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Exodus 22

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1 `When a man doth steal an ox or sheep, and hath slaughtered it or sold it, five of the herd he doth repay for the ox, and four of the flock for the sheep.

2 `If in the breaking through, the thief is found, and he hath been smitten, and hath died, there is no blood for him;

3 if the sun hath risen upon him, blood [is] for him, he doth certainly repay; if he have nothing, then he hath been sold for his theft;

4 if the theft is certainly found in his hand alive, whether ox, or ass, or sheep -- double he repayeth.

5 `When a man depastureth a field or vineyard, and hath sent out his beast, and it hath pastured in the field of another, [of] the best of his field, and the best of his vineyard, he doth repay.

6 `When fire goeth forth, and hath found thorns, and a stack, or the standing corn, or the field, hath been consumed, he who causeth the burning doth certainly repay.

7 `When a man doth give unto his neighbour silver, or vessels to keep, and it hath been stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, he repayeth double.

8 `If the thief is not found, then the master of the house hath been brought near unto God, whether he hath not put forth his hand against the work of his neighbour;

9 for every matter of transgression, for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, for any lost thing of which it is said that it is his; unto God cometh the matter of them both; he whom God doth condemn, he repayeth double to his neighbour.

10 `When a man doth give unto his neighbour an ass, or ox, or sheep, or any beast to keep, and it hath died, or hath been hurt, or taken captive, none seeing --

11 an oath of Jehovah is between them both, that he hath not put forth his hand against the work of his neighbour, and its owner hath accepted, and he doth not repay;

12 but if it is certainly stolen from him, he doth repay to its owner;

13 if it is certainly torn, he bringeth it in -- a witness; the torn thing he doth not repay.

14 `And when a man doth ask [anything] from his neighbour, and it hath been hurt or hath died -- its owner not being with it -- he doth certainly repay;

15 if its owner [is] with it, he doth not repay, -- if it [is] a hired thing, it hath come for its hire.

16 `And when a man doth entice a virgin who [is] not betrothed, and hath lain with her, he doth certainly endow her to himself for a wife;

17 if her father utterly refuse to give her to him, money he doth weigh out according to the dowry of virgins.

18 `A witch thou dost not keep alive.

19 `Whoever lieth with a beast is certainly put to death.

20 `He who is sacrificing to a god, save to Jehovah alone, is devoted.

21 `And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, nor crush him, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.

22 `Any widow or orphan ye do not afflict;

23 if thou dost really afflict him, surely if he at all cry unto Me, I certainly hear his cry;

24 and Mine anger hath burned, and I have slain you by the sword, and your wives have been widows, and your sons orphans.

25 `If thou dost lend My poor people with thee money, thou art not to him as a usurer; thou dost not lay on him usury;

26 if thou dost at all take in pledge the garment of thy neighbour, during the going in of the sun thou dost return it to him:

27 for it alone is his covering, it [is] his garment for his skin; wherein doth he lie down? and it hath come to pass, when he doth cry unto Me, that I have heard, for I [am] gracious.

28 `God thou dost not revile, and a prince among thy people thou dost not curse.

29 `Thy fulness and thy liquids thou dost not delay; the first-born of thy sons thou dost give to Me;

30 so thou dost to thine ox, to thy sheep; seven days it is with its dam, on the eighth day thou dost give it to Me.

31 `And ye are holy men to Me, and flesh torn in the field ye do not eat, to a dog ye do cast it.

   

Komentář

 

Ox, young

  

'The son of a cow' signifies the celestial natural level and natural exterior good.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 2184 [1-7], 4244)

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3309

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3309. 'And Esau was a man skilled in hunting' means the good of life that has its origin in sensory truths and factual truths. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of life, dealt with above, and from the meaning of 'a man skilled in hunting' as those who have the affection for truth, dealt with in what follows - for 'a skilled man' has reference to the affection for truth, that is, to those who have that affection for truth, whereas 'hunting' means truths themselves, though truths which belong to the natural man and in which goods have their origin. Now because the truths of the natural man are called factual, 3293, and factual truths are primarily of two kinds or two degrees - sensory and factual proper - 'hunting' here means both of these. Sensory truths occur with children, factual with those same children when they are growing up, for factual truths cannot exist with anyone before he has received sensory truths because the ideas that make up factual truths are acquired from sensory truths. Then, from those factual truths, other truths even more interior can be learned and grasped, which are called matters of doctrine, meant by 'a man of the field', dealt with below in the next paragraph.

[2] The reason why 'hunting' means the sensory truths and factual truths that are taught to those in whom the good of life is present and who have the affection for those truths is that the word 'hunting' in a broad sense refers to creatures caught through hunting, such as rams, he-goats, she-goats, and the like, by which are meant spiritual goods, see 2180, 2830; and also because the weapons used in hunting, which were the quiver, the bow, and darts, mean matters of doctrine upholding what is true, 2685, 2686, 2709. These are the things meant by 'hunting', as may be seen from what Isaac his father told Esau, in Chapter 27 below,

Take now your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt venison for me, and make me savoury food such as I love. Genesis 27:3-4; and, in the same chapter, from what he told Jacob, who was posing as Esau,

Bring it to me that I may eat from my son's venison, so that my soul may bless you. Genesis 27:25.

These quotations show what 'hunting' or 'venison' means.

[3] Consequently 'hunting' is teaching [what is true] or else inducing a belief in what is false, and in both senses, that is to say, acting from an affection for truth or from an affection for falsity. Acting from an affection for truth is described in Jeremiah,

I will bring them back over their land which I gave to their fathers. Behold, I am sending to many fishermen, and they will fish them; and after that I will send to many hunters and they will hunt them from upon every mountain, and from upon every hill, and from the holes in the rocks. Jeremiah 16:15-16.

'Fishermen' stands for those whose teaching is drawn from sensory truths, 40, 991, 'hunters' those whose teaching is drawn from factual truths, and also from matters of doctrine. 'Upon every mountain, and upon every hill' stands for teaching people who are stirred by the affection for good and by the affection for truth - 'mountain' and 'hill' carrying such meanings, see 795, 796, 1430. 'Hunting in the field', as in Genesis 27:3, implies the same. Inducing others to believe what is false and doing so from the affection for falsity is described in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against your little pillows with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly away, and I will tear them from on your arms, and I will let the souls go that you hunt, souls to fly away; and I will tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they will be no more in your hand to be hunted. Ezekiel 13:18-21.

For the meaning of 'hunting' in this sense, see 1178, though nets are normally associated with this type of hunting.

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