New Christian Bible Study

The Bible

 

Hoseas 5

Study

   

1 Hør dette, I prester, og gi akt, du Israels hus, og du kongehus, vend øret til! For eder gjelder dommen; for en snare har I vært på Mispa og et utspent nett på Tabor.

2 De er falt dypt i en mangfoldighet av forvillelser; men jeg skal tukte dem alle.

3 Jeg kjenner Efra'im, og Israel er ikke skjult for mig; for nu har du drevet utukt, Efra'im! Israel er blitt urent.

4 Deres gjerninger tillater dem ikke å vende om til sin Gud; for de har en utuktens ånd i sitt indre, og Herren kjenner de ikke.

5 Og Israels stolthet skal vidne mot det like i dets åsyn, og Israel og Efra'im skal omkomme for sin misgjernings skyld; også Juda skal omkomme med dem.

6 Med sine får og okser skal de gå for å søke Herren, men ikke finne ham; han har dradd sig bort fra dem.

7 Mot Herren har de båret sig troløst at, for de har født uekte barn; nu skal nymånen* fortære både dem og alt det de eier. / {* som de feiret på hedensk vis.}

8 Støt i basun i Gibea, i trompet i ama! Blås alarm i Bet-Aven*! Fienden er efter dig, Benjamin! / {* HSE 4, 15.}

9 Efra'im skal bli til en ørken på straffens dag; blandt Israels stammer har jeg kunngjort hvad sikkert vil skje.

10 Judas fyrster er blitt lik dem som flytter markeskjell; over dem vil jeg utøse min harme som vann.

11 Efra'im blir undertrykt, knust ved dom; for han fant for godt å følge menneskers bud.

12 Og jeg er som møll for Efra'im og som råttenhet for Judas hus.

13 Da Efra'im så sin sykdom og Juda sitt sår, da gikk Efra'im til Assur og sendte bud til kong Jareb*; men han skal ikke kunne helbrede eder, og eders sår skal ikke bli lægt. / {* den stridbare, Assyrias konge; HSE 10, 6.}

14 For jeg er som en løve mot Efra'im og som en ungløve mot Judas hus; selv sønderriver jeg og går min vei; jeg bærer byttet bort, og det er ingen som frelser.

15 Jeg vil gå min vei, jeg vil vende tilbake til mitt sted, inntil de erkjenner sig skyldige og søker mitt åsyn; i sin trengsel skal de lete efter mig.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1186

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

1186. That 'Asshur' is reasoning is clear from the meaning of 'Asshur' or Assyria in the Word, where in every case it stands for those things that belong to reason. It stands for them in both senses, namely for rational things and for reasonings - reason and rational things being used strictly speaking to mean things that are true, and reasoning and reasonings to mean those that are false. Because 'Asshur' means reason and reasoning it is very frequently linked with Egypt, which means facts, for reason and reasoning are based on facts. That Asshur means reasoning is clear in Isaiah,

Woe to Asshur, the rod of My anger, he does not think what is right and his heart does not consider what is right He has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have intelligence. Isaiah 10:5, 7, 13.

Here 'Asshur' stands for reasoning, and therefore he is referred to as 'not thinking and not considering what is right', and it is said that 'he acts by his own wisdom, for he has intelligence'.

[2] In Ezekiel,

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt. In their youth they committed whoredom. One committed whoredom and doted on her lovers, on Asshur (the Assyrians), her neighbours, clothed in violet, leaders and governors, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses The sons of Babel came to her and they defiled her with their whoredom. Ezekiel 23:2-3, 5-6, 17.

Here 'Egypt' stands for facts, 'Asshur' for reasoning, 'the sons of Babel' for falsities springing from evil desires.

[3] In the same prophet,

Jerusalem, you committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, you committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, you multiplied your whoredom even into the land of Canaan towards Chaldaea. Ezekiel 16:26, 28-29.

Here likewise 'Egypt' stands for facts, 'Asshur' for reasoning. Reasoning, based on facts, concerning spiritual and celestial things is called 'whoredom' both here and elsewhere in the Word. Anyone may see that committing whoredom with Egyptians and with Assyrians is not the meaning.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Israel, what have you to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? And what have you to do with the way to Asshur, to drink the waters of the River (the Euphrates)? Jeremiah 2:18, 36.

Here likewise 'Egypt' stands for facts, 'Asshur' for reasoning. In the same prophet,

Israel is a scattered flock; the lions have driven him away. First the king of Asshur has devoured him, and last this king of Babel has removed his bones. Jeremiah 50:17-18

'Asshur' stands for reasoning concerning spiritual things.

[5] In Micah,

And this will be peace, when Asshur comes into our land and when he treads our palaces, and we will set up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men and they will rule the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its gates; and he will deliver [us] from Asshur when he comes into our land and when he treads our border. Micah 5:5-6.

This refers to Israel, or the spiritual Church, concerning which it is said that 'Asshur will not enter in', that is, reasoning will not do so. 'The land of Nimrod' stands for the kind of worship meant by Nimrod, which has interior evils and falsities within it.

[6] The fact that in the Word 'Asshur' also means reason present with the member of the Church, by means of which reason he sees clearly what is true and what is good, is clear in Hosea,

They will tremble like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove from the land of Asshur. Hosea 11:11.

Here 'Egypt' stands for the knowledge a member of the Church possesses, 'Asshur' for his reason. That 'a bird' means facts that are known and understood, and 'a dove' rational good, has been shown already.

[7] In Isaiah,

On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur will come into Egypt and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians will serve Asshur. 1 On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Jehovah Zebaoth will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage. Isaiah 19:23-25.

This refers to the spiritual Church, meant by Israel, 'Asshur' being its reason, and 'Egypt' its knowledge. These three constitute the intellectual powers of the member of the spiritual Church which come in that order one after another. In other places where Asshur is mentioned it means the rational, true or false, as in Isaiah 20:1-6; 23:13; 27:13; 30:31; 31:8; 36, 37; 52:4; Ezekiel 27:23-24; Ezekiel 31:3-18; 32:22; Micah 7:12; Zephaniah 2:13; Zechariah 10:11; Psalms 83:8. 'Asshur' stands for reasoning in Hosea 5:13; 7:11; 10:6; 11:5; 12:1; 14:3; and in Zechariah 10:10, where the reference is to Ephraim who means the intellectual part of the mind, though in this instance when perverted.

Footnotes:

1. The Hebrew of this text in Isaiah may be read in two different ways - serve Asshur or serve with Asshur. Most English versions of Isaiah prefer the second of these.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 26

Study

   

1 It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:

3 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.

4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.

5 She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh; and she shall become a spoil to the nations.

6 Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

7 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and many people.

8 He shall kill your daughters in the field with the sword; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you.

9 He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.

10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach.

11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground.

12 They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters.

13 I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.

14 I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I Yahweh have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you?

16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.

17 They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!

18 Now shall the islands tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the islands that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure.

19 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you;

20 then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living:

21 I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again, says the Lord Yahweh.

   

©2024 New Christian Bible Study Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed from newchristianbiblestudy.org