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Daniel 11

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1 `And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, my standing [is] for a strengthener, and for a stronghold to him;

2 and, now, truth I declare to thee, Lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirreth up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan.

3 And a mighty king hath stood, and he hath ruled a great dominion, and hath done according to his will;

4 and according to his standing is his kingdom broken, and divided to the four winds of the heavens, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion that he ruled, for his kingdom is plucked up -- and for others apart from these.

5 `And a king of the south -- even of his princes -- doth become strong, and doth prevail against him, and hath ruled; a great dominion [is] his dominion.

6 `And at the end of years they do join themselves together, and a daughter of the king of the south doth come in unto the king of the north to do upright things; and she doth not retain the power of the arm; and he doth not stand, nor his arm; and she is given up, she, and those bringing her in, and her child, and he who is strengthening her in [these] times.

7 `And [one] hath stood up from a branch of her roots, [in] his station, and he cometh in unto the bulwark, yea, he cometh into a stronghold of the king of the south, and hath wrought against them, and hath done mightily;

8 and also their gods, with their princes, with their desirable vessels of silver and gold, into captivity he bringeth [into] Egypt; and he doth stand more years than the king of the north.

9 `And the king of the south hath come into the kingdom, and turned back unto his own land;

10 and his sons stir themselves up, and have gathered a multitude of great forces, and he hath certainly come in, and overflowed, and passed through, and he turneth back, and they stir themselves up unto his stronghold.

11 And the king of the south doth become embittered, and hath gone forth and fought with him, with the king of the north, and hath caused a great multitude to stand, and the multitude hath been given into his hand,

12 and he hath carried away the multitude, his heart is high, and he hath caused myriads to fall, and he doth not become strong.

13 `And the king of the north hath turned back, and hath caused a multitude to stand, greater than the first, and at the end of the times a second time he doth certainly come in with a great force, and with much substance;

14 and in those times many do stand up against the king of the south, and sons of the destroyers of thy people do lift themselves up to establish the vision -- and they have stumbled.

15 `And the king of the north cometh in, and poureth out a mount, and hath captured fenced cities; and the arms of the south do not stand, nor the people of his choice, yea, there is no power to stand.

16 And he who is coming unto him doth according to his will, and there is none standing before him; and he standeth in the desirable land, and [it is] wholly in his hand.

17 And he setteth his face to go in with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; and he hath wrought, and the daughter of women he giveth to him, to corrupt her; and she doth not stand, nor is for him.

18 `And he turneth back his face to the isles, and hath captured many; and a prince hath caused his reproach of himself to cease; without his reproach he turneth [it] back to him.

19 And he turneth back his face to the strongholds of his land, and hath stumbled and fallen, and is not found.

20 `And stood up on his station hath [one] causing an exactor to pass over the honour of the kingdom, and in a few days he is destroyed, and not in anger, nor in battle.

21 `And stood up on his station hath a despicable one, and they have not given unto him the honour of the kingdom, and he hath come in quietly, and hath strengthened the kingdom by flatteries.

22 And the arms of the flood are overflowed from before him, and are broken; and also the leader of the covenant.

23 And after they join themselves unto him, he worketh deceit, and hath increased, and hath been strong by a few of the nation.

24 Peaceably even into the fertile places of the province He cometh, and he hath done that which his fathers did not, nor his fathers' fathers; prey, and spoil, and substance, to them he scattereth, and against fenced places he deviseth his devices, even for a time.

25 `And he stirreth up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great force, and the king of the south stirreth himself up to battle with a very great and mighty force, and standeth not, for they devise devices against him,

26 and those eating his portion of food destroy him, and his force overfloweth, and fallen have many wounded.

27 `And both of the kings' hearts [are] to do evil, and at one table they speak lies, and it doth not prosper, for yet the end [is] at a time appointed.

28 And he turneth back [to] his land with great substance, and his heart [is] against the holy covenant, and he hath wrought, and turned back to his land.

29 At the appointed time he turneth back, and hath come against the south, and it is not as the former, and as the latter.

30 And ships of Chittim have come in against him, and he hath been pained, and hath turned back, and hath been insolent toward the holy covenant, and hath wrought, and turned back, and he understandeth concerning those forsaking the holy covenant.

31 And strong ones out of him stand up, and have polluted the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual [sacrifice], and appointed the desolating abomination.

32 And those acting wickedly [against] the covenant, he defileth by flatteries; and the people knowing their God are strong, and have wrought.

33 And the teachers of the people give understanding to many; and they have stumbled by sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil -- days.

34 And in their stumbling, they are helped -- a little help, and joined to them have been many with flatteries.

35 And some of the teachers do stumble for refining by them, and for purifying, and for making white -- till the end of the time, for [it is] yet for a time appointed.

36 `And the king hath done according to his will, and exalteth himself, and magnifieth himself against every god, and against the God of gods he speaketh wonderful things, and hath prospered till the indignation hath been completed, for that which is determined hath been done.

37 And unto the God of his fathers he doth not attend, nor to the desire of women, yea, to any God he doth not attend, for against all he magnifieth himself.

38 And to the god of strongholds, on his station, he giveth honour; yea, to a god whom his fathers knew not he giveth honour, with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things.

39 And he hath dealt in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange god whom he hath acknowledged; he multiplieth honour, and hath caused them to rule over many, and the ground he apportioneth at a price.

40 `And at the time of the end, push himself forward with him doth a king of the south, and storm against him doth a king of the north, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he hath come in to the lands, and hath overflowed, and passed over,

41 and hath come into the desirable land, and many do stumble, and these escape from his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.

42 `And he sendeth forth his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt is not for an escape;

43 and he hath ruled over treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim and Cushim [are] at his steps.

44 `And reports trouble him out of the east and out of the north, and he hath gone forth in great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction;

45 and he planteth the tents of his palace between the seas and the holy desirable mountain, and hath come unto his end, and there is no helper to him.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 72

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72. Verse 16. And having in His right hand seven stars, signifies all knowledges of good and truth from Him. This is evident from the signification of "having in His right hand," as being from Him; for "hand" signifies power, thus it signifies whatever pertains to one, and so also whatever is from him. It is said "right hand," because "right hand" signifies the power of good through truth. (That "hand" signifies power, see Arcana Coelestia, n. Arcana Coelestia 878, 3091, 4931-4937, 6947, 10019; and consequently that it signifies whatever pertains to one, and so also whatever is from him, 9133, 10019, 10405; that the "right hand" signifies the power of good through truth, see n. 9604, 9736, 10061; and that "the right hand of Jehovah" signifies the Lord's Divine power, thus omnipotence, see n. 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 7673, 8281, 9133, 10019.) This is evident also from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of good and truth, of which more in what follows; and from the signification of "seven," as being all (See above, n. 20, 24).

[2] That "stars" signify the knowledges of good and truth, thus goods and truths, is from the appearance in the spiritual world; for there the Lord appears as a sun, and angels from afar off as stars. Angels appear thus from their reception of light from the Lord as a sun, thus from their reception of Divine truth, which is from the Lord, for this is the light of heaven. From this it is that it is said in Daniel:

The intelligent shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and they that justify many, as the stars for ever and ever (Daniel 12:3).

The "intelligent" are they that are in truths, and "they that justify" are those that are in good (See the work on Heaven and Hell 346-348).

[3] When it is known to any that the "sun" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine love, thus also Divine love from the Lord, and that "stars" signify the truths of the church and knowledges thereof, these can also know what is signified in the Word where it is said that "the sun shall be darkened," and that "the stars shall not give light," also that they "shall fall from heaven;" and also what "stars" signify when mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

I will make the land a waste, and destroy the sinners thereof out of it; the stars of the heaven and the constellations thereof shall not shine forth with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not make bright her light (Isaiah 13:9-10).

The vastation of the church is here treated of, which is when there is no good of love any more, nor any truths of faith. The "land" that shall be laid waste is the church; the "land" is the church (as may be seen above, n. 29.

[4] In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens, and will make the stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light will I make dark over thee, and I will set darkness upon the land (Ezekiel 32:7-8

"Darkness upon the land" means falsities in the church. In Joel:

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars withdraw their brightness (Joel 2:10-11; 3:15).

In Matthew:

In the consummation of the age, after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24).

In Daniel:

From one of the horns of the he-goat went forth a horn, a little one, and it waxed exceeding great towards the south, and towards the east, and towards splendor; and it waxed great towards the host of the heavens; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself even to the Prince of the host (Daniel 8:9-11).

By the "host of the heavens" the goods and truths of the church in the complex are meant (See Arcana Coelestia 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019); in particular, such as combat against falsities (See n. 7277). From this Jehovah is called "Jehovah Zebaoth," that is, Jehovah of Hosts (See n. 3448, 7988).

[5] In Revelation:

The dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven to the earth (Revelation 12:4).

The "stars" here also are the goods and truths of the church, and the knowledges thereof; the "third part" is the greater part; but what is signified by the "dragon" will be told in what follows. In the same:

The stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:13).

In the same:

A star from heaven is fallen unto the earth (Revelation 9:1).

In the same:

There fell from heaven a great star burning as a torch; it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters (Revelation 8:10).

As "stars" signify the goods and truths of the church and the knowledges thereof, by their "falling from heaven" is signified that these perish. In David:

Jehovah telleth the number of the stars, He calleth them all by names (Psalms 147:4).

In the same:

Praise ye Jehovah, sun and moon; praise Him, all ye stars of light (Psalms 148:3).

In the book of Judges:

The kings came, they fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought (Judges 5:19-20).

Since the angels in the spiritual heaven shine as stars, and since all the truths and goods that are with the angels are from the Lord, therefore the Lord, as He is called an "Angel," is likewise called a "Star," as in Moses:

There shall arise a star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall arise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17).

In Revelation:

Jesus, the bright and morning Star (Revelation 22:16).

From this it can be seen:

Why the wise men from the east saw a star, and followed it, and why it stood where Jesus had been born (Matthew 2:1-2, 9).

From this it can now be known what is signified by the "seven stars" that were in the right hand of the Son of man, who there is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human (See above, n. 63).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia # 3091

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3091. 'And she hastened and lowered her pitcher on to her hand' means the submission of the recipients which was accomplished by power. This is clear from the meaning of 'lowering' as an act of submission, from the meaning of 'a pitcher' as a recipient, dealt with in 3068, 3079, and from the meaning of 'the hand' as power, dealt with in 878. By the description 'the submission of the recipients which was accomplished by power' one means that matters of doctrine, cognitions, and facts, which are recipients, 3068, 3079, place themselves ready to receive, for a chain of subordination exists and so a readiness to receive, and consequently a submission, from the Prime Source of life, which is the Lord. Things in a lower position in it must be submissive because they ought to be of service to what is higher. Without their submission no joining together takes place. The power referred to here is received from truth. Truth is what submits those things that are beneath. It is to truth especially that power is attributed in the Word, and so it is truth to which the hands, the arms, and also the shoulders have reference - by which in the internal sense powers are meant, 878, 1085. Though it seems to be received from truth, power itself is in fact received from good by way of truth.

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