Bible

 

Exodus 11

Studie

   

1 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `One plague more I do bring in on Pharaoh, and on Egypt, afterwards he doth send you away from this; when he is sending you away, he surely casteth you out altogether from this [place];

2 speak, I pray thee, in the ears of the people, and they ask -- each man from his neighbour, and each woman from her neighbour, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold.'

3 And Jehovah giveth the grace of the people in the eyes of the Egyptians; also the man Moses [is] very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of the people.

4 And Moses saith, `Thus said Jehovah, About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,

5 and every first-born in the land of Egypt hath died, from the first-born of Pharaoh who is sitting on his throne, unto the first-born of the maid-servant who [is] behind the millstones, and all the first-born of beasts;

6 and there hath been a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there hath not been, and such as there is not again.

7 `And against all the sons of Israel a dog sharpeneth not its tongue, from man even unto beast, so that ye know that Jehovah doth make a separation between the Egyptians and Israel;

8 and all these thy servants have come down unto me, and bowed themselves to me, saying, Go out, thou and all the people who [are] at thy feet; and afterwards I do Go out;' -- and he goeth out from Pharaoh in the heat of anger.

9 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Pharaoh doth not hearken unto you, so as to multiply My wonders in the land of Egypt;'

10 and Moses and Aaron have done all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Jehovah strengtheneth Pharaoh's heart, and he hath not sent the sons of Israel out of his land.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 7780

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

7780. 'Even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the mill' means falsified truths of faith that occupy the very last place. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with immediately above in 7779, and since faith is meant, so is truth in its entirety because truth, being that which one ought to believe, is the component of faith; and from the meaning of 'a servant-girl' as a rather external affection for truth, or an affection for knowledge, dealt with in 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, and 'the servant-girl behind the mill' as the most external affection for knowledge since 'behind the mill' means that which occupies the very last place. The expression 'behind the mill' is used because 'the mill' has reference to matters of faith. For by means of a mill grain is ground into flour and so prepared for making bread, and 'flour' means truth which results in good, 'bread' the actual good that results from it. Thus 'sitting at the mill' is acquiring and learning the kinds of things that will be of service to faith, and through faith of service to charity. This is why when the ancients described learning the basic elements of faith they described it as 'sitting at the mill', or learning elements even more basic as 'sitting behind the mill'. It is because such things were meant that in His teachings about the final period of the Church the Lord says,

Two women grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other will be left behind. Matthew 24:41.

These words would never have been used if 'the mill' had not meant matters of faith. For what 'the mill' and 'grinding' mean in the internal sense, see 4335. With regard to the truths of faith that occupy the first place and those that occupy the very last, it should be recognized that the truths of faith which emanate directly from the good of charity occupy the first place, for they are the outward form taken by good, whereas the truths which occupy the last place are bare truths. For when truths derive in succession from good, each degree of them departs further away from it, till at length they become bare truths. This is the kind of truths meant by 'servant-girls behind mills'.

  
/ 10837  
  

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