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Daniel 11

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1 `And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, my standing [is] for a strengthener, and for a stronghold to him;

2 and, now, truth I declare to thee, Lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirreth up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan.

3 And a mighty king hath stood, and he hath ruled a great dominion, and hath done according to his will;

4 and according to his standing is his kingdom broken, and divided to the four winds of the heavens, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion that he ruled, for his kingdom is plucked up -- and for others apart from these.

5 `And a king of the south -- even of his princes -- doth become strong, and doth prevail against him, and hath ruled; a great dominion [is] his dominion.

6 `And at the end of years they do join themselves together, and a daughter of the king of the south doth come in unto the king of the north to do upright things; and she doth not retain the power of the arm; and he doth not stand, nor his arm; and she is given up, she, and those bringing her in, and her child, and he who is strengthening her in [these] times.

7 `And [one] hath stood up from a branch of her roots, [in] his station, and he cometh in unto the bulwark, yea, he cometh into a stronghold of the king of the south, and hath wrought against them, and hath done mightily;

8 and also their gods, with their princes, with their desirable vessels of silver and gold, into captivity he bringeth [into] Egypt; and he doth stand more years than the king of the north.

9 `And the king of the south hath come into the kingdom, and turned back unto his own land;

10 and his sons stir themselves up, and have gathered a multitude of great forces, and he hath certainly come in, and overflowed, and passed through, and he turneth back, and they stir themselves up unto his stronghold.

11 And the king of the south doth become embittered, and hath gone forth and fought with him, with the king of the north, and hath caused a great multitude to stand, and the multitude hath been given into his hand,

12 and he hath carried away the multitude, his heart is high, and he hath caused myriads to fall, and he doth not become strong.

13 `And the king of the north hath turned back, and hath caused a multitude to stand, greater than the first, and at the end of the times a second time he doth certainly come in with a great force, and with much substance;

14 and in those times many do stand up against the king of the south, and sons of the destroyers of thy people do lift themselves up to establish the vision -- and they have stumbled.

15 `And the king of the north cometh in, and poureth out a mount, and hath captured fenced cities; and the arms of the south do not stand, nor the people of his choice, yea, there is no power to stand.

16 And he who is coming unto him doth according to his will, and there is none standing before him; and he standeth in the desirable land, and [it is] wholly in his hand.

17 And he setteth his face to go in with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; and he hath wrought, and the daughter of women he giveth to him, to corrupt her; and she doth not stand, nor is for him.

18 `And he turneth back his face to the isles, and hath captured many; and a prince hath caused his reproach of himself to cease; without his reproach he turneth [it] back to him.

19 And he turneth back his face to the strongholds of his land, and hath stumbled and fallen, and is not found.

20 `And stood up on his station hath [one] causing an exactor to pass over the honour of the kingdom, and in a few days he is destroyed, and not in anger, nor in battle.

21 `And stood up on his station hath a despicable one, and they have not given unto him the honour of the kingdom, and he hath come in quietly, and hath strengthened the kingdom by flatteries.

22 And the arms of the flood are overflowed from before him, and are broken; and also the leader of the covenant.

23 And after they join themselves unto him, he worketh deceit, and hath increased, and hath been strong by a few of the nation.

24 Peaceably even into the fertile places of the province He cometh, and he hath done that which his fathers did not, nor his fathers' fathers; prey, and spoil, and substance, to them he scattereth, and against fenced places he deviseth his devices, even for a time.

25 `And he stirreth up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great force, and the king of the south stirreth himself up to battle with a very great and mighty force, and standeth not, for they devise devices against him,

26 and those eating his portion of food destroy him, and his force overfloweth, and fallen have many wounded.

27 `And both of the kings' hearts [are] to do evil, and at one table they speak lies, and it doth not prosper, for yet the end [is] at a time appointed.

28 And he turneth back [to] his land with great substance, and his heart [is] against the holy covenant, and he hath wrought, and turned back to his land.

29 At the appointed time he turneth back, and hath come against the south, and it is not as the former, and as the latter.

30 And ships of Chittim have come in against him, and he hath been pained, and hath turned back, and hath been insolent toward the holy covenant, and hath wrought, and turned back, and he understandeth concerning those forsaking the holy covenant.

31 And strong ones out of him stand up, and have polluted the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual [sacrifice], and appointed the desolating abomination.

32 And those acting wickedly [against] the covenant, he defileth by flatteries; and the people knowing their God are strong, and have wrought.

33 And the teachers of the people give understanding to many; and they have stumbled by sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil -- days.

34 And in their stumbling, they are helped -- a little help, and joined to them have been many with flatteries.

35 And some of the teachers do stumble for refining by them, and for purifying, and for making white -- till the end of the time, for [it is] yet for a time appointed.

36 `And the king hath done according to his will, and exalteth himself, and magnifieth himself against every god, and against the God of gods he speaketh wonderful things, and hath prospered till the indignation hath been completed, for that which is determined hath been done.

37 And unto the God of his fathers he doth not attend, nor to the desire of women, yea, to any God he doth not attend, for against all he magnifieth himself.

38 And to the god of strongholds, on his station, he giveth honour; yea, to a god whom his fathers knew not he giveth honour, with gold, and with silver, and with precious stone, and with desirable things.

39 And he hath dealt in the fortresses of the strongholds with a strange god whom he hath acknowledged; he multiplieth honour, and hath caused them to rule over many, and the ground he apportioneth at a price.

40 `And at the time of the end, push himself forward with him doth a king of the south, and storm against him doth a king of the north, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he hath come in to the lands, and hath overflowed, and passed over,

41 and hath come into the desirable land, and many do stumble, and these escape from his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.

42 `And he sendeth forth his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt is not for an escape;

43 and he hath ruled over treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim and Cushim [are] at his steps.

44 `And reports trouble him out of the east and out of the north, and he hath gone forth in great fury to destroy, and to devote many to destruction;

45 and he planteth the tents of his palace between the seas and the holy desirable mountain, and hath come unto his end, and there is no helper to him.

   

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Apocalypse Explained #718

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718. Verse 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, signifies the falsification and adulteration of all truths of the Word. This is evident from the signification of "drawing with the tail," as being, in reference to "the dragon," falsification and adulteration (of which presently); also from the signification of "the third part," which means all, and is predicated of truths (See above, n. 384, 506); and from the signification of the "stars of heaven," as being the knowledges of truth and good from the Word (See also above, n. 72, 402), thus also truths, for the knowledges of truth and good are the truths of the natural man, from which the rational and spiritual man has intelligence. From this it is evident that "to draw with the tail the third part of the stars of heaven" signifies in reference to the dragon to falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word. Such is the signification because "the dragon" means in general all who acknowledge the Word and read it and yet do not live according to it, and this because they separate life, which is charity, from faith, and believe that it is sufficient merely to think those things that are in the Word, and to persuade themselves that they are saved by thinking and talking about certain things from the Word with trust and confidence, and that faith alone justifies and saves, and not anything of life or work. (That such are meant by "the dragon" may be seen above, n. 714.) To confirm their dogmas from the Word they bring forward passages in which faith is mentioned and in which faith is treated of; but the passages in which charity and love are mentioned, and doing is spoken of, they pervert by applying them to faith alone, and thus they falsify the Word, which from beginning to end is the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor. This falsification and adulteration of the truths of the Word is meant by "drawing down with the tail the third part [of the stars] of heaven." This is the meaning of these words because the tail is a continuation of the brain through the spine of the back, of which it is an appendage; thus the tail is moved by the head and the body according to the desires and appetites of the natural man; the movements of the tail, therefore, are effects flowing from the delights of the loves in which the sensual man is, and the loves of the sensual man falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word. (That the "tail" signifies the sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural man, may be seen above, n. 559.) Whether it is said that the loves of the sensual man falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word or that the sensual does this, it is the same, for the sensual loves to live for the body and for the world, thus according to its own nature; and this life it feels, but it does not feel the interior life, therefore it denies that life.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #9406

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9406. 'And under His feet' means the lowest level of meaning, which is that of the letter itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, dealt with in 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, so that the soles under the feet are the lowest things in the natural order. The reason why the lowest level of meaning in the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is meant here by 'under the feet' is that these words refer to Divine Truth or the Word, which comes from the Lord and is the Lord, as may be recognized from what has come before. And the lowest level of God's truth or the Word is the Word as it exists in the sense of the letter, that is, the natural sense since it is intended for the natural man. The fact that the sense of the letter contains an internal sense, which in comparison is spiritual and heavenly, is clear from all those things which have been shown up to now regarding the Word. But the more worldly- and bodily-minded a person is, the less he understands this, because he does not allow himself to be raised into spiritual light and from there to see what the Word is like, namely that in the letter it is natural and in the internal sense is spiritual. For it is possible to see from the spiritual world or the light of heaven what lower things down to the lowest are like, but not from below upwards, 9401 (end), and so to see that the Word in the letter is as described above.

[2] Since the Word in the letter is natural, and natural things are meant by 'the feet', the lowest level of the Word, like the lowest of the Church, is called 'the place of Jehovah's feet', also 'His footstool', 1 as well as 'clouds and darkness' in comparison, as in Isaiah,

They will keep Your gates open continually, to bring to You the army 2 of the nations, and their kings in procession. 3 The glory of Lebanon will come to You, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:11, 13.

This refers to the Lord and to His kingdom and Church. 'The army of the nations' is used to mean those with whom forms of the good of faith exist, and 'kings' to mean those with whom the truths of faith are present. For the meaning of 'nations' as those with whom forms of the good of faith exist, see 1259, 1328, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005, and for that of 'kings' as those with whom truths are present, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148. 'The glory of Lebanon', or the cedar, is spiritual good and truth; 'the fir, the pine, and the box tree' are corresponding, natural forms of good and truth; 'the place of the sanctuary' is heaven and the Church, and the Word as well; 'the place of the feet' is heaven, the Church, and the Word as well, on their lowest levels. The reason why the Word as well is meant is that heaven is heaven, and the Church likewise the Church, by virtue of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, and Divine Truth which makes the Church and heaven is the Word. This also explains why the inmost part of the tent in which the ark containing the law was is called 'the sanctuary'; for 'the law' is the Word, 6752. In the same prophet,

The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Isaiah 66:1.

[3] In David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at His footstool. Holy is He! Moses and Aaron were among His priests; He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. Psalms 99:5-7.

'Jehovah's footstool' which they were to worship at is Divine Truth on its lowest levels, thus the Word. 'Moses and Aaron' in the representative sense are the Word, see 7089, 7382, 9373, 9374, and 'cloud' is the Word in the letter or Divine Truth on its lowest levels, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8781; and from all this it is evident what 'speaking in the pillar of cloud' means.

[4] In the same author,

We heard of Him in Ephrathah, we found Him in the fields of the wood. We will enter His dwelling-places, and we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:6-7.

This refers to the Lord and the revelation of Himself in the Word. 'Finding Him in Ephrathah' means doing so in the spiritual-celestial sense of the Word, 4585, 4594, 'in the fields of the wood' in the natural or literal sense of the Word, 3220, 9011 (end). 'Footstool' stands for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, as it exists on the lowest levels of the Word.

[5] In the same author,

Jehovah bowed heaven, and thick darkness was under His feet. He made darkness His hiding-place - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. From the brightness before Him His clouds passed away. Psalms 18:9, 11-12.

This refers to the Lord's coming and presence in the Word. 'Thick darkness under His feet' stands for the sense of the letter of the Word, as does 'darkness of waters' and 'clouds of the heavens'. The fact that this very sense holds within itself Divine Truth as this exists in the heavens is meant by 'He made darkness His hiding-place'; and the fact that at the presence of the Lord the internal sense then appears, as it exists in heaven, and in its glory, is meant by 'from the brightness before Him His clouds pass away'. In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here also 'the clouds' stands for the Word in the sense of the letter, which is also meant by 'storm and tempest', in which 'the way of Jehovah' lies.

[6] When God's truth as it is in heaven shines through for a person in the actual sense of the letter, this sense is then portrayed as 'the feet', which have a shine 'like that of burnished bronze', as also in Daniel,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a Man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and His body was like tarshish; 4 and His face was like the appearance 5 of lightning, and His eyes were like fiery torches; His arms and His feet were like the shine of burnished bronze, and the sound of His words like the sound of a crowd. Daniel 10:5-6.

Here 'a Man clothed in linen' is used to mean in the highest sense the Lord; and since the Lord is meant it is also used to mean Divine Truth emanating from Him. For Divine Truth that emanates from the Lord is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the Church. God's truth or the Lord on lowest levels is meant by 'arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze', and also by 'the sound of His words like the sound of a crowd'; and something similar is meant in Ezekiel 1:7.

[7] The successive state of the Church on this planet so far as reception of God's truth emanating from the Lord is concerned is also meant by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel,

The head of the statue was gold, its breast and its arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, its feet were partly iron and partly clay which did not cohere with each other. And the stone cut out of the rock smashed to pieces the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Daniel 2:32-35, 43, 45.

The first state of the Church so far as reception of God's truth emanating from the Lord is concerned is 'the gold', because 'gold' means celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 8932. The second state is meant by 'the silver', this being spiritual good, which is the good of faith in the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, 1551, 2954, 5658, 7999. The third state is meant by 'the bronze', which is natural good, 425, 1551. And the fourth state is meant by 'the iron', which is natural truth, 425, 426. 'The clay' means falsity, which does not cohere with truth and good. The smashing to pieces of the iron, bronze, silver, and gold by the stone cut out of the rock means the destruction of the Church so far as reception of truth from the Word is concerned when the sense of the letter of the Word is used to reinforce falsity and evil. This happens when the Church is in its final state, at which time it is no longer governed by any heavenly love, only by worldly and bodily love. This was how it was with the Word so far as reception of it among the Jewish nation was concerned when the Lord came into the world. And it is how it is with the Word among the majority at the present day. They are not even aware that there is anything inwardly present in the Word; and if they were told that there is and what it is like they would not accept it. Yet in most ancient times, which are meant by 'the gold', people saw within the sense of the letter of the Word nothing apart from what was heavenly, almost independently of the letter.

From all this it may now be recognized that 'the God of Israel' and what was seen 'under His feet' means the Word on its lowest level of meaning, which is the sense of the letter.

Notes de bas de page:

1. literally, the stool of His feet

2. Though the Hebrew word means army it may be rendered alternatively as strength or as wealth. Most English versions of the Scriptures prefer one of these.

3. literally, their kings will be led

4. A Hebrew word for a particular kind of precious stone, possibly a beryl.

5. literally, the face

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