6
ἀνηγγέλη δὲ μωυσεῖ λέγοντες ἰδοὺ ὁ γαμβρός σου ιοθορ παραγίνεται πρὸς σέ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ καὶ οἱ δύο υἱοί σου μετ' αὐτοῦ
Exodus 18:6
Isaiah 44
1
νῦν δὲ ἄκουσον παῖς μου ιακωβ καὶ ισραηλ ὃν ἐξελεξάμην
2
οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας σε καὶ ὁ πλάσας σε ἐκ κοιλίας ἔτι βοηθηθήσῃ μὴ φοβοῦ παῖς μου ιακωβ καὶ ὁ ἠγαπημένος ισραηλ ὃν ἐξελεξάμην
3
ὅτι ἐγὼ δώσω ὕδωρ ἐν δίψει τοῖς πορευομένοις ἐν ἀνύδρῳ ἐπιθήσω τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου καὶ τὰς εὐλογίας μου ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα σου
4
καὶ ἀνατελοῦσιν ὡσεὶ χόρτος ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὡς ἰτέα ἐπὶ παραρρέον ὕδωρ
5
οὗτος ἐρεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰμι καὶ οὗτος βοήσεται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι ιακωβ καὶ ἕτερος ἐπιγράψει τοῦ θεοῦ εἰμι ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι ισραηλ
6
οὕτως λέγει ὁ θεὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ ισραηλ ὁ ῥυσάμενος αὐτὸν θεὸς σαβαωθ ἐγὼ πρῶτος καὶ ἐγὼ μετὰ ταῦτα πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν θεός
7
τίς ὥσπερ ἐγώ στήτω καλεσάτω καὶ ἑτοιμασάτω μοι ἀφ' οὗ ἐποίησα ἄνθρωπον εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ τὰ ἐπερχόμενα πρὸ τοῦ ἐλθεῖν ἀναγγειλάτωσαν ὑμῖν
8
μὴ παρακαλύπτεσθε οὐκ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἠνωτίσασθε καὶ ἀπήγγειλα ὑμῖν μάρτυρες ὑμεῖς ἐστε εἰ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἦσαν τότε
9
οἱ πλάσσοντες καὶ γλύφοντες πάντες μάταιοι οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰ καταθύμια αὐτῶν ἃ οὐκ ὠφελήσει αὐτούς ἀλλὰ αἰσχυνθήσονται
10
πάντες οἱ πλάσσοντες θεὸν καὶ γλύφοντες ἀνωφελῆ
11
καὶ πάντες ὅθεν ἐγένοντο ἐξηράνθησαν καὶ κωφοὶ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων συναχθήτωσαν πάντες καὶ στήτωσαν ἅμα ἐντραπήτωσαν καὶ αἰσχυνθήτωσαν ἅμα
12
ὅτι ὤξυνεν τέκτων σίδηρον σκεπάρνῳ εἰργάσατο αὐτὸ καὶ ἐν τερέτρῳ ἔτρησεν αὐτό εἰργάσατο αὐτὸ ἐν τῷ βραχίονι τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ καὶ πεινάσει καὶ ἀσθενήσει καὶ οὐ μὴ πίῃ ὕδωρ ἐκλεξάμενος
13
τέκτων ξύλον ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν μέτρῳ καὶ ἐν κόλλῃ ἐρρύθμισεν αὐτό ἐποίησεν αὐτὸ ὡς μορφὴν ἀνδρὸς καὶ ὡς ὡραιότητα ἀνθρώπου στῆσαι αὐτὸ ἐν οἴκῳ
14
ὃ ἔκοψεν ξύλον ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ ὃ ἐφύτευσεν κύριος καὶ ὑετὸς ἐμήκυνεν
15
ἵνα ᾖ ἀνθρώποις εἰς καῦσιν καὶ λαβὼν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἐθερμάνθη καὶ καύσαντες ἔπεψαν ἄρτους ἐπ' αὐτῶν τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν εἰργάσαντο εἰς θεούς καὶ προσκυνοῦσιν αὐτούς
16
οὗ τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ κατέκαυσαν ἐν πυρὶ καὶ καύσαντες ἔπεψαν ἄρτους ἐπ' αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπ' αὐτοῦ κρέας ὀπτήσας ἔφαγεν καὶ ἐνεπλήσθη καὶ θερμανθεὶς εἶπεν ἡδύ μοι ὅτι ἐθερμάνθην καὶ εἶδον πῦρ
17
τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἐποίησεν εἰς θεὸν γλυπτὸν καὶ προσκυνεῖ αὐτῷ καὶ προσεύχεται λέγων ἐξελοῦ με ὅτι θεός μου εἶ σύ
18
οὐκ ἔγνωσαν φρονῆσαι ὅτι ἀπημαυρώθησαν τοῦ βλέπειν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτῶν καὶ τοῦ νοῆσαι τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν
19
καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσατο τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἀνελογίσατο ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἔγνω τῇ φρονήσει ὅτι τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ κατέκαυσεν ἐν πυρὶ καὶ ἔπεψεν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθράκων αὐτοῦ ἄρτους καὶ ὀπτήσας κρέας ἔφαγεν καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν αὐτοῦ εἰς βδέλυγμα ἐποίησεν καὶ προσκυνοῦσιν αὐτῷ
20
γνῶτε ὅτι σποδὸς ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν καὶ πλανῶνται καὶ οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐξελέσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἴδετε οὐκ ἐρεῖτε ὅτι ψεῦδος ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ μου
21
μνήσθητι ταῦτα ιακωβ καὶ ισραηλ ὅτι παῖς μου εἶ σύ ἔπλασά σε παῖδά μου καὶ σύ ισραηλ μὴ ἐπιλανθάνου μου
22
ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἀπήλειψα ὡς νεφέλην τὰς ἀνομίας σου καὶ ὡς γνόφον τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἐπιστράφητι πρός με καὶ λυτρώσομαί σε
23
εὐφράνθητε οὐρανοί ὅτι ἠλέησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ισραηλ σαλπίσατε θεμέλια τῆς γῆς βοήσατε ὄρη εὐφροσύνην οἱ βουνοὶ καὶ πάντα τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὅτι ἐλυτρώσατο ὁ θεὸς τὸν ιακωβ καὶ ισραηλ δοξασθήσεται
24
οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ λυτρούμενός σε καὶ ὁ πλάσσων σε ἐκ κοιλίας ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ συντελῶν πάντα ἐξέτεινα τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος καὶ ἐστερέωσα τὴν γῆν τίς ἕτερος
25
διασκεδάσει σημεῖα ἐγγαστριμύθων καὶ μαντείας ἀπὸ καρδίας ἀποστρέφων φρονίμους εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καὶ τὴν βουλὴν αὐτῶν μωρεύων
26
καὶ ἱστῶν ῥήματα παιδὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν βουλὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ ἀληθεύων ὁ λέγων ιερουσαλημ κατοικηθήσῃ καὶ ταῖς πόλεσιν τῆς ιουδαίας οἰκοδομηθήσεσθε καὶ τὰ ἔρημα αὐτῆς ἀνατελεῖ
27
ὁ λέγων τῇ ἀβύσσῳ ἐρημωθήσῃ καὶ τοὺς ποταμούς σου ξηρανῶ
28
ὁ λέγων κύρῳ φρονεῖν καὶ πάντα τὰ θελήματά μου ποιήσει ὁ λέγων ιερουσαλημ οἰκοδομηθήσῃ καὶ τὸν οἶκον τὸν ἅγιόν μου θεμελιώσω
Arcana Coelestia #8641
8641. Exodus 18
1. And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, that Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah, the wife of Moses, after he had sent her away, 1
3. And her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land),
4. And the name of the other was Eliezer (Because the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh).
5. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, and his sons and his wife came to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
6. And he said to Moses, I your father-in-law Jethro come to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.
7. And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down, and kissed him; and they asked, a man his companion, as regards peace; 2 and they came into the tent.
8. And Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the distress that had come upon them on the way, and how Jehovah had rescued them.
9. And Jethro rejoiced over all the good which Jehovah had done for Israel, who had rescued him from the hand of the Egyptians.
10. And Jethro said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has rescued His people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11. Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all gods, for this reason, that they behaved proudly over them.
12. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God.
13. And so it was, on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.
14. And the father-in-law of Moses saw all that he was doing for the people, and he said, What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people are standing before you from morning until evening?
15. And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16. When they have a matter they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbour; 3 and I make known the judgements of God and His laws.
17. And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, The thing that you do is not good.
18. You will surely wither away, both you and this people who are with you, for the task 4 is too heavy for you; you are not able to do it yourself alone.
19. Now hear my voice; I will counsel you, and God will be with you. Be for the people with God, and you are to bring matters to God 5 .
20. And you are to teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must go, and the work they must do.
21. And you are to see 6 out of all the people men of vigour fearing God, men of truth hating gain; and you are to appoint them 7 rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
22. And let them judge the people at all times. And it shall be, every great matter let them bring to you, and every small matter let them judge themselves; and roll down [the burden] from upon yourself, and let them bear [it] with you.
23. If you do this thing and God has commanded you, you will be able to stand fast; and also all this people will come upon their place in peace.
24. And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he said.
25. And Moses chose men of vigour from all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26. And they will judge the people at all times; a difficult matter they will bring to Moses, and every small matter they will judge themselves.
27. And Moses sent his father-in-law away; and he went his way to his own land.
CONTENTS
The internal sense in this chapter deals with levels of truth that follow one another in order from the first to the last, arranged into order by good from God. The first level of truth is represented by Moses; the levels of truth that follow on from it in order are represented by the rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens; and the good from God by which they are arranged into order is represented by Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.
Fusnotat:
1. literally, after the seedings away of her
2. i.e. they asked each other about their welfare
3. literally, companion or fellow
4. literally, word or matter
5. i.e. Represent the people before God, and bring their difficulties to Him.
6. i.e. select
7. The Latin here means appoint from them but in 8696, 8712 it means appoint them. The Hebrew means appoint over them.
