Bibliorum

 

Micah 2

Study

   

1 Woe to those who think iniquity and work evil on their beds! In the light of the morning they do it, for their own hand is for a god.*

2 And they covet fields, and they take· them ·by·​·robbery; and houses, and carry them away; and they oppress a mighty·​·man and his house, and a man and his inheritance.

3 Therefore thus says Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I reckon evil, from which you shall not withdraw your necks; neither shall you go exaltedly; for it is a time of evil.

4 In that day shall one take·​·up a proverb against you, and lament, lamenting with a lamentation, and say, Being devastated we are devastated! He has altered the partition of my people; how He has withdrawn it from me! Turning·​·back He has partitioned our fields.

5 Therefore thou shalt not have any who shall cast a cord by lot in the assembly of Jehovah.

6 Preach* ye not as they preach; they shall not preach to these; they shall not take·​·away humiliation.

7 It is said of the house of Jacob, Is the spirit of Jehovah shortened, if these are His actions? Do not My words do·​·good to him if he walks uprightly?

8 And yesterday My people have arisen as an enemy on account of raiment; you strip·​·off the magnificent robe* from those who pass·​·by securely, returning from war.

9 The women of My people you have driven·​·out from their delightful houses; with their babes you have taken My honor to eternity.

10 Arise ye, and go; for this is not your rest; on account of it being defiled, it shall hurt you, and the hurt will be·​·grievous.

11 If a man is·​·walking* in spirit and lies by falsity, saying, I will preach* to thee for wine and for strong·​·drink, then he shall be a preacher of this people.

12 Gathering I will gather Jacob, all of thee; bringing·​·together I will bring·​·together what·​·is·​·left of Israel; I will set them as·​·one, as the flock of Bozrah, as the drove in the midst of their fold*; they shall make·​·a·​·noise from man.

13 The breaking·​·off has gone·​·up before them; they have broken·​·off, and have passed·​·through the gate, and have gone·​·out by it: and their king shall pass·​·through before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Commentarius

 

Midst

  

The "midst" of something in the Bible represents the thing that is most central and most important to the spiritual state being described, the motivation that drives everything else. In general this will be something we love or feel, because at the core of things we are what we love; our loves define us.

(Notae: Apocalypse Revealed 44, 90, 268; Arcana Coelestia 2252, 2940, 10153, 10365, 10557, 10635, 10641)

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #8269

Studere hoc loco

  
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8269. '[This is my God,] and I will establish a dwelling-place for Him' means that when He is within good, which originates in Himself, He will be as if in His heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'a dwelling-place', when it has reference to Jehovah or the Lord, as good. The reason why 'the Lord's dwelling-place' means good is that all good has its origin in the Lord; thus good is the Lord's, so completely that one may say it is the Lord. When the Lord dwells within it He dwells within His Divinity. Nor can He dwell anywhere else, according to the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said, If anyone loves Me He keeps My word, and My Father loves him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:23.

Good that springs from God is what 'loving the Lord and keeping His word' describes here; for good comes from love. 'With him', it says, 'They would make Their home', which means within good residing with him. The expression 'as in His heaven' is used because heaven is called God's dwelling-place; and it is called this because good, which originates in the Lord, exists there and constitutes heaven. The Lord is also within the individual person as in His heaven when He is within good there; for the heaven within a person is good, and through good a person is present with angels in heaven. From all this it is now evident that 'I will establish a dwelling-place for Him' means that when He is within good, which originates in Himself, He will be as if in His heaven.

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