The Bible

 

Lamentatsioonid 2

Study

   

1 Kuidas küll Issand oma vihas kattis pilvedega Siioni tütre! Ta heitis taevast maha Iisraeli ilu ega mõelnud oma jalgade järile oma vihapäeval.

2 Issand hävitas armuta kõik Jaakobi eluasemed; oma vihas lõhkus ta maha Juuda tütre kindlused; ta tegi need maatasa, teotas kuningriigi ja selle vürstid.

3 Oma tulises vihas raius ta maha kõik Iisraeli sarved. Ta tõmbas tagasi oma parema käe vaenlase ees ja süttis Jaakobis otsekui tuleleek, mis põletab ümbruse.

4 Ta vinnastas oma ammu nagu vaenlane, seisis tõstetud parema käega nagu rõhuja ja tappis kõik silmarõõmu Siioni tütre telgis. Ta valas oma raevu välja kui tuld.

5 Issand oli nagu vaenlane, ta hävitas Iisraeli; ta hävitas kõik tema paleed, purustas ta kindlused ja tõi Juuda tütrele hulgana kurvastust ja leina.

6 Ta lammutas oma eluaseme otsekui aia, hävitas oma kogunemispaiga; Issand saatis Siionis unustusse pühad ja hingamispäevad, hülgas oma viha sajatuses kuningad ja preestrid.

7 Issand tõukas ära oma altari, jättis maha oma pühamu, andis vaenlase kätte selle paleede müürid. Issanda kojast kostis kära otsekui pühade ajal.

8 Issand otsustas hävitada Siioni tütre müürid; ta vedas mõõdunööri neist üle ega hoidnud oma kätt tagasi neid hävitamast; ta pani leinama kaitsevalli ja müüri, need varisesid üheskoos.

9 Selle väravad vajusid maasse, ta hävitas ja murdis riivid. Selle kuningas ja vürstid on paganate seas, kus ei ole Seadust, prohvetidki ei saa seal Issandalt nägemust.

10 Vaikides istuvad maas Siioni tütre vanemad: nad on riputanud enesele tuhka pähe, rõivastunud kotiriidesse. Oma pea on painutanud maani Jeruusalemma neitsid.

11 Mu silmad on pisaraist kibedad, mu sisemus käärib, mu maks on valatud maha mu rahva tütre murdumise pärast. Sest linna turgudel on nõrkenud lapsed ja imikud.

12 Nad küsivad emadelt: 'Kus on leib ja vein?', kui nad nõrkevad nagu haavatud linna turgudel, kui nad heidavad hinge oma ema süles.

13 Mida võiksin sulle tunnistada, millega sind võrrelda, Jeruusalemma tütar? Mida võiksin pidada sinu sarnaseks, et sind trööstida, neitsi, Siioni tütar? Sest su purustus on suur nagu meri, kes suudaks sind parandada!

14 Su prohvetid on kuulutanud sulle vääri ja mõttetuid nägemusi; aga nad ei ole paljastanud su süüd, et pöörata su saatust, vaid on sulle ilmutanud petlikke ja eksitavaid ennustusi.

15 Kõik teekäijad löövad sinu pärast käsi kokku, nad vilistavad ja vangutavad pead Jeruusalemma tütre pärast: 'Kas see on linn, mille kohta öeldi: ilu täius, kogu maa rõõm?'

16 Kõik su vaenlased ajavad oma suud ammuli su vastu, nad vilistavad ja kiristavad hambaid, nad ütlevad: 'Me oleme ta neelanud. See on tõesti päev, mida oleme oodanud, nüüd on see käes, me oleme seda näinud.'

17 Issand tegi, mida ta oli otsustanud, tegi tõeks oma sõna, mida ta oli kuulutanud muistsest ajast: ta lõhkus maha ega halastanud, ta laskis vaenlasel su pärast rõõmu tunda, ta kergitas su rõhujate sarve.

18 Nende süda kisendab Issanda poole. Siioni tütre müür, lase pisarail voolata jõena päeval ja öösel! Ära luba enesele lõtvust, ärgu olgu su silmateral rahu!

19 Tõuse, karju öösel vahikordade alguses! Vala oma süda välja kui vesi Issanda palge ette! Tõsta oma käed tema poole oma laste elu pärast, kes on näljast nõrkemas igal tänavanurgal!

20 Vaata, Issand, ja silmitse, kellele sa nõnda oled teinud: kas naised peavad sööma oma ihuvilja, terveina sündinud lapsi? Kas tohib Issanda pühamus tappa preestrit ja prohvetit?

21 Tänavail lamab maas noor ja vana, mu neitsid ja noored mehed langesid mõõga läbi. Sina surmasid oma vihapäeval, tapsid, ei andnud armu.

22 Sa kutsusid kokku nagu pidupäevaks mu vaenlased igalt poolt; Issanda vihapäeval ei jäänud põgenikku ega pääsenut: neile, keda olin ilmale toonud ja kasvatanud, tegi mu vaenlane lõpu.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3183

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

3183. 'And her nurse' means from the innocence belonging to that affection, that is to say, which also they sent away, or separated from themselves. This is clear from the meaning of 'a nurse' or wet nurse, as innocence. Sucklings and those who suckle them are mentioned frequently in the Word, where they mean the first state that young children pass through, which is plainly a state of innocence. For as soon as anyone is born he is brought into a state of innocence. This state then serves as the basis of all other states and is the inner core of them all; and this state is meant in the Word by 'a suckling'. After he has been brought into a state of innocence he is led into a state of affection for celestial good, that is, into a state of love towards parents, which with them exists in place of love to the Lord; this state is meant by 'a young child'. After that he is led into a state of affection for spiritual good, which is mutual love, or charity towards those who are children like himself, which state is meant by the expression 'boys'. When he grows up further still he is led into a state of affection for truth; this is meant by the expression 'young men'. Subsequent states however are meant by 'men' and at last 'old men'. This final state, which is meant by the expression 'old men', is a state of wisdom which has the innocence of earliest childhood within it, and so the first state and the last are united. And when he is old, being so to speak a small child again yet one who is now wise, that person is led into the Lord's kingdom.

[2] From this it becomes clear that innocence is the first state, which is that of 'a suckling'. A woman who suckles an infant other than her own also means innocence therefore, for the state of giver and receiver, as with the one who acts and the other who is acted upon, is perceived as being similar. The reason why here it is said that they sent away 'the nurse' or wet nurse too is so that the affection for truth might be described, that is to say, that it sprang from innocence; for it is not the affection for truth unless it has innocence within it, 2526, 2780, 3111. Indeed it is by means of innocence that the Lord flows into that affection, doing so together with wisdom since true innocence is wisdom itself, see 2305, 2306; and those who possess it are seen in the eyes of angels as infants or small children, 154, 2306.

[3] That 'a suckling' in the Word means innocence is also evident from other places, as in David,

Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings You have founded strength. Psalms 8:2; Matthew 21:16.

Here 'infants' stands for celestial love, 'sucklings' for innocence. In Jeremiah,

Why are you committing great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling from the midst of Judah, so that I cause no remnant to be left to you? Jeremiah 44:7.

Here similarly 'infant and suckling' stands for celestial love and its innocence. When these cease to exist no remnants exist any longer, that is, no good or truth that has been stored away by the Lord in the internal man remains any longer, remnants being good and truth stored away there by Him, see 1906, 2284. For when innocence perishes so do all goods and truths, for innocence comes directly from the Divine Himself, and so is the essential element in them. In the same prophet,

The infant and the suckling faint in the streets of the city. Lamentations 2:11.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

The sea monsters give the breast, they suckle their young; the daughter of My people is cruel, the tongue of the suckling has cleaved to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the little children begged for bread, none held it out to them. Lamentations 4:3-4.

Again 'suckling' stands for innocence, 'little children' for affections for good. In Moses,

Outside the sword will bereave - and out of the chambers terror - both young man and virgin, and suckling together with old man. Deuteronomy 32:25.

'The sword will bereave young man, virgin, and suckling together with old man' stands for the fact that falsity will destroy the affection for truth and the affection for good, and also innocence together with wisdom. In Isaiah,

They will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder; and kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your wet nurses. Isaiah 49:22-23.

'Kings as foster fathers' stands for intelligence, 'queens as wet nurses' for wisdom, which, as stated above, is the wisdom that goes with innocence.

  
/ 10837  
  

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