of 'Judah' in the universal sense as the descendants of Jacob, and in a particular sense as the tribe called the tribe of Judah; and from the meaning of 'going down from his brothers' as being separated from the rest of the tribes, here as a departure into evil worse than theirs. 'Going down' implies a decline into evil, since 'going up' implies a lifting up to what is good, 3084, 4539. The reason for this is, as also stated already, that the land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom, and Jerusalem and Zion in that land the inmost part of this kingdom. But the regions outside the boundaries of that land represented things outside the Lord's kingdom, namely falsity and evil. Consequently the expression 'to go down' was used when going from Zion and Jerusalem towards the boundaries of the land, but 'to go up' when going from the boundaries towards Jerusalem and Zion. This is why 'going up' implies a lifting up to truth and goodness, and 'going down' a decline into falsity and evil. As the reference here is to the falsity and evil into which the tribe of Judah declined, the expression 'Judah went down' is used, and after that 'he turned aside to a man, an Adullamite', 'turning aside' meaning that it declined into falsity and then into evil.

[2] It is well known that the tribe of Judah was separated from the rest of the tribes. The reason for the separation was so that the tribe might represent the Lord's celestial kingdom, and the rest of the tribes His spiritual kingdom. This being so, Judah also describes, in the representative sense, the celestial man, and in the universal sense the Lord's celestial kingdom, 3654, 3881. The rest of the tribes however were referred to by the single term 'the Israelites', for in the representative sense Israel describes the spiritual man, and in the universal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, 3654, 4286.

[3] The decline of the tribe of Judah into evil worse than that of the rest is the particular meaning of these words - 'and Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside'. The departure of the tribe of Judah into evil worse than that of the rest is clear from many places in the Word, in particular in the Prophets, as in Jeremiah,

Her treacherous sister Judah saw when, because of all the ways in which estranged Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave her a decree of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and committed whoredom, so much so that with the voice of her whoredom she profaned the land; she committed adultery with stone and wood. Yet for all this treacherous Judah has not returned to Me. Estranged Israel has justified her soul more than treacherous Judah. Jeremiah 3:7-11.

And in Ezekiel,

Her sister did indeed see, yet she corrupted her own love more than she, and her own acts of whoredom beyond her sister's acts of whoredom. Ezekiel 23:11-end.

These, in addition to many others elsewhere, are references to Jerusalem and Samaria, that is, to the tribe of Judah and the tribes of Israel.

[4] Described in the internal sense of this chapter is the way in which that tribe sank into falsity, and from this into evil, and at length into that which was wholly idolatrous. This, it is true, is described in the internal sense even before that tribe was separated from the rest and before it came to be as mentioned above. But that which is contained in the internal sense is Divine, and to the Divine future things are also present ones. See what was foretold about that nation in Deuteronomy 31:16-21; 32:15-43.

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