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Deuteronomy 15

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1 `At the end of seven years thou dost make a release,

2 and this [is] the matter of the release: Every owner of a loan [is] to release his hand which he doth lift up against his neighbour, he doth not exact of his neighbour and of his brother, but hath proclaimed a release to Jehovah;

3 of the stranger thou mayest exact, and that which is thine with thy brother doth thy hand release;

4 only when there is no needy one with thee, for Jehovah doth greatly bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance to possess it.

5 `Only, if thou dost diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all this command which I am commanding thee to-day,

6 for Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee as He hath spoken to thee; and thou hast lent [to] many nations, and thou hast not borrowed; and thou hast ruled over many nations, and over thee they do not rule.

7 `When there is with thee any needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy cities, in thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother;

8 for thou dost certainly open thy hand to him, and dost certainly lend him sufficient for his lack which he lacketh.

9 `Take heed to thee lest there be a word in thy heart -- worthless, saying, Near [is] the seventh year, the year of release; and thine eye is evil against thy needy brother, and thou dost not give to him, and he hath called concerning thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee sin;

10 thou dost certainly give to him, and thy heart is not sad in thy giving to him, for because of this thing doth Jehovah thy God bless thee in all thy works, and in every putting forth of thy hand;

11 because the needy one doth not cease out of the land, therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Thou dost certainly open thy hand to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy one, in thy land.

12 `When thy brother is sold to thee, a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he hath served thee six years -- then in the seventh year thou dost send him away free from thee.

13 And when thou dost send him away free from thee, thou dost not send him away empty;

14 thou dost certainly encircle him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy wine-vat; [of] that which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou dost give to him,

15 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee; therefore I am commanding thee this thing to-day.

16 `And it hath been, when he saith unto thee, I go not out from thee -- because he hath loved thee, and thy house, because [it is] good for him with thee --

17 then thou hast taken the awl, and hast put [it] through his ear, and through the door, and he hath been to thee a servant age-during; and also to thy handmaid thou dost do so.

18 `It is not hard in thine eyes, in thy sending him away free from thee; for the double of the hire of an hireling he hath served thee six years, and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all that thou dost.

19 `Every firstling that is born in thy herd and in thy flock -- the male thou dost sanctify to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not work with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock;

20 before Jehovah thy God thou dost eat it year by year, in the place which Jehovah doth choose, thou and thy house.

21 `And when there is in it a blemish, lame, or blind, any evil blemish, thou dost not sacrifice it to Jehovah thy God;

22 within thy gates thou dost eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as the roe, and as the hart.

23 Only, its blood thou dost not eat; on the earth thou dost pour it as water.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4110

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4110. 'Laban had gone to shear his flock' means a state of use and an end in view involving the good meant by 'Laban's flock'. This is clear from the meaning of 'shearing' as use, and so the end in view, for the use that is served is the end in view, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'flock' as good, dealt with in 343, 2566. From this it is evident that the state of use and an end in view is meant by 'going to shear'. The subject now is the separation of intermediate good meant by 'Laban' from the good meant by 'Jacob' which was acquired from that intermediate good. But the nature of this separation cannot be known except from those communities of spirits who are governed by that good and from whom it comes to man. But let some facts be given on this matter which I have learned from my experiences.

[2] There are good spirits, there are spirits of an intermediate kind, and there are evil spirits. These are linked to a person when he is being regenerated, to the end that through them he may be introduced into genuine goods and truths - which the Lord effects by means of angels. But they are the kinds of spirits or communities of spirits who do not accord, except for a time, with the one to be regenerated, and therefore when they have performed their use they are separated. The separation of them is effected in differing ways - the separation of the good spirits in one way, that of the spirits of the intermediate kind in another, and that of the evil spirits in yet another. The separation of the good spirits is effected without their being directly conscious of it, for they know from the Lord's good pleasure that all is well with them wherever they are or to wherever the Lord takes them. But the separation of the spirits of the intermediate kind is effected by many means until they depart in freedom. They are returned to the state of their own good, and consequently to the state of the use they serve and of the end they therefore have in view, so that in that state they may experience the delight and blessing that are their own. But because they have derived pleasure out of their previous connection with the one who is being regenerated they are several times returned to and then released from that connection until they no longer take any delight in staying with him and so depart in freedom. Evil spirits too are indeed removed in freedom, but in a kind of freedom which appears to them to be freedom. They are linked to the person who is being regenerated so that they may introduce negative ideas which have to be dispelled, the intention being that this person may be strengthened all the more in truths and goods. And when he starts to be strengthened in these, those spirits take no delight in staying with him, only in separation from him. In this way they are separated by a feeling of freedom that accompanies their delight. This is how the separation takes place of spirits present with a person when he is being regenerated, and how as a consequence changes of his state as regards good and truth are brought about.

[3] As regards 'sheering a flock' meaning performing a use, this is evident from the consideration that the shearing of a flock in the internal sense means nothing else than a use that is served, for wool is obtained in this way. That the shearing of a flock means a use that is served is also evident from the following in Moses,

Every firstborn that is born among your herds and among your flocks you shall sanctify to Jehovah your God; you shall do no work by means of the firstborn of your oxen, and you shall not shear the first born of your flock. But before Jehovah your God you shall eat it year by year in the place which Jehovah will choose. Deuteronomy 15:19, 10.

Here 'not shearing the firstborn of the flock' is a command not to put it to a domestic use. Because 'the shearing of a flock' meant a use that is served, 'shearing the flock' and 'being present at shearings' are included among important duties and functions, as becomes clear from the reference in Genesis 38:12-13, to Judah shearing his flock, and from that to the sons of David in 2 Samuel,

So it was after two full years, that Absalom had shearers in Baalhazor, which is in Ephraim; and Absalom called all the king's sons. And Absalom came to the king and said, Behold, I beg you, your servant has shearers; let the king go, I beg you, and his servants, with your servant. 2 Samuel 13:23-24.

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