The Bible

 

Genesis 3

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1 Aga madu oli kavalam kõigist loomadest väljal, kelle Issand Jumal oli teinud, ja ta ütles naisele: 'Kas Jumal on tõesti öelnud, et te ei tohi süüa mitte ühestki rohuaia puust?'

2 Ja naine vastas maole: 'Me sööme küll rohuaia puude vilja,

3 aga selle puu viljast, mis on keset aeda, on Jumal öelnud: Te ei tohi sellest süüa ega selle külge puutuda, et te ei sureks!'

4 Ja madu ütles naisele: 'Te ei sure, kindlasti mitte,

5 aga Jumal teab, et päeval, mil te sellest sööte, lähevad teie silmad lahti ja te saate Jumala sarnaseks, tundes head ja kurja.'

6 Ja naine nägi, et puust oli hea süüa, ja see tegi ta silmadele himu, ja et puu oli ihaldusväärne, sest see pidi targaks tegema. Siis ta võttis selle viljast ja sõi ning andis ka oma mehele, ja tema sõi.

7 Siis nende mõlema silmad läksid lahti ja nad tundsid endid alasti olevat, ja nad õmblesid viigilehti kokku ning tegid enestele põlled.

8 Ja nad kuulsid Issanda Jumala häält, kes rohuaias sinna ja tänna käis, kui päev viluks läks, ja Aadam ja tema naine peitsid endid Issanda Jumala palge eest rohuaia puude keskele.

9 Ja Issand Jumal hüüdis Aadamat ning ütles temale: 'Kus sa oled?'

10 Ja tema vastas: 'Ma kuulsin su häält rohuaias ja kartsin, sest ma olen alasti. Sellepärast ma peitsin enese ära.'

11 Siis ta küsis: 'Kes on sulle teada andnud, et sa alasti oled? Või oled sa söönud puust, millest ma sind keelasin söömast?'

12 Ja Aadam vastas: 'Naine, kelle sa mulle kaasaks andsid, tema andis mulle puust ja ma sõin.'

13 Ja Issand Jumal küsis naiselt: 'Miks sa seda tegid?' Ja naine vastas: 'Madu pettis mind, ja ma sõin.'

14 Siis Issand Jumal ütles maole: 'Et sa seda tegid, siis ole sa neetud kõigi koduloomade ja kõigi metsloomade seas! Sa pead roomama oma kõhu peal ja põrmu sööma kogu eluaja!

15 Ja ma tõstan vihavaenu sinu ja naise vahele, sinu seemne ja tema seemne vahele, kes purustab su pea, aga kelle kanda sa salvad.'

16 Naisele ta ütles: 'Sinule ma saadan väga palju valu, kui sa lapseootel oled: sa pead valuga lapsi ilmale tooma! Sa himustad küll oma meest, aga tema valitseb su üle.'

17 Aga Aadamale ta ütles: 'Et sa kuulasid oma naise sõna ja sõid puust, millest mina olin sind keelanud, öeldes, et sa ei tohi sellest süüa, siis olgu maapind neetud sinu üleastumise pärast! Vaevaga pead sa sellest sööma kogu eluaja!

18 Ta peab sulle kasvatama kibuvitsu ja ohakaid, ja põllutaimed olgu sulle toiduks!

19 Oma palge higis pead sa leiba sööma, kuni sa jälle mullaks saad, sest sellest sa oled võetud! Tõesti, sa oled põrm ja pead jälle põrmuks saama!'

20 Ja Aadam pani oma naisele nimeks Eeva, sest ta sai kõigi elavate emaks.

21 Ja Issand Jumal tegi Aadamale ja ta naisele nahkriided ning pani neile selga.

22 Ja Issand Jumal ütles: 'Vaata, inimene on saanud nagu üheks meie hulgast, tundes head ja kurja. Aga nüüd, et ta oma kätt ei sirutaks ega võtaks ka elupuust ega sööks ega elaks igavesti!'

23 Siis saatis Issand Jumal tema Eedeni rohuaiast välja, et ta hariks maad, millest ta oli võetud.

24 Ja ta ajas Aadama välja ja pani hommikupoole Eedeni rohuaeda keerubid ja tuleleegina sähviva mõõga, et need valvaksid elupuu teed.

   

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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.