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2 Mose 2:20

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20 Er sprach zu seinen Töchtern: Wo ist er? Warum habt ihr den Mann gelassen, daß ihr ihn nicht ludet, mit uns zu essen?

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #6750

Studere hoc loco

  
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6750. 'And she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter' means an affection for factual knowledge. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh's daughter' as a kind of religion, dealt with in 6729, but here as an affection for factual knowledge. For a third state is what this verse describes, and at this point 'daughter' means an affection, 2362, 3963, while 'Pharaoh' means factual knowledge in general, 6015, so that 'Pharaoh's daughter' means an affection for factual knowledge. This is also evident from the train of thought in the internal sense, for since Moses represents the Lord in respect of the law of God, he could not have been brought to Pharaoh's daughter and been a son to her if she meant the kind of religion that was practised, as she had done previously. Furthermore factual knowledge is what those who are being regenerated must learn first, for that knowledge is the groundwork for things that compose the understanding, and the understanding is what receives the truth of faith, 6125, and the truth of faith what receives the good of charity. From this it may be seen that factual knowledge constitutes the first level to be laid down when a person is being regenerated.

[2] Factual knowledge also constituted the first level to be laid down in the Lord when He made His Human Divine Truth or the Divine Law. This is what is meant by the Lord's being taken to Egypt when He was a young child, Matthew 2:13-14, and so by the prophecy in Hosea,

Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Hosea 11:1; Matthew 1:15.

It has been shown quite a number of times that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge. By factual knowledge however one should understand not secular knowledge but knowledge that the Church possesses, regarding which see 4749, 4964-4966, 6004. The latter kind of knowledge is also what is meant by 'Egypt' in the genuine sense. As regards its providing the level to be laid down first, see 5901.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #886

Studere hoc loco

  
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886. That 'olive' means the good that stems from charity is clear not only from the meaning of 'olive' but also from the meaning of 'oil' in the Word. Olive oil in addition to spices was used to anoint priests and kings, and it was also used in the lamps. Concerning the former, see Exodus 30:24, and the latter, Exodus 27:20. The reason olive oil was used in anointing and in lamps was that it represented everything celestial and so everything good that stems from love and charity. Oil is in fact the essential element of the tree, its soul so to speak, as the celestial or the good that stems from love and charity is the essential element or soul itself of faith. This is the origin of its representation. That 'oil' means that which is celestial or the good that stems from love and charity may be confirmed from many places in the Word, but since the olive itself is referred to here, let some that confirm the meaning solely of the olive be quoted. In Jeremiah,

Jehovah called your name, Green Olive Tree, fair with shapely fruit. Jeremiah 11:16.

The name given here applies to the Most Ancient or celestial Church, which was the basis of the Jewish Church. Consequently all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through the latter to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea,

His branches will go out and his beauty will be like the olive, and his smell like that of Lebanon. Hosea 14:6.

This refers to the Church that is to be established. Its beauty is 'the olive', that is, the good that stems from love and charity, while 'the smell like that of Lebanon' is resulting affection for the truth of faith. 'Lebanon' stands for its cedars, which meant spiritual things, or the truths of faith.

In Zechariah,

Two olive trees beside the lampstand, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left of it. These are the two sons of pure oil, standing beside the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14.

Here 'the two olive trees' stands for the celestial and the spiritual, and so for love which belongs to the celestial Church and for charity which belongs to the spiritual Church. These stand to the right and to the left of the Lord. 'The lampstand' here means the Lord, just as it used to represent Him in the Jewish Church. 'The lamps' are celestial things from which spiritual things radiate like rays of light, or light itself, from a flame. In David,

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your sons will be like olive shoots. Psalms 128:3.

Here 'a wife like a vine' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'sons' stands for the truths of faith which are called 'olive shoots' because they stem from the goods of charity. In Isaiah,

Gleanings will be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries on the top of the [highest] branch. Isaiah 17:6.

This refers to the remnants residing with a person. 'Olives' stands for celestial remnants. In Micah,

You will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and tread the new wine but not drink wine. Micah 6:15.

And in Moses,

You will plant and dress vineyards but not drink wine. You will have olive trees within all your borders but not anoint yourself with oil. Deuteronomy 28:39-40.

The subject here is the abundance of doctrinal detail concerning the goods and truths of faith which they rejected because of the kind of people they were. From these quotations it becomes clear that 'a leaf' means the truth of faith and 'olive' the good that stems from charity. And similar things are meant by 'the olive leaf which the dove was carrying in its mouth', that is, a small measure of the truth of faith deriving from the good that stems from charity was now showing itself with the member of the Ancient Church.

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