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但以理书第2章

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1 尼布甲尼撒在位第二年,他做了梦,心里烦乱,不能睡觉

2 王吩咐人将术士、用法术的、行邪术的,和迦勒底人,要他们将王的梦告诉王,他们就站在王前。

3 王对他们:我做了一梦,心里烦乱,要知道这是甚麽梦。

4 迦勒底人用亚兰的言语对王:愿王万岁!请将那梦告诉仆人,仆人就可以讲解。

5 王回答迦勒底人:梦我已经忘了(或译:我已定命;八节同),你们若不将梦和梦的讲解告诉我,就必被凌迟,你们的房屋必成为粪堆;

6 你们若将梦和梦的讲解告诉我,就必从我这里得赠品和赏赐,并大尊荣。现在你们要将梦和梦的讲解告诉我。

7 他们第二次对王:请王将梦告诉仆人,仆人就可以讲解。

8 王回答:我准知道你们是故意迟延,因为你们知道那梦我已经忘了。

9 你们若不将梦告诉我,只有一法待你们;因为你们预备了谎言乱语向我,要等候时势改变。现在你们要将梦告诉我,因我知道你们能将梦的讲解告诉我。

10 迦勒底人在王面前回答:世上没有人能将王所问的事出来;因为没有君王、大臣、掌权的向术士,或用法术的,或迦勒底人问过这样的事。

11 王所问的事甚难。除了不与世人同居的神明,没有人在王面前能说出来。

12 因此,王气忿忿地大发烈怒,吩咐灭绝巴比伦所有的哲士。

13 於是命令发出,哲士将要见杀,人就寻找但以理和他的同伴,要杀他们。

14 王的护卫长亚略出来,要杀巴比伦的哲士,但以理就用婉言回答他,

15 向王的护卫长亚略:王的命令为何这样紧急呢?亚略就将情节告诉但以理。

16 但以理遂进去求王宽限,就可以将梦的讲解告诉王。

17 但以理回到他的居所,将这事告诉他的同伴哈拿尼雅、米沙利、亚撒利雅,

18 要他们祈求上的神施怜悯,将这奥秘的事指明,免得但以理和他的同伴与巴比伦其馀的哲士一同灭亡。

19 这奥秘的事就在夜间异象中给但以理显明,但以理便称颂天上的神。

20 但以理:神的名是应当称颂的!从亘古直到永远,因为智慧能力都属乎他。

21 他改变时候、日期,废王,立王,将智慧赐与智慧人,将知识赐与聪明人。

22 他显明深奥隐秘的事,知道暗中所有的,光明也与他同居。

23 我列祖的神啊,我感谢你,赞美你,因你将智慧才能赐给我,允准我们所求的,把王的事给我们指明。

24 於是,但以理进去见亚略,就是王所派灭绝巴比伦哲士的,对他:不要灭绝巴比伦的哲士,求你领我到王面前,我要将梦的讲解告诉王。

25 亚略就急忙将但以理领到王面前,对王:我在被掳的犹大人中遇见一人,他能将梦的讲解告诉王。

26 王问称为伯提沙撒的但以理:你能将我所做的梦和梦的讲解告诉我麽?

27 但以理在王面前回答:王所问的那奥秘事,哲士、用法术的、术士、观兆的都不能告诉王;

28 只有一位在天上的神能显明奥秘的事。他已将日後必有的事指示尼布甲尼撒王。你的梦和你在床上脑中的异象是这样:

29 王啊,你在床上想到後来的事,那显明奥秘事的主把将来必有的事指示你。

30 至於那奥秘的事显明给我,并非因我的智慧胜过一切活人,乃为使王知道梦的讲解和心里的思念。

31 王啊,你梦见一个大像,这像甚,极其光耀,站在你面前,形状甚是可怕。

32 这像的头是精金的,胸膛和膀臂是银的,肚腹和腰是铜的,

33 腿是铁的,脚是半铁半泥的。

34 你观看,见有一块非人手凿出来的石头打在这像半铁半泥的脚上,把脚砸碎;

35 於是金、银、铜、铁、泥都一同砸得粉碎,成如夏天禾场上的糠秕,被风吹散,无处可寻。打碎这像的石头变成一座大山,充满天下。

36 这就是那梦。我们在王面前要讲解那梦。

37 王啊,你是诸王之王。天上的神已将国度、权柄、能力、尊荣都赐给你。

38 凡世人所住之地的走兽,并天空的飞鸟,他都交付你手,使你掌管这一切。你就是那金头。

39 在你以後必另兴一国,不及於你;又有第国,就是铜的,必掌管天下。

40 第四国,必坚壮如铁,铁能打碎克制百物,又能压碎一切,那国也必打碎压制列国。

41 你既见像的脚和脚指头,一半是窑匠的泥,一半是铁,那国将来也必分开。你既见铁与泥搀杂,那国也必有铁的力量。

42 那脚指头,既是半铁半泥,那国也必半强半弱。

43 你既见铁与泥搀杂,那国民也必与各种人搀杂,却不能彼此相合,正如铁与泥不能相合一样。

44 当那列王在位的时候,天上的神必另立一国,永不败坏,也不归别国的人,却要打碎灭绝那一切国,这国必存到永远

45 你既看见非人手凿出来的一块石头从山而出,打碎金、银、铜、铁、泥,那就是至大的神把後来必有的事给王指明。这梦准是这样,这讲解也是确实的。

46 当时,尼布甲尼撒王俯伏在地,向但以理下拜,并且吩咐人给他奉上供物和香品。

47 王对但以理:你既能显明这奥秘的事,你们的神诚然是万神之神、万王之主,又是显明奥秘事的。

48 於是王抬但以理,赏赐他许多上等礼物,派他管理巴比伦全省,又立他为总理,掌管巴比伦的一切哲士。

49 但以理求王,王就派沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌管理巴比伦省的事务,只是但以理常在朝中侍立。

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#9406

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9406. 'And under His feet' means the lowest level of meaning, which is that of the letter itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, dealt with in 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, so that the soles under the feet are the lowest things in the natural order. The reason why the lowest level of meaning in the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is meant here by 'under the feet' is that these words refer to Divine Truth or the Word, which comes from the Lord and is the Lord, as may be recognized from what has come before. And the lowest level of God's truth or the Word is the Word as it exists in the sense of the letter, that is, the natural sense since it is intended for the natural man. The fact that the sense of the letter contains an internal sense, which in comparison is spiritual and heavenly, is clear from all those things which have been shown up to now regarding the Word. But the more worldly- and bodily-minded a person is, the less he understands this, because he does not allow himself to be raised into spiritual light and from there to see what the Word is like, namely that in the letter it is natural and in the internal sense is spiritual. For it is possible to see from the spiritual world or the light of heaven what lower things down to the lowest are like, but not from below upwards, 9401 (end), and so to see that the Word in the letter is as described above.

[2] Since the Word in the letter is natural, and natural things are meant by 'the feet', the lowest level of the Word, like the lowest of the Church, is called 'the place of Jehovah's feet', also 'His footstool', 1 as well as 'clouds and darkness' in comparison, as in Isaiah,

They will keep Your gates open continually, to bring to You the army 2 of the nations, and their kings in procession. 3 The glory of Lebanon will come to You, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:11, 13.

This refers to the Lord and to His kingdom and Church. 'The army of the nations' is used to mean those with whom forms of the good of faith exist, and 'kings' to mean those with whom the truths of faith are present. For the meaning of 'nations' as those with whom forms of the good of faith exist, see 1259, 1328, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005, and for that of 'kings' as those with whom truths are present, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148. 'The glory of Lebanon', or the cedar, is spiritual good and truth; 'the fir, the pine, and the box tree' are corresponding, natural forms of good and truth; 'the place of the sanctuary' is heaven and the Church, and the Word as well; 'the place of the feet' is heaven, the Church, and the Word as well, on their lowest levels. The reason why the Word as well is meant is that heaven is heaven, and the Church likewise the Church, by virtue of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, and Divine Truth which makes the Church and heaven is the Word. This also explains why the inmost part of the tent in which the ark containing the law was is called 'the sanctuary'; for 'the law' is the Word, 6752. In the same prophet,

The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Isaiah 66:1.

[3] In David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at His footstool. Holy is He! Moses and Aaron were among His priests; He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. Psalms 99:5-7.

'Jehovah's footstool' which they were to worship at is Divine Truth on its lowest levels, thus the Word. 'Moses and Aaron' in the representative sense are the Word, see 7089, 7382, 9373, 9374, and 'cloud' is the Word in the letter or Divine Truth on its lowest levels, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8781; and from all this it is evident what 'speaking in the pillar of cloud' means.

[4] In the same author,

We heard of Him in Ephrathah, we found Him in the fields of the wood. We will enter His dwelling-places, and we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:6-7.

This refers to the Lord and the revelation of Himself in the Word. 'Finding Him in Ephrathah' means doing so in the spiritual-celestial sense of the Word, 4585, 4594, 'in the fields of the wood' in the natural or literal sense of the Word, 3220, 9011 (end). 'Footstool' stands for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, as it exists on the lowest levels of the Word.

[5] In the same author,

Jehovah bowed heaven, and thick darkness was under His feet. He made darkness His hiding-place - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. From the brightness before Him His clouds passed away. Psalms 18:9, 11-12.

This refers to the Lord's coming and presence in the Word. 'Thick darkness under His feet' stands for the sense of the letter of the Word, as does 'darkness of waters' and 'clouds of the heavens'. The fact that this very sense holds within itself Divine Truth as this exists in the heavens is meant by 'He made darkness His hiding-place'; and the fact that at the presence of the Lord the internal sense then appears, as it exists in heaven, and in its glory, is meant by 'from the brightness before Him His clouds pass away'. In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here also 'the clouds' stands for the Word in the sense of the letter, which is also meant by 'storm and tempest', in which 'the way of Jehovah' lies.

[6] When God's truth as it is in heaven shines through for a person in the actual sense of the letter, this sense is then portrayed as 'the feet', which have a shine 'like that of burnished bronze', as also in Daniel,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a Man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and His body was like tarshish; 4 and His face was like the appearance 5 of lightning, and His eyes were like fiery torches; His arms and His feet were like the shine of burnished bronze, and the sound of His words like the sound of a crowd. Daniel 10:5-6.

Here 'a Man clothed in linen' is used to mean in the highest sense the Lord; and since the Lord is meant it is also used to mean Divine Truth emanating from Him. For Divine Truth that emanates from the Lord is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the Church. God's truth or the Lord on lowest levels is meant by 'arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze', and also by 'the sound of His words like the sound of a crowd'; and something similar is meant in Ezekiel 1:7.

[7] The successive state of the Church on this planet so far as reception of God's truth emanating from the Lord is concerned is also meant by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel,

The head of the statue was gold, its breast and its arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, its feet were partly iron and partly clay which did not cohere with each other. And the stone cut out of the rock smashed to pieces the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Daniel 2:32-35, 43, 45.

The first state of the Church so far as reception of God's truth emanating from the Lord is concerned is 'the gold', because 'gold' means celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 8932. The second state is meant by 'the silver', this being spiritual good, which is the good of faith in the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, 1551, 2954, 5658, 7999. The third state is meant by 'the bronze', which is natural good, 425, 1551. And the fourth state is meant by 'the iron', which is natural truth, 425, 426. 'The clay' means falsity, which does not cohere with truth and good. The smashing to pieces of the iron, bronze, silver, and gold by the stone cut out of the rock means the destruction of the Church so far as reception of truth from the Word is concerned when the sense of the letter of the Word is used to reinforce falsity and evil. This happens when the Church is in its final state, at which time it is no longer governed by any heavenly love, only by worldly and bodily love. This was how it was with the Word so far as reception of it among the Jewish nation was concerned when the Lord came into the world. And it is how it is with the Word among the majority at the present day. They are not even aware that there is anything inwardly present in the Word; and if they were told that there is and what it is like they would not accept it. Yet in most ancient times, which are meant by 'the gold', people saw within the sense of the letter of the Word nothing apart from what was heavenly, almost independently of the letter.

From all this it may now be recognized that 'the God of Israel' and what was seen 'under His feet' means the Word on its lowest level of meaning, which is the sense of the letter.

脚注:

1. literally, the stool of His feet

2. Though the Hebrew word means army it may be rendered alternatively as strength or as wealth. Most English versions of the Scriptures prefer one of these.

3. literally, their kings will be led

4. A Hebrew word for a particular kind of precious stone, possibly a beryl.

5. literally, the face

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