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Postanak 19

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1 A uveče dođoše dva anđela u Sodom; a Lot seđaše na vratima sodomskim; i kad ih ugleda, ustade te ih srete, i pokloni se licem do zemlje,

2 I reče: Hodite, gospodo, u kuću sluge svog, i prenoćite i operite noge svoje; pa sutra rano kad ustanete pođite svojim putem. A oni rekoše: Ne, nego ćemo prenoćiti na ulici.

3 Ali on navali na njih, te se uvratiše k njemu i uđoše u kuću njegovu, i on ih ugosti, i ispeče hlebova presnih, i jedoše.

4 I još ne behu legli, a građani Sodomljani slegoše se oko kuće, staro i mlado, sav narod sa svih krajeva,

5 I vikahu Lota i govorahu mu: Gde su ljudi što dođoše sinoćk tebi? Izvedi ih k nama da ih poznamo.

6 A Lot iziđe k njima pred vrata zatvorivši vrata za sobom,

7 I reče im: Nemojte, braćo, činiti zla.

8 Evo imam dve kćeri, koje još ne poznaše čoveka; njih ću vam izvesti, pa činite s njima šta vam je volja; samo ne dirajte u ove ljude, jer su zato ušli pod moj krov.

9 A oni rekoše: Hodi amo. Pa onda rekoše: Ovaj je sam došao amo da živi kao došljak, pa još hoće da nam sudi; sad ćemo tebi učiniti gore nego njima. Pa navališe jako na čoveka, na Lota, i stadoše istavljati vrata.

10 A ona dva čoveka digoše ruke, i uvukoše Lota sebi u kuću, i zatvoriše vrata.

11 A ljude što behu pred vratima kućnim ujedanput oslepiše od najmanjeg do najvećeg, te ne mogahu naći vrata.

12 Tada ona dva čoveka rekoše Lotu: Ako imaš ovde još koga svog, ili zeta ili sina ili kćer, ili koga god svog u ovom gradu, gledaj nek idu odavde;

13 Jer hoćemo da zatremo mesto ovo, jer je vika njihova velika pred Gospodom, pa nas posla Gospod da ga zatremo.

14 I iziđe Lot, i kaza zetovima svojim, za koje htede dati kćeri svoje, i reče im: Ustajte, idite iz mesta ovog, jer će sada zatrti Gospod grad ovaj. Ali se zetovima njegovim učini da se šali.

15 A kad zora zabele, navališe anđeli na Lota govoreći: ustani, uzmi ženu svoju, i dve kćeri svoje koje su tu, da ne pogineš u bezakonju grada tog.

16 A on se stade ščinjati, te ljudi uzeše za ruku njega i ženu njegovu i dve kćeri njegove, jer ga beše žao Gospodu i izvedoše ga i pustiše ga iza grada.

17 I kad ih izvedoše napolje, reče jedan: Izbavi dušu svoju i ne obziri se natrag i u celoj ovoj ravni da nisi stao; beži na ono brdo da ne pogineš.

18 A Lot im reče: Nemoj, Gospode!

19 Gle, sluga tvoj nađe milost pred Tobom, i milost je Tvoja prevelika koju mi učini sačuvavši mi život; ali ne mogu uteći na brdo da me ne stigne zlo i ne poginem.

20 Eno grad blizu; onamo se može uteći, a mali je; da bežimo onamo; ta mali je, te ću ostati živ.

21 A on mu reče: Eto poslušaću te i zato, i neću zatrti grada, za koji reče.

22 Brže beži onamo; jer ne mogu činiti ništa dok ne stigneš onamo. Zato se prozva onaj grad Sigor.

23 I kad sunce ogranu po zemlji, Lot dođe u Sigor.

24 Tada pusti Gospod na Sodom i na Gomor od Gospoda s neba dažd od sumpora i ognja,

25 I zatre one gradove i svu onu ravan, i sve ljude u gradovima i rod zemaljski.

26 Ali žena Lotova beše se obazrela idući za njim, i posta slan kamen.

27 A sutradan rano ustavši Avram, otide na mesto gde je stajao pred Gospodom;

28 I pogleda na Sodom i Gomor i svu okolinu po onoj ravni, i ugleda, a to se dizaše dim od zemlje kao dim iz peći.

29 Ali kad Bog zatiraše gradove u onoj ravni, opomenu se Bog Avrama, i izvede Lota iz propasti kad zatre gradove gde živeše Lot.

30 A Lot otide iz Sigora i stani se na onom brdu s dve kćeri svoje, jer se bojaše ostati u Sigoru; i živeše u pećini s dve kćeri svoje.

31 A starija reče mlađoj: Naš je otac star, a nema nikoga na zemlji da dođe k nama, kao što je običaj po svoj zemlji.

32 Hajde da damo ocu vina neka se opije, pa da legnemo s njim, eda bismo sačuvale seme ocu svom.

33 I dadoše ocu vina onu noć; i došavši starija leže s ocem svojim, i on ne oseti ni kad ona leže ni kad ustade.

34 A sutradan reče starija mlađoj: Gle, noćas spavah s ocem svojim. Da mu damo vina i doveče, pa idi ti i lezi s njim, eda bismo sačuvale seme ocu svom.

35 Pa i to veče dadoše ocu vina, i ustavši mlađa leže s njim, i on ne oseti ni kad ona leže ni kad ustade.

36 I obe kćeri Lotove zatrudneše od oca svog.

37 I starija rodi sina, i nadede mu ime Moav; od njega su Moavci do današnjeg dana.

38 Pa i mlađa rodi sina, i nadede mu ime Ven-Amije; od njega su Amonci do današnjeg dana.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10300

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10300. 'Salted' means the desire which truth has for good. This is clear from the meaning of 'salt' as desire belonging to the love which truth has for good, dealt with below, so that 'salted' means something in which that desire is present. The reason why the desire which truth has for good needs to be present is that this desire causes the two to be joined together; for to the extent that truth desires good it becomes joined to it. Truth and good joined together is what is called the heavenly marriage, which constitutes heaven itself with a person. Therefore when the desire for them to be joined together exists within the worship of God, within every single part of it, heaven - and accordingly the Lord - is present there within every single part. This is meant by the requirement for the incense to be salted. 'Salt' receives this meaning from its conjunctive properties; for it makes ingredients all combine and consequently brings out their flavour. Indeed it causes water and oil to combine, which otherwise do not combine.

[2] When it is known that 'salt' means the desire for truth and good to be joined together it may be seen what the Lord's words in Mark mean,

Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes tasteless, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves. Mark 9:49-50.

'Everyone will be salted with fire' means that each person must have a desire that is present as a result of true love. 'Every sacrifice will be salted with salt' means that the desire present as a result of true love must exist within all worship. 'Tasteless salt' means a desire present as a result of a love other than that true love. 'Having salt in themselves' means possessing truth that has a desire for good.

Love is meant by 'fire', see 4906, 5071(end), 5215, 6314, 6832, 10055.

Worship in general is meant by 'sacrifice', 922, 6905, 8680, 8936.

Can anyone without knowledge of what 'fire' means, or what 'salt' and 'being salted' mean, know what 'being salted with fire' means, why a sacrifice had to be salted, or what the command to have salt in themselves means?

[3] Something similar occurs in Luke,

Any of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple. Salt is good; but if the salt is made tasteless, by what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; people will throw it outdoors. Luke 14:33-35.

'Renouncing all their possessions' means loving the Lord above all things, 'possessions' being what is a person's own. 'Tasteless salt' means desire that springs from the proprium or self, thus from self-love and love of the world. This kind of desire is meant by salt that is tasteless, fit for nothing, as also in Matthew,

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt is tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It no longer has any use, except to be thrown outdoors and trodden down by people. Matthew 5:13-14.

[4] The need for all worship to contain truth that has a desire for good is also meant by the requirement that every offering of a minchah should be salted, and that the salt of Jehovah's covenant should be on every offering, Leviticus 2:13. By 'the minchah and offering' which compose the sacrifice worship is meant, as above; and the salt is called in that verse 'the salt of Jehovah's covenant' because 'covenant' means a joining together, see 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396, 9416. Also desire is the actual ardour that flames from and so is an extension of love, and love is spiritual togetherness.

[5] Just as truth's desire for good has the capacity to link things together, so falsity's desire for evil has the capacity to separate them; and that which has the capacity to separate them also has the capacity to destroy them. For this reason 'salt' in the contrary sense means the destruction and laying waste of truth and good, as in Jeremiah,

Cursed is the man (vir) who makes flesh his arm. He will not see when good comes; but he will inhabit very hot places, a salt land which is not inhabited. Jeremiah 17:5-6.

'Making flesh his arm' means trusting in himself, in his proprium, and not in the Divine, 10283; and since the proprium consists in loving self more than God and the neighbour, self-love is what those words describe. This is why it says that he will not see when good comes, and that he will inhabit very hot places and a salt land, that is, will lead a life ruled by foul kinds of love and their desires, which have destroyed the Church's goodness and truth.

[6] In Zephaniah,

It will be like Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle, and a saltpit, and a waste forever. Zephaniah 2:9.

'A place abandoned to the nettle' stands for the ardour and passion in a person's life that spring from self-love. 'A saltpit' stands for the desire falsity possesses; and because this is destructive of truth and good, the expression 'a waste forever' is used. The reason for its being said that 'it will be like Gomorrah' is that Gomorrah and Sodom mean self-love, 2220.

[7] Where it said at Genesis 19:26 that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she turned her face towards those cities, the meaning was the laying waste of truth and good; for in the internal sense 'turning the face' towards something means loving it, 10189. This explains why the Lord says,

Let him not return to the things behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:31-32.

And in Moses,

Its whole land will be brimstone and salt, and a burning, as at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 29:23.

Here, as also elsewhere in the Word, 'land' is used to mean the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325.

[8] So it was that cities which were not to be inhabited any longer were sown with salt after they had been destroyed, Judges 9:45.

From all this it is evident that in the genuine sense 'salt' means the desire that truth has for good, thus its conjunctive power, and in the contrary sense the desire that falsity has for evil, thus its destructive power.

[9] Anyone therefore who knows that 'salt' means truth's desire for good and the force that joins the two together is also able to know what is meant where it says that the water of Jericho was healed by Elisha, by his throwing salt into its source, 2 Kings 2:19-22. For Elisha, like Elijah, represented the Lord in respect of the Word, 2762, 8029; 'water' means the truths of the Word, 'the water of Jericho', and in like manner 'the source' of that water, meaning the truths of the Word in the literal sense; and 'salt' means the desire truth has for good, the joining together of the two, and consequent healing.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 922

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922. 'He took from every clean beast, and from every clean bird' means goods that stem from charity, and the truths of faith. This has been shown already; 'beast' means goods that stem from charity, 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 'bird' the truths of faith, 40, 776. Burnt offerings were made from cattle, from lambs and goats, and from turtle doves and young pigeons, Leviticus 1:2-17; Numbers 15:2-15; 28:1-end. These were clean beasts, each one of them meaning some particular heavenly quality. And because they meant these things in the Ancient Church, and in subsequent Churches represented them, it is clear that burnt offerings and sacrifices were nothing else than representatives that go with internal worship, and that when they had been divorced from internal worship they became idolatrous. This any mentally normal person can see, for what is an altar but merely something made of stone? And what is a burnt offering and a sacrifice but the slaughtering of an animal? For worship to be Divine it has to represent some heavenly quality which the worshippers know and acknowledge and from which they worship the One they are representing.

[2] Nobody except the person who does not wish to understand anything at all about the Lord can be ignorant of the fact that these things were representatives of the Lord. It is the internal things, namely charity and faith deriving from charity, through which the One who is being represented has to be seen, acknowledged, and believed, as is quite clear in the Prophets, for example in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, Add your burnt offerings on to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. I did not speak with your fathers and I did not command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt on the matters of burnt offering and sacrifice. But this matter I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God. Jeremiah 7:21-23.

Hearing or obeying His voice is obeying the law, the whole of which focuses on the one command that men should love God above everything else and their neighbour as themselves, for on these depend the Law and the Prophets, Matthew 22:37-40; 7:12. In David,

O Jehovah, sacrifice and offering You have not desired; burnt offering and sin-sacrifice You host not sought. I have delighted to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart. 1 Psalms 40:6, 8.

[3] In Samuel, who said to Saul,

Has Jehovah as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22.

What obeying His voice involves is apparent in Micah,

Shall I come before Jehovah with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you but to carry out judgement and the love of mercy, and to humble yourself by walking with your God. Micah 6:6-8.

These are the things that burnt offerings and sacrifices of clean beasts and birds mean. In Amos,

Though you offer Me your burnt offerings and gifts, I will not accept them, and the peace offering of your fatted ones I will not look upon. Let judgement flow like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. Amos 5:22, 24.

'Judgement' means truth, and 'righteousness' good. Both stem from charity and are the burnt offerings and sacrifices of the internal man. In Hosea,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6.

From all these quotations the nature of sacrifices and burnt offerings when charity and faith are not present is clear. It is also clear from them that because 'clean beasts and clean birds' meant the goods that stem from charity and faith they also represented them.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, in the midst of my viscera

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