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Exodus 10

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1 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go in unto Pharaoh, for I have declared hard his heart, and the heart of his servants, so that I set these My signs in their midst,

2 and so that thou recountest in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, that which I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have set among them, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.'

3 And Moses cometh in -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and they say unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, Until when hast thou refused to be humbled at My presence? send My people away, and they serve Me,

4 for if thou art refusing to send My people away, lo, I am bringing in to-morrow the locust into thy border,

5 and it hath covered the eye of the land, and none is able to see the land, and it hath eaten the remnant of that which is escaped, which is left to you from the hail, and it hath eaten every tree which is springing for you out of the field;

6 and they have filled thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, which neither thy fathers nor thy father's fathers have seen, since the day of their being on the ground unto this day,' -- and he turneth and goeth out from Pharaoh.

7 And the servants of Pharaoh say unto him, `Until when doth this [one] become a snare to us? send the men away, and they serve Jehovah their God; knowest thou not yet that Egypt hath perished?'

8 And Moses is brought back -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and he saith unto them, `Go, serve Jehovah your God; -- who and who [are] those going?'

9 And Moses saith, `With our young ones, and with our aged ones, we go, with our sons, and with our daughters, with our flock, and our herd, we go, for we have a festival to Jehovah.'

10 And he saith unto them, `Be it so, Jehovah [be] with you when I send you and your infants away; see -- for evil [is] before your faces;

11 not so! go now, ye who [are] men, and serve Jehovah, for that ye are seeking;' and [one] casteth them out from the presence of Pharaoh.

12 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Stretch out thy hand against the land of Egypt for the locust, and it goeth up against the land of Egypt, and doth eat every herb of the land -- all that the hail hath left.'

13 And Moses stretcheth out his rod against the land of Egypt, and Jehovah hath led an east wind over the land all that day, and all the night; the morning hath been, and the east wind hath lifted up the locust.

14 And the locust goeth up against all the land of Egypt, and resteth in all the border of Egypt -- very grievous: before it there hath not been such a locust as it, and after it there is none such;

15 and it covereth the eye of all the land, and the land is darkened; and it eateth every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail hath left, and there hath not been left any green thing in the trees, or in the herb of the field, in all the land of Egypt.'

16 And Pharaoh hasteth to call for Moses and for Aaron, and saith, `I have sinned against Jehovah your God, and against you,

17 and now, bear with, I pray you, my sin, only this time, and make ye supplication to Jehovah your God, that He turn aside from off me only this death.'

18 And he goeth out from Pharaoh, and maketh supplication unto Jehovah,

19 and Jehovah turneth a very strong sea wind, and it lifteth up the locust, and bloweth it into the Red Sea -- there hath not been left one locust in all the border of Egypt;

20 and Jehovah strengtheneth the heart of Pharaoh, and he hath not sent the sons of Israel away.

21 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Stretch out thy hand towards the heavens, and there is darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness is felt.'

22 And Moses stretcheth out his hand towards the heavens, and there is darkness -- thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;

23 they have not seen one another, and none hath risen from his place three days; and to all the sons of Israel there hath been light in their dwellings.'

24 And Pharaoh calleth unto Moses and saith, `Go ye, serve Jehovah, only your flock and your herd are stayed, your infants also Go with you;'

25 and Moses saith, `Thou also dost give in our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and we have prepared for Jehovah our God;

26 and also our cattle doth go with us, there is not left a hoof, for from it we do take to serve Jehovah our God; and we -- we know not how we do serve Jehovah till our going thither.'

27 And Jehovah strengtheneth the heart of Pharaoh, and he hath not been willing to send them away;

28 and Pharaoh saith to him, `Go from me, take heed to thyself, add not to see my face, for in the day thou seest my face thou diest;'

29 and Moses saith, `Rightly hast thou spoken, I add not any more to see thy face.'

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 705

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705. CHAPTER 12.

1. AND a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

2. And she being with child, cried out, travailing, and in pain to bring forth.

3. And there was seen another sign in heaven; and, behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them unto the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, that when she had brought forth he might devour her child.

5. And she brought forth a male child, who is to tend all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and his throne.

6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and sixty days.

7. And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.

8. And they prevailed not; and their place was not found any more in heaven.

9. And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which seduceth the whole world; he was cast out unto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10. And I heard a great voice saying in heaven, Now is come the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before God day and night.

11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.

12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to those that inhabit the earth and the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great anger, knowing that he hath but a short time.

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast out to the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the male child.

14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, unto her place, where she is nourished a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, after the woman, water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river.

16. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

17. And the dragon was wroth against the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

18. And I stood upon the sand of the sea.

EXPLANATION.

Verses 1, 2. And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child, cried out, travailing, and in pain to bring forth.

"And a great sign was seen in heaven," signifies Divine testification concerning the future church, and the reception of its doctrine, and as to those by whom it will be assaulted; "a woman encompassed with the sun," signifies the church with those who are in love to the Lord, and thence in love towards the neighbour; "and the moon under her feet," signifies faith with those who are in charity; ["and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," signifies the wisdom and intelligence of those of that church through doctrinals and the knowledges of all things of truth and good from the Word.] 1 "And she being with child," signifies doctrine in its birth from the good of celestial love; "cried out, travailing in birth, and in pain to bring forth," signifies non-reception by those who are in the church, and the resistance of those who are in faith separated from charity.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. These words are omitted from the author's MS. in this place, but occur in n. 709, we have, therefore, placed them here in brackets (Tr).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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The White Horse # 2

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2. In the prophetical parts of the Word a horse is mentioned very often, 1 but until now no one has known 'horse' means understanding, and 'horseman' one who understands, perhaps because it seems extraordinary and astonishing that that is what is meant by 'horse' in a spiritual sense, and consequently in the Word. But that it constantly means this can be agreed from very many instances in the Word, from which I should like to refer to only a few at this point.

In Israel's prophetic utterance 2 about Dan we find:

Dan will be a serpent on the road, a darting snake 3 on the path, that will bite the horse's heels, and the horseman will fall backwards. Genesis 49:17-18.

What this prophetic statement about one of the tribes of Israel means no one is going to understand unless he knows what 'serpent' signifies, and also 'horse' and 'horseman." Yet is there anyone who does not see that it holds something spiritual within it? This being so, what the individual details signify may be seen in Arcana Caelestia 6398-6401, where this prophetical utterance is explained.

In Habakkuk we find:

O Lord [...] You ride on Your horses and Your chariots are salvation [...] You caused Your horses to tread in the sea. Habakkuk 3:8, 15.

It is obvious that 'horses' here signify something spiritual, because these things are being said about God. What else would it be, 'God rode on [his] horses, and caused [his] horses to tread in the sea?'

In Zechariah we find, with a similar significance:

'On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be on the horse-bells', Zechariah 14:20. 4

In the same authority:

On that day I will strike every horse with bewilderment and the horseman with madness, declares the Lord, I will open my gaze on the house of Judah, and I will strike with blindness every horse of the peoples. Zechariah 12:4-5.

What is being talked about here is the Church when it has been laid waste, which happens when there is no longer an understanding of anything true. This is what is being indicated by 'horse' and 'horseman;' what else would it be, [...] every horse about to be struck with bewilderment [...] and the horse of the peoples with blindness?' What, otherwise, would this have to do with the Church?

In Job we find:

'Because God has made her 5 forget wisdom, neither has He imparted to her understanding; having raised herself on high, she mocks the horse and its rider' Job 39:17-19.

That understanding is signified here by 'horse' is manifestly obvious; similarly in David, where the expression 'to ride upon the word of truth' is used, Psalms 45:5; and besides in very many other places.

Moreover, who is likely to know why it is that Elijah and Elisha were called 'the chariots of Israel and its horsemen;' and why there appeared to Elisha's servant a mountain full of horses and fiery chariots, unless it is known what 'chariots' and horsemen' signify, and what Elijah and Elisha represented? For Elisha said to Elijah, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen,' 2 Kings 2:11-12; and King Joash said to Elisha, 'My father, my father [...] the chariots of Israel and its horsemen,' 2 Kings 13:14.

Concerning the servant of Elisha we read:

'The Lord opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, and he looked and saw the mountain full of horses and fiery chariots all around Elisha' 2 Kings 6:17.

Elijah and Elisha were called the chariots of Israel and its horsemen because each represented the Lord in his capacity as the Word. 'Chariots' represent doctrine derived from the Word, and 'horsemen' represent understanding. That Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in this capacity may be seen in Arcana Caelestia: 5247, 7643, 8029, 9327, and that 'chariots' signify doctrine derived from the Word: 5321, 8215.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The text has simply equus (horse) at this point, but there is a 'parallel passage' in Arcana Caelestia 2761, stating equus et eques (horse and horseman): the sense of what follows in the current passage suggests that Swedenborg intends equus et eques here.

2. The Revd John Elliott points out that 'Israel here of course means the patriarch Jacob."

3. Biblical translations are based on the Schmidt Latin translation (1696) as apparently used by Swedenborg, though here, as sometimes elsewhere, Swedenborg does misquote (in this case inserting jaculus after the second serpens). Lewis and Shorts Latin Dictionary, always an interesting source, glosses jaculus as follows: 'sc. serpens, a serpent that darts from a tree on its prey."

4. The Revd John Elliott: As I understand it, this is not a statement on the horse-bells to the effect that the bells are holy but that they ring out the holiness of things attributable to the Lord. (A bit like the bells rung in a catholic mass which draw the worshippers' attention to the just-consecrated host or wine that is being elevated.)'

5. Her: The Hebrew pronoun in Job 39:17-18, which refers to a bird, is feminine. Although Swedenborg rendered it eum (him) in 2762 and here in De Equo Albo, eam (her) occurs in other places of his works where this verse is quoted.

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