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Amos 1

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1 De ord som Amos, en av hyrdene fra Tekoa, mottok i sine syner om Israel i de dager da Ussias var konge i Juda og Jeroboam, Joas' sønn, konge i Israel, to år før jordskjelvet.

2 Han sa: Herren skal brøle fra Sion og la sin røst høre fra Jerusalem, og hyrdenes beitemarker skal sørge, og Karmels topp bli tørr.

3 sier Herren: For tre misgjerninger av Damaskus, ja for fire vil jeg ikke ta det* tilbake - fordi de tresket Gilead med treskesleder av jern**; / {* hvad jeg har besluttet; AMO 1, 4. 5.} / {** 2SA 12, 31. JES 28, 27. 28; 41, 15.}

4 men jeg vil sende ild mot Hasaels hus, og den skal fortære Benhadads palasser,

5 og jeg vil sønderbryte Damaskus' portbom og utrydde dem som bor i Avens dal, og den som bærer kongestaven, i Bet-Eden; og Syrias folk skal bortføres til Kir, sier Herren.

6 sier Herren: For tre misgjerninger av Gasa, ja for fire vil jeg ikke ta det tilbake - fordi de bortførte alt folket som fanger og overgav dem til Edom;

7 men jeg vil sende ild mot Gasas murer, og den skal fortære dets palasser,

8 og jeg vil utrydde dem som bor i Asdod, og den som bærer kongestaven, i Askalon, og jeg vil vende min hånd mot Ekron, og det som er igjen av filistrene, skal gå til grunne, sier Herren, Israels Gud.

9 sier Herren: For tre misgjerninger av Tyrus, ja for fire vil jeg ikke ta det tilbake - fordi de overgav alt folket som fanger til Edom og ikke kom brorpakten i hu;

10 men jeg vil sende ild mot Tyrus' murer, og den skal fortære dets palasser.

11 sier Herren: For tre misgjerninger av Edom, ja for fire vil jeg ikke ta det tilbake - fordi han forfulgte sin bror med sverd og kvalte sin barmhjertighet, og hans vrede stadig sønderrev, og han alltid holdt på sin harme;

12 men jeg vil sende ild mot Teman, og den skal fortære Bosras palasser.

13 sier Herren: For tre misgjerninger av Ammons barn, ja for fire vil jeg ikke ta det tilbake - fordi de skar op de fruktsommelige kvinner i Gilead for å utvide sitt landemerke;

14 men jeg vil stikke ild på abbas murer, og den skal fortære dets palasser, under hærskrik på stridens dag, i storm på uværets dag,

15 og deres konge skal føres bort som fange, både han og hans fyrster, sier Herren.

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Arcana Coelestia #1197

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1197. 'From whom Pelishtim came forth' means the nation which came from these, and which means a knowledge of the cognitions of faith and charity. This is clear from the Word where they are mentioned many times. In the Ancient Church all were called Philistines who spoke much about faith and who asserted that salvation lay in faith, and yet possessed nothing of the life of faith. Consequently they more than any others were called uncircumcised, that is, devoid of charity. (For references to them as the uncircumcised, see 1 Samuel 14:6; 17:26, 36; 31:4; 2 Samuel 1:20; and elsewhere.) Being such as they were they inevitably made cognitions of faith matters of memory, for cognitions of spiritual and celestial things, and the arcana of faith themselves, become purely matters of memory when a person who is acquainted with them is devoid of charity. Things of the memory are so to speak dead if the person is not such that he lives according to them from conscience. When he does live according to them from conscience things of the memory are in that case matters of life as well, and only then do they remain with him for his use and salvation following life in the body. Knowledge and cognitions are of no value to anyone in the next life, even though he may have known all the arcana that have ever been revealed, if they have made no impact on his life.

[2] Throughout the prophetical parts of the Word 'the Philistines' means people such as these, as they do in the historical sections of the Word, as when Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines and made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, Genesis 20:1-end; 21:22-end; 26:1-33. Because the Philistines here meant cognitions of faith, and because Abraham represented the celestial things of faith, he sojourned there and made a covenant with them. So likewise did Isaac, who represented the spiritual things of faith. But Jacob did not do so because he represented the external features of the Church.

[3] That 'the Philistines' means, in general, knowledge of the cognitions of faith, and in particular people who make faith and salvation reside in cognitions alone which they make matters of memory, becomes clear also in Isaiah,

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod which smites you has been broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying prester. Isaiah 14:29

Here 'the serpent's root' stands for facts, 'an adder' for evil arising out of falsities based on facts. 'The fruits of a flying prester' is their works which, because they are the product of evil desires, are called 'a flying prester'

[4] In Joel,

What are you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? Swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head, inasmuch as you have taken My silver and My gold, and My good and desirable treasures you have carried into your temples, and have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Javanites, 1 that you might remove them far away from their border. Joel 3:4-6.

What 'the Philistines' and the whole of Philistia, or 'all its borders', are used to mean here is plain. 'Silver' and 'gold' here are the spiritual and celestial things of faith, 'good and desirable treasures' cognitions of them. 'They carried them into their temples' means that they were in possession of them and proclaimed them. 'They sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem' however means that they possessed no love and no faith. In the Word 'Judah' is the celestial element of faith, and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual element deriving from it, which were 'removed far away from their borders'. Further examples exist in the Prophets, such as Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 47:1-end; Ezekiel 16:27, 57; 25:15-16; Amos 1:8; 19; Zephaniah 2:5; Psalms 87:4; and the people of Caphtor are mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7.

Fotnoter:

1. i.e. the Greeks

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2240

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2240. That 'cry' is falsity, and 'sin' evil, becomes clear from the meaning of 'cry' in the Word. The meaning of 'cry' as falsity is not seen by anyone unless he knows the internal sense of the Word. The expression occurs several times in the Prophets, and when vastation and desolation are the subject in those places it is said that men 'wail and cry out', meaning that goods and truths have been laid waste. In those places a word is used by which in the internal sense falsity is described, as in Jeremiah,

The voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wail of the powerful ones of the flock, for Jehovah is laying waste their pasture. Jeremiah 25:36.

Here 'the cry of the shepherds' means that they are subject to falsity, which leads to vastation.

[2] In the same prophet,

Behold, waters rising out of the north, they will be a deluging stream, and they will deluge the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it, and men will cry out and every inhabitant of the land will wail, on the day that is coming to lay waste. Jeremiah 47:2, 4.

This refers to the desolation of faith which is effected by falsities. 'A deluging stream' is falsity, as shown in Volume One, in 705, 790.

[3] In Zephaniah,

The voice of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. And their wealth will be for plunder, and their houses for desolation. Zephaniah 1:10, 13.

Here also 'a cry' has reference to falsities that lay waste.

[4] In Isaiah,

On the road to Horonaim they will raise a cry of ruination, for the waters of Nimrim will be desolations, because the grass has withered, herbage is at an end, there are no plants. Isaiah 15:5-6; Jeremiah 48:3.

Here the desolation of faith is meant, and the climax is described by 'a cry'.

[5] In Jeremiah,

Judah mourned and her gates languished; the people were in black down to the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem went up. And their illustrious ones sent their lesser ones to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no water, they returned with their vessels empty. Jeremiah 14:2-3.

Here 'the cry of Jerusalem' stands for falsities, for their finding no water means lack of cognitions of truth - 'water' meaning such cognitions, as has been shown in Volume One, in 28, 680, 739.

[6] In Isaiah,

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and no more will there be heard in it the voice of weeping nor the voice of a cry. Isaiah 65:19.

Here 'there will not be heard the voice of weeping' means that there will be no evil, 'nor the voice of a cry' that there will be no falsity. The majority of these details cannot be understood, nor thus what is meant by 'a cry', from the sense of the letter, but from the internal sense.

[7] In the same prophet,

Jehovah looked for judgement, but behold, rottenness; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. Isaiah 5:7.

This also is referring to the vastation of good and truth. Here, as also in various places in the Prophets, a kind of reciprocity is expressed, which is such that one finds evil in place of truth, meant by 'rottenness' instead of 'judgement', and falsity in place of good, meant by 'a cry' instead of 'righteousness'; for by 'judgement' is meant truth and by 'righteousness' good, as shown above in 2235.

[8] A similar reciprocity is expressed in Moses when Sodom and Gomorrah are referred to,

From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah their grapes; they have grapes of poison and clusters of bitterness. Deuteronomy 32:32.

Here a similar manner of expression occurs, for 'the vine' is used in reference to truths and to falsities, 'fields and grapes' to goods and to evils, so that 'the vine of Sodom' means falsity derived from evil, and 'fields and grapes of Gomorrah' evils derived from falsities. For there are two kinds of falsity, dealt with in Volume One, in 1212, and so also there are two kinds of evil. Both kinds of falsity and evil are meant in this verse by 'the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and their sin has become extremely grave', as is clear from the fact that 'cry' is mentioned first and 'sin' second, and 'Sodom', which is evil springing from self-love, is referred to first, and 'Gomorrah', which is falsity derived from that evil, is referred to second.

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