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Exodus第9章

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1 Then Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people Go, that they may serve me.

2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

3 behold, the hand of Jehovah is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: [there shall be] a very grievous murrain.

4 And Jehovah shall make a distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.

5 And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow Jehovah shall do this thing in the land.

6 And Jehovah did that thing on the morrow; and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.

7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

8 And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

9 And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.

10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast.

11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

12 And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken unto Moses.

13 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

14 For I will this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.

15 For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth:

16 but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?

18 Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.

19 Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; [for] every man and beast that shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

20 He that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses.

21 And he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.

22 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

28 Entreat Jehovah; for there hath been enough of [these] mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.

29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto Jehovah; the thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is Jehovah's.

30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear Jehovah God.

31 And the flax and the barley were smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom.

32 But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten: for they were not grown up.

33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto Jehovah: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go, as Jehovah had spoken by Moses.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#7519

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7519. 'The ashes of the furnace' means to arouse the falsities that are a product of evil desires, by being present with those engaged in molestation. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ashes of the furnace' as the falsities that are a product of evil desires, dealt with below. The fact that they are aroused through presence with those who molest is clear from what follows in the present verse, for it goes on to say that Moses scattered the ashes in the direction of heaven, before 'Pharaoh's eyes', 'before the eyes' meaning presence, and 'Pharaoh' meaning those who engage in molestation, as has been shown often.

[2] The nature of these things cannot be known without revelation, for they are things such as take place in the next life and are unknown in the world. As long as evil spirits or those from hell have been removed and are separated from heaven, that is, from the good of love and the truth of faith which are there, they are unaware of the fact that they are under the influence of evils and falsities. For in these circumstances they believe falsities to be truths and evils to be forms of good. But as soon as heaven, that is, some heavenly community, moves closer towards them, they recognize them to be falsities and evils; for the truth of faith that flows in then enables them to recognize falsities, and the good of love that flows in enables them to recognize evils. Also the closer heaven comes, or the inflow from it of the good of love and truth of faith becomes more directly present, the worse are those evil spirits tormented by their own evils and falsities, because they cannot bear that goodness and truth.

[3] From all this one may now see why Moses was commanded to take the ashes of the furnace and to scatter them in the direction of heaven, and to do this before Pharaoh's eyes, and why he, not Aaron, was commanded to scatter the ashes in the direction of heaven. For the requirement that the ashes should be scattered in the direction of heaven means the influx of heaven; the requirement that it should be done before Pharaoh's eyes means in the presence of those who molest; and Moses, not Aaron, was told to do it because this situation is brought about among the evil by truth that goes forth directly from God, 'Moses' being truth that goes forth directly from God, 'Aaron' that which goes forth in an indirect way, see 7010. All this shows what is meant in the internal sense by the contents of this verse and those immediately following - that foul and filthy things that are products of evil desires, together with blasphemy, meant by 'sores breaking out into pustules', should be aroused. They are aroused when Divine Truth flows in and heaven moves closer.

[4] Anyone may see that Moses would never have been commanded by Jehovah to do such things - to take the ashes of the furnace and scatter them in the direction of heaven - unless some heavenly arcanum had lain within them. Jehovah would never have given orders for the employment of such means to produce their effect unless they had contained something heavenly to which they corresponded. From this one may see what the Word is like, that it is very full of arcana, but arcana that are not clearly visible in the sense of the letter.

[5] The reason why 'the ashes of the furnace' means falsities that are a product of evil desires is that ashes are formed from things that have been burnt. What is being burnt, as also the actual fire, in the Word means in the good sense good that is the object of heavenly affections, but in the contrary sense evil that is the object of hellish desires. For the fact that 'fire' means those things, see 934, 1861, 2446, 4906, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324; and 'burning' means evil desires, 1297, 5215. So it is that 'ashes' means falsities, for falsities are the product of evil desires. Since evil desires are meant by 'fire' they are also meant by 'a furnace'. 'A furnace', being a container, often implies the same as its contents.

[6] The fact that 'a furnace' means these things is clear from the following places: In Malachi,

Behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant, and every evil-doer will be stubble; and the day that is coming will burn them up; it will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1

'Burning like a furnace' stands for evil desires; 'burning them up' stands for burning with evil desires.

[7] In the book of Genesis,

Abraham looked out towards the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards the whole face of the land of the plain; and he saw, and the smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace. Genesis 19:28.

'The smoke of a furnace' stands for falsities arising from evil desires. For 'Sodom' is evil desires that stem from self-love, and 'Gomorrah' is falsity arising from that evil, 2220, 2246, 2322. In John,

Out of the pit of the abyss there went up smoke, like the smoke of a furnace. Revelation 9:2.

'The smoke of a furnace' again stands for falsities arising from evil desires, 'the pit of the abyss' standing for hell.

[8] In Matthew,

The Son of Man will send His angels, who will gather out of His kingdom all offences, and those who work iniquity, and will send them into the furnace of fire. Matthew 13:41-42.

'The furnace of fire' stands for evil desires; for the fire of evil desires is what is meant in the Word by hell-fire. Loves too are simply what fire people's lives; and loves extend into desires.

[9] In Nahum,

Draw yourself water for the siege, strengthen your fortifications; go into the mud and tread the clay; renew the brick-kiln. 1 There the fire will devour you, the sword cut you off. Nahum 3:14-15.

'Going into the mud' stands for entering into falsity, 'treading the clay' stands for stepping into evil, 6669. 'The brick-kiln' 1 stands for the falsities which they fashion and which are introduced by the evil, 1296, 6669, 7113; 'the fire' stands for the desire for evil, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6832, 7324; and 'the sword' stands for falsity, 4499.

[10] In Jeremiah,

Take into your hand large stones, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln 1 which is at the gate of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the eyes of the men of the Jews, and say to them, Behold, I am sending and will bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babel, and will put his throne onto these stones which I have hidden, so that he may spread his tent over them. He will come and strike the land of Egypt. Jeremiah 43:9-11.

One cannot know what these verses mean without the internal sense. 'Large stones' are falsities; 'the brick-kiln' 1 is the desire for falsity arising from evil; 'Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babel' is one who lays truth and goodness waste; the presence of his throne and tent on these stones means that he will cause falsities to reign; and 'the land of Egypt' which he will strike is the natural mind.

脚注:

1. literally, brick-furnace

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