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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.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9193

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9193. 'Shall be utterly destroyed' means being cast out. This is clear from the meaning of 'being utterly destroyed', when it refers to people whose worship is that of falsities arising from evil, as being cast out, that is to say, cast out of the Church. The fact that casting such falsities out of the Church, and so rooting them out, is meant by their being 'utterly destroyed', is evident in Moses,

If men of belial 1 have gone out of your midst, and have urged the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, whom you have not known - if it is true and certain, 2 that [this] abomination has been committed in the midst of you - you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. You shall utterly destroy it and everyone who is in it, and also the beasts in it, with the edge of the sword. You shall bring together all the spoil from it into the middle of the street, and shall burn the city with fire, and all the spoil from it, the whole of it, to Jehovah your God, so that it may be a heap forever and not be built ever again. Do it so thoroughly that nothing of what is given to utter destruction sticks in your hand. Deuteronomy 13:13-17.

[2] The fact that falsity arising from evil is what 'that which is given to utter destruction' means is evident from the details of these verses in the internal sense. 'Cities' which were to be utterly destroyed are religious teachings, in this instance false teachings, 2712, 2943, 3216. 'The edge of the sword' with which they were to strike man and beast is truth fighting against and destroying falsity that arises from evil, 2799, 4499, 7102, 8294. 'The street' into the middle of which the spoil was to be brought is truth presented by religious teachings and in the contrary sense falsity presented by them, 2336. 'Fire' with which the spoil was to be burned along with the city is the evil of self-love, 1297, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324. From all this it is evident that 'utter destruction' means being cast out of the Church and being rooted out. Therefore also it was commanded that the nations in the land of Canaan should be utterly destroyed, Deuteronomy 7:2, 24-26. For the nations had originally constituted the Church in that land, which also was why they had altars and in addition offered sacrifices, 3686, 4447, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8054. But when they turned representative worship - the worship of the Ancient Church - into idolatrous worship, and in so doing falsified truths and adulterated forms of good, 8317, the command came for them to be given to utter destruction, not only people but also cities and what was in them.

[3] The command came because everything there represented falsities arising from evil. The cities represented the actual teachings presenting falsity; the beasts represented evil affections; the gold and silver of those people represented evils and falsities; and so on with everything else. The worship of the Ancient Church had consisted first and foremost in worshipping God in human form, that is, in worshipping the Lord. But then they turned aside from good to evil and began to worship the actual objects that had served to represent Him, such as the sun, moon, and stars, also groves and pillars, and God in the form of various kinds of idols. Thus they worshipped external objects separated from anything of an internal nature; and this is brought about when the internal man has been closed. What closes the internal man is a life of evil; for good is that through which the Lord flows in and opens the internal man, and therefore evil is that which closes this. Once the internal man has been closed truths are turned into falsities; and when they remain they serve solely the evils of self-love and love of the world. Internal worship consists first and foremost in acknowledging the Lord, the one and only God, and in acknowledging that He is the source of everything good and true. People in the Church who do not acknowledge Him cannot be governed by good, nor thus by truth; and the ones to acknowledge Him are those who possess faith and at the same time lead a good life, but not those who lead a bad life, 8878. Acknowledging and worshipping the Lord consists in living according to His commandments, that is, leading the life of faith and of charity, see 8252-8257. The life of faith lies in doing His commandments in a spirit of obedience, and the life of charity lies in doing them out of love.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. A Hebrew word implying those who are worthless

2. literally, if [it is] truth, and the thing certain

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