Bible

 

Deuteronomy 24

Studie

   

1 `When a man doth take a wife, and hath married her, and it hath been, if she doth not find grace in his eyes (for he hath found in her nakedness of anything), and he hath written for her a writing of divorce, and given [it] into her hand, and sent her out of his house,

2 and she hath gone out of his house, and hath gone and been another man's,

3 and the latter man hath hated her, and written for her a writing of divorce, and given [it] into her hand, and sent her out of his house, or when the latter man dieth, who hath taken her to himself for a wife:

4 `Her former husband who sent her away is not able to turn back to take her to be to him for a wife, after that she hath become defiled; for an abomination it [is] before Jehovah, and thou dost not cause the land to sin which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance.

5 `When a man taketh a new wife, he doth not go out into the host, and [one] doth not pass over unto him for anything; free he is at his own house one year, and hath rejoiced his wife whom he hath taken.

6 `None doth take in pledge millstones, and rider, for life it [is] he is taking in pledge.

7 `When a man is found stealing a person, of his brethren, of the sons of Israel, and hath tyrannized over him, and sold him, then hath that thief died, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.

8 `Take heed, in the plague of leprosy, to watch greatly, and to do according to all that the priests, the Levites, teach you; as I have commanded them ye observe to do;

9 remember that which Jehovah thy God hath done to Miriam in the way, in your coming out of Egypt.

10 `When thou liftest up on thy brother a debt of anything, thou dost not go in unto his house to obtain his pledge;

11 at the outside thou dost stand, and the man on whom thou art lifting [it] up is bringing out unto thee the pledge at the outside.

12 `And if he is a poor man, thou dost not lie down with his pledge;

13 thou dost certainly give back to him the pledge at the going in of the sun, and he hath lain down in his own raiment, and hath blessed thee; and to thee it is righteousness before Jehovah thy God.

14 `Thou dost not oppress a hireling, poor and needy, of thy brethren or of thy sojourner who is in thy land within thy gates;

15 in his day thou dost give his hire, and the sun doth not go in upon it, for he [is] poor, and unto it he is lifting up his soul, and he doth not cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee -- sin.

16 `Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for Fathers -- each for his own sin, they are put to death.

17 `Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of a fatherless sojourner, nor take in pledge the garment of a widow;

18 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee from thence; therefore I am commanding thee to do this thing.

19 `When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgotten a sheaf in a field, thou dost not turn back to take it; to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, it is; so that Jehovah thy God doth bless thee in all the work of thy hands.

20 `When thou beatest thine olive, thou dost not examine the branch behind thee; to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, it is.

21 `When thou cuttest thy vineyard, thou dost not glean behind thee; to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, it is;

22 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding thee to do this thing.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

True Christianity # 226

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 853  
  

226. 1. The Word is not understandable without a body of teaching, because the Word's literal meaning consists entirely of correspondences whose function is to allow spiritual and heavenly things to coexist in it and every word to be a container and a support for these spiritual and heavenly contents. Therefore in the literal meaning divine truths are rarely naked; instead they are clothed and are called apparent truths. There are many things in the literal meaning that are adapted to the grasp of simple people who do not lift their thoughts above the kind of things they see before their eyes. Some things seem like contradictions, although when the Word is viewed in its own spiritual light there is no contradiction. Furthermore, in some passages in the Prophets there are collections of names of people and places from which no meaning can be extracted. Since this is the nature of the Word's literal meaning, it is clear that it cannot be understood without a body of teaching.

[2] Examples may illustrate. We read that Jehovah relents (Exodus 32:12, 14; Jonah 3:9; 4:2); and we also read that Jehovah does not relent (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29). These passages cannot be reconciled without a body of teaching. We read that Jehovah inflicts parents' sins on their children to the third and fourth generation (Numbers 14:18). Yet we also read that parents are not to die because of their children nor children because of their parents, but all die in their own sin (Deuteronomy 24:16). A body of teaching brings these passages out of disharmony into harmony.

[3] Jesus says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; if you keep knocking it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8; 21:21-22). Without a body of teaching, people might believe that we are all going to receive whatever we ask of anyone. On the basis of a body of teaching, however, we know that it is whatever we ask of the Lord that we will be given. The Lord in fact teaches this: "If you live in me and my Word's live in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you" (John 15:7).

[4] The Lord says, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20). Without a body of teaching, we might think that heaven is for the poor but not for the rich. A body of teaching instructs us that this means the poor in spirit, for the Lord says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens" (Matthew 5:3).

[5] Furthermore, the Lord says, "To avoid being judged, do not judge. The judgment you use to judge others will be used on you" (Matthew 7:1-2; Luke 6:37). Without a body of teaching we could be convinced that we should not judge that an evil person is evil. On the basis of a body of teaching, however, we are allowed to judge as long as we do it justly. For the Lord says, "Judge with just judgment" (John 7:24).

[6] Jesus says, "Do not be called teacher, because your teacher is the One, the Christ. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for your father is the One in the heavens. Do not be called governors, for your governor is the One, the Christ" (Matthew 23:8-10). Without a body of teaching we might think we were forbidden to call anyone teacher, father, or governor. From a body of teaching, however, we come to know that doing this is acceptable in its earthly meaning, although it is not acceptable in its spiritual meaning.

[7] Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Son of Humankind sits on the throne of his glory, you too will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). On the basis of these words we might conclude that the Lord's disciples were going to judge people when in fact the disciples could not judge anyone. A body of teaching unveils the secret when it teaches that the Lord alone, who is omniscient and knows the hearts of all, is going to be the judge and is able to judge. His twelve disciples mean all the forms of goodness and truth that the church has received from the Lord through the Word. On this basis a body of teaching concludes that these forms of goodness and truth are going to judge everyone, as the Lord says in John 3:17-18; 12:47-48.

There are many other situations like these in the Word. From them it is perfectly obvious that the Word is not understandable without a body of teaching.

  
/ 853  
  

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