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Josue 12

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1 Ang mga ito nga ang mga hari sa lupain na sinaktan ng mga anak ni Israel, at inari ang kanilang lupain sa dako roon ng Jordan na dakong sinisikatan ng araw mula sa libis ng Arnon hanggang sa bundok ng Hermon, at ng buong Araba na dakong silanganan:

2 Si Sehon na hari ng mga Amorrheo, na nanahan sa Hesbon at nagpuno mula sa Aroer, na nasa tabi ng libis ng Arnon at ang bayan na nasa gitna ng libis, at ang kalahati ng Galaad, hanggang sa ilog Jaboc, na hangganan ng mga anak ni Ammon;

3 At ang Araba hanggang sa dagat ng Cinneroth, na dakong silanganan, at hanggang sa dagat ng Araba, Dagat na Alat, na dakong silanganan, na daang patungo sa Beth-jesimoth; at sa timugan sa ilalim ng mga tagudtod ng Pisga:

4 At ang hangganan ni Og na hari sa Basan, sa nalabi ng mga Rephaim na nanahan sa Astaroth at sa Edrei,

5 At nagpuno sa bundok ng Hermon, at sa Salca, at sa buong Basan, hanggang sa hangganan ng mga Gessureo at ng mga Maachateo, at ng kalahati ng Galaad, na hangganan ni Sehon na hari sa Hesbon.

6 Sinaktan sila ni Moises na lingkod ng Panginoon at ng mga anak ni Israel: at ibinigay ni Moises na lingkod ng Panginoon na pinakaari sa mga Rubenita, at sa mga Gadita, at sa kalahating lipi ni Manases.

7 At ang mga ito'y ang mga hari ng lupain na sinaktan ni Josue at ng mga anak ni Israel sa dako roon ng Jordan na dakong kalunuran, mula sa Baal-gad na libis ng Libano hanggang sa bundok ng Halac, na pasampa sa Seir (at ibinigay ni Josue na pinakaari sa mga lipi ng Israel ayon sa kanilang pagkakabahagi;

8 Sa lupaing maburol, at sa mababang lupain, at sa Araba, at sa mga tagudtod, at sa ilang, at sa Timugan; ang Hatheo, ang Amorrheo, at ang Cananeo, ang Pherezeo, ang Heveo, at ang Jebuseo);

9 Ang hari sa Jerico, isa; ang hari sa Hai na nasa tabi ng Beth-el, isa;

10 Ang hari sa Jerusalem, isa; ang hari sa Hebron, isa.

11 Ang hari sa Jarmuth, isa; ang hari sa Lachis, isa;

12 Ang hari sa Eglon, isa; ang hari sa Gezer, isa;

13 Ang hari sa Debir, isa; ang hari sa Geder, isa;

14 Ang hari sa Horma, isa; ang hari sa Arad, isa;

15 Ang hari sa Libna, isa; ang hari sa Adullam, isa;

16 Ang hari sa Maceda, isa; ang hari sa Beth-el, isa;

17 Ang hari sa Tappua, isa; ang hari sa Hepher, isa;

18 Ang hari sa Aphec, isa; ang hari sa Lasaron, isa;

19 Ang hari sa Madon, isa; ang hari sa Hasor, isa;

20 Ang hari sa Simron-meron, isa; ang hari sa Achsaph, isa;

21 Ang hari sa Taanach, isa; ang hari sa Megiddo, isa;

22 Ang hari sa Chedes, isa; ang hari sa Jocneam sa Carmel, isa;

23 Ang hari sa Dor sa kaitaasan ng Dor, isa; ang hari ng mga bansa sa Gilgal, isa;

24 Ang hari sa Tirsa, isa; lahat ng hari ay tatlong pu't isa;

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 12

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

Joshua 12: The kings who were defeated by Joshua.

This chapter lists the kings who were defeated by Moses on the other side of the river Jordan, and those defeated by Joshua in the land of Canaan. Moses defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. Joshua defeated 31 kings, and this chapter names their cities one by one.

We might well wonder: what is the use of such a chapter for us? But here it is, included in the Word of God. We will suggest two ways in which this chapter gives us a spiritual message to work with:

First, the sheer number of kings who opposed Israel represent, in a general way, the many things that prevent us from dedicating ourselves to the Lord’s teachings.

Secondly, the many names of the towns that the Israelites defeated are all significant in identifying the various situations we encounter in our spiritual lives (See Swedenborg’s Arcana Caelestia 2009[9]). For example “Joshua” means ‘God is victory’, something we can come to understand as we choose to turn against evil. We can do that because the Lord fights for and with us; we cannot do that alone.

For every heaven there is a corresponding hell (See Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell 588). If mercy is something of heaven, hell is to do with cruelty and all that goes with it. If innocence is of heaven, hell is to do with intended harm and all that goes with that. Evil is unspeakably precise.

Joshua defeated thirty-one kings. The number thirty stands for combat and also for ‘remnants’, which are deep-seated feelings of good and truth given the Lord gives us during our childhood, to help us combat evil in adult regeneration. Thirty-one would seem to suggest combat going on even past thirty (Arcana Caelestia 5335).

The names of the cities of these kings are given, and each name represents a quality. ‘Israel’ was the name given to Jacob by the Lord, after he had wrestled all night with the angel of God and had prevailed (see Genesis 32:24-28). “Israel” means ‘striving with God’ and also ‘a prince with God’, and it became the name of the people of Israel.

As examples, we will look at three Canaanite cities which fought Israel, and explore the spiritual meaning of their names.

1. The king of Jarmuth, means ‘being downcast by death’. Viewing life only in terms of its inevitable end does terrible things to our sense of purpose, hope and trust. Defeating Jarmuth helps us see that death is a transition into eternal life, and our means of passing from this life into our fullest life.

2. The king of Aphek, means ‘tenacious fortress’. We can quite readily see that evil can be exactly like a tenacious fortress. Evil will hang on like grim death and refuse to let us go. Evil will attempt any number of devious tactics to break us down or undermine our faith. The last thing it will do is to see that we’re resolved, and then finally give up.

3. The king of Taanach, which means ‘sandy, hard to cross’. This might remind us of dangerous quicksands, or the way in which we stumble trying to walk through sand. Again, sometimes evil can appear to give us safer passage on solid ground, before we realize that it is the hells ensnaring us.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 5335

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5335. 'And Joseph was a son of thirty years' means a state when the quantity of remnants was complete. This is clear from the meaning of 'thirty' as a completed number of remnants, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'years' as states, dealt with in 482, 487, 488, 493, 893. In the Word the number thirty can mean some existence of conflict, or else it can mean a completed number of remnants. The reason why that number has this twofold meaning is that it is arrived at by multiplying five and six, or else by multiplying three and ten. When it is the product of five times six it means some existence of conflict, 2276, because 'five' means some, 649, 4638, 5291, and 'six' conflict, 720, 737, 900, 1709. But when thirty is the product of three times ten it means a completed number of remnants, because 'three' means that which is complete, 2788, 4495, and 'ten' means remnants, 576, 1906, 2284. A composite number implies much the same as the simple ones of which it is the product, 5291. Remnants are the truths joined to good which have been stored away by the Lord in a person's interior parts, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 660, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135.

[2] A completed number of remnants is likewise meant by 'thirty' - as it is also by 'sixty', and by 'a hundred' too - in Mark,

The seed which fell into good ground yielded fruit growing up and increasing. One bore thirty-fold, and another sixty, and another a hundred. Mark 4:8, 10.

Each of these numbers, being a multiple of ten, means a completed number of remnants. Also, because no one can be regenerated - that is, permitted to enter into spiritual temptations, by means of which regeneration is effected - until he has received a completed number of remnants, it was therefore laid down that no Levite should carry out any work in the tent of meeting until he was fully thirty years old. Their work or function is also called 'military service', being referred to in Moses as follows,

Take a census of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi - from sons thirty years of age and over, up to sons fifty years of age, everyone coming to perform military service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. Numbers 4:2-3.

Much the same is said regarding the sons of Gershon, and much the same regarding the sons of Merari, in verses 22, 23, 29, 30, and then in verses 35, 39, 43. Of that same chapter in Moses. And something similar is implied where it says that David began to reign when he was a son thirty years of age, 2 Samuel 5:4.

[3] From all this one may now see why the Lord did not make Himself known until He was thirty years of age, Luke 3:23. At that age a completed number of remnants existed with Him, though these remnants which the Lord possessed were ones that He Himself had acquired for Himself. They were also Divine ones and the means by which He united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence and made that Human Essence Divine, 1906. In Him therefore lies the reason why 'thirty years' means a state when the quantity of remnants is complete and why the priests the Levites began to perform their specific functions when they were thirty years old. And because he was to represent the Lord's kingship, David did not begin to reign until he was that same age. For every representative is derived from the Lord, and therefore every representative has reference to Him.

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