Arcana Coelestia # 3875
3875. 'And she said, Now this time my husband will cling to me' means in the highest sense love and mercy, in the internal sense charity, in the external sense a joining together - spiritual love being meant here. This is clear from the meaning of 'clinging to'. As regards 'clinging' in the external sense, or inner sense nearest to the literal, meaning a joining together, this may be seen without explanation; and as regards 'clinging' in the internal sense meaning charity, this is evident from the consideration that charity, or what amounts to the same, mutual love, is a spiritual joining together. For mutual love is a joining together of affections belonging to the will and a consequent agreement of thoughts belonging to the understanding, and so is a joining of minds as to both parts. That 'clinging' in the highest sense means love and mercy is evident from this, for when the description 'infinite and eternal' is applied to charity or spiritual love the attribute of mercy is meant, mercy being Divine love directed towards the human race engulfed in such great miseries. For man of himself is nothing but evil, and what is within him, insofar as this has its origin in himself, is altogether from hell. Yet the Lord beholds him with Divine Love, and therefore the raising up of him from the hell in which of himself he dwells and his deliverance from it is called mercy. And because that mercy is an attribute of Divine Love, 'clinging' in the highest sense therefore means both love and mercy.
[2] As regards 'clinging' in the internal sense meaning spiritual love, or what amounts to the same, charity towards the neighbour, this may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,
Do not let the son of the foreigner who has clung to Jehovah say, Jehovah surely separates me from being with His people. The sons of the foreigner who cling to Jehovah, to minister to Him and to delight in the name of Jehovah, will be His servants. Isaiah 56:3, 6.
'Clinging to Jehovah' stands for keeping His commandments, which is an act of spiritual love, for no one at heart keeps God's commandments except him in whom good that flows from charity towards the neighbour is present. In Jeremiah,
In those days the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah weeping as they come; and they will seek Jehovah their God. They will ask Zion concerning the way, their faces towards it, [saying,] Come and let us cling to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that is not forgotten. Jeremiah 50:4-5.
'Clinging to Jehovah' in like manner stands for keeping His commandments at heart, that is, doing so from good that flows from charity.
[3] In Zechariah,
Many nations will cling to Jehovah on that day and will be My people. Zechariah 2:11.
Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,
Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will again choose Israel, and will set them on their own land. And the sojourner will cling to them, and they will join themselves to the house of Jacob. Isaiah 14:1.
'The sojourner clinging to them' stands for having a similar allegiance to the law. 'Joining themselves to the house of Jacob' stands for the good that flows from charity, which is present in those meant by 'the house of Jacob'. In Matthew,
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24.
Here the celestial form of love is meant by 'loving', the spiritual form by 'clinging to'. Both of these expressions are used because those two forms of love are distinct and separate. Otherwise one expression would have been sufficient.
[4] People who are stirred by spiritual love are therefore called 'the sons of Levi', as in Malachi,
Who can endure the day of His coming, and who will stand when He appears? He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them like gold, and like silver. Malachi 3:2-3.
In the highest sense the Lord is meant by 'Levi' by virtue of Divine love and of mercy towards those in whom spiritual love is present. This may be seen in the same prophet,
That you may know that I have sent this command to you, to be My covenant with Levi, said Jehovah Zebaoth. My covenant with him will be [a covenant] of life and peace. You have turned back from the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law, you have corrupted the covenant of Levi; therefore I have made you despised. Malachi 2:4-5, 8-9.
And because in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Love or His Mercy was meant by 'Levi', and in the internal sense spiritual love, the tribe of Levi was therefore established as the priesthood; for in the internal sense of the Word 'the priesthood' is nothing other than the holiness of love and 'kingship' the holiness of faith, 1728, 2015 (end), 3670.
[5] Because the expression 'cringing to' from which Levi received his name means spiritual love, which is the same as mutual love, the same expression in the original language is used to mean lending and borrowing. 1 And these two - lending and borrowing - in the Jewish Church represented mutual love, a representation which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with elsewhere. Mutual love is different from friendship inasmuch as mutual love has a person's good in view, and in directing itself towards that good is directed towards the person in whom good is present. Friendship however has the person in view, which is also mutual love when it looks at that person from the point of view of, that is, on account of, that good. But when it does not look at him from the point of view of good or on account of that good but on account of self which it calls good, friendship is not in that case mutual love but something close to the love of self. And insofar as it is close to this it is opposed to mutual love. In itself mutual love is nothing else than charity towards the neighbour, for in the internal sense 'the neighbour' means nothing else than good, and in the highest sense the Lord because all good originates in Him and He is Good itself, see 2425, 3419. This mutual love or charity towards the neighbour is what is understood by spiritual love and meant by 'Levi'. What is more, in the Word celestial love, and also conjugial love, is expressed in the sense of the letter as 'clinging to', but this is derived from a different expression in the original language from that from which the name Levi is obtained.
[6] This other expression means an even closer joining together, as in the following places: In Moses,
You shall fear Jehovah your God: you shall serve Him and cling to Him. Deuteronomy 10:20.
You shall go after Jehovah your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and hear His voice, and serve Him, and cling to Him. Deuteronomy 13:4.
To love Jehovah your God, to go in all His ways, and to cling to Him. Deuteronomy 11:22.
To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life. Deuteronomy 30:20.
In Joshua,
Take good care to carry out the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:5.
In the second Book of Kings,
King Hezekiah trusted in Jehovah the God of Israel. He clung to Jehovah; he did not turn back from going after Him, and he kept His commandments which
Jehovah had commanded Moses. 2 Kings 18:5-6.
In Jeremiah,
As a waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, to be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they were not obedient. Jeremiah 13:11.
[7] The fact that conjugial love as well is expressed by 'clinging to' is evident from the following,
Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and will cling to his wife, and they will be one flesh. Genesis 2:24.
On account of your hardness of heart Moses wrote this commandment, but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man (homo) will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two will be one flesh. What therefore God has joined together man (homo) must not put asunder. Mark 10:5-9; Matthew 19:5.
The soul of Shechem clung to Dinah, Jacob's daughter. He loved the girl, and spoke to the girl's heart. Genesis 34:3.
Solomon loved many foreign women. Solomon clung to these in love. 1 Kings 11:1-2.
These quotations show then that 'clinging to' is an expression descriptive of love which was adopted in ancient times by Churches in which meaningful signs were prominent, and that it means nothing else in the internal sense than a spiritual joining together, which is charity and love.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. literally, mutually giving and receiving
Jeremiah 51
1
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
2
I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around.
3
Against [him who] bends let the archer bend his bow, and against [him who] lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and don't spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.
4
They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
5
For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
6
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don't be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.
7
Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9
We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10
Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.
11
Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Yahweh, the vengeance of his temple.
12
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13
You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
14
Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15
He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
16
when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
17
Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18
They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and [Israel] is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
20
You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
21
and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
22
and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
23
and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke [of oxen]; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.
24
I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh.
25
Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
26
They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh.
27
Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm.
28
Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.
29
The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
30
The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken.
31
One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:
32
and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
33
For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
34
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.
35
The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36
Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
37
Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38
They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' cubs.
39
When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh.
40
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
41
How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
42
The sea is come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43
Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
44
I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45
My people, go away from the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh.
46
Don't let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year [shall come] news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh.
49
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.
50
You who have escaped the sword, go, don't stand still; remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51
We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh's house.
52
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53
Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh.
54
The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55
For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:
56
for the destroyer is come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.
57
I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
58
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
59
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.
60
Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
61
Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,
62
and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.
63
It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:
64
and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
