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ဒံယေလ 8

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1 ဗေလရှာဇာမင်းကြီးနန်းစံ သုံးနှစ်တွင်၊ ငါ ဒံယေလသည် ယခင် ဗျာဒိတ်တော်ကို မြင်ပြီးသည်နောက်၊ တဖန် ဗျာဒိတ်ရူပါရုံကို မြင်ရသောအကြောင်းအရာဟူ မူကား၊

2 ဧလံပြည်၊ ရူရှန်မြို့တော်၌ ဥလဲမြစ်နားမှာ ငါရှိ စဉ်၊ ရူပါရုံထင်ရှား၍၊

3 ငါမျှော်ကြည့်သော၊ ရှည်လျားသော ချို နှစ်ချောင်းရှိသော သိုးတကောင်သည် မြစ်တဘက်၌ ရပ် နေ၏။ ထိုချိုနှစ်ချောင်းသည်မညီ၊ တချောင်းသာ၍ ရှည်၏။ သာ၍ ရှည်သောချိုသည် နောက်ပေါက် သတည်း။

4 ထိုသိုးသည် အနောက်၊ တောင်၊ မြောက်၊ သုံး မျက်နှာသို့ တိုးခွေ့သောကြောင့် အဘယ်တိရစ္ဆာန်မျှ မခံနိုင်၊ အဘယ်သူမျှ သူ့လက်မှတ်မကယ်မလွှတ်နိုင်သည် ဖြစ်၍ မိမိအလိုရှိသည့်အတိုင်း ပြုသဖြင့် ကြီးမားခြင်းသို့ ရောက်လာ၏။

5 ထိုအမှုကို ငါဆင်ခြင်လျက်နေသောအခါ၊ မျက်စိ နှစ်လုံးကြား၌ ထူးဆန်းသော ချိုတချောင်းရှိသော ဆိတ် တကောင်သည် အနောက်မျက်နှာကလာ၍၊ မြေကို မနင်းဘဲ မြေကြီးတပြင်လုံးကို ကျော်လေ၏။

6 ချိုနှစ်ချောင်းနှင့်မြစ်တဘက်၌ ထင်ရှားသော သိုးရှိရာသို့ ပြင်းစွာသော အဟုန်နှင့်ပြေး၍

7 အနားသို့ ရောက်သောအခါ၊ ပြင်းစွာ အမျက် ထွက်သဖြင့် သိုးကို ခတ်၍ သိုးချိုနှစ်ချောင်းကို ချိုးဖဲ့၏။ သိုးသည်ခံနိုင်သော တန်ခိုးမရှိသည် ဖြစ်၍ ဆိတ်သည် သူ့ကိုမြေ၌ လှဲ၍နင်းလေ၏။ သူ့လက်မှ အဘယ်သူမျှ သိုးကို မကယ်မလွှတ်နိုင်။

8 သို့ဖြစ်၍၊ ထိုဆိတ်သည် အလွန်ကြီးမားခြင်းသို့ ရောက်လေ၏။ ခွန်အားကြီးသောအခါ ချိုကြီးကျိုးပဲ့၏။ ထိုချိုအရာ၌ ထူးဆန်းသော ချိုလေးချောင်းပေါက်၍၊ မိုဃ်းကောင်းကင်လေးမျက်နှာသို့ မျက်နှာပြုကြ၏။

9 ထိုချိုလေးချောင်းတွင် တချောင်းထဲက အခြား သောချိုတက်တ ချောင်းပေါက်ပြန်၍ တောင်မျက်နှာသို့၎င်း၊ အရှေ့မျက်နှာသို့၎င်း၊ သာယာသော ပြည်သို့၎င်း မျက်နှာပြု၍၊ အလွန်ကြီးမားခြင်းသို့ ရောက်လေ၏။

10 ကောင်းကင်ဗိုလ်ခြေတိုင်အောင်ကြီးမား၍၊ ထိုဗိုလ်ခြေအချို့တို့နှင့် ကြယ်အချို့တို့ကို မြေသို့ချ၍ နင်းလေ၏။

11 ထိုမျှမက၊ ဗိုလ်ခြေသခင်တိုင်အောင် ထောင် လွှားခြင်းကို ပြုလျက်၊ နေ့ရက်အစဉ်ပြုသော ဝတ်ကိုပယ်၍၊ သန့်ရှင်းရာဌာနတော်ကို ရှုတ်ချလေ၏။

12 အပြစ်များသောကြောင့် နေ့ရက်အစဉ်ပြုသော ဝတ်နှင့်တကွ ဗိုလ်ခြေကိုလည်း ထိုချိုသည်ရ၍ သမ္မာ တရားကို မြေသို့နှိမ့်ချ၏။ ထိုသို့ပြု၍ အောင်မြင်ခြင်းသို့ ရောက်လေ၏။

13 ထိုအခါ သန့်ရှင်းသူတပါး၏ စကားပြောသံကို ငါကြား၏။ သန့်ရှင်းသူတပါးက၊ ယခင်ပြောသော သူကို ဟစ်၍၊ သန့်ရှင်းရာဌာနနှင့် ဗိုလ်ခြေကိုနင်းခြင်း အလိုငှာ နေ့ရက်အစဉ်ပြုသောဝတ်ကို ပယ်ခြင်းနှင့်၎င်း၊ ဖျက်ဆီးတတ်သော လွန်ကျူးခြင်းနှင့်၎င်း စပ်ဆိုင်သော ဗျာဒိတ်ရူပါရုံသည်အဘယ်မျှ ကာလပတ်လုံး တည်လိမ့် မည်နည်းဟုမေးမြန်းလျှင်၊

14 ယခင်ပြောသူက ရက်ပေါင်းနှစ်ထောင်သုံးရာ တိုင်တိုင် တည်လိမ့်မည်။ ထိုနောက် သန့်ရှင်းရာဌာနကို တဖန်ဆေးကြောသုတ်သင်ကြလိမ့် မည်ဟုပြန်၍ ပြောဆို ၏။

15 ငါဒံယေလသည် ထိုရူပါရုံကို မြင်၍ အနက်ကို ရှာဖွေသောအခါ၊ လူသဏ္ဌာန်ရှိသောသူတဦးသည် ငါ့ရှေ့တွင် ရပ်နေ၏။

16 အခြားသော သူက၊ အိုဂါဗြေလ၊ ထိုသူသည် ယခု မြင်သော ဗျာဒိတ်ရူပါရုံကို နားလည်စေခြင်းငှါ အနက်ကို ပြန်ပောလော့ဟု၊ ဥလဲ မြစ်နားကြားမှာ လူအသံနှင့်ဟစ်၍ ပြောဆိုသည်ကို ငါကြား၏။

17 ထိုသူသည် ငါရပ်နေရာအပါးသို့လာလျှင်၊ ငါသည် ကြောက်ရွံ့၍ ပြပ်ဝပ်လျက်နေ၏။ ထိုသူက၊ အချင်းလူသား၊ နားလည်လော့။ ဤဗျာဒိတ် ရူပါရုံသည် အမှုကုန် ရသောကာလနှင့်ဆိုင်သည်ဟု ငါ့အား ပြောဆို ၏။

18 ထိုသို့ ဆိုသောအခါ ငါသည် မြေပေါ်မှာပြပ်ဝပ်၍ မိန်းမော တွေဝေလျက်နေ၏။ ထိုသူသည်ငါ့ကိုလက်နှင့် တို့၍ ယခင်နေရာ၌ မတ်တတ်နေစေပြီးလျှင်၊

19 ဒေါသအမျက်တော်အဆုံး၌ ဖြစ်လတံ့သော အရာကိုငါကြား ပြောဦးမည်။ ချိန်းချက်သောအချိန်၌ လက်စသတ်လိမ့်မည်။

20 ချိုနှစ်ချောင်းနှင့် ပေါ်လာသော သိုးသည် မေဒိ ရှင်ဘုရင်၊ ပေရသိရှင်ဘုရင်ဖြစ်၏။

21 အမွေးကြမ်းသော ဆိတ်သည် ဟေလသ ရှင်ဘုရင် ဖြစ်၏။ မျက်စိနှစ်လုံးကြား၌ရှိသော ချိုကြီးသည် ပဌမမင်းဖြစ်၏။

22 ိုချိုကျိုးပဲ့၍၊ သူ့အရာ၌ ချိုလေးချောင်းပေါက် သည်မှာ အရင်နိုင်ငံတွင် နိုင်ငံလေးပါး ည်ောင်လိမ့် မည်။ အရင်နိုင်ငံ၏တန်ခိုးနှင့် မပြည့်စုံကြ။

23 ထိုနိုင်ငံတို့၏ အဆုံးစွန်သောကာလ၌ လွန်ကျူး သော သူတို့၏ အပြစ်ပြည့်စုံသောအခါ၊ ရဲရင့်သော မျက်နှာရှိ၍ ပရိယာယ်တို့ကို နားလည်သော မင်းကြီး တပါး ပေါ်လာလိမ့်မည်။

24 ထိုမင်းကြီးသည် ကိုယ်တန်ခိုးမရှိဘဲလျက် တန်ခိုးကြီးလိမ့်မည်။ အထူးသဖြင့် ဖျက်ဆီး၍ တိုးပွား အောင်မြင်လိမ့်မည်။ စွမ်းအားကြီးသော လူစု၊ သန့်ရှင်း သော လူစုကို ပင် ဖျက်ဆီးလိမ့်မည်။

25 သူသည်လိမ္မာစွာပြုသဖြင့်၊ မုသာလည်း အောင် မြင်လိမ့်မည်။ စိတ်ောင်လွှားခြင်းနှင့်တကွ မိဿဟာယ ဖွဲ့သောအားဖြင့် လူများတို့ကို ဖျက်ဆီး၍၊ သခင်တို့၏သခင် ကို ဆန့်ကျင်ဘက်ပြုလိမ့်မည်။ သို့သော်လည်း၊ လူလက် ဖြင့် ဒဏ်မခတ်ဘဲ ကျိုးပဲ့ပျက်စီးခြင်းသို့ ရောက်လိမ့်မည်။

26 ညဦးနှင့် နံနက်ကို တော်ပြသောဗျာဒိတ် ရူပါရုံ စကားမှန်သည် ဖြစ်၍ ထိုစကားကို တံဆိပ်ခက်ထား လော့။ တာရှည်သော ကာလတိုင်တိုင် တည်လိမ့်မည်ဟု ဆို၏။

27 ိုအခါ ငါဒံယေလသည် မော၍ နာလျက် နေ၏။ တဖန် အနာမမြောက်၍ ဘုရင်၏အမှုတော်ကို ဆောင်ရွက်၏။ မြင်ပြီးသော ဗျာဒိတ်ရူပါရုံကို ငါ့အံ့ဩ သော်လည်း ိုအမှုကို အဘယ်သူမျှ မရိပ်မိကြ။

   

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #5922

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5922. 'And you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt' means a communication of the spiritual heaven in the natural with spiritual good. This is clear from the meaning of 'telling' as communicating; from the meaning of 'glory' as the spiritual heaven, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'Egypt' as factual knowledge within the natural, thus the natural itself, as above in 5908; and from the representation of Israel, to whom 'father', the recipient of the communication, refers here, as spiritual good, dealt with above in 5906. From all this it is evident that 'you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt' means a communication of the spiritual heaven in the natural with spiritual good.

[2] With regard to 'glory' meaning the spiritual heaven, the situation is this: There are two kingdoms that form heaven - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom is the inmost or third heaven, and the spiritual kingdom is the middle or second heaven. Good as it exists among celestial angels is called celestial good, and good as it exists among spiritual angels is called spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, while spiritual good is the good of love towards the neighbour. As for what joins the two kingdoms together, the good of charity towards the neighbour does so. For with members of the celestial kingdom love to the Lord is what is internal and charity towards the neighbour what is external; but with members of the spiritual kingdom charity towards the neighbour is what is internal and faith deriving from it what is external. From this one may see that what joins the two kingdoms is charity towards the neighbour; for charity is that in which the celestial kingdom ends and the spiritual kingdom begins. What comes last in the one comes first in the other, and is thus where they receive each other.

[3] Now let what 'glory' is be stated. In the highest sense 'glory' is the Lord in respect to Divine Truth; thus it is Divine Truth that goes forth from the Lord. But in the representative sense 'glory' is the good of love towards the neighbour or charity, which is the external good of the Lord's celestial kingdom and the internal good of His spiritual kingdom; for in the genuine sense this good is Divine Truth in heaven. Now since reference is made at this point in the story to Israel, who is spiritual good or charity which makes the spiritual kingdom in heaven and the spiritual Church on earth, Joseph's 'glory' here which they were to tell Israel about means the spiritual heaven. The spiritual heaven is called 'glory' because things there are seen in light, brilliance, and radiance.

[4] Glory is attributed to Divine Truth that comes forth from the Lord's Divine Human, and it is ascribed to the Lord as King; for in the internal sense kingship means Divine Truth, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068. This is clear in John,

What is more, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14.

'The Word' is Divine Truth. Since it goes forth from the Lord it is the Lord Himself, and for that reason 'glory' is attributed to Divine Truth.

[5] In Luke, when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain,

Behold, two men talked to Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who were seen in glory. Luke 9:30-31.

There the Lord showed Peter, James, and John what His Divine Human was like and what it looked like in Divine light. The form in which they saw Him at that time demonstrated what the Word is like in its internal sense, and so what Divine Truth in heaven is like; for the Word is Divine Truth provided for the Church's use. This also explains why at the same time the scene presented Moses and Elijah talking to Him; for 'Moses' represents the Law, by which one means the books by him together with the historical ones, while 'Elijah' represents the Prophets or prophetical part of the Word. For more about Moses' representation of the Law, see Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4859 (end); and for more about Elijah's representation of the prophetical part of the Word, see the same Preface, and also 2762, 5247 (end).

[6] In Matthew,

They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:30.

The literal sense of the Word is meant by 'the clouds', while the internal sense, consequently Divine Truth as this exists in heaven, is meant by 'glory'; see Preface to Genesis 18. 'Glory' also means the intelligence and wisdom that flow from Divine Truth, 4809. So far as its external sense is concerned the Word exists 'in a cloud', for the reason that people's minds dwell in darkness. Therefore if the Word did not dwell 'in a cloud' scarcely anyone would understand it, and also the sacred contents of the internal sense would be rendered profane by wicked people in the world. This is why the Lord says in Isaiah,

Jehovah will create over every habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade by day. Isaiah 4:5-6.

[7] It was for the same reason that over the tabernacle a cloud was seen by day and a fire by night. The tabernacle represented the Lord's Divine Human, consequently Divine Truth which goes forth from Him, and so the Word, which is Divine Truth for the Church, see 3210, 3439. The same is meant by the following in Moses,

The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the dwelling-place. Exodus 40:34.

In the same author,

The glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting before all the children of Israel. Numbers 14:10.

And in another place,

The cloud covered the tent, and the glory of Jehovah appeared. Numbers 16:42.

[8] A cloud and glory appeared in a similar way over Mount Sinai, which are spoken of in Moses as follows,

When Moses went up into the mountain the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Jehovah dwelt over Mount Sinai and covered it six days. Exodus 24:15-16.

The same representations occurred then because the Law, which is Divine Truth, was delivered from that mountain. The reason why the cloud was seen and the glory of Jehovah when Moses went up into the mountain was that in this he represented the Law, that is, the historical section of the Word. This explains why on several occasions the expression 'Moses and the Prophets' or else 'the Law and the Prophets' is used. 'The Law' is in this case used to mean the books by him together with all the other historical books, but not the Prophets because that part of the Word was represented by Elijah and Elisha. For as is well known, the Word has a historical section and a prophetical part, and therefore when the Word is called 'the Law and the Prophets', 'the Law' is used to mean the historical section and 'the Prophets' the prophetical part.

[9] Divine Truth was also represented by a brightness, like a rainbow in the cloud, that surrounded the cherubs and was up above them - in Ezekiel, where those things are described as follows,

I saw the appearance of fire, like a brightness round about, like the appearance of a rainbow which is in the cloud on a day of rain. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. Ezekiel 1:26-28.

Divine Truth is also called the glory of Jehovah, and the glory of the God of Israel in Ezekiel 8:4; 10:18-19; 11:21, 23. It is called 'the glory of Jehovah' in reference to the inmost heaven, and 'the glory of the God of Israel' in reference to the middle or spiritual heaven. The reason why in heaven Divine Truth appears in glory is that truth itself in the spiritual heaven appears before one's eyes as a shining cloud, which I too have been allowed to see several times, while the good held within that truth appears there as a fieriness. The cloud which is given diverse colourings by the fire presents amazing sights, which are 'glory' in the external sense. But the glory in the internal sense is intelligence and wisdom, which are also what those sights represent.

[10] The fact that Divine Truth, the source of all wisdom and intelligence, is 'the glory', as is the diversely coloured cloud appearing before one's external sight, is also clear from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah said, I am the Living One, and the whole earth will be filled with the glory of Jehovah. Numbers 14:21.

This was said by Jehovah when the Israelite people were rejected by Him. He said that only their young children would enter the land of Canaan, at which time the whole earth would be filled with the glory of Jehovah. The meaning of this was that the glory of Jehovah would be present in the representatives of the Church existing among them, and in the Word which referred for the most part to them, and that all heaven and consequently the holy things of the Church would be filled with this glory.

[11] In Isaiah,

The seraphim kept calling out, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah Zebaoth; the whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3.

In the same prophet,

The glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. Isaiah 40:5.

In the same prophet,

Therefore in the Urim give glory to Jehovah, in the isles of the sea to the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. Isaiah 24:15.

'The Urim' stands for the light that is received from Divine Truth going; forth from the Lord. 'The isles of the sea' stands for those who are further away from the truth, 1158.

[12] In the same prophet,

The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Jehovah, the majesty of our God. Isaiah 35:2.

'Lebanon' stands for the spiritual Church, Carmel and Sharon' for the celestial Church. 'The glory of Jehovah' is attributed to the latter when celestial truth, which is charity, is meant, and 'the majesty of the God of Israel' to the former when spiritual good, which also is charity, is meant.

[13] In the same prophet,

Arise, shine, for Your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon You. For behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. But Jehovah will arise upon You, and His glory will be seen over You. Isaiah 60:1-2.

This refers to the Lord, who is called the Light, as in John 1:4, 9. It also says that 'the glory of Jehovah will arise upon Him', meaning that Divine Truth belongs to Him. Similarly in the same prophet,

For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should it be profaned? My glory I do not give to another. Isaiah 48:11.

This too refers to the Lord, 'glory' in the highest sense standing for the Divine Human, and so also for Divine Truth since this comes forth from it. 'Not giving glory to another' is imparting it solely to the Divine Human, which is one with Himself.

[14] In John,

The holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, having the glory of God, and its light was like a most precious stone. Revelation 21:10-11.

'The holy city Jerusalem' is the Lord's spiritual kingdom in heaven and His spiritual Church on earth, to both of which glory is attributed. Its light is truth radiating from the Divine.

[15] Since Divine Truth is what kingship in the Word represents - even as the Lord in respect to His Divine Truth was represented by kings, see the places listed just above - glory was therefore ascribed to Him as King, as in David,

Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted , O ancient doors, 1 so that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, lift up. O ancient doors, 1 that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah Zebaoth, He is the King of glory. Psalms 24:7-10.

In Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders, glory. Isaiah 24:23.

'Glory' stands for Divine Truth. Jehovah is called 'Jehovah Zebaoth' - that is, Jehovah of Hosts or of Armies - when the subject is Divine truth; for truths are meant by 'armies', 3448.

[16] Also, because Divine Truth was represented by kingship, the throne on which kings sat when they made judgements was called a throne of glory, Isaiah 22:23; Jeremiah 14:21; 17:12.

And in Matthew,

The Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory. Matthew 19:28.

In the same gospel,

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. And the King will say to them . . . Matthew 25:31, 34, 40.

The throne was called 'a throne of glory' for the further reason that truth was the basis on which judgements were made. In the same gospel,

The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father together with His angels, and at that time He will repay everyone according to his deeds. Matthew 16:27.

[17] From all this one may now see what is meant by 'the glory' in the Lord's Prayer,

Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Matthew 6:13.

The Lord's spiritual kingdom in heaven and His spiritual Church on earth is in addition referred to by another word for 'glory' (decus) in Isaiah 60:7; 63:15; 64:11; Daniel 8:9-11; 11:16, 41, 45.

Joseph too therefore speaks of his glory, for Joseph himself in the highest sense represents the Lord's Divine Spiritual or His Divine Truth, and in the internal sense His spiritual kingdom, also the good of faith, see 3969, 4669, 4723, 4727.

Voetnoten:

1. literally, doors of the world

  
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Arcana Coelestia #3881

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3881. 'Therefore she called his name Judah' means the essential nature of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421. That nature is contained in the internal sense of these words spoken by Leah - 'This time I will confess Jehovah', dealt with immediately above in 3880. That is to say, in the highest sense those words mean the Lord and the Divinity of His Love, in the internal sense the Word and also the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the more exterior sense doctrine from the Word which the celestial Church has. But as yet scarcely anyone knows that these things are meant in the Word when the name Judah is mentioned, the reason being that the historical descriptions of the Word are thought to be simply historical descriptions, and the prophetical utterances to belong among such things as have fallen into oblivion, except for some of them from which doctrinal inferences may be drawn out. No belief exists that those descriptions and utterances have a spiritual sense within them, because at the present day no knowledge exists of what the spiritual sense is, or indeed of what the spiritual is. And the chief reason for this is that the life which people lead is the natural life. This is such that when they have that life as their end in view or it is the only life they desire, it blots out both spiritual knowledge and faith - so much so that when spiritual life and a spiritual sense are spoken of, these are like something that does not really exist or else are something unpleasant and depressing which, because it does not accord with natural life, they find distasteful. Such being the condition of the human race at the present day it neither understands nor wishes to understand by the names mentioned in the Word anything else than the nations, peoples, individual persons, regions, cities, mountains, or rivers, which those names denote. Yet in the spiritual sense names mean real things.

[2] That 'Judah' in the internal sense means the Lord's celestial Church, in the universal sense His celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself may be seen from many places in the Old Testament where Judah is mentioned, for example, from the following: In Moses,

You are Judah; your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father will bow down to you. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey you have gone up, my son. He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like an old lion; who will rouse him up? The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes; and to him will be the gathering of peoples. Binding his ass's colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine, he will wash his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. His eyes are red from wine, and his teeth white from milk. Genesis 49:8-12.

[3] Nobody can know the meaning of this prophetical declaration about Judah uttered by Jacob, who by then was Israel - not even one expression used there - except from the internal sense. He cannot know for example what is meant by 'his brothers will praise him' and 'his father's sons will bow down to him', or by 'his going up from the prey like a lion's whelp', and 'his crouching and lying down like a lion'. Nor can he know what is meant by 'Shiloh', by 'binding his ass's colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine', by 'washing his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes', by 'eyes red from wine', or by 'teeth white from milk'. As has been stated, these expressions cannot possibly be understood by anyone except from the internal sense, yet all of them - each one - mean celestial things belonging to the Lord's kingdom, also things that are Divine. The same words also foretell that the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself, were to be represented by Judah. All these things declared by Jacob will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed in the explanations of the chapter in which they occur.

[4] Similar examples involving the name Judah occur elsewhere, especially in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel,

You son of man, take a stick and write on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions'. And take another stick and write on it, For Joseph - the stick of Ephraim and of the whole house of Israel, his companions - and join them together, one to the other into one stick for you, and they will be one in your, hand. I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king to them all. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. And they will walk in My judgements, and keep My statutes and do them. And they will dwell in the land which I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they will dwell in it, they and their sons, and their sons' sons even for ever. And David My servant will be their prince for ever, and I will make with them a covenant of peace, it will be an eternal covenant with them. I will bless them, and multiply them, and I will grant My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. Thus will My dwelling-place be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Ezekiel 37:15-28.

Anyone who takes Judah, Israel, Joseph, Ephraim, and David in this passage to mean those actual people will believe all these things will actually take place as described in the sense of the letter. That is to say, he will believe that Israel is going to be reunited with Judah, as well as the tribe of Ephraim; also that David is going to reign as king; that in this manner they are going to dwell in the land given to Jacob for ever, and that at that time an eternal covenant will exist with them and the sanctuary will be in the midst of them for ever. But in fact the meaning of this passage has nothing whatever to do with that nation but with the Lord's celestial kingdom meant by 'Judah', and His spiritual kingdom meant by 'Israel', and with the Lord Himself meant by 'David'. From this it is quite evident that names are not used to mean actual persons but things that are celestial and Divine.

[5] The same is so with the following words in Zechariah,

Many peoples and numerous nations will come to seek Jehovah Zebaoth in Jerusalem and to placate Jehovah's face. Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will take hold; and they will take hold of the hem of a man of Judah, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Zechariah 8:22-23.

Those who take these words literally will say, as the Jewish nation believes still, that being a prophecy not yet fulfilled it is going to be fulfilled in the future. These say that they are going to go back to the land of Canaan, that many from every nation and tongue will follow them, and take hold of the hem of a man of Judah and plead to be allowed to follow. They say that at that time God - that is to say, the Messiah, whom Christians call the Lord - will be among them, to whom they must first be converted. This would be the true implication of these words if 'a man of Judah' were used to mean a man of Judah. But in fact the internal sense at this point deals with a new spiritual Church among gentiles, and 'a man of Judah' means saving faith which results from love to the Lord.

[6] That 'Judah' is not used to mean Judah but, as has been stated, means in the internal sense the Lord's celestial kingdom which was represented in the Church established among Judah or the Jews, becomes quite clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

When the Lord raises an ensign for the nations He will gather the outcasts of Israel, and will assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Then the envy of Ephraim will depart, and the enemies of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. Isaiah 11:12-13.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, who will reign as king, and prosper, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6.

In Joel,

Then you will know that I am Jehovah your God, who dwell in Zion, My holy mountain; and Jerusalem will be holy. It will happen on that day, that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah will flow with water; and a spring will come forth from the house of Jehovah and will water the river of Shittim. Judah will abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Joel 3:17-18, 20.

[7] In Zechariah,

On that day I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. And on the house of Judah I will open My eyes, and every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. And the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, I will strengthen for myself the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Jehovah Zebaoth their God. On that day I will set the leaders of Judah like a hearth of fire in sticks of wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they will devour to the right and to the left all the peoples round about, and Jerusalem will yet again be inhabited in her own place, in Jerusalem. And Jehovah will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, may not exalt itself over Judah. On that day Jehovah will protect the inhabitant of Jerusalem, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Jehovah in front of them. And I will pour out over the house of David and over the inhabitant of Jerusalem a spirit of grace. Zechariah 12:4-10.

This refers to the Lord's celestial kingdom, where truth should not have dominion over good but ought to be subordinate to it, truth being meant by 'the house of David' and 'the inhabitant of Jerusalem', and good by 'Judah'. From this it is evident why first it is said that 'the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, will not exalt itself over Judah', and after this that 'the house of David will be like God, and like the angel of Jehovah', and that 'a spirit of grace will be poured out over it and over the inhabitant of Jerusalem'. For such is the state when truth is subordinate to good or faith to love. 'The horse which will be struck with panic, and the horse of the peoples with blindness' is self-intelligence, see 2761, 2762, 3217.

[8] In the same prophet,

On that day there will be on the horses' bells, Holiness to Jehovah. And the pots in the house of Jehovah will be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holiness to Jehovah Zebaoth. Zechariah 14:20-21.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. In Malachi,

Behold, I am sending My angel, who will prepare the way before Me, and suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming. Who can endure the day of His coming? Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of old and as in former years. Malachi 3:1-2, 4.

This plainly refers to the Coming of the Lord. The meaning is that Judah and Jerusalem's minchah was not, as is well known, acceptable but that worship flowing from love, Judah's minchah, and worship flowing from faith rooted in love, Jerusalem's minchah, are acceptable.

[9] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, Again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I turn again their captivity: Jehovah bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy mountain! And Judah and all its cities will dwell in it together. Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers. Jeremiah 31:23-24, 27, 31-32.

In David,

The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved, and built His sanctuary as the heights, as the earth He founded it for ever. Psalms 78:68-69.

[10] From these places and very many others which have not been mentioned one may see what 'Judah' means in the Word. They show that 'Judah' does not mean the Jewish nation, for that nation was anything but the celestial Church or the Lord's celestial kingdom; for so far as love to the Lord, charity towards the neighbour, and faith; went they were the worst nation of all. This has been so from their earliest forefathers, namely the sons of Jacob, even to the present day. But in spite of this such people were able to represent the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, see 3479-3481. For in representations no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to what is represented by him, 665, 1097 (end), 1361, 3147, 3670.

[11] But when they did not adhere to the religious observances commanded by Jehovah or the Lord but deviated from them into acts of idolatry they no longer represented those things but such as are contrary to them, namely those of hell and the devil, according to the Lord's words in John,

You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not take a stand on the truth. John 8:44

Such is the meaning of 'Judah' in the contrary sense, as becomes clear from the following: In Isaiah,

Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their tongue and their works are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of His glory to anger. Isaiah 3:8.

In Malachi,

Judah has acted faithlessly, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, and Judah has profaned the holiness of Jehovah, for he loved and married the daughter of a foreign god. Malachi 2:11.

And in addition in the following places - Isaiah 3:1 and following verses;

8:7-8; Jeremiah 2:28; 3:7-11; 9:26; 11:9-10, 12; 13:9; 14:2; 17:1; 18:11-13; 19:7; 32:35; 36:31; 44:12, 14, 26, 28; Hosea 5:5; 8:14; Amos 2:4-5; Zephaniah 1:4; and many times elsewhere.

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