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Exodus 22

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1 "If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

2 If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.

3 If the sun has risen on him, guilt of bloodshed shall be for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

4 If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.

5 "If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard.

6 "If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

7 "If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double.

8 If the thief isn't found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods.

9 For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, 'This is mine,' the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

10 "If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it;

11 the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, whether he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.

12 But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.

13 If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.

14 "If a man borrows anything of his neighbor's, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make restitution.

15 If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.

16 "If a man entices a virgin who isn't pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife.

17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

18 "You shall not allow a sorceress to live.

19 "Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death.

20 "He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.

21 "You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

22 "You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child.

23 If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry;

24 and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25 "If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor; neither shall you charge him interest.

26 If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down,

27 for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

28 "You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

29 "You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. "You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me.

30 You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

31 "You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9154

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9154. 'The master of the house shall be brought to God' means enquiring of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'being brought to God' as being brought forward for enquiry to be made, dealt with below in 9160; and from the meaning of 'the master of the house' as good which is enquired of. The reason why 'the master of the house' means good is that the subject is truths and factual knowledge that have been taken away from the memory, meant by 'the silver and the vessels which were delivered to someone for safe keeping but were taken away by theft', 9149, 9150. Since those truths and factual knowledge belong to good and exist in good 'the master of the house', to whom the objects belong and with whom they reside, means good. Good is called 'the master' because truths and factual knowledge belong to good as their master, and good is also called 'the house' because truths and factual knowledge exist within good as their house. For the meaning of 'the house' as good, and the fact that truths reside in that house, see 3652, where the Lord's words in Matthew are explained,

Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of the house. Matthew 24:17.

[2] The implications of this - that good should be enquired of regarding truths and factual knowledge that have been taken away from the memory - are that the good present with a person is that which receives all truths into itself. For good receives its specific quality from truths; and in the measure that truths have good within them and also around them they have life. This is like a fibre or like a vessel in a living creature. In the measure that the fibre has spirit 1 in it and in the measure that the vessel has blood in it they have life; and a blood vessel likewise has life in the measure that it has around itself fibres with spirit in them. A similar situation exists with truth and good. Truth without good is like a fibre without spirit, and like a vein or an artery without blood, the nature of which anyone can see, namely something devoid of life and so devoid of any use within a living creature. The situation is similar when faith is devoid of charity. Since good receives its specific quality from truths, as has been stated, good also receives its form from them; for where there is form, specific quality is present, and where there is no form no specific quality is present. Again it is like the situation with spirit and blood in a living creature. Spirit is circumscribed by its fibres and so receives form through them, while blood receives form through its vessels. From all this it is evident that truth without good has no life in it, and that good without truth possesses no specific quality, consequently that faith without charity is not faith that is alive. By faith here faith composed of truth is meant, and by charity life consisting of good.

[3] All this shows how to understand the explanation that if truths and factual knowledge have been taken away, enquiry should be made of good. That is to say, it shows that when a person is governed by good, that is, by an affection for doing good, he recollects all the truths that have entered into good, but when he turns away from good the truths disappear, for falsity arising from evil is that which takes them away as if by theft. But truths that have disappeared are recollected once again when a person comes back to an affection for good or for truth through the life he leads. Anyone who stops to reflect can recognize the truth of this from his own experience and from what takes place with others. All this makes plain what is meant by enquiring of good regarding truths and factual knowledge that have been taken away from a person's memory or mind.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. See 4227:3.

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