The Bible

 

Genesis 3

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1 Had pak byl nejchytřejší ze všech živočichů polních, kteréž byl učinil Hospodin Bůh. A ten řekl ženě: Tak-liž jest, že vám Bůh řekl: Nebudete jísti z každého stromu rajského?

2 I řekla žena hadu: Ovoce stromů rajských jíme;

3 Ale o ovoci stromu, kterýž jest u prostřed ráje, řekl Bůh: Nebudete ho jísti, aniž se ho dotknete, abyste nezemřeli.

4 I řekl had ženě: Nikoli nezemřete smrtí!

5 Ale Bůh, že v kterýkoli den z něho jísti budete, otevrou se oči vaše; a budete jako bohové, vědouce dobré i zlé.

6 Viduci tedy žena, že dobrý jest strom k jídlu i příjemný očima, a k nabytí rozumnosti strom žádostivý, vzala z ovoce jeho a jedla; dala také i muži svému s sebou, a on jedl.

7 Tedy otevříny jsou oči obou dvou, a poznali, že jsou nazí; i navázali lístí fíkového a nadělali sobě věníků.

8 A v tom uslyšeli hlas Hospodina Boha chodícího po ráji k větru dennímu; i skryl se Adam a žena jeho před tváří Hospodina Boha, u prostřed stromoví rajského.

9 I povolal Hospodin Bůh Adama, a řekl jemu: Kdež jsi?

10 Kterýžto řekl: Hlas tvůj slyšel jsem v ráji a bál jsem se, že jsem nahý; protož skryl jsem se.

11 I řekl Bůh: Kdožť oznámil, že jsi nahý? Nejedl-lis ale z toho stromu, z něhožť jsem jísti zapověděl?

12 I řekl Adam: Žena, kterouž jsi mi dal, aby byla se mnou, ona mi dala z stromu toho, a jedl jsem.

13 I řekl Hospodin Bůh ženě: Což jsi to učinila? I řekla žena: Had mne podvedl, i jedla jsem.

14 Tedy řekl Hospodin Bůh hadu: Že jsi to učinil, zlořečený budeš nade všecka hovada a nade všecky živočichy polní; po břiše svém plaziti se budeš, a prach žráti budeš po všecky dny života svého.

15 Nad to, nepřátelství položím mezi tebou a mezi ženou, i mezi semenem tvým a semenem jejím; ono potře tobě hlavu, a ty potřeš jemu patu.

16 Ženě pak řekl: Velice rozmnožím bolesti tvé a počínání tvá, s bolestí roditi budeš děti, a pod mocí muže tvého bude žádost tvá, a on panovati bude nad tebou.

17 Adamovi také řekl: Že jsi uposlechl hlasu ženy své, a jedl jsi z stromu toho, kterýžť jsem zapověděl, řka: Nebudeš jísti z něho; zlořečená země pro tebe, s bolestí jísti budeš z ní po všecky dny života svého.

18 Trní a bodláčí tobě ploditi bude, i budeš jísti byliny polní.

19 V potu tváři své chléb jísti budeš, dokavadž se nenavrátíš do země, poněvadž jsi z ní vzat. Nebo prach jsi a v prach se navrátíš.

20 Dal pak byl Adam jméno ženě své Eva, proto že ona byla mátě všech živých.

21 I zdělal Hospodin Bůh Adamovi a ženě jeho oděv kožený, a přioděl je.

22 Tedy řekl Hospodin Bůh: Aj, člověk učiněn jest jako jeden z nás, věda dobré i zlé; pročež nyní, aby nevztáhl ruky své, a nevzal také z stromu života, a jedl by, i byl by živ na věky, vyžeňme jej.

23 I vypustil jej Hospodin Bůh z zahrady Eden, aby dělal zemi, z níž vzat byl.

24 A tak vyhnal člověka a osadil zahradu Eden cherubíny k východní straně s mečem plamenným blýskajícím se, aby ostříhali cesty k stromu života.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #7418

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7418. 'And strike the dust of the land' means that he should remove those things in the natural which are damned. This is clear from the meaning of 'striking' as removing; from the meaning of 'the dust' as that which is damned, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the land', at this point the land of Egypt, as the natural mind, dealt with above in 7409. The reason why 'the dust' means that which is damned is that the places on the fringes below the soles of the feet, where evil spirits are, look like a land. They look like an uncultivated and dry land, to be exact, below which there are certain kinds of hells. That land is what is called the damned land, and the dust there serves to mean that which is damned. I have been allowed on several occasions to see evil spirits shaking off the dust there from their feet when they wished to consign someone to damnation. I saw them doing this in a position on the right slightly in front of me, on the borders of the hell of magicians, where spirits who during their life in the world have possessed a knowledge of matters of belief, but have nevertheless led a life of evil, are cast down into the hell that is theirs. This then is why 'the dust' means that which is damned, and 'shaking off the dust' damnation.

[2] Since it had that meaning the Lord commanded the disciples to shake off the dust on their feet if they were not well received. What He said about this appears in Matthew as follows,

If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake off the dust on your feet. Truly I say to you, It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that city. Matthew 10:14-15; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5; 10:10-12.

Here the disciples are not meant by the disciples but all aspects of the Church, thus all aspects of faith and charity, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3354, 3858, 3913, 6397. 'Not receiving' and 'not listening to' mean rejecting the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity, while 'shaking off the dust on their feet' means damnation. And the reason why 'it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than that city' is that 'Sodom and Gomorrah' is used to mean those who lead a life of evil but have known nothing about the Lord and the Word, and so could not be receptive. From this it may become clear that a house or a city unreceptive of the disciples is not meant, but those who though they are within the Church do not lead the life of faith. Anyone may see that an entire city could not be damned for not receiving the disciples and instantly accepting the new teaching proclaimed by them.

[3] That which is damned is also meant by 'the dust' which people in former times placed on their heads in grief or when penitent, as in Jeremiah,

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, they are silent; they have caused dust to come up over their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have caused their heads to come down to the ground. Lamentations 2:10.

In Ezekiel,

They will cry out bitterly, and will cause dust to come up over their heads; they roll themselves in ashes. Ezekiel 27:30.

In Micah,

Do not weep at all in the house of Aphrah; roll yourself in the dust. Micah 1:10.

In John,

They threw dust onto their heads, and cried out, weeping and wailing. Revelation 18:19.

The same actions are referred to throughout the historical narratives of the Word. Casting dust over the head, prostrating body and head on the ground, and rolling over in the dust on it, represented self-abasement, which - when it is genuine - is such that the person acknowledges and perceives that he is damned, yet is rescued from damnation by the Lord, see 1327, 3994, 4347, 5420, 5957.

[4] The dust' into which the golden calf which they made in the wilderness was crushed and ground down likewise means that which is damned. This is spoken of in Moses as follows,

I took your sin which you had made, the calf, and I burnt it in the fire, and crushed it by grinding it right down until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook descending out of the mountain. Deuteronomy 9:11.

'Dust' again means that which is damned in the following places: In Genesis,

Jehovah God said to the serpent, On your belly you will go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life. Genesis 3:14.

In Micah,

Shepherd Your people as in the days of eternity. The nations will see and be ashamed at all their power; they will lick the dust like a serpent. Micah 7:14, 16-17.

In Isaiah,

For the serpent, dust will be his bread. Isaiah 65:25.

In the same prophet,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel. Isaiah 47:1.

In David,

Our soul was bowed down to the dust, our belly clung to the earth. Psalms 44:25.

In the same author,

My soul clings to the dust; vivify me. Psalms 119:25.

In the Word 'dust' in addition means the grave, as well as that which is lowly, and that which is numerous too.

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