De Bijbel

 

Hosea 5

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1 Ακουσατε τουτο, ιερεις, και προσεξατε, οικος Ισραηλ, και δοτε ακροασιν, οικος βασιλεως· διοτι προς εσας ειναι κρισις· επειδη εσταθητε παγις επι Μισπα και δικτυον ηπλωμενον επι το Θαβωρ.

2 Και οι αγρευοντες εκαμον βαθειαν σφαγην· αλλ' εγω θελω παιδευσει παντας αυτους.

3 Εγω εγνωρισα τον Εφραιμ, και ο Ισραηλ δεν ειναι κεκρυμμενος απ' εμου· διοτι τωρα πορνευεις, Εφραιμ, και εμιανθη ο Ισραηλ.

4 Δεν αφινουσιν αυτους αι πραξεις αυτων να επιστρεψωσιν εις τον Θεον αυτων· διοτι το πνευμα της πορνειας ειναι εν μεσω αυτων και δεν εγνωρισαν τον Κυριον.

5 Και η υπερηφανια του Ισραηλ μαρτυρει κατα προσωπον αυτου· δια τουτο ο Ισραηλ και ο Εφραιμ θελουσι πεσει εν τη ανομια αυτων· ο Ιουδας ετι θελει πεσει μετ' αυτων.

6 Μετα των ποιμνιων αυτων και μετα των αγελων αυτων θελουσιν υπαγει δια να ζητησωσι τον Κυριον· αλλα δεν θελουσιν ευρει· απεμακρυνθη απ' αυτων.

7 Εφερθησαν απιστως προς τον Κυριον· διοτι εγεννησαν τεκνα αλλοτρια· τωρα δε εις μην θελει καταφαγει αυτους και τας κληρονομιας αυτων.

8 Σαλπισατε κερατινην εν Γαβαα, σαλπιγγα εν Ραμα· ηχησατε δυνατα εν Βαιθ-αυεν· κατοπιν σου, Βενιαμιν.

9 Ο Εφραιμ θελει εισθαι ηρημωμενος εν τη ημερα του ελεγχου· μεταξυ των φυλων του Ισραηλ εγνωστοποιησα το βεβαιως γενησομενον·

10 οι αρχοντες Ιουδα εγειναν ως οι μετατοπιζοντες ορια· επ' αυτους θελω εκχυσει ως υδατα την οργην μου.

11 Κατεδυναστευθη ο Εφραιμ, συνετριβη εν τη κρισει διοτι εκουσιως υπηγε κατοπιν προσταγματος·

12 δια τουτο εγω θελω εισθαι ως σαρακιον εις τον Εφραιμ και ως σκωληξ εις τον οικον Ιουδα.

13 Και ειδεν ο Εφραιμ την νοσον αυτου και ο Ιουδας το ελκος αυτου, και υπηγεν ο Εφραιμ προς τον Ασσυριον και απεστειλε προς τον βασιλεα Ιαρειβ· αλλ' ουτος δεν ηδυνηθη να σας ιατρευση ουδε να σας απαλλαξη απο του ελκους σας.

14 Διοτι εγω θελω εισθαι ως λεων εις τον Εφραιμ και ως σκυμνος λεοντος εις τον οικον Ιουδα· εγω, εγω θελω διασπαραξει και αναχωρησει· θελω λαβει, και δεν θελει υπαρχει ο ελευθερων.

15 Θελω υπαγει, θελω επιστρεψει εις τον τοπον μου, εωσου γνωρισωσι το εγκλημα αυτων και ζητησωσι το προσωπον μου· εν τη θλιψει αυτων θελουσιν ορθρισει προς εμε.

   

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #5585

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5585. 'Saying, You will not see my face' means that no compassion will show itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'face', when used in reference to a person, as his interiors, that is to say, his affections and consequent thoughts, dealt with in 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4796, 4797, 5102. But when used in reference to the Lord, for the Lord is represented in the highest sense by 'Joseph', 'face' means mercy and compassion, and therefore 'not seeing his face' means a lack of mercy or absence of compassion. Not that the Lord lacks any compassion, for He is pure mercy; but when the intermediary that effects the joining to Him is not present it does seem to a person as though there is no compassion in the Lord. The reason for this is that if no intermediary effecting the joining together is present, no acceptance of good takes place. And if there is no acceptance of good, evil is present instead. If at this time the person calls out to the Lord because evil prompts him to do so, thus for selfish reasons in defiance of anyone else's needs, he is not heard, in which case it seems as though no compassion shows itself.

[2] As regards 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' meaning mercy, this is evident from the Word; for understood properly 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' is Divine love itself, and being Divine love it is the face of mercy since mercy is the expression of love towards the human race set in such miseries. The truth that 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' is Divine Love may be seen from the Lord's face when He was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John; that is, when He displayed His Divinity to them,

His face shone like the sun. Matthew 17:2.

It has been shown already that 'the sun' is Divine Love, see 30-38, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696. The Lord's actual Divinity had never previously appeared in any face; but His Divine Human had so appeared, through which, seemingly within which, Divine Love - which in relation to the human race is Divine Mercy - showed itself. This Divine Mercy within the Divine Human is called 'the angel of His face' in Isaiah,

I will cause the mercies of Jehovah to be remembered. He has rewarded 1 them according to His mercies, and according to the abundance of His mercies; and He became their Saviour. And the angel of His face saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them. Isaiah 63:7-9.

The expression 'the angel' is used because 'angels' in the Word means in the internal sense some attribute of the Lord, 1925, 2821, 4085, in this case His mercy, which is why the phrase 'the angel of His face' is used.

[3] 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' is not only mercy but also peace and goodness since these are attributes of mercy, as may also be seen from the following places: In the Blessing,

Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you. Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:25-26.

Here it is quite evident that 'making His face shine' means showing mercy, and 'lifting up His face' means granting His peace. In David,

God be merciful to us and bless us, and make His face shine upon us. Psalms 67:1.

Here also 'face' stands for mercy. In the same author,

Turn us back, O God, and make Your face shine, that we may be saved. Psalms 80:3, 7, 19.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same author,

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and my pursuers. Make Your face shine upon Your servant. Psalms 31:15-16.

Likewise in Psalms 119:134-135. In Daniel,

Hear, our God, the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and make Your face shine upon Your sanctuary that has been made desolate. Daniel 9:17.

Here also 'making His face shine' stands for showing mercy.

[4] In David,

Many are saying, Who will cause us to see good? Lift up the light of Your face upon us. Psalms 4:6-7.

'Lifting up the light of His face' stands for His imparting good because of His mercy. In Hosea,

Let them seek My face; when they are in distress, in the morning let them seek Me. Hosea 5:15.

In David,

Seek My face! Your face, O Jehovah, will I seek. Psalms 27:8-9.

In the same author,

Seek Jehovah and His strength; seek His face continually. Psalms 105:4.

'Seeking Jehovah's face' stands for seeking His mercy. In the same author,

I, in righteousness, shall see Your face. Psalms 17:15.

And in Matthew,

See that you do not despise any of these tiny ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 18:10.

'Seeing God's face' stands for the enjoyment of peace and good because of His mercy.

[5] But the contrary of this is the hiding or concealment and also the turning away of the face, by which showing no compassion is meant, as in Isaiah,

In an overflowing of My anger I hid My face from you for a moment; but with eternal mercy I will have mercy on you. Isaiah 54:8.

'An overflowing of anger' stands for temptation in which, because the Lord does not seem to show mercy, the words 'I hid My face from you for a moment' are used. In Ezekiel,

I will turn My face away from them. Ezekiel 7:22.

In David,

How long, O Jehovah, will You forget me [as if] for ever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalms 13:1

In the same author,

Do not hide Your face from me; do not cast aside Your servant in anger. Psalms 17:8, 9.

In the same author,

Why, O Jehovah, do You abandon my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? Psalms 88:14.

In the same author,

Make haste, answer me, O Jehovah. MY spirit is consumed. Do not hide Your face from me, lest I become like those going down into the pit. Cause me to hear Your mercy in the morning. Psalms 143:7-8.

And in Moses,

My anger will flare up against this people on that day, so that I forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured. I will certainly hide My face on that day, because of all the evil which they have done. Deuteronomy 31:17-18.

'Anger flaring up' stands for turning oneself away, 5034, and 'hiding one's face' for not showing any compassion.

[6] These actions are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, for the reason that although He is never angry and never turns away or hides His face He is said to do so because that is how it seems to someone under the influence of evil. For the person under the influence of evil turns himself away and hides the Lord's face from himself; that is, he removes His mercy from himself. The fact that it is the evils present with a person that do this is also clear from the Word, as in Micah,

Jehovah will hide His face from them at that time, inasmuch as they have rendered their deeds evil. Micah 3:4.

In Ezekiel,

Because they transgressed against Me, therefore I hid My face from them. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them and have hidden My face from them. Ezekiel 39:23-24.

In particular in Isaiah,

Your iniquities are what separate you from your God, and your sins what cause. His face to hide from you. Isaiah 59:2.

From these and many other places one may see the internal sense, which shows itself in various places and is discovered by one who is looking for it.

Voetnoten:

1. Reading retribuit (has rewarded), which Swedenborg has in his rough draft and also in 221, for retribuet (will reward)

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

De Bijbel

 

Deuteronomy 32

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1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall condense as the dew, as the small rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.

3 For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh. Ascribe greatness to our God!

4 The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.

5 They have dealt corruptly with him, [they are] not his children, [it is] their blemish. [They are] a perverse and crooked generation.

6 Do you thus requite Yahweh, foolish people and unwise? Isn't he your father who has bought you? He has made you, and established you.

7 Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.

9 For Yahweh's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.

12 Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. Of the blood of the grape you drank wine.

15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They moved him to jealousy with strange [gods]. They provoked him to anger with abominations.

17 They sacrificed to demons, [which were] no God, to gods that they didn't know, to new [gods] that came up of late, which your fathers didn't dread.

18 Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

19 Yahweh saw [it], and abhorred [them], because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

20 He said, "I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

23 "I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

24 [They shall be] wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.

25 Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, The nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

26 I said, I would scatter them afar. I would make the memory of them to cease from among men;

27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, 'Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.'"

28 For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

30 How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?

31 For their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter.

33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, The cruel venom of asps.

34 "Isn't this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste."

36 For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that [their] power is gone, There is none [remaining], shut up or left at large.

37 He will say, "Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge;

38 Which ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.

39 "See now that I, even I, am he, There is no god with me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever,

41 if I whet my glittering sword, My hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my adversaries, and will recompense those who hate me.

42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy."

43 Rejoice, you nations, [with] his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will make expiation for his land, for his people.

44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

45 Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel;

46 He said to them, "Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, [even] all the words of this law.

47 For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it."

48 Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day, saying,

49 "Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession;

50 and die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people:

51 because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn't sanctify me in the midst of the children of Israel.

52 For you shall see the land before you; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel."