Bible

 

Deuteronomy 23

Studie

   

1 `One wounded, bruised, or cut in the member doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah;

2 a bastard doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even a tenth generation of him doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

3 `An Ammonite and a Moabite doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even a tenth generation of them doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah -- to the age;

4 because that they have not come before you with bread and with water in the way, in your coming out from Egypt, and because he hath hired against thee Balaam son of Beor, of Pethor of Aram-Naharaim, to revile thee;

5 and Jehovah thy God hath not been willing to hearken unto Balaam, and Jehovah thy God doth turn for thee the reviling to a blessing, because Jehovah thy God hath loved thee;

6 thou dost not seek their peace and their good all thy days -- to the age.

7 `Thou dost not abominate an Edomite, for thy brother he [is]; thou dost not abominate an Egyptian, for a sojourner thou hast been in his land;

8 sons who are begotten of them, a third generation of them, doth enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

9 `When a camp goeth out against thine enemies, then thou hast kept from every evil thing.

10 `When there is in thee a man who is not clean, from an accident at night -- then he hath gone out unto the outside of the camp -- he doth not come in unto the midst of the camp --

11 and it hath been, at the turning of the evening, he doth bathe with water, and at the going in of the sun he doth come in unto the midst of the camp.

12 `And a station thou hast at the outside of the camp, and thou hast gone out thither without,

13 and a nail thou hast on thy staff, and it hath been, in thy sitting without, that thou hast digged with it, and turned back, and covered thy filth;

14 for Jehovah thy God is walking up and down in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give thine enemies before thee, and thy camp hath been holy, and He doth not see in thee the nakedness of anything, and hath turned back from after thee.

15 `Thou dost not shut up a servant unto his lord, who is delivered unto thee from his lord;

16 with thee he doth dwell, in thy midst, in the place which he chooseth within one of thy gates, where it is pleasing to him; thou dost not oppress him.

17 `There is not a whore among the daughters of Israel, nor is there a whoremonger among the sons of Israel;

18 thou dost not bring a gift of a whore, or a price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God, for any vow; for the abomination of Jehovah thy God [are] even both of them.

19 `Thou dost not lend in usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of food, usury of anything which is lent on usury.

20 To a stranger thou mayest lend in usury, and to thy brother thou dost not lend in usury, so that Jehovah thy God doth bless thee in every putting forth of thy hand on the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

21 `When thou vowest a vow to Jehovah thy God, thou dost not delay to complete it; for Jehovah thy God doth certainly require it from thee, and it hath been in thee -- sin.

22 `And when thou forbearest to vow, it is not in thee a sin.

23 The produce of thy lips thou dost keep, and hast done [it], as thou hast vowed to Jehovah thy God; a free-will-offering, which thou hast spoken with thy mouth.

24 `When thou comest in unto the vineyard of thy neighbour, then thou hast eaten grapes, according to thy desire, thy sufficiency; but into thy vessel thou dost not put [any].

25 When thou comest in among the standing-corn of thy neighbour, then thou hast plucked the ears with thy hand, but a sickle thou dost not wave over the standing-corn of thy neighbour.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 1947

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

1947. 'Because Jehovah has hearkened to your affliction' means since it was submitting itself. This is clear from what has been stated above in 1937 about 'humiliating oneself and flinging oneself down' as meaning submitting oneself beneath the controlling power of the internal man, which submission was discussed there and was shown to consist in self-compulsion. It was also shown that in self-compulsion there is freedom, that is, what is willing and spontaneous, and that this distinguishes self-compulsion from being compelled. It was also shown that without this freedom, or willingness and spontaneity, a person cannot possibly be reformed and receive any heavenly proprium; also that though the contrary seems to be the case, there is more freedom in times of temptation than there is outside of them. Indeed at such times freedom increases as assaults are made by evils and falsities and it is consolidated by the Lord in order that a heavenly proprium may be given to the person. For that reason also the Lord is closer in times of temptation. It was shown as well that the Lord in no way compels anybody. No one who is compelled to think that which is true and to do that which is good is reformed, but instead thinks all the more what is false and wills all the more what is evil. This is so with all compulsion, as may also become clear from all the experience and lessons of life, which when learned prove two things - first, that human consciences will not allow themselves to be coerced, and second, that we strive after the forbidden.

[2] Furthermore everyone who is not free desires to become so, for this is his life. From this it is evident that nothing is in any way pleasing to the Lord that is not done in freedom, that is, spontaneously or willingly. For when anyone worships the Lord under circumstances in which he is not free he worships Him with nothing of himself. In his case that which moves the external is the external, that is, it is moved under compulsion - the internal being non-existent, or else incompatible, and even contradictory. When a person is being regenerated he compels himself from the freedom the Lord imparts to him, and humbles, and indeed afflicts, his rational, so that it may submit itself, and in consequence he receives a heavenly proprium. This proprium is then gradually perfected by the Lord and it becomes more and more free, so that as a result it becomes the affection for good and for truth deriving from that good, and possesses delight. And in that affection and delight there is happiness such as the angels experience. This freedom is what the Lord Himself is referring to in John.

The truth makes you free. If the Son makes you free, you are truly free. John 8:32, 36. 1

[3] What this freedom is, is totally unknown to those who do not have conscience, for they identify freedom with feelings of being at liberty and without restraint to think and utter what is false, and to will and do what is evil, and not to control and humble, still less to afflict, those feelings. Yet this is the complete reverse of freedom, as the Lord again teaches in the same place,

Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. John 8:34.

People acquire this slave-like freedom from the hellish spirits who reside with them and who inject it into them. When the life of those hellish spirits takes possession of them so do the loves and desires of those same spirits; for an unclean and utterly disgusting delight blows upon them, and being carried away so to speak in a stream they imagine themselves to be in freedom; but it is hellish freedom. The difference between this hellish freedom and heavenly freedom is that the former spells death and drags them down into hell, while the latter, that is, heavenly freedom, promises life and lifts them up to heaven.

[4] That all true internal worship springs from freedom, not from compulsion, and that unless it springs from freedom it is not internal worship, is clear from the Word, from the sacrifices - free-will, votive, and peace or eucharistic - which were called offerings and oblations, mentioned in Numbers 15:3 and following verses; Deuteronomy 12:6; 16:10-11; 23:23; and elsewhere. In David,

With a free-will offering I will sacrifice to You; I will confess Your name, O Jehovah, for it is good. Psalms 54:6.

From the thruma, 2 or the collection which the people were to contribute towards the Tabernacle and sacred vestments, referred to in Moses,

Speak to the children of Israel and let them receive for Me a collection; from every man whose heart makes him willing you shall receive My collection. Exodus 25:2.

And elsewhere in Moses,

Everyone who is willing in heart shall bring it, Jehovah's collection. Exodus 35:5.

[5] The humbling of the rational man, or affliction of it - as stated, from freedom - was also represented by the affliction souls underwent during festivals, referred to in Moses,

It shall be a statute to you for ever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls. Leviticus 16:29.

And elsewhere in Moses,

On the tenth day of the seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall afflict your souls. Every soul who does not afflict himself on that very day shall be cut off from his peoples. Leviticus 23:27, 29.

It is for this reason that unleavened bread in which no fermentation has taken place is called the bread of affliction in Deuteronomy 16:2-3. Affliction is referred to in David in the following way,

O Jehovah, who will sojourn in Your tent? Who will dwell on Your holy mountain? He who walks blameless and performs righteousness, who swears to the affliction of himself and changes not. Psalms 15:1-2, 4.

[6] That 'affliction' is the taming and subduing of evils and falsities rising up from the external man into the rational man may become clear from what has been stated. Thus it is not any reduction of oneself to poverty and misery - not a renunciation of bodily enjoyments - that is meant by affliction. No taming and subduing of evil can result from doing that; indeed it may give rise to an additional evil, namely the desire to receive merit for such a renunciation; and what is more, man's freedom suffers, in which alone, as its ground, the good and truth of faith is able to be sown. Affliction also means temptation; see what has been said already in 1846.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. In 9096, where this verse is quoted, the verbs are future tense, as in the Greek.

2. A Hebrew word meaning an offering

  
/ 10837  
  

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