Bible

 

Daniel 10

Studie

   

1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing is revealed to Daniel, whose name is called Belteshazzar, and the thing [is] true, and the warfare [is] great: and he hath understood the thing, and hath understanding about the appearance.

2 `In those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days;

3 desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.

4 `And in the twenty and fourth day of the first month, I have been by the side of the great river, that [is] Hiddekel:

5 and I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, a certain one clothed in linen, and his loins girt with pure gold of Uphaz,

6 and his body as a beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet as the aspect of bright brass, and the voice of his words as the voice of a multitude.

7 `And I have seen -- I, Daniel, by myself -- the appearance: and the men who have been with me have not seen the appearance, but a great trembling hath fallen on them, and they flee to be hidden;

8 and I have been left by myself, and I see this great appearance, and there hath been no power left in me, and my honour hath been turned in me to corruption, yea, I have not retained power.

9 `And I hear the voice of his words, and when I hear the voice of his words, then I have been in a trance on my face, and my face [is] to the earth;

10 and lo, a hand hath come against me, and shaketh me on my knees and the palms of my hands.

11 `And he saith unto me: Daniel, man greatly desired, attend to the words that I am speaking unto thee, and stand on thy station, for now I have been sent unto thee. `And when he speaketh with me this word, I have stood trembling.

12 And he saith unto me: Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words have been heard, and I have come because of thy words.

13 `And the head of the kingdom of Persia is standing over-against me twenty and one days, and lo, Michael, first of the chief heads, hath come in to help me, and I have remained there near the kings of Persia;

14 and I have come to cause thee to understand that which doth happen to thy people in the latter end of the days, for yet the vision [is] after days.

15 `And when he speaketh with me about these things, I have set my face toward the earth, and have been silent;

16 and lo, as the manner of the sons of men, he is striking against my lips, and I open my mouth, and I speak, and say unto him who is standing over-against me: My lord, by the appearance turned have been my pangs against me, and I have retained no power.

17 And how is the servant of this my lord able to speak with this my lord? as for me, henceforth there remaineth in me no power, yea, breath hath not been left in me.

18 `And he addeth, and striketh against me, as the appearance of a man, and strengtheneth me,

19 and he saith: Do not fear, O man greatly desired, peace to thee, be strong, yea, be strong; and when he speaketh with me, I have strengthened myself, and I say, Let my lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me.

20 And he saith, Hast thou known why I have come unto thee? and now I turn back to fight with the head of Persia; yea, I am going forth, and lo, the head of Javan hath come;

21 but I declare to thee that which is noted down in the Writing of Truth, and there is not one strengthening himself with me, concerning these, except Michael your head.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 425

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

425. Up to now the world has not known that 'bronze' means natural good, nor indeed that every metal mentioned in the Word has some definite meaning in the internal sense. For example 'gold' means celestial good, 'silver' spiritual truth, 'bronze' natural good, 'iron' natural truth, and so on with all the rest. The same applies to stone and wood. These were the meanings of the gold, silver, bronze, and wood in the Ark and the Tabernacle, and of similar objects in the Temple, which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with later on. In the Prophets it is plain that such things are meant, as in Isaiah,

You will suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings will you suck. Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron, I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead or stones, iron. And I will make peace your assessment and righteousness your tax-collectors. Isaiah 60:16-17.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord and to His kingdom, and to the celestial Church. 'Gold instead of bronze' means celestial good instead of natural good. 'Silver instead of iron' means spiritual truth instead of natural truth. 'Bronze instead of wood' means natural good instead of bodily good. 'Iron instead of stones' means natural truth instead of sensory truth. In Ezekiel,

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your merchants in the souls of men, and they gave vessels of bronze for your merchandise. Ezekiel 27:13

This refers to Tyre, which means people who are in possession of spiritual and celestial riches. 'Vessels of bronze' stands for natural goods. In Moses,

A land whose stones are Iron, and from whose mountains you will dig out bronze. Deuteronomy 8:9.

Here similarly 'stones' stands for sensory truth, 'iron' for natural or rational truth, and 'bronze' for natural good. In the cases of the four living creatures or the cherubim seen by Ezekiel, whose feet sparkled like burnished bronze, Ezekiel 1:7, 'bronze' in a similar way means natural good, for the human foot represents that which is natural. Something similar was seen by Daniel,

A man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz and whose body was like tarshish. 1 His arms and feet were like the appearance of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6

And for the fact that the bronze serpent mentioned in Numbers 21:9 represented the Lord's good, sensory and natural, see what has been said already [in 197].

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. A Hebrew word for a particular kind of precious stone, possibly a beryl.

  
/ 10837  
  

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