From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9373

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1672

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

1672. And the kings that were with him. That this signifies the apparent truth which is of that good, is evident from the signification of “kings” in the Word. “Kings,” “kingdoms,” and “peoples,” in the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word, signify truths and the things which are of truths, as may be abundantly confirmed. In the Word an accurate distinction is made between a “people” and a “nation;” by a “people” are signified truths, and by a “nation” goods, as before shown (n. 1259, 1260). “Kings” are predicated of peoples, but not so much of nations. Before the sons of Israel sought for kings, they were a nation, and represented good, or the celestial; but after they desired a king, and received one, they became a people, and did not represent good or the celestial, but truth or the spiritual; which was the reason why this was imputed to them as a fault (see 1 Samuel 8:7-22, concerning which subject, of the Lord’s Divine mercy elsewhere). As Chedorlaomer is named here, and it is added, “the kings that were with him,” both good and truth are signified; by “Chedorlaomer,” good, and by “the kings,” truth. But what was the quality of the good and truth at the beginning of the Lord’s temptations has already been stated.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6362

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

6362. Verses 8-12 Judah are you, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down to you. A lion's cub is Judah; from the plunder you have gone up, my son. He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like an old lion; who will rouse him? The sceptre will not be removed from Judah, or a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him will be the obedience of the peoples. He binds his young ass to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to the outstanding vine; he washes his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. His eyes are red from wine, and his teeth white from milk.

'Judah are you' means the celestial Church, in the highest sense the Lord's Divine celestial. 'Your brothers will praise you' means that this Church is superior to all the rest. 'Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies' means that the hellish and devilish crew will flee from its presence. 'Your father's sons will bow down to you' means that truths will submit themselves of their own accord. 'A lion's cub is Judah' means innocence with innate strength. 'From the plunder you have gone up, my son' means that through the celestial the Lord accomplishes the deliverance of many from hell. 'He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like an old lion' means the good of love and the truth from that good in their power. 'Who will rouse him?' means that he is safe when among all those in the hells. 'The sceptre will not be removed from Judah' means that power and control will not depart from the celestial kingdom. 'Or a lawgiver from between his feet' means truths from that kingdom in lower things. 'Until Shiloh comes' means the Lord's Coming, and the peaceful tranquillity at that time. 'And to him will be the obedience of the peoples' means that from His Divine Human truths would go forth that were able to be received. 1 'He binds his young ass to the vine' means truth in the natural for the external Church. 'And the foal of his she-ass to the outstanding vine' means truth from the rational for the internal Church. 'He washes his clothing in wine' means that His Natural consists in Divine Truth from His Divine Good. 'And his garment in the blood of grapes' means that His Intellect consists in Divine Good from His Divine Love. 'His eyes are red from wine' means that His Intellect or Internal Human is nothing else than good. 'And his teeth white from milk' means that the Divine Natural is nothing else than the good of truth.

Footnotes:

1. The three Latin words rendered here as "that were able to be received" do not appear in the Latin edition, only in Swedenborg's rough draft, where however they are possibly deleted. But cp 6374.

  
/ 10837  
  

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