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レビ記 25

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1 はシナイで、モーセに言われた、

2 イスラエルの人々に言いなさい、『わたしが与える地に、あなたがたがはいったときは、その地にも、に向かって安息を守らせなければならない。

3 年の間あなたはに種をまき、また年の間ぶどう畑の枝を刈り込み、その実を集めることができる。

4 しかし、七年目には、地に全き休みの安息を与えなければならない。これは、に向かって守る安息である。あなたはに種をまいてはならない。また、ぶどう畑の枝を刈り込んではならない。

5 あなたの穀物の自然に生えたものは刈り取ってはならない。また、あなたのぶどうの枝の手入れをしないで結んだ実は摘んではならない。これは地のために全き休みの年だからである。

6 安息の年の地の産物は、あなたがたの食物となるであろう。すなわち、あなたと、男女の奴隷と、雇人と、あなたの所に宿っている他人と、

7 あなたの家畜と、あなたののうちのとのため、その産物はみな、食物となるであろう。

8 あなたは安息の年を七たび、すなわち、七年を七回えなければならない。安息の年七たびの年四十年である。

9 月のにあなたはラッパの音を響き渡らせなければならない。すなわち、贖罪のにあなたがたは全にラッパを響き渡らせなければならない。

10 その五十年目を聖別して、中のすべての住民に自由をふれ示さなければならない。この年はあなたがたにはヨベルの年であって、あなたがたは、おのおのその所有の地に帰り、おのおのその家族に帰らなければならない。

11 その五十年目はあなたがたはヨベルの年である。種をまいてはならない。また自然生えたものは刈り取ってはならない。手入れをしないで結んだぶどうの実は摘んではならない。

12 この年はヨベルの年であって、あなたがた聖であるからである。あなたがたは自然できた物を食べなければならない。

13 このヨベルの年には、おのおのその所有の地に帰らなければならない。

14 あなたの隣人に物を売り、また隣人から物を買うときは、互に欺いてはならない。

15 ヨベルのの年の数にしたがって、あなたは隣人から買い、彼もまた畑の産物の年数にしたがって、あなたに売らなければならない。

16 年の数の多い時は、その値を増し、年の数の少ない時は、値を減らさなければならない。彼があなたに売るのは産物の数だからである。

17 あなたがたは互に欺いてはならない。あなたの恐れなければならない。わたしはあなたがたのである。

18 あなたがたはわたしの定めを行い、またわたしのおきてを守って、これを行わなければならない。そうすれば、あなたがたは安らかにその地に住むことができるであろう。

19 地はその実を結び、あなたがたは飽きるまでそれを食べ、安らかにそこに住むことができるであろう。

20 「七年目に種をまくことができず、また産物を集めることができないならば、わたしたちは何を食べようか」とあなたがたは言うのか。

21 わたしは命じて年目に、あなたがたに祝福をくだし、か年分の産物を実らせるであろう。

22 あなたがたは八年目種をまく時は、なお古い産物を食べているであろう。九年目その産物のできるまで、あなたがたは古いものを食べることができるであろう。

23 地は永代には売ってはならない。地はわたしのものだからである。あなたがたはわたしと共にいる寄留者、また旅びとである。

24 あなたがたの所有としたどのような土地でも、その土地の買いもどしに応じなければならない。

25 あなたの兄弟が落ちぶれてその所有の地を売った時は、彼の近親者がきて、兄弟売ったものを買いもどさなければならない。

26 たといその人に、それを買いもどしてくれる人がいなくても、その人がみ、自分でそれを買いもどすことができるようになったならば、

27 それを売ってからの年を数えて残りの分を買い手に返さなければならない。そうすればその人はその所有の地に帰ることができる。

28 しかし、もしそれを買いもどすことができないならば、その売った物はヨベルの年まで買い主のにあり、ヨベルにはもどされて、その人はその所有の地に帰ることができるであろう。

29 人が城壁のある住宅売った時は、売ってから満一年の間は、それを買いもどすことができる。その間は彼に買いもどすことを許さなければならない。

30 満一年のうちに、それを買いもどさない時は、城壁のあるの内のそのは永代にそれを買った人のものと定まって、代々の所有となり、ヨベルの年にももどされないであろう。

31 しかし、周囲に城壁のない々のは、その地方のに附属するものとみなされ、買いもどすことができ、またヨベルの年には、もどされるであろう。

32 レビびとの々、すなわち、彼らの所有の々のは、レビびとはいつでも買いもどすことができる。

33 レビびとのひとりが、それを買いもどさない時は、その所有のにある売ったはヨベルの年にはもどされるであろう。レビびとの々のイスラエルの人々のうちに彼らがもっている所有だからである。

34 ただし、彼らの々の周囲の放牧地は売ってはならない。それは彼らの永久の所有だからである。

35 あなたの兄弟が落ちぶれ、暮して行けない時は、彼を助け、寄留者または旅びとのようして、あなたと共生きながらえさせなければならない。

36 彼から利子も利息も取ってはならない。あなたの恐れ、あなたの兄弟をあなたと共に生きながらえさせなければならない。

37 あなたは利子を取って彼に金を貸してはならない。また利益をえるために食物を貸してはならない。

38 わたしはあなたがたのであって、カナンの地をあなたがたに与え、かつあなたがたのとなるためにあなたがたをエジプトから導き出した者である。

39 あなたの兄弟が落ちぶれて、あなた身を売るときは、奴隷のよう働かせてはならない。

40 彼を雇人のように、また旅びとのようにしてあなたの所におらせ、ヨベルの年まであなたの所で勤めさせなさい。

41 その時には、彼は供たちと共にあなたの所から出て、その一族のもとに帰り、先祖の所有の地にもどるであろう。

42 彼らはエジプトからわたしが導き出したわたしのしもべであるから、身を売って奴隷となってはならない。

43 あなたは彼をきびしく使ってはならない。あなたの恐れなければならない。

44 あなたがもつ奴隷は男女ともにあなたの周囲の異邦人のうちから買わなければならない。すなわち、彼らのうちから男女の奴隷を買うべきである。

45 また、あなたがたのうちに宿っている旅びとの供のうちからも買うことができる。また彼らのうちあなたがたので生れて、あなたがたと共におる人々の家族からも買うことができる。そして彼らはあなたがたの所有となるであろう。

46 あなたがたは彼らを獲て、あなたがたの孫に所有として継がせることができる。すなわち、彼らは長くあなたがたの奴隷となるであろう。しかし、あなたがたの兄弟であるイスラエルの人々をあなたがたは互にきびしく使ってはならない。

47 あなたと共いる寄留者または旅びとがみ、そのかたわらいるあなたの兄弟が落ちぶれて、あなたと共いるその寄留者、旅びと、または寄留者の一族のひとり身を売った場合、

48 身を売ったでも彼を買いもどすことができる。その兄弟のひとりが彼を買いもどさなければならない。

49 あるいは、おじ、または、おじのが彼を買いもどさなければならない。あるいは一族の近親の者が、彼を買いもどさなければならない。あるいは自分に富ができたならば、自分で買いもどさなければならない。

50 その時、彼は自分の身を売った年からヨベルの年までを、その買い主と共に数え、その年数によって、身の代金を決めなければならない。その年数は雇われた年数として数えなければならない。

51 なお残りの年が多い時は、その年数にしたがい、買われた金額に照して、あがないの金を払わなければならない。

52 またヨベルの年までに残りの年が少なければ、その人と共に計算し、その年数にしたがって、あがないの金を払わなければならない。

53 彼は年々雇われる人のように扱われなければならない。あなたのの前で彼をきびしく使わせてはならない。

54 もし彼がこのようにしてあがなわれないならば、ヨベルの年に彼は供と共に出て行くことができる。

55 イスラエルの人々は、わたしのしもべだからである。彼らはわたしがエジプトから導き出したわたしのしもべである。わたしはあなたがたのである。

   

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Arcana Coelestia #8002

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8002. 'A stranger and a hired servant shall not eat it' means that those who are prompted by a merely natural inclination to do good, and those who do it for the sake of gain, shall not be together with them. This is clear from the meaning of 'a stranger' as those who are prompted to do good by a merely natural inclination, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'a hired servant' as those who do good for the sake of gain, also dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'not eating it' as not being together with them, dealt with immediately above in 8001. 'A stranger' means those who are prompted by a merely natural inclination to do good because strangers were newcomers from other peoples. They were inhabitants, dwelling with the Israelites and Jews in one house; and 'dwelling with' means sharing in the same good. But since, as has just been said, they were from peoples outside the Church the good that is meant is not a kind of good that is prominent in the Church but is the kind to be found outside the Church. And this is called natural good because it is a product of the hereditary inclinations that a person is born with. With some people such good may also be the product of poor health or debility of mind. This is what one should understand when the good done by those meant by 'strangers' is mentioned.

[2] This kind of good is completely different from the good prominent in the Church, for by means of the Church's kind of good conscience is established in a person; and conscience is the level on which the angels come in and which brings him into company with them. Natural good cannot provide any such level for angels to enter. Those whose good is natural do good in the dark, led by blind instinct, not in the light of truth, under the influence of heaven. In the next life therefore they are carried away like chaff by the wind, by anyone and everyone, whether evil or good, but especially by an evil person who knows how to add a certain amount of charm and persuasion to his arguments. Nor can angels at this time guide them away, for angels operate through the truths and forms of the good of faith; they enter in on the level formed within a person out of those truths and forms of the good of faith. From all this it is evident that those who are prompted by a merely natural inclination to do good cannot be integrated among angels. Regarding these people and their lot in the next life, see 3470, 3471, 3518, 4988, 4992, 5032, 6208, 7197.

[3] The fact that 'strangers' are those who are not in their own land nor in their own house but are those staying in a foreign land is clear in Moses,

The land shall [not] be sold outright, for the land is Mine; but you are sojourners and strangers with Me. Leviticus 25:23.

In David,

Hear my prayers, O Jehovah; do not be silent at my tears. For I am a sojourner with You, a stranger as all my fathers were. Psalms 39:12.

And in the Book of Genesis,

Abraham said to the sons of Heth, I am a sojourner and a stranger among you; give me possession of a grave. Genesis 13:3-4.

'A sojourner', like 'a stranger', means a newcomer and inhabitant from another land; but 'a sojourner' means those who were taught and accepted the Church's truths, whereas those who were not taught them because they were unwilling to accept them are meant by 'strangers'.

[4] As for hired servants, they were people who worked for wages; they were servants, but not ones who had been bought. The fact that they were called 'hired', see Leviticus 19:13; 25:4-6; Deuteronomy 24:14-15. Because hired servants were those who worked for wages they mean in the internal sense those who do good for the sake of gain in the world, and in a yet more internal sense those who do good for the sake of reward in the next life, thus those who wish to earn merit through works.

[5] Those who do good solely for the sake of gain in the world cannot possibly be integrated among angels, since their final objective for doing it is the world, that is, affluence and prestige, not heaven, that is, the blessedness and happiness of their souls. The final objective is what gives direction to actions and what gives them their specific character. Those who do good solely for the sake of gain are described by the Lord as follows in John,

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life 1 for the sheep. But a hired servant, he who is not the shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them, and scatters the sheep. But the hired servant flees because he is a hired servant. John 10:11-13.

And in Jeremiah,

A very beautiful heifer was Egypt; destruction has come from the north. Her hired servants are like calves of the stall, 2 for they also have turned about, fled away together, and not made a stand, because the day of their ruin has come upon them. Jeremiah 46:20-21.

[6] A law forbidding strangers and hired servants to share in holy things along with those belonging to the Church is stated in Moses as follows,

No outsider shall eat what is holy; a stranger staying with a priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat what is holy. Leviticus 22:10.

And a law which allowed people to buy from the sons of strangers slaves who would serve them for evermore appears in the same book,

You shall buy a male or a female slave from the nations that are around you. And also from the sons of strangers sojourning among you - from them you shall buy, and from their families which are with you, even if they were born in your land, in order that they may be your possession. And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to inherit as a possession. Forever you shall be their masters. Leviticus 25:44-46.

'The sons of strangers' means factual knowledge acquired with the aid of merely natural light. The necessity for spiritual truths to dominate that knowledge is meant by the law that slaves should be bought from the sons of strangers as possessions for evermore.

[7] People however who do good for the sake of reward in the next life, people who are also meant by 'hired servants', differ from those spoken about immediately above, in that they have life and happiness in heaven as their final objective. But this objective turns and alters the direction of their Divine worship away from the Lord towards themselves, as a consequence of which they want things to go well only for themselves, not for others except insofar as these want the same for them. When this is so self-love resides in their every desire, not love of the neighbour; that is, they do not have any genuine charity. Nor can these people be integrated among angels, for angels utterly loathe both the word and the notion of reward or repayment. The Lord teaches in Luke that one ought to do what is good without reward as the objective,

Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing from it; then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest. Luke 6:32-35; 14:12-14.

Regarding the nature of good deeds performed to earn merit, see 1110, 1111, 1774, 1835, 1877, 2027, 2273, 2340, 2373, 2400, 3816, 4007 (end), 4174, 4943, 6388-6390, 6392, 6393, 6478.

[8] The reason why the Lord says so many times that those who do good will have their reward in heaven - as in Matthew 5:11-12; 6:1-2, 26; 10:41-42; 20:1-16; Mark 9:41; Luke 6:23, 35; 14:14; John 4:36 - is that before a person has been regenerated he cannot help thinking about reward. But it is different once he has been regenerated. Then he is indignant if anyone thinks that he does good to his neighbour for the sake of reward; for he feels delight and bliss in the doing of good, but not in repayment. In the internal sense 'reward' is the delight belonging to the affection that goes with charity, see 3816, 3956, 6388, 6478.

Notes de bas de page:

1. literally, soul

2. i.e. mercenaries who are like fat bulls

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

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Arcana Coelestia #3816

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3816. 'Should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your reward be?' means that there must be a means by which they are joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'serving for nothing' as without any binding agreement, and from the meaning of 'reward' as the means by which they were joined together. The expression 'reward' is used frequently in the Word, and in the places where it occurs nothing else is meant in the internal sense than a means by which things are joined together. The reason for this is that angels utterly refuse to listen to any talk of reward being due on account of anything in themselves. Indeed they utterly loathe the very idea of a reward for the sake of any good or good action. For they know that with everyone the proprium, or that which is his own, is nothing but evil, and this being so, that whatever they do from the proprium or what is their own would hold the reverse of any reward within it. Angels also know that all good originates in the Lord, and that it flows in from Him, and solely out of mercy. Thus it is not on account of that which begins in themselves that they think about reward; indeed good itself ceases to be good when there is thought of reward on account of it, for a selfish end in view then instantly attaches itself. And to the extent this end attaches itself it introduces a denial that good originates in the Lord and is imparted out of mercy. This therefore removes the influx of good and consequently removes heaven and the blessedness present in good and in the affection for good. The affection for good, that is, love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, includes blessing and happiness within it. These are present in the affection or love itself. Doing something for reasons of affection and the blessing it brings and doing it at the same time for the sake of reward are utterly contrary motives. This is why angels do not perceive any reward at all when reward is mentioned in the Word but that which the Lord grants them for nothing and out of mercy.

[2] But reward serves as a means to join together in the case of those who have not yet reached that point; for those who have not yet been brought into good and the affection for it, that is, who are not yet wholly regenerate, inevitably think of reward as well; for they do not do the good they do from an affection for good but from an affection for their own blessedness and happiness, and at the same time from fear of hell. But when a person is being regenerated this is reversed and becomes an affection for good. And when it is an affection for good he no longer has reward in view.

[3] This may be illustrated from aspects of public life. Someone who loves his country and is so governed by an affection for it that he desires out of goodwill to further its welfare would be hurt if prevented from doing so and would plead to be given an opportunity to further its welfare. For such is the object of his affection and consequently of his desire and blessedness. Indeed such a person receives honours and is promoted to important positions because these are the means by which he serves his country even though those honours and positions are called rewards. But people who have no affection for their country, only for themselves and for the world, act for the sake of position and wealth, which are also their ends in view. Such people put themselves before their country, that is, their own good before the common good, and in comparison with the others are sordid. And yet more than all others they want it to be seen that they do what they do from a love that is sincere. But when they think about this on their own they deny that anyone acts from such love, and are amazed that anyone is able to do so. Those whose attitude during their lifetime is such towards their country or the public good have the same attitude in the next life towards the Lord's kingdom, for a person's affection or love follows him, since affection or love constitute the life of everyone.

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