Arcana Coelestia#7161
7161. 'Because you have caused our odour to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants' means that because of them 1 all those who are steeped in falsities feel such a strong aversion to our spirit of obedience. This is clear from the meaning of 'causing to stink' as an aversion, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'odour' as an ability to perceive what is pleasing, dealt with in 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4626, 4628, 4748. And meaning an ability to perceive what is pleasing, 'odour' also means an ability to perceive faith and charity since these are pleasing, 1519, 4628, 4748. And since they are pleasing, a spirit of obedience is most pleasing, for a spirit of obedience is the genuine good of faith and charity. This is why 'odour' here means a spirit of obedience.
[2] Just as 'odour' implies everything that is pleasing to the Lord, so 'stink' implies that which is unpleasing to the Lord. Consequently 'stink' means an aversion as well as abomination, and also in actual fact corresponds to an aversion and abomination - an aversion to and abomination on the part of falsity and evil. Since 'stink' is associated with aversion it is therefore also used in the Word to express aversion, as in Samuel,
Israel became stinking to the Philistines. 1 Samuel 13:4.
In the same author,
Achish said of David, He has made himself utterly stinking among his people, in Israel. 1 Samuel 17:12.
In the same author,
When the children of Ammon saw that they had become stinking to David... 2 Samuel 10:6.
In the same author,
Ahitophel said to Absalom, So that the whole of Israel may hear that you have become stinking to your father. 2 Samuel 16:21.
In these places 'stinking' stands for aversion. In Isaiah,
Let the slain of the gentiles be cast out, and the stink of their dead bodies rise up, and the mountains be melted with [their] blood. Isaiah 34:3.
'The stink' stands for abominable evil, as it likewise does in Amos 4:10, and in David, Psalms 38:4-5.
[3] 'In the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants' means in the perception of all those who are steeped in falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'the eyes' as perception, 4339; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as those who are steeped in falsities, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6683, 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142. The reason why in their eyes their odour is said to stink is that all who are steeped in falsities and evils feel an aversion to all kinds of good; and to them truths stink.
[4] The fact that a stink emanates from those who are governed by evils and are consequently steeped in falsities is plainly evident from the hells that are called the dead-body hells, where assassins are and those ferociously bent on revenge, and from the hells which are called excrementitious, where adulterers are and those who have held foul pleasures as the end in view. When those hells are opened up insufferable stenches emanate from them, 4671; yet they are not detected except by those in whom inner powers on the level of their spirit have been opened. But the inhabitants of those hells find those disgusting smells pleasing and therefore like to live among those stenches, 4628. For they are like those animals which spend their time among dead bodies and excrement, finding the delight of their lives among them. When they come away from the atmosphere filled with those stenches, they find sweet and pleasing odours offensive and extremely displeasing. From all this one may now see how to understand the explanation that those steeped in falsities feel such a strong aversion to anything connected with the law of God and doctrinal teachings derived from it, represented by Moses and Aaron, in reference to whom it says that they made [the people's] odour stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.
脚注:
1. i.e. the law of God and doctrinal teachings derived from it
Amos第4章
1
Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, "Bring us drinks!"
2
The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, "The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.
3
You will go out at the breaks in the wall, everyone straight before her; and you will cast yourselves into Harmon," says Yahweh.
4
"Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,
5
offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim free will offerings and brag about them: for this pleases you, you children of Israel," says the Lord Yahweh.
6
"I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
7
"I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. one place was rained on, and the piece where it didn't rain withered.
8
So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
9
"I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees have the swarming locust devoured: yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
10
"I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
11
"I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
12
"Therefore thus will I do to you, Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel.
13
For, behold, he who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the Earth: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is his name."
