圣经文本

 

Exodus第15章

学习

   

1 Then Moses and the children of Israel made this song to the Lord, and said, I will make a song to the Lord, for he is lifted up in glory: the horse and the horseman he has sent down into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strength and my strong helper, he has become my salvation: he is my God and I will give him praise; my father's God and I will give him glory.

3 The Lord is a man of war: The Lord is his name.

4 Pharaoh's war-carriages and his army he has sent down into the sea: the best of his captains have gone down into the Red Sea.

5 They were covered by the deep waters: like a stone they went down under the waves.

6 Full of glory, O Lord, is the power of your right hand; by your right hand those who came against you are broken.

7 When you are lifted up in power, all those who come against you are crushed: when you send out your wrath, they are burned up like dry grass.

8 By your breath the waves were massed together, the flowing waters were lifted up like a pillar; the deep waters became solid in the heart of the sea.

9 Egypt said, I will go after them, I will overtake, I will make division of their goods: my desire will have its way with them; my sword will be uncovered, my hand will send destruction on them.

10 You sent your wind and the sea came over them: they went down like lead into the great waters.

11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, in holy glory, to be praised with fear, doing wonders?

12 When your right hand was stretched out, the mouth of the earth was open for them.

13 In your mercy you went before the people whom you have made yours; guiding them in your strength to your holy place.

14 Hearing of you the peoples were shaking in fear: the people of Philistia were gripped with pain.

15 The chiefs of Edom were troubled in heart; the strong men of Moab were in the grip of fear: all the people of Canaan became like water.

16 Fear and grief came on them; by the strength of your arm they were turned to stone; till your people went over, O Lord, till the people went over whom you have made yours.

17 You will take them in, planting them in the mountain of your heritage, the place, O Lord, where you have made your house, the holy place, O Lord, the building of your hands.

18 The Lord is King for ever and ever.

19 For the horses of Pharaoh, with his war-carriages and his horsemen, went into the sea, and the Lord sent the waters of the sea back over them; but the children of Israel went through the sea on dry land.

20 And Miriam, the woman prophet, the sister of Aaron, took an instrument of music in her hand; and all the women went after her with music and dances.

21 And Miriam, answering, said, Make a song to the Lord, for he is lifted up in glory; the horse and the horseman he has sent into the sea.

22 Then Moses took Israel forward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the waste land of Shur; and for three days they were in the waste land where there was no water.

23 And when they came to Marah, the water was no good for drinking, for the waters of Marah were bitter, which is why it was named Marah.

24 And the people, crying out against Moses, said, What are we to have for drink?

25 And in answer to his prayer, the Lord made him see a tree, and when he put it into the water, the water was made sweet. There he gave them a law and an order, testing them;

26 And he said, If with all your heart you will give attention to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his eyes, giving ear to his orders and keeping his laws, I will not put on you any of the diseases which I put on the Egyptians: for I am the Lord your life-giver.

27 And they came to Elim where there were twelve water-springs and seventy palm-trees: and they put up their tents there by the waters.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#8313

学习本章节

  
/10837  
  

8313. 'Distress took hold of the inhabitants of Philistia' means despair of enlarging their dominion, on the part of those upholding faith separated from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'distress' as despair, because they could not any longer enlarge their dominion, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the inhabitants of Philistia' as those who uphold faith alone separated from the good of charity, dealt with in 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413, 8093, 8096, 8099. They are distinguished from the Egyptians by the fact that they rule out the good deeds of charity, in the belief that a person is saved without them by faith. This main tenet in their doctrine gives birth to a large number of errors, such as these: Salvation is attributable to mercy, irrespective of the life the person has been leading; all his sins and evils are washed away through faith, enabling him to walk as someone who has been made righteous; his salvation can be accomplished in an instant, even through faith and truth attained at the final hour of his death; consequently it is not the affection belonging to heavenly love that makes heaven in a person. People subscribing to these errors are Philistines; and they are called 'uncircumcised' because of the evils of self-love and love of the world in which their life consists.

[2] The reason why 'distress' here means despair is that extreme distress should be understood, or pain like that suffered by women in labour. The word in the original language also means that kind of pain. Despair or the extremes of distress are actually described in the Word as 'the pain of a woman in labour', for example in David,

The kings assembled themselves. Terror seized them, pain as of a woman in labour. Psalms 48:4, 6.

In Jeremiah,

O dweller in Lebanon, having a nest in the cedars, how much grace will you find when distresses come to you, pain as of a woman in labour? Jeremiah 22:23.

In the same prophet,

The king of Babel has heard the report about them, consequently his hands have become feeble; anguish has taken hold of him, pain as of a woman in labour. Jeremiah 50:43.

In Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah is near, like devastation from Shaddai. Therefore all hands are feeble, and every human heart melts, and they are terrified; pangs and distresses take hold of them, they are in labour, like a woman giving birth. Isaiah 13:6-8.

[3] In Jeremiah,

behold, a people coming from the land of the north, and a mighty nation will be stirred up from the furthest parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; it is cruel and they do not have any pity. Their voice resounds like the sea, and they ride on horses, [every one] prepared as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion. We have heard the report about it, our hands have grown feeble. Anguish has laid hold on us, pain as of a woman in labour. Jeremiah 6:22-24.

This refers to truth being laid waste as experienced by those ruled by evil. 'A people from the land of the north' stands for those steeped in falsities arising from evil. 'A mighty nation from the uttermost parts of the earth' stands for those steeped in evils which are altogether opposed to good. 'They lay hold on bow and spear' stands for the fact that they draw on false teachings when they engage in conflict. 'Their voice resounds like the sea' stands for reasoning based on those teachings. 'They ride on horses' stands for arguments seemingly based on understanding. 'Prepared as a man for battle' stands for the desire to attack truth. 'Daughter of Zion' stands for the Church where good exists. 'Anguish has laid hold' stands for distress, because truths might undergo molestation. 'Pain as of a woman in labour' stands for despair, because good might suffer harm. From all this it is evident that 'pain' in this instance means despair on account of harm that might be done to good.

[4] The reason why 'distress took hold of the inhabitants of Philistia' means despair or lack of hope of enlarging their dominion is that the Philistines, that is, those who suppose that salvation comes as a result of faith alone without the good deeds of charity, in the next life strive unceasingly after dominion, fighting against others. They do not stop until they undergo vastation of their knowledge of cognitions or matters of faith. Every person in the next life retains the tenets of the faith he possessed during his lifetime; and no other people exchange them for truths except those who have done what is good in life, since good desires truth and welcomes it freely because it is of a similar nature. But those who have done what is bad in life do not exchange them. Those people are so to speak hard, and also they reject truths. Furthermore they live in obscurity, so that they cannot even see them. They see only whatever endorses the ideas they have adopted and nothing whatever that goes against them. Such people also imagine that they have more intelligence than everyone else; yet they know nothing except to use reasonings based on the ideas they have adopted. This is why they are people who attack charity very strongly, consequently are people who wish to dominate. For those who are governed by charity are humble, and wish - as though lowest in rank - to serve all. But those who are ruled by faith without charity are haughty, and wish - as though highest in rank - to be served by all. This also is why they consider heaven to consist in the glory of dominion, imagining - because they suppose that they have more intelligence than all others - that they will be archangels and that very many others will for that reason serve them, a supposition also in keeping with the words in Daniel,

Those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever. 1 Daniel 12:3.

But instead of brightness theirs is darkness.

脚注:

1. lit. into the age and eternity

  
/10837  
  

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