圣经文本

 

但以理書第1章

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1 猶大約雅敬在位第年,巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒耶路撒冷,將城圍困。

2 主將猶大約雅敬,並殿中器皿的幾分交付他。他就把這器皿到示拿,收入他的廟裡,放在他中。

3 王吩咐太監長亞施毗拿,從以色列人的宗室和貴冑中進幾個人來,

4 就是年少沒有殘疾、相貌俊美、通達各樣學問、知識聰明俱備、足能侍立在王宮裡的,要教他們迦勒底的文字言語。

5 王派定將自己所用的膳和所飲的酒,每日賜他們一分,養他們年。滿了年,好叫他們在王面前侍立。

6 他們中間有猶大族的人:但以理、哈拿尼雅、米沙利、亞撒利雅。

7 太監長給他們起名:稱但以理為伯提沙撒,稱哈拿尼雅為沙得拉,稱米沙利為米煞,稱亞撒利雅為亞伯尼歌。

8 但以理卻立志不以王的膳和王所飲的酒玷污自己,所以求太監長容他不玷污自己。

9 使但以理在太監長眼前蒙恩惠,受憐憫

10 太監長對但以理:我懼怕我我王,他已經派定你們的飲食;倘若他見你們的面貌比你們同歲的少年人肌瘦,怎麼好呢?這樣,你們就使我的在王那裡難保。

11 但以理對太監長所派管理但以理、哈拿尼雅、米沙利、亞撒利雅的委辦

12 求你試試僕人我們素菜,白

13 然後我們的面貌和用王膳那少年人的面貌,就照你所的待僕人罷!

14 委辦便允准他們這件事,試看他們

15 過了,見他們的面貌比用王膳的一切少年人更加俊美肥胖。

16 於是委辦撤去派他們用的膳,飲的酒,他們素菜吃。

17 個少年人,在各樣文字學問(學問:原文是智慧)上賜他們聰明知識;但以理又明白各樣的異象和夢兆。

18 尼布甲尼撒王預定進少年人來的日期滿了,太監長就把他們到王面前。

19 王與他們談論,見少年人中無一人能比但以理、哈拿尼雅、米沙利、亞撒利雅,所以他們在王面前侍立。

20 王考問他們一切事,就見他們的智慧聰明比通國的術士和用法術的勝過倍。

21 到古列王元年,但以理還在。

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#5223

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5223. 'And he sent and called all the magi of Egypt, and its wise men means in consulting factual knowledge, interior as well as exterior. This is clear from the meaning of 'the magi' in the good sense as interior factual knowledge, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'wise men' as exterior factual knowledge, also dealt with below. The reason 'the magi and wise men of Egypt' means factual knowledge is that Egypt had been one of the kingdoms where the representative Ancient Church existed, 1278, 2385. But in Egypt the facts known to that Church were the particular objects of care and attention, being knowledge about correspondences, representatives, and meaningful signs. For that knowledge was used to explain what had been written in the books of the Church, and to explain the things that were done in their sacred worship, 4749, 4964, 4966. This was how it came about that 'Egypt' meant factual knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, as did 'Pharaoh' its king too. The leading people among them who were well-versed in and imparted that knowledge were called magi and wise men. The magi were those well-versed in mystical knowledge, the wise men those well-versed in non-mystical, so that the facts known to the magi were interior ones, while those known to the wise men were exterior. This explains why such factual knowledge is meant in the Word by those two kinds of men. But after they began to misuse the Church's interior factual knowledge and to turn it into magic, Egypt', and likewise 'the magi of Egypt and its wise men', began to mean factual knowledge that led to perversions.

[2] The magi in those times had a knowledge of the kinds of things that belong to the spiritual world, and in their teaching about these they employed the correspondences and the representatives known to the Church. For this reason many of those magi also communicated with spirits and learned the arts of illusion which they used to perform miracles that involved magic. But those who were called the wise men had no interest in anything like this. Instead they provided the answers to hard questions and taught about the causes lying behind natural things. It was primarily in arts such as these that the wisdom of those times consisted, and the ability to practise them was called wisdom. This becomes clear from what is recorded about Solomon in the first Book of Kings,

Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of the Egyptians, so much so that he was wiser than all people - than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. In addition he spoke about trees, from the cedars which are in Lebanon even to the hyssop which comes out of the wall. He also spoke about beasts, and about birds, and about creeping things, and about fish. Therefore they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who had heard about his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:30-34.

Also there is what is recorded about the queen of Sheba in the same book,

She came to test him with hard questions; and Solomon gave her an explanation for every matter she mentioned. 1 There was not a matter 2 hidden from the king for which he could not give her an explanation. 1 Kings 10:1 and following verses.

[3] From this one may see what was described in those times as wisdom and who exactly those people were who were called wise men, not only in Egypt but also elsewhere - in Syria, Arabia, and Babel. But in the internal sense 'the wisdom of Egypt' means nothing else than knowledge about natural things, while 'that of the magi' means knowledge about spiritual realities, so that exterior factual knowledge is meant by 'the wise men', and interior factual knowledge by 'the magi', 'Egypt' meaning knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966.

Egypt and its wise men had no other meaning in Isaiah,

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How does one say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? Where are your wise men now? Isaiah 19:11-12.

[4] The fact that the term 'magi' was applied to those who had a knowledge of spiritual realities, and who also for that reason received revelations, is clear from the magi who came from the east to Jerusalem, asking where the King of the Jews was to be born and saying that they had seen His star in the east and had come to worship Him, Matthew 2:1-2. The same is also clear from Daniel, who is called the chief of the magi in Daniel 4:9. And in another place,

The queen said to King Belshazzar, There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father, light and intelligence and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. Therefore King Nebuchadnezzar your father set him up as chief of the magi, diviners, Chaldeans, and determiners. Daniel 5:11.

And in yet another place,

Among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; for when they were to stand before the king, every matter of wisdom [and] understanding which the king asked of them exceeded ten times [that of] all the magi, the diviners who were in his kingdom. Daniel 1:19-20.

[5] It is well known that in the contrary sense 'magi' 3 is used to mean those who pervert spiritual realities and thereby practise magic, like those mentioned in Exodus 7:9-12; 8:7, 19; 9:11. For magic is nothing else than a perversion, being the perverted use of those kinds of things that constitute true order in the spiritual world, a perverted use that gives rise to magic. But at the present day such magic is called natural, for the reason that no recognition exists any longer of anything above or beyond the natural order. People refuse to accept the existence of anything spiritual unless one means by this an interior dimension of what is natural.

脚注:

1. literally, all her words

2. literally, word

3. The same Latin noun magus describes a wise man or philosopher in a good sense, but a magician in a bad sense.

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