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Exodus 16

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1 Så brød de op fra Elim, og hele Israeliternes Menighed kom til Sins Ørken, der ligger mellem Elim og Sinaj, på den femtende Dag i den anden Måned efter deres Udvandring af Ægypten.

2 Men hele Israeliternes Menighed knurrede mod Moses og Aron i Ørkenen,

3 og Israeliterne sagde til dem: "Var vi dog blot døde for HE ENs Hånd i Ægypten, hvor vi sad ved Kødgryderne og kunde spise os mætte i Brød! Thi I har ført os ud i denne Ørken for at lade hele denne Forsamling af Sult."

4 Da sagde HE EN til Moses: "Se, jeg vil lade Brød regne ned fra Himmelen til eder, og Folket skal ud og hver Dag samle så meget, som de daglig behøver, for at jeg kan prøve dem, om de vil følge min Lov eller ej.

5 Og når de på den sjette Ugedag tilbereder, hvad de har bragt hjem, så skal det være dobbelt så meget, som de samler de andre Dage."

6 Og Moses og Aron sagde til alle Israeliterne: "I Aften skal I kende, at det er HE EN, som har ført eder ud af Ægypten,

7 og i Morgen skal I skue HE ENs Herlighed, thi han har hørt eders Knurren mod HE EN; thi hvad er vel vi, at I knurrer mod os!"

8 Og Moses tilføjede: "Det skal ske, når HE EN i Aften giver eder Kød at spise og i Morgen Brød at mætte eder med; thi HE EN har hørt, hvorledes I knurrer mod ham; thi hvad er vi? Thi det er ikke os, I knurrer imod, men HE EN."

9 Derpå sagde Moses til Aron: "Sig til hele Israeliternes Menighed: Træd frem for HE ENs Åsyn, thi han har hørt eders Knurren!"

10 Og da Aron sagde det til hele Israeliternes Menighed, vendte de sig mod Ørkenen, og se, HE ENs Herlighed viste sig i Skyen.

11 Da talede HE EN til Moses og sagde:

12 "Jeg har hørt Israeliternes Knurren; sig til dem: Ved Aftenstid skal I få Kød at spise, og i Morgen tidlig skal I få Brød at mætte eder med, og I skal kende, at jeg er HE EN eders Gud."

13 Da det nu blev Aften, kom en Sværm Vagtler flyvende og faldt i et tykt Lag over Lejren; og næste Morgen lå Duggen tæt rundt om Lejren,

14 og da Duggen svandt, var Ørkenen dækket med noget fint, skælagtigt noget, noget fint der lignede im på Jorden.

15 Da Israeliterne så det, spurgte de hverandre: "Hvad er det?" Thi de vidste ikke, hvad det var; men Moses sagde til dem: "Det er det Brød, HE EN har givet eder til Føde!

16 Og således har HE EN påbudt: I skal samle deraf, enhver så meget som han har behov, en Omer for hvert Hoved; I skal tage deraf i Forhold til Antallet af eders Husfolk, enhver skal tage deraf til dem, der er i hans Telt!"

17 Israeliterne gjorde nu således, og de samlede, nogle mere og andre mindre;

18 og da de målte det med Omeren, havde den, der havde meget, ikke for meget, og den, der havde lidt, ikke for lidt, enhver havde samlet, hvad han behøvede til Føde.

19 Derpå sagde Moses til dem: "Ingen må gemme noget deraf til næste Morgen!"

20 Dog adlød de ikke Moses, og nogle af dem gemte noget deraf til næste Morgen; men da var det fuldt af Orme og lugtede. Da blev Moses vred på dem.

21 Således samlede de nu hver Morgen, enhver så meget som han havde behov. Men når Solen begyndte at brænde, smeltede det.

22 På den sjette Ugedag havde de samlet dobbelt så meget Brød, to Omer for hver Person. Og alle Menighedens Øverster kom og sagde det til Moses;

23 men han sagde til dem: "Det er netop, som HE EN har sagt. I Morgen er det Hviledag, en hellig Sabbat for HE EN. Bag, hvad I vil bage, og kog, hvad I vil koge, men læg det tiloversblevne til Side for at gemme det til i Morgen!"

24 De lagde det da til Side til næste Dag, som Moses havde befalet, og det kom ikke til at lugte, og der gik ikke Orm deri.

25 Derpå sagde Moses: "Det skal I spise i Dag, thi i Dag er det Sabbat for HE EN; i Dag finder I intet ude på Marken.

26 I seks bage skal I samle det, men på den syvende Dag, på Sabbaten, er der intet at finde."

27 Alligevel var der nogle blandt Folket, der gik ud på den syvende Dag for at samle; men de fandt intet.

28 Da sagde HE EN til Moses: "Hvor længe vil I vægre eder ved at holde mine Bud og Love?

29 Betænk dog, at HE EN har givet eder Sabbaten! Derfor giver han eder på den sjette Dag Brød til to Dage. Enhver af eder skal blive, hvor han er, og ingen må forlade sin Bolig på den syvende Dag!"

30 Da hvilede Folket på den syvende Dag.

31 Men Israeliterne kaldte det Manna; det lignede hvide Korianderfrø og smagte som Honningkager.

32 Moses sagde fremdeles: "Således har HE EN påbudt: En Omer fuld deraf skal gemmes til eders Efterkommere, for at de kan se det Brød, jeg gav eder at spise i Ørkenen, da jeg førte eder ud af Ægypten!"

33 Og Moses sagde til Aron: "Tag en Krukke, kom en Omer Manna deri og stil den foran HE ENs Åsyn for at gemmes til eders Efterkommere!"

34 Og Aron gjorde, som HE EN havde pålagt Moses, og han stillede den foran Vidnesbyrdet for at gemmes.

35 Og Israeliterne spiste Manna i fyrretyve År, indtil de kom til beboede Egne; de spiste Manna, indtil de kom til Grænsen af Kana'ans Land.

36 En Omer er Tiendedelen af en Efa.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #618

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618. And it shall make bitter thy belly, signifies that inwardly it was undelightful, because outwardly it was adulterated. This is evident from the signification of "to be bitter" or "bitterness," as meaning undelightful because of adulterated truth (of which presently); and from the signification of the "belly," as meaning what is interior. The "belly" means what is interior, because after this it is said that "in the mouth it was as honey, sweet," and the "mouth" means what is exterior, for what is taken in by the mouth is chewed and passed down into the belly, thus going from the exterior to the interior and entering into the viscera of man; but as to the signification of "belly" it shall be told presently. "Bitter" (or bitterness) signifies what is undelightful because of adulterated truth, and therefore "to make bitter" signifies to render undelightful, because what is sweet becomes bitter and thus undelightful by a mixture with something offensive; from this comes the bitterness of wormwood, gall, and myrrh. Now as "sweet" signifies what is delightful from the good of truth and the truth of good, so "bitter" signifies what is undelightful because of adulterated truth. What is undelightful thence is not perceived and felt as bitter by anyone in the natural world, but by the spirit and angel in the spiritual world; for every adulterated good of truth, when it is changed with them into taste, is clearly perceived as bitter. For spirits and angels equally with men have taste, but the taste of spirits and angels flows forth from a spiritual source, but that of men from a natural source; the taste of bitterness with spirits is from the adulterated truth of good, but with men it is from a mixture of what is sweet with what is offensive. John's sensation of bitterness was also from a spiritual origin, for he was in the spirit, otherwise he could not have eaten the little book. Adulterated truth means the truth of good applied to evil and mixed with its falsity, and this is done when the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are applied to filthy loves, and are thus mixed with evils. This undelightfulness is what is here signified by the bitterness of the belly.

[2] It shall also be told briefly what is meant by what is interior in the Word, that is, the interiors of the Word. The interiors of the Word are the things contained in its internal or spiritual sense; these truths are genuine truths; to these the exterior truths of the Word correspond, which are the truths in the external or natural sense, called the sense of the letter and the literal sense. When the exterior things of the Word, or the truths in the sense of the letter or the literal sense of the Word, are falsified and adulterated, then the interior truths of the Word are falsified and adulterated; for this reason, when a man applies the Word in the sense of the letter to the evils of earthly loves, it becomes undelightful to angels, who are in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, and this undelightfulness is like that of bitterness. From this it can be seen that "the little book would make bitter, and did make bitter, the belly," signifies that the Word was inwardly undelightful. This undelightfulness thus far spoken of is spiritual undelightfulness; but there is also a spiritual-natural undelightfulness that is also meant by this "bitterness," which is that the truth of doctrine inwardly gathered from the sense of the letter of the Word and called its literal sense, is undelightful to those who are in falsities of evil; for this relates to the understanding of the Word by the men of the church at its end, when they are for the most part in falsities from evil; and to such the falsities of evil, confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word, are delightful, 1 but truths confirmed from the literal sense of the Word are undelightful. This, too, is signified by "the little book made bitter the belly, but in the mouth was like honey, sweet."

[3] That "bitter" signifies the truth of good adulterated can also be seen from the Word where "bitter" is mentioned, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto the mighty to drink wine, and to the men of strength to mingle strong drink (Isaiah 5:20, 22).

Evidently good and truth adulterated are here signified by "bitter," for it is said, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness," which signifies the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth; for good is adulterated when "good is called evil and when evil is called good," and truth is falsified when "darkness is put for light and light for darkness," "darkness" meaning falsities, and "light" truths. This makes clear that like things are signified by "putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter," also by "Woe unto the mighty to drink wine, and to the men of strength to mingle strong drink;" "the mighty to drink wine" signify those who adulterate the truth of the Word, and "the men of strength to mingle strong drink" signify those who falsify it, "wine" and "strong drink" meaning the truths of the Word, and "the mighty" and "men of strength" those who excel in ingenuity and skill in adulterating these.

[4] In the same:

The new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish, all the glad in heart shall sigh. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it (Isaiah 24:7, 9).

"The new wine that shall mourn," and "the vine that shall languish," signify the truth of the Word and of the church which has been lost, "new wine" signifying the truth of the Word, and the "vine" the truth of the doctrine of the church; "all the glad in heart shall sigh, and they shall not drink wine with a song," signifies that internal blessedness of mind and felicity of heart will perish because of the loss of the truth of spiritual good; "strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it," signifies the truth of good made undelightful by its falsification and adulteration.

[5] In Moses:

The waters in Marah, that they were unable to drink because of the bitterness, were healed by the wood that was cast into them (Exodus 15:23-25).

"The waters in Marah, that they were unable to drink because of their bitterness," represented truths adulterated, "waters" signifying truths, and "bitterness" adulteration. "Healing them by wood cast into them" represented the good of love and of life dispelling falsity and opening truth, and thus restoring it; for all truth is adulterated by the evil of life and of love, consequently it is opened and restored by the good of love and of life, because all truth is of good, and the good of love is like a fire, from which truth appears in light.

[6] The like is signified by:

The pottage into which the sons of the prophets cast the wild gourds or the bitter wild grapes, and which Elisha healed by casting in meal (2 Kings 4:38-41).

"The pottage into which they cast the bitter gourds" signifies the Word falsified; and the "meal" that was cast in, by which it was healed, signifies truth from good; for the truth that is from good dissipates the falsities from which is falsification.

[7] Because the sons of Jacob perverted all the truths of the Word, and by applying them to themselves and to earthly loves falsified and adulterated them, it is said of them in the song of Moses:

That their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah, and their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are of bitternesses (Deuteronomy 32:32).

A "vine" signifies the church in respect to truth, consequently also the truth of the church; and "the grapes" signify the goods therefrom, which are the goods of charity, and "clusters", the goods of faith; from which it is evident that "clusters of bitternesses" signify the goods of faith adulterated.

[8] In the same:

That the waters of the curse should be given to the wife accused by her husband of adultery, and if she was 2 guilty the waters would become bitternesses in her, and the belly would swell and the thigh fall away (Numbers 5:12-29).

The marriage of man and wife signifies the marriage of truth and good, for love truly conjugial descends from that spiritual marriage; therefore "adultery" signifies the conjunction of falsity and evil, and this was why "if she was guilty the waters became bitternesses," which signifies the adulteration of good; and as the "belly" signified conjugial love, in like manner as the womb, and also the thigh, so "the belly swelled and the thigh fell away," which signifies in the spiritual sense that the conjugial or conjugial love itself, spiritual and natural, had perished; "the womb" or "belly" signifying spiritual conjugial love, and the "thigh" natural conjugial love. From this it can be seen that "bitter" and "bitterness" signify in general the falsification and adulteration of truth and good, and that the various kinds of these are signified by "gall," "wormwood," "myrrh," "wild grapes," "wild gourds," and many others.

Footnotes:

1. Latin has "undelightful," the context calls for "delightful."

2. Latin has "they were," the Hebrew "she was," cf. Arcana Coelestia 3021.

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