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2 Chronicles 1

Lernen

1 And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Jehovah his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

2 And Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers' [houses].

3 So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of Jehovah had made in the wilderness.

4 But the ark of God had David brought up from Kiriath-jearim to [the place] that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

5 Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of Jehovah: and Solomon and the assembly sought unto it.

6 And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before Jehovah, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt-offerings upon it.

7 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.

8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great lovingkindness unto David my father, and hast made me king in his stead.

9 Now, O Jehovah God, let thy promise unto David my father be established; for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?

11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

12 wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee; neither shall there any after thee have the like.

13 So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, unto Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.

14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

15 And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore-trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

16 And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

17 And they fetched up and brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

Kommentar

 

Dust

  

Dust, in Ezekiel 26:12, signifies the lowest things which are of the sensual principle of man. They can be either good or bad, depending on the context.

In Isaiah 40:12, the dust signifies exterior or natural truths and goods of heaven and the church.

In Genesis 2:7, the dust is good, and we see some interesting nuances:

First, there's this: 'To form the man, dust from the ground' is to form his external man, which had not previously been man... (Arcana Coelestia 94)

Here, this formation of our external body and mind is a precursor, setting the stage for God to "breathe into our nostrils".

In Arcana Coelestia 1610, we find this passage, where again, dust has a good signification:

'Dust of the earth' has regard to those things that are celestial, for, as shown already, 'the earth' means the celestial aspect of love; 'dust of the sea' has regard to those things that are spiritual, for 'the sea', as has also been shown, means the spiritual aspect of love; while 'as the stars of heaven' means both but in a higher degree. And because these things cannot be numbered they therefore became common expressions to describe growth and multiplication beyond measure.

Then, in Arcana Coelestia 3707, these ideas get pulled together:

The reason the dust of the earth symbolizes goodness is that the earth, [or land,] symbolizes the Lord’s kingdom and therefore goodness, as shown just above in §3705. The dust of that land, then, means goodness, but earthly goodness, since the land symbolizes what is lowest in the Lord’s kingdom....

But there are bad connotations, too. In Micah 7:14-17, licking dust symbolizes being only sensual - bodily and external, worldly, and selfish. It's much the same in Psalms 72:9, where "Barbarians will bow down before God, and His enemies lick the dust...". See Arcana Coelestia 249, 3413 for interesting explanations of this.

(Verweise: Apocalypse Explained 1145)