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Exodus 19

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1 In the third month of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in this day they have come into the wilderness of Sinai,

2 and they journey from Rephidim, and enter the wilderness of Sinai, and encamp in the wilderness; and Israel encampeth there before the mount.

3 And Moses hath gone up unto God, and Jehovah calleth unto him out of the mount, saying, `Thus dost thou say to the house of Jacob, and declare to the sons of Israel,

4 Ye -- ye have seen that which I have done to the Egyptians, and I bear you on eagles' wings, and bring you in unto Myself.

5 `And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth [is] Mine;

6 and ye -- ye are to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: these [are] the words which thou dost speak unto the sons of Israel.'

7 And Moses cometh, and calleth for the elders of the people, and setteth before them all these words which Jehovah hath commanded him;

8 and all the people answer together and say, `All that Jehovah hath spoken we do;' and Moses returneth the words of the people unto Jehovah.

9 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, I am coming unto thee in the thickness of the cloud, so that the people hear in My speaking with thee, and also believe in thee to the age;' and Moses declareth the words of the people unto Jehovah.

10 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go unto the people; and thou hast sanctified them to-day and to-morrow, and they have washed their garments,

11 and have been prepared for the third day; for on the third day doth Jehovah come down before the eyes of all the people, on mount Sinai.

12 `And thou hast made a border [for] the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, going up into the mount, or coming against its extremity; whoever is coming against the mount is certainly put to death;

13 a hand cometh not against him, for he is certainly stoned or shot through, whether beast or man it liveth not; in the drawing out of the jubilee cornet they go up into the mount.'

14 And Moses cometh down from the mount unto the people, and sanctifieth the people, and they wash their garments;

15 and he saith unto the people, `Be ye prepared for the third day, come not nigh unto a woman.'

16 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, while it is morning, that there are voices, and lightnings, and a heavy cloud, on the mount, and the sound of a trumpet very strong; and all the people who [are] in the camp do tremble.

17 And Moses bringeth out the people to meet God from the camp, and they station themselves at the lower part of the mount,

18 and mount Sinai [is] wholly a smoke from the presence of Jehovah, who hath come down on it in fire, and its smoke goeth up as smoke of the furnace, and the whole mount trembleth exceedingly;

19 and the sound of the trumpet is going on, and very strong; Moses speaketh, and God doth answer him with a voice.

20 And Jehovah cometh down on mount Sinai, unto the top of the mount, and Jehovah calleth for Moses unto the top of the mount, and Moses goeth up.

21 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go down, protest to the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to see, and many of them have fallen;

22 and also the priests who are coming nigh unto Jehovah do sanctify themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them.'

23 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `The people [is] unable to come up unto mount Sinai, for Thou -- Thou hast protested to us, saying, Make a border [for] the mount, then thou hast sanctified it.'

24 And Jehovah saith unto him, `Go, descend, then thou hast come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; and the priests and the people do not break through, to come up unto Jehovah, lest He break forth upon them.'

25 And Moses goeth down unto the people, and saith unto them: --

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8801

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8801. 'Whether it is a beast or a man, it shall not live' means that goodness and truth will lose their spiritual life. This is clear from the meaning of 'a beast' as an affection for good, dealt with in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198, 7523; from the meaning of 'a man' as truth, dealt with in 3134, 3459, 7716; and from the meaning of 'living' as spiritual life, dealt with in 5890, so that 'not living' means losing it. Goodness and truth lose their life when influx from the Lord is no longer perceived, for this is what brings them life. To outward appearance that goodness and truth may then, it is true, look like goodness and truth; but they are no different from a painting, which in itself has no life.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 776

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776. '[Every] bird according to its kind' means all spiritual truth, 'flying things' means natural truth, and 'winged thing' sensory truth. This is clear from what has been stated and shown already about birds, as in 40. The most ancient people likened man's thoughts to birds, for in relation to things of the will, thoughts are like birds. Since bird, flying thing, and winged thing are mentioned here, and come consecutively in the way that intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and sensory impressions do in man, and to prevent anyone doubting that this is what they mean, let other places from the Word of a confirmatory nature be quoted, from which as well it will be evident that 'beasts' means such things as have been stated.

[2] In David,

You have given Him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet, flocks and all cattle, and also the beasts of the fields, the flying things of the air, 1 and the fish of the sea. Psalms 8:6-8.

This refers to the Lord, whose dominion over man and over what belongs to man is described in this fashion. If this were not so, what would 'dominion over beasts and birds' really be? In the same author,

Fruit tree and all cedars, wild animal and every beast, creeping thing and flying thing - they shall glorify the name of Jehovah. Psalms 148:9-10, 13.

'Fruit tree' is the celestial man, 'cedar' the spiritual man, 'wild animal and beast and creeping thing' the goods of these kinds of man, as in the present context. 'Flying thing' is their truths from which they are able to glorify the name of Jehovah. This a wild animal, a beast, a creeping thing, or a flying thing can never do. In secular literature such statements can be used as hyperbole, but in the Word of the Lord they are never just hyperbole but meaningful signs and representatives.

[3] In Ezekiel,

They start to tremble before Me - the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, 2 and the wild animals of the field, and every creeping thing creeping over the ground, and every man that is on the face 3 of the ground. Ezekiel 38:20.

The fact that 'beasts' and 'birds' here have such meanings is quite clear, for what would Jehovah's glory be if fish, birds, and beasts were to start to tremble? Could anyone think that such utterances are holy if they did not embody holy things within them? In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold, there was no man; all the birds of the air 2 had fled. Jeremiah 4:15.

This stands for all good and truth. Here 'man' stands as well for good that stems from love. In the same prophet,

They have been laid waste so that no man passes through, neither do men hear the voice of the herd. From the birds of the air 2 down to beasts, they have scattered, they have gone away. Jeremiah 9:10.

This in a similar way stands for the departure of all truth and good.

[4] In the same prophet,

How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it, the beasts and the birds have perished, for men said, He will not see our latter end. Jeremiah 11:4.

Here 'beasts' stands for goods, and 'birds' for truths, which perished. In Zephaniah,

I will consume man and beast, I will consume the birds of the air 2 and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off mankind from the face 4 of the ground. Zephaniah 1:3.

Here 'man and beast' stands for the things which belong to love and good deriving from love, 'the birds of the air 2 and the fish of the sea' for those which belong to the understanding and so to truth. These are called 'stumbling-blocks' because for wicked people it is goods and truths, not beasts and birds, that are stumbling-blocks. These are also plainly referred to as man's. In David,

The trees of Jehovah are watered abundantly, and the cedars of Lebanon which He planted. In them flying things build their nests. Psalms 104:16-17.

'The trees of Jehovah and the cedars of Lebanon' stands for spiritual man, 'flying things' for his rational or natural truths which are like 'nests'. What is more, 'the birds build nests in the branches' was a common saying by which people meant truths, as in Ezekiel,

[5] On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, and it will bring forth a branch, and bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every flying thing of every sort, 5 in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezekiel 17:23.

This stands for the Church among gentiles which was spiritual and which is 'a noble cedar'. 'Birds of every sort' 5 stands for truths of every kind. In the same prophet,

In its branches all the birds of the air 2 made their nests, and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Asshur, which is the spiritual Church and is called 'a cedar'. 'Birds of the air' 2 stands for its truths, 'beasts' for its goods.

[6] In Daniel,

Its branch was fair, and its fruit much, and food for all was on it. The beast of the field had shade under it, and in its branches dwelt the flying things of the air' 1 Daniel 4:12, 11.

Here 'beast' stands for goods, and 'flying thing of the air' 1 for truths. This may become clear to anyone, for what else would bird and beast dwelling there really be? The same applies to what the Lord said, The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which someone took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a big tree so that the birds of the air 1 dwelt in its branches. Luke 13:19; Matthew 13:32; Mark 4:32.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, flying thing of the heavens (or the skies)

2. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

3. literally, over the faces

4. literally, the faces

5. literally, of every wing

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