The Bible

 

Exodo 1

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1 Ito nga ang mga pangalan ng mga anak ni Israel, na nagsipasok sa Egipto: (bawa't lalake at ang kani-kaniyang sangbahayan ay sumama kay Jacob.)

2 Si Ruben, si Simeon, si Levi, at si Juda;

3 Si Issachar, si Zabulon at si Benjamin;

4 Si Dan at si Nephtali, si Gad at si Aser.

5 At lahat ng tao na lumabas sa balakang ni Jacob ay pitong pung tao: at si Jose ay nasa Egipto na.

6 At namatay si Jose, at ang lahat niyang kapatid at ang buong lahing yaon.

7 At ang mga anak ni Israel ay lumago, at kumapal na maigi at dumami, at naging totoong makapangyarihan; at ang lupain ay napuno nila.

8 May bumangon ngang isang bagong hari sa Egipto, na hindi kilala si Jose.

9 At sinabi niya sa kaniyang bayan, Narito, ang bayan ng mga anak ni Israel ay higit at lalong malakas kay sa atin:

10 Hayo't tayo'y magpakadunong sa kanila; baka sila'y dumami, at mangyari, na, pagka nagkadigma, ay makisanib pati sila sa ating mga kaaway, at lumaban sa atin, at magsilayas sa lupain.

11 Kaya't nangaglagay sila ng mga tagapagpaatag, upang dalamhatiin sila sa atang sa kanila. At kanilang ipinagtayo si Faraon ng mga bayan na kamaligan, na dili iba't ang Phithom at Raamses.

12 Datapuwa't habang dinadalamhati nila sila, ay lalong dumadami at lalong kumakapal. At kinapootan nila ang mga anak ni Israel.

13 At pinapaglingkod na may kabagsikan ng mga Egipcio ang mga anak ni Israel:

14 At kanilang pinapamuhay sila ng masaklap sa pamamagitan ng mahirap na paglilingkod, sa argamasa at sa laryo, at sa lahat ng sarisaring paglilingkod sa bukid, at sa lahat ng paglilingkod nila na ipinapaglingkod sa kanila, na may kabagsikan.

15 At ang hari sa Egipto ay nagsalita sa mga hilot na Hebrea, na ang pangalan ng isa ay Siphra, at ang pangalan ng isa ay Phua:

16 At kaniyang sinabi, Paghilot ninyo sa mga babaing Hebrea, at pagtingin ninyo sa kanila sa dakong panganganakan; kung lalake, ay papatayin nga ninyo: datapuwa't kung babae ay inyong bubuhayin.

17 Datapuwa't ang mga hilot ay nangatakot sa Dios at hindi ginawa ang gaya ng iniutos sa kanila ng hari sa Egipto, kundi iniligtas na buhay ang mga batang lalake.

18 At ipinatawag ng hari sa Egipto ang mga hilot, at sinabi sa kanila, Bakit ninyo ginawa ang bagay na ito, at inyong iniligtas na buhay ang mga batang lalake?

19 At sinabi ng mga hilot kay Faraon, Sapagka't ang mga babaing Hebrea ay hindi gaya ng mga babaing Egipcia; sapagka't sila'y maliliksi, at nakapanganak na, bago dumating ang hilot sa kanila.

20 At ang Dios ay gumawa ng mabuti sa mga hilot: at ang bayan ay kumapal, at naging totoong makapangyarihan.

21 At nangyari, na sapagka't ang mga hilot ay natakot sa Dios, ay iginawa niya sila ng mga sangbahayan.

22 At iniutos ni Faraon sa kaniyang buong bayan, na sinasabi, Itatapon ninyo sa ilog bawa't lalake na ipanganak, at bawa't babae ay ililigtas ninyong buhay.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6693

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6693. 'Saying, Every son who is born you are to throw into the river' means that all truths that appeared should be drowned in falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; from the meaning of 'being born' as appearing; and from the meaning of 'the river' as those things that constitute intelligence, dealt with in 108, 109, 2702, 3051, here in the contrary sense as those things which are the opposite, namely falsities. The fact that 'throwing into' means drowning in is self-evident.

[2] The meaning of 'the river of Egypt' as the opposite of intelligence, which is falsity, is also clear in Isaiah,

The rivers will recede, the streams of Egypt will diminish and dry up. The papyrus plants next to the river, next to the mouth of the river, and everything sown in the river will wither, be driven away, and be no more. Therefore the fishermen will mourn, and all who cast a hook into the river will be sad, and those who spread nets over the face of the waters will anguish. Isaiah 19:6-8.

Here one should not understand a river by 'the river of Egypt' or fishermen by 'the fishermen' but other things which are not apparent unless one knows how 'Egypt', 'the river' there, and 'the fishermen' are to be understood. If one does know, then the meaning of these verses is apparent. The fact that 'the river of Egypt' means falsity is evident from every detail mentioned in them.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Who is this coming up like a river, whose waters are tossed about like the rivers? Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers his waters are tossed about. For he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Jeremiah 46:7-8.

Here also 'the river of Egypt' stands for falsities. 'Going up and covering the earth' stands for overwhelming the Church, 'destroying the city' stands for destroying the teachings of the Church, 'and those who dwell in it' for doing so to forms of good that come from those teachings. For the meaning of 'the earth' as the Church, see 6649; 'the city' as the teachings of the Church, 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493; and 'those who dwell in it' as forms of good there, 2268, 2451, 2712.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies 1 in the midst of his rivers, who has said, The river is mine and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales, and I will cause you to come up out of the midst of your rivers, in order that 2 all the fish of your rivers may stick in your scales. I will leave in the wilderness you and all the fish of your rivers. Ezekiel 29:3-5, 9-10.

Without the internal sense no one can know what this passage means either. Thus, though it is evident that it is not the country Egypt which is meant, the meaning of the passage remains unknown unless one knows what 'Pharaoh', 'river', 'monster', 'fish', and 'scales', all mean. 'Pharaoh' is the natural where factual knowledge resides, see 5160, 5799, 6015; 'monsters' are general bodies of facts that reside in the natural, 42; 'fish' are the facts subordinate to a general body of them, 40, 991; 'scales' are ideas of a thoroughly external nature, thus sensory impressions, to which factual knowledge that is false clings. When one knows all these meanings one can see what 'the river of Egypt' is used to mean in this passage, namely, falsity.

[5] In the same prophet,

On the day on which Pharaoh goes down into hell I will make him mourn, I will cover the deep over him, and I will restrain its streams, and the great waters will be stayed. Ezekiel 31:15.

In Amos,

Is not the land to be shaken on account of this, and everyone to mourn that inhabits it? Yes, the whole of it comes up like a river, and is cast out, and is drowned as if in the river of Egypt. On that day I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the land in broad daylight. Amos 8:8-9; 9:5.

'The land which will be shaken' stands for the Church, 6649, while 'being drowned as if in the river of Egypt' stands for being destroyed by falsities. And since falsities are meant it says that the sun will go down at noon, and the earth will be darkened in broad daylight. 'The going down of the sun at noon' means that the good of heavenly love will depart, and 'the darkening of the land in broad daylight' that falsities will take possession of the Church. For the meaning of 'the sun' as the good of heavenly love, see 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696; for 'darkness' as falsities, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531; and for 'the earth' as the Church, 82, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1411, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577. Anyone can see that things other than those which appear in the literal sense here - such as that the land will be shaken and every inhabitant will mourn, or that the sun will go down at noon and the land will be darkened in broad daylight - are really meant. Unless one takes 'the land' to mean the Church, 'the river' to mean falsity, and 'the sun' to mean heavenly love, one does not find any other explicable meaning there.

[6] It is because 'the river of Egypt' means falsity that Moses was commanded to strike the waters of that river with his rod, after which they were turned into blood, all fish in the river died, and the river stank, Exodus 7:17-18, 20-21. For the same reason Aaron had to stretch out his hand and rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the pools, from which frogs rose up over the land of Egypt, Exodus 8:5-6. 3 For the meaning of 'the waters' in the contrary sense as falsities, see 790; and since the waters make up the river, 'the river' in relation to them means falsity in general.

Footnotes:

1. Reading cubat (he lies) for cubas (you lie)

2. Reading ut (in order that) for et (and)

3Exodus 8:1-2, in this translation of the Arcana Caelestia

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3481

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3481. I have quite often been in conversation with Jews in the next life. They appear in a forward position on the lower earth below the level of the left foot, and on one occasion I also spoke about the Word, the land of Canaan, and the Lord. I said that the Word contained very deep arcana which are not visible to men. This point they agreed with. After that I said that all the arcana there deal with the Messiah and His kingdom. This also they assented to. But when I told them that Messiah in Hebrew is the same as Christ in Greek they would not listen. And again when I said that the Messiah was the Most Holy One, that Jehovah was within Him, that none other was meant by the Holy One of Israel and by the God of Jacob, and that seeing that He is the Most Holy One none can be in His kingdom except those who are holy not outwardly but inwardly - who are not accordingly under the influence of the filthy love of the world, or of a superior attitude towards other nations, or of hatred for one another - they could not listen to it.

[2] After that I said that the Messiah's kingdom according to prophecy was going to last for ever, and those with Him would also inherit the land for ever. If His kingdom were of this world and they were brought into the land of Canaan it would last only for the few years that constitute the human life-span. Besides, all who had died since the expulsion of the Jews from the land of Canaan would not enjoy such blessedness. From this, I said, they could recognize that the land of Canaan represented and meant the heavenly kingdom; indeed they would recognize it all the more easily, in that they now knew they were in the next life and were going to live for ever, from which it was evident that this next life was the place where the Messiah had His kingdom. And, I continued, if they were allowed to talk to angels they could know that the whole angelic heaven was the Lord's kingdom.

[3] I added that by the new earth, the new Jerusalem, and the new temple described in Ezekiel nothing else could be meant than such a kingdom of the Messiah. To all these points they were unable to make any response apart from weeping bitterly at the prospect of being led into the land of Canaan by the Messiah only to die after so few years and leave behind the blessedness they were to enjoy there.

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