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Judges 17

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1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst curse, and speak of also in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.

3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it to thee.

4 Yet he restored the money to his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

5 And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

9 And Micah said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.

11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.

12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

13 Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite for my priest.

   

Commentaar

 

Tell

  

In Genesis 12:18, telling signifies to indicate, to come to know, to inform, or to be informed. Reflection is an internal telling. (Arcana Coelestia 2862)

In Genesis 24:49, "tell me, and if not, tell me" signifies the free state of their deliberation. (Arcana Coelestia 3158)

In Revelation 1:1, 2, this signifies to make manifest. (Apocalypse Revealed 3)

In Genesis 24:66, when the servant tells Isaac his story, it signifies perception from the Divine Natural. (Arcana Coelestia 3209)

'To tell' signifies perceiving, because in the spiritual world, or in heaven, they do not need to tell what they think because they communicate every thought. This is why 'to tell,' in the spiritual sense, signifies perceiving.

(Referenties: Arcana Coelestia 5601)

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #3158

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3158. 'Tell me; and if not, tell me' means a state in which they are free to deliberate. This is evident from the sense of the words themselves. From all that has gone before it is clear that while the sense of the letter in this chapter is dealing with the betrothal and marriage of Rebekah to Isaac, the internal sense is dealing with the introduction and joining together of truth and good, for the introduction and joining together of truth and good is spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage. In both instances a free state to deliberate is necessary. The necessity for it in betrothal and marriage is well known, but the necessity for it in the introduction and joining together of truth and good is not so well known because it is not visible to the natural man and belongs among the things that go on quite apart from any reflecting on them. Yet this activity continues moment by moment in one who is being reformed and regenerated, that is to say, he experiences a free state when truth is being joined to good.

[2] Everyone may know, if he merely stops to think, that nothing ever exists as a person's own unless it forms part of his will. That which belongs solely to the understanding does not become a person's own until it belongs also to his will, for what belongs to the will constitutes the essential being (esse) of a person's life, whereas what belongs to the understanding constitutes the manifestation (existere) of that essential being. Consent flowing from the understanding alone is not consent, but all consent springs from the will. Unless therefore the truth of faith which belongs to the understanding is received by the good of love which belongs to the will it is in no sense truth that has been acknowledged, and so is not faith. In order that it may be received by good that belongs to the will it is necessary that a free state should exist. Everything that belongs in the will looks to be free. The state itself of the will is freedom, for what I will, I choose and desire since that is what I love and acknowledge as that which is good. From this it becomes clear that the truth of faith in no sense becomes a person's own until it has been accepted by the will, that is, introduced and joined to the good there, which cannot happen except in a free state.

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