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約翰福音 1

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1 太初有道,道與神同在,道就是神。

2 這道太初與神同在。

3 萬物是藉著他造的;凡被造的,沒有一樣不是藉著他造的。

4 生命在他裡頭,這生命就是人的光。

5 在黑暗裡,黑暗卻不接受光。

6 有一個人,是從神那裡差來的,名叫約翰。

7 這人來,為要作見證,就是為光作見證,叫眾人因他可以信。

8 他不是那光,乃是要為光作見證。

9 那光是真光,照亮一切生在世上的人。

10 他在世界世界也是藉著他造的,世界卻不認識他。

11 他到自己的地方來,自己的人倒不接待他。

12 凡接待他的,就是信他名的人,他就賜他們權柄,作神的兒女。

13 這等人不是從血氣生的,不是從情慾生的,也不是從人意生的,乃是從神生的。

14 道成了肉身,住在我們中間,充充滿滿的有恩典有真理。我們也見過他的榮光,正是父獨生子的榮光。

15 約翰為他作見證,喊著:「這就是我曾:『那在我以後的,反成了在我以前的,因他本在我以前。』」

16 從他豐滿的恩典裡,我們都領受了,而且恩上加恩。

17 律法本是藉著摩西傳的;恩典和真理都是由耶穌基督來的。

18 從來沒有人看見神,只有在父懷裡的獨生子將他表明出來。

19 約翰所作的見證記在下面:猶太人從耶路撒冷差祭司和利未人到約翰那裡,問他說:「你是誰?」

20 他就明,並不隱瞞,明:「我不是基督。」

21 他們又問他:「這樣,你是誰呢?是以利亞嗎?」他:「我不是。」「是那先知嗎?」他回答:「不是。」

22 於是他們:「你到底是誰,叫我們好回覆差我們來的人。你自己,你是誰?」

23 :「我就是那在曠野有人聲喊著:『修直主的道路』,正如先知以賽亞所的。」

24 那些人是法利賽人差來的(或作:那差來的是法利賽人);

25 他們就問他:「你既不是基督,不是以利亞,也不是那先知,為甚麼施洗呢?」

26 約翰回答說:「我是用水施洗,但有一位站在你們中間,是你們不認識的,

27 就是那在我以後的,我給他解鞋帶也不配。」

28 這是在約但河外伯大尼(有古卷:伯大巴喇),約翰施洗的地方作的見證。

29 次日,約翰看見耶穌到他那裡,就:「看哪,神的羔羊,除去(或譯:背負)世人罪孽的!

30 這就是我曾:『有一位在我以後、反成了在我以前的,因他本在我以前。』

31 我先前不認識他,如今我用水施洗,為要叫他顯明給以色列人。」

32 約翰又作見證說:「我曾看見聖靈,彷彿鴿子降下,住在他的身上。

33 我先前不認識他,只是那差我來用水施洗的、對我:『你看見聖靈降下來,住在誰的身上,誰就是用聖靈施洗的。』

34 我看見了,就證明這是神的兒子。」

35 再次日,約翰同兩個門徒站在那裡。

36 他見耶穌行走,就:「看哪,這是神的羔羊!」

37 兩個門徒見他的話,就跟從了耶穌。

38 耶穌過身來,看見他們跟著,就問他們:「你們要甚麼?」他們:「拉比,在哪裡住?」(拉比翻出來就是夫子。)

39 耶穌:「你們看。」他們就去看他在那裡住,這一天便與他同住;那時約有申正了。

40 見約翰的話跟從耶穌的那兩個人,一個是西門彼得的兄弟安得烈。

41 他先找著自己的哥哥西門,對他:「我們遇見彌賽亞了。」(彌賽亞繙出來就是基督。)

42 於是領他去見耶穌。耶穌看著他,:「你是約翰的兒子西門(約翰在馬太16:17稱約拿),你要稱為磯法。」(磯法翻出來就是彼得。)

43 又次日,耶穌想要往加利利去,遇見腓力,就對他:「來跟從我吧。」

44 這腓力是伯賽大人,和安得烈、彼得同城。

45 腓力找著拿但業,對他摩西在律法上所寫的和眾先知所記的那一位,我們遇見了,就是約瑟的兒子拿撒勒人耶穌。」

46 拿但業對他:「拿撒勒還能出甚麼好的嗎?」腓力:「你看!」

47 耶穌看見拿但業,就指著他:「看哪,這是個真以色列人,他心裡是沒有詭詐的。」

48 拿但業對耶穌:「你從哪知道我呢?」耶穌回答:「腓力還沒有招呼你,你在無花果樹底,我就看見你了。」

49 拿但業:「拉比,你是神的兒子,你是以色列的王!」

50 耶穌對他:「因為我『在無花果樹底看見你』,你就信嗎?你將要看見比這更大的事」;

51 :「我實實在在地告訴你們,你們將要看見開了,神的使者上去下來在人子身上。」

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Apocalypse Explained #254

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254. As I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne. That this signifies comparatively as the Divine good is united with the Divine truth in heaven, is evident from the signification of overcoming, when said of the Lord Himself, as being to unite Divine good with Divine truth. And as this was effected by temptations and victories, therefore it is said, "as I overcame." (That the Lord united Divine good with Divine truth by temptations admitted into His Human, and by continual victories then, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 201, 293, 302). The reason why sitting with my Father in his throne, signifies Divine good united with Divine truth in heaven, is that by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, is meant the Divine good which was in Him from conception, and by Son, the Divine truth, each in heaven; and by throne is meant heaven, as above. This Divine of the Lord in the heavens is called the Divine truth, but it is the Divine good united to the Divine truth. (That this is the case may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140).

[2] The reason why a comparison is made of the members of the church with the Lord himself, when it is said, "He that overcometh, to him will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne" is, that the life of the Lord upon earth was an example according to which the members of the church were to live, as the Lord Himself also teaches in John:

"I have given unto you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (13:15, 17).

This is why the Lord Himself, in places, makes a comparison between Himself and His disciples, as in John:

Jesus said, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love, as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (15:9, 10).

Again:

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world" (17:16, 18).

Again:

"As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (20:21).

Again:

"The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (17:22-24, 26).

The reason why the Lord spoke of His conjunction with men as of His conjunction with the Father, that is, of His Human with the Divine which was in Himself, is that the Lord is not conjoined with man's proprium, but with what is His own. The Lord removes man's proprium, and gives from His own, and in that He dwells. That this is the case is also known in the church, as is clear from the prayer used by, and the exhortation addressed to, those who approach the Sacrament of the Supper, in which are these words: "If with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament, for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us: we are one with Christ, and Christ with us." And in John 6:56. (But these things may be better comprehended from what is shown in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 11, 12).

Hence, then, because the Divine of the Lord received by angels and men constitutes heaven and the church in them, they are one with the Lord, as He and the Father are one.

[3] In order that it may be yet more fully known how is to be understood what the Lord says, that He sits with His Father in His throne, it is to be noted that the throne of God denotes heaven, as was shown in the preceding article, also that heaven is heaven from the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called Divine truth, as was said above. The Lord Himself is not in heaven, but is above the heavens, and appears to those who are in the heavens as a Sun. The reason why the Lord appears as a Sun is because He is Divine love, and Divine love appears to the angels as solar fire; whence also sacred fire in the Word signifies Love Divine. From the Lord as a Sun proceed light and heat: the light which proceeds, because it is spiritual light, is Divine truth; and the heat, because it is spiritual heat, is Divine good. The latter, namely, the Divine good, is meant by the Father in heaven. (That the Lord is the Sun of heaven, and that the light and heat proceeding therefrom are the Divine truth united with the Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 116-125, also n. 126-140: and that heaven is heaven from the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, n. 7-12). It is therefore evident what is meant by Father in the heavens, and heavenly Father, as in Matthew:

Do good to your enemies, "that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in the heavens" (5:44, 45).

Again:

"Be ye perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect" (verse 48).

Again:

"You who are evil, know to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask him" (7:11).

Again:

"He that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens" (7:21).

Again:

"Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (15:13).

Also in many other passages, in Matthew 5:16:6:1, 6, 8; 12:50; 16:17; 18:14, 19, 35; Mark 9:25, 26; Luke 11:13.

[4] That the Divine good is meant by the Father is also evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (18:10).

By their beholding the face of their Father who is in the heavens is signified that they receive Divine good from the Lord. That they do not actually see His face is evident from the words of the Lord in John:

"No one hath seen the Father at any time" (1:18; 5:37; 6:46).

The same is evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father who is in the heavens" (23:9).

That no man is forbidden to call his father upon earth "father" is evident, nor is it here forbidden by the Lord; but this was said because by Father is meant the Divine good, and there is none good except the one God (19:17). The reason why the Lord spoke thus is that by the Father in the Word of both Testaments is meant, in the spiritual sense, the Divine good, as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3703, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834; and also heaven and the church as to good, Arcana Coelestia 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897; and by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, the Divine good of His Divine love, Arcana Coelestia 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328, 8897).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #3703

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3703. 'And He said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham your father' means the Lord in whom that good originated. This becomes clear from the fact that Jehovah is the Divine Being (Esse) itself of the Lord, who is called 'the God of Abraham' by virtue of Divine Good - 'Abraham' representing the Lord as regards Divine Good, see 2172, 2198. And because Divine Good is the source of all celestial and spiritual goods, and consequently of all truths also, the phrase 'your (that is, Jacob's) father Abraham' is used, when in fact Isaac was his father. The reason why 'father' in the internal sense means good is that good is the source of every single thing that has being and truth the means by which it is brought into being. Thus every single thing is born from a marriage of good and truth. Heaven itself, which consists of nothing else at all but the Divine marriage of Good and Truth, derives from the Divine Marriage of Good and Truth and of Truth and Good within the Lord.

[2] The whole natural order also in every single part has reference to what is good and what is true. In it, that is, the natural order, the celestial and spiritual goods and truths that belong to heaven are represented, and in heaven Divine Goods and Truths that are the Lord's are represented. From this it becomes clear that good is like the father and truth is like the mother, and that therefore 'father' in the internal sense of the Word means good, and 'mother' truth. Indeed they mean the goodness and truth in which lower or derived goods and truths originate, which in relation to them are as daughters and sons, and are also consequently called daughters and sons in the Word, 489-491, 2362. They are also in relation to that good and truth as brothers and sisters, as grandchildren and great grandchildren, as sons-in-law, fathers-in-law, and daughters-in-law; in short they are as every degree of blood relationship and relationship by marriage. And all these relationships stem from the marriage of good, which is the father, to truth, which is the mother. For all things - every single one - in heaven exist as in blood relationships of love to and faith in the Lord, or what amounts to the same, of good and truth, see 685, 917, 2739, 3612, and the most ancient people therefore compared all these things to marriages, 54, 55. See also 718, 747, 1432, 2508, 2516, 2524, 2556.

[3] That 'father' in the internal sense of the Word means good may be seen from very many places, as from the following: In Isaiah,

Pay attention to Me, you who are pursuing righteousness, who are seeking Jehovah; look to the rock from which you were hewn; and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug; look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you, for when he was but one I called him; and I blessed him, and I will multiply him. For Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Isaiah 51:1-3.

This refers to the Lord and His Coming, as is evident from every detail. As regards Divine Truth He is called 'a rock' and 'a pit', and as regards Divine Good 'Abraham your father'. And because the Divine marriage of Good and Truth is represented by Abraham and Sarah, see 1468, 1901, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507, 2833, 2836, 2904, 3245, 3251, 3305 (end), the expressions 'Abraham your father' and 'Sarah who bore you' are used. This explains why it is said that they were to look to the rock and to the pit, and to Abraham their father and to Sarah. It also explains why the promises follow immediately after, declaring that 'Jehovah will comfort Zion', which is the celestial Church, see 2362, and that 'He will comfort her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah'.

[4] Abraham has a similar meaning when elsewhere in the Word he is called 'father', as in John,

Jesus said, I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you also do what you have seen with your father. They answered and said to Him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's sons, you would do the works of Abraham. You do the works of your father. John 8:38-39, 41.

And in Matthew,

Do not presume to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree not bearing good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. Matthew 3:9-10.

And in Luke,

When the poor man Lazarus died he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and when he was in hell he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Calling out he said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. I ask you, father, to send him to my father's house. Luke 16:19-end.

In these places it is evident that Abraham was not meant but the Lord as regards Divine Good. For Abraham is unknown in heaven, and when his name is used in the Word the Lord is meant, see 1834, 1876, 1989, 3305 (end).

[5] That 'father' means good in the internal sense becomes clear from the following places: In Moses,

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged on the land which Jehovah your God gives you. Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.

This commandment, like the rest of the Ten Commandments, is true in both senses - in the internal sense 'honouring father and mother' is loving what is good and true, and in what is good and true loving the Lord, see 2609, 3690. 'Days on the land' means resulting states of good within the Lord's kingdom, as is clear from the meaning of 'days' as states, 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, and from the meaning of Canaan, to which 'the land' refers here, as the Lord's kingdom, 1607, 3038, 3481, and from 'being prolonged' having reference to good, 1613.

[6] Since 'father and mother' had these meanings many laws were therefore laid down in the Jewish representative Church relating to parents and sons. In every case good and truth were meant in the internal sense, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good and Divine Truth, as in Moses,

Whoever strikes his father and his mother shall surely die. If anyone curses his father or his mother he shall surely die. Exodus 21:15, 17.

In the same author,

Any man who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he who curses his father and his mother, his blood shall be on him. Leviticus 20:9.

Cursed is he who treats his father and his mother with contempt; and all the people shall say, Amen. Deuteronomy 27:16, 17.

In Ezekiel,

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, 1 have in you been intent on shedding blood; in you they have treated father and mother with contempt. Ezekiel 22:6-7.

In Moses,

When a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, in no way obeying the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they correct him he still does not obey them, his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders of the city, and to the gateway of their place. And all the men of that city shall stone him with stones so that he dies. Deuteronomy 21:18-19, 21.

[7] In all these places 'father and mother' in the sense of the letter is used to mean father and mother, but in the internal sense good and truth are meant, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good and Divine Truth. This is also the Lord's own teaching in Matthew,

Jesus stretching out His hand over His disciples said, Beyond My mother and My brothers; whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:49-50.

And in the same gospel,

Refuse to be called master, for one is your Master, Christ; but all you are brothers. And call nobody your father on earth, for one is your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 23:8-9.

It is not being called master or being called father on earth that is forbidden here, but acknowledging in the heart any other father than the Lord. That is, when the names master and father are used one should understand the Lord whom in the highest sense they represent, in the same way, as stated just above in 3702, as anything perceived on earth by the most ancient people who were celestial was to them the means for thought concerning the Lord.

[8] Much the same is embodied in what the Lord told one of the disciples who said,

Lord, let me first go away and bury my father. Jesus said to him, Follow Me; leave the dead to bury the dead. Matthew 8:21-22.

Indeed the relationship of father on earth to Father in heaven, who is the Lord, is as one who is dead to one who is living, even as the law itself about honouring parents is so to speak dead unless it holds honour, worship, and love to the Lord within it. For that law about honouring parents comes down from the latter Divine law. And because it comes down from the latter, the living element which exists within the law about honouring parents is received from this Divine law. This is why the Lord said, 'Follow Me, leave the dead to bury the dead'. What Elijah told Elisha is also similar in meaning,

Elijah passed beside Elisha and cast his mantle over him, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me kiss, I beg you, my father and mother; then I will go after you. He therefore said to him, Go away; go back again; for what have I done to you? 1 Kings 19:19-20.

Elijah represented the Lord - see Preface to Chapter 18, and 2762.

[9] In Malachi,

Lo, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a ban. Malachi 4:5-6.

And in Luke where the angel addresses Zechariah regarding his son John,

He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Luke 1:17.

From these places it is evident that 'fathers' and 'sons' are not used to mean fathers and sons but the goods and truths of the Church which the Lord is going to restore.

[10] In Malachi,

May Jehovah be magnified upon the border of Israel! A son should honour his father, and a servant his lord. If I am a Father, where is My honour? If I am a Lord, where is the fear of Me? Malachi 1:5-6.

'A son' stands for those who are governed by the good of the Church, 'a servant' those who are governed by its truth. Here 'a Father' clearly stands for the Lord as regards Divine Good, and 'a Lord' as regards Divine Truth.

[11] In David,

My father and my mother have forsaken me, and Jehovah welcomes me. Psalms 27:10.

'Father and mother' stands for good and truth which are said to have forsaken a person when it is realized that of himself he is unable to perform anything good or to know anything true. For the meaning, it is evident, is not that David's mother and father forsook him.

[12] In the same author,

You are more beautiful by far than the sons of men. All glorious is the king's daughter within, in her clothing with gold interweavings. Instead of your fathers will be your sons; you will make them into princes in all the earth. Psalms 45:2, 13, 16.

This refers to the Lord. 'Instead of your fathers will be your sons' stands for Divine Truths becoming as Divine Goods. 'The king's daughter' stands for the love of truth; 'clothing with gold interweavings' for the nature of that truth grounded in good. Since the subject is the Lord and His Divine Human, as is evident from this Psalm as a whole and in every part, every single phrase clearly has reference to one and the same thing. So the phrase 'the king's daughter' is not used to mean the daughter of the king, nor are the phrases 'clothing with gold interweavings', 'instead of your fathers will be your sons', and 'their being made into princes in all the earth' to be taken literally, but each phrase means Divine celestial and spiritual things. 'A daughter' means affection or love, see 490, 491, 2362; 'the king' Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009; 'gold' good, 113, 1551, 1552. 'That which is interwoven' has reference to natural knowledge, 2831, in this case therefore to Divine natural truth. 'Clothing' means such truths as clothe good, 297, 2576; 'sons instead of fathers' truths begotten from good, in this case Divine Truths being as Divine Goods, 264, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 1729, 1733, 2159, 2623, 2803, 2813. 'Princes in all the earth' are the first and foremost things of the Lord's kingdom and Church - 'princes' being the things that are first and foremost, 1482, 2089, 'the earth' the Lord's kingdom and Church, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355.

[13] In Moses,

Your fathers Jehovah delighted to love, and He chose their seed after them, even you out of all peoples, as at this day. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer. Deuteronomy 10:15-16.

'Fathers' here in the internal sense stands for the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches, whose members were so called by virtue of the love they had of good and truth - the most ancient people, who were celestial, by virtue of their love of good, the ancients, who were spiritual, by virtue of their love of truth. The goods and truths existing in the Church are referred to as 'the seed Jehovah chose'. Clearly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the latter's twelve sons are not meant by the fathers referred to here, nor the Israelite and Jewish people by 'the seed'. Rather the statement is made regarding them and addressed to them in order that the internal sense may be given some external form and so be intelligible to men.

[14] In Isaiah,

The boy will uplift himself against the old man, and the base fellow against the honourable; for a man will take hold of his brother in his father's house, [saying,] You have clothing, you will be leader for us. He will say, In my house there is neither bread [nor clothing]. Do not make me a leader 2 of the people. Isaiah 3:5-7.

This refers in the internal sense to a perverted state of the Church when truth is no longer acknowledged as truth, and it is not known what good is. 'A man will take hold of his brother in his father's house' stands for acknowledging everything as good. 'Clothing' stands for truth, 1073, 2576, 'a leader (or prince)' for a first and foremost matter of doctrine drawn from truth, 1482, 2089. 'In the house there is neither bread nor clothing' stands for neither good nor truth - 'bread' meaning good, 276, 680, 3478, and 'clothing' truth, 297, 2576.

[15] Because father and mother, and also daughters and sons, represented goodness and truth in the representative Churches many laws existed which possessed from those representatives that which was Divine within them, such as the following,

If a priest's daughter has acted profanely by committing whoredom, she is profaning her father; she shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus 21:9.

'A priest's daughter' stands for the affection for good, 'father' for the good from which that affection springs. 'Committing whoredom' stands for profaning what is good. What 'committing whoredom' is, see 2466, 2729, 3399, and what 'acting profanely', 1008, 1010, 1059, 2051, 3398, 3399. Also,

If a priest's daughter has been made a widow or divorced and has no seed she shall return to her father's house, as in her youth; she shall eat of her father's bread. No stranger shall eat of it. Leviticus 22:13.

[16] And this law also,

If you see among the captives a wife with a beautiful form and you desire her to take her for yourself as wife you shall bring her inside your home; and she shall shave her head and pare her nails; and she shall take off the clothing of her captivity born upon her, and shall sit in your house and lament her father and her mother a whole month; and after that you shall go in to her and know her, and she shall be your wife. Deuteronomy 21:11-13.

Every single detail in this law is representative of natural truth, which is adopted by good once it has been purified from falsities. Such truth is meant by 'a wife beautiful in form among the captives'; purification from falsities by 'bringing her inside your home', and by her 'shaving her head, paring her nails, taking off the clothing of her captivity, and lamenting her father and mother'; and adoption by 'after that going in to her, knowing her, and taking her as a wife'.

[17] The Marriage Laws requiring marriages to be contracted within the tribe and the family, and also the Inheritance Laws forbidding the transfer of inheritances from one tribe to another, which are written in the Word, also had the same origins, that is to say, in the celestial and spiritual marriage in the Lord's kingdom, or the marriage of good and truth, which are meant by 'father and mother'. The same applies to the laws laid down relating to the permissible and the forbidden degrees of affinity. Each law in the Word concerning those matters has reference inwardly to the law of the affiliation and joining together of good and truth in heaven, and to the affiliations of evil and falsity in hell, which are separated from the former. For laws to do with permissible and forbidden degrees, see Leviticus 20; for laws forbidding the transfer of inheritances from one tribe to another, and for those requiring marriages to be contracted within the tribe, see Numbers 27:7-9, and elsewhere. In heaven the position of every single thing is fixed according to blood relationships of good and truth and to relationships of them through marriage, see 685, 917, 2739, 3612.

[18] Since the Israelitish people represented the Lord's kingdom in heaven and so the heavenly order existing there, the command was also given for them to be singled out according to tribes, according to families, and according to the houses of their fathers, see Numbers 26:1-end. In addition to this they were required to pitch camp around the tent of meeting in conformity with that heavenly order, and also to journey in conformity with it, as stated in Moses,

Each one of the children of Israel shall pitch camp beneath his own standard, by the ensigns of his father's house, at a distance around the tent of meeting. And in the same formations they also set out. Numbers 2:2, 34.

This was why, when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him and he delivered this utterance, How good your tabernacles are, O Jacob, your dwelling-places, O Israel? They are like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river, etc., etc. Numbers 24:2, 5-6, and following verses.

From every word used here it is evident that not Jacob or Israel were meant but the Lord's kingdom in heaven and His Church on earth, which were represented by that order in which he saw them spread out at that time.

[19] From these examples one may also know what is meant in the internal sense of the Word by orphans! that is, the fatherless, namely people whose state is a state of innocence and charity and who wish to know and put into effect what is good but are not able to do so. Such a state exists in particular with those outside the Church whom the Lord cares about and adopts in the next life as His sons. And since those people are meant by 'orphans', when these are mentioned in the Word, sojourners and widows are in many instances mentioned too. For 'sojourners' means those who are receiving instruction in goods and truths, 1463, and 'widows' those whose state is one of good but not so much of truth, or those whose state is one of truth but not so much of good, and who yet desire what they lack. Since these three - orphans, sojourners, and widows - belong to a very similar line of meaning, therefore all three are in most places mentioned together, as has been stated, see Deuteronomy 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; Ezekiel 22:6-7; Zechariah 7:10; Psalms 94:6; 146:9. From these considerations one may now see what 'father' means in the genuine sense, namely good, and in the highest sense the Lord.

[20] Now because most things in the Word also have a contrary sense, so has the word 'father'. In that sense it means evil. Equally so 'mother', which in the genuine sense means truth, in the contrary sense means falsity. The contrary meanings may be seen from the following places: In David,

The iniquity of his fathers will be remembered before Jehovah, and the sin of his mother will not be wiped out. Psalms 109:14.

In the same author,

They drew back and acted treacherously like their fathers; they turned about like a deceitful bow. Psalms 78:57.

In Moses,

Until the remainder of you waste away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies: and they will also waste away in their fathers' iniquities with them. Leviticus 26:39. In Isaiah,

Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the iniquity of their fathers, and let them not rise up again and possess the earth, and fill the face of the earth with cities. Isaiah 14:21.

In the same prophet, I will repay your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together. Isaiah 65:7.

[21] In Jeremiah,

The house of Israel is ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, who say to wood, You are my father, and to a stone, You gave birth to me. For they have turned their neck to Me and not their face. Jeremiah 2:26-27.

In the same prophet,

Behold, I am laying before this people stumbling-blocks, and fathers and sons together will stumble against them, neighbour and his friend, and they will perish. Jeremiah 6:21.

In the same prophet,

The sons gather pieces of wood, and the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for Melecheth. 3 Jeremiah 7:18.

In Ezekiel,

I will do in you that which I have not done, and such things as I will not do any longer, because of your abominations. Therefore fathers will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgements on you, and I will scatter the whole remnant of you to every wind. Ezekiel 5:9-10.

This refers to the profanation of what is holy. In the same prophet,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, Your tracings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3.

[22] In Matthew,

Brother will deliver up brother to death, and father the son; and children will rise up against parents and put them to death. And so you will be hated by everyone for My name's sake. I have come to set a man (homo) against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's (homo) foes will be those in his own household. Whoever loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son and daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:21-22, 35-37; Luke 12:49, 52-53.

In the same gospel,

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for My name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matthew 19:29; Luke 18:29-30; Mark 10:29-30.

In Luke,

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and his mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own soul, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26.

[23] In Mark,

Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his children, and children will rise up together against parents and will kill them; for you will be hated by all for My name's sake. Mark 13:12-13; Luke 21:16-17.

This refers to the close of the age and is describing the state of the Church when perverted as regards good and truth, that is to say, when evil rises up against truth, and falsity against good. The meaning of 'father' in the contrary sense as evil is evident from the places just quoted and also from the following in John,

Jesus said, If God were your father you would love Me, for from God I went forth and now come. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning and took no stand on the truth because the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie he speaks from what are his own, for he is the teller of a lie and the father of it. John 8:42, 44.

Fußnoten:

1. literally, arm

2. or a prince

3. melecheth is a Hebrew word for a queen.

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