9160. 'The case of both parties shall come even to God, and the one whom God condemns' means enquiry made and decision reached through truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the case shall come even to God' as enquiry made through truth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'condemning' as reaching a decision and sentencing the one who transgressed. The reason why 'the case shall come even to God' means enquiry made through truth is that 'to God' implies to the judges who were to enquire into the matter in the light of truth. This also explains the use of the plural in 'the one whom God condemns'. ¹ In the original language God is indeed called El, which is singular, but more often Elohim, which is plural, and the reason for this is that among the angels in heaven the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is divided into a multitude of different forms. For as many as the angels are, so many are the recipients of God's truth, each one receiving it in their own way, 3241, 3744-3746, 3986, 4149, 5598, 7236, 7833, 7836. This explains why the angels are called gods, 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301, and also judges, because judges were not to base their judgements on any ideas of their own but on those which were the Lord's. They were also to base judgements on the Law of Moses, thus on the Word received from the Lord. At the present day also judgements are based on what is the Lord's when they accord with truths and spring from conscience.

[2] The Lord is called 'God' in the Word by virtue of Divine Truth that emanates from Him, and 'Jehovah' by virtue of Divine Good, 4402, 6303, 6905, 7268, 8988. For this reason wherever good is the subject in the Word the name 'Jehovah' is used, and wherever truth is the subject the name 'God' is used, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4402, 7268, 8988; and so 'God' means truth, 4287, 7010, 7268. All this now shows what is meant in verse 8 by 'if the thief is not caught, the master of the house shall be brought to God', and in the present verse by 'the case of both parties shall come even to God, and the one whom God condemns shall repay', as well as what is meant by 'God' in the following places,

Aaron will speak for you to the people; and it will happen, that he will be for you as a mouth, and you will be for him as God. Exodus 4:16.

'Moses' is Divine Truth or the Law, and 'as a mouth' is the teachings drawn from it that Aaron represented, see 7010. Also,

Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Exodus 7:1.

See 7268. And in the first Book of Samuel,

Formerly in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, he said this, Come, and we will go to the seer. For one called a prophet at the present day was formerly called a seer. 1 Samuel 9:9.

'A seer' or 'a prophet' is God's truth, and teachings based on it regarding truth and good, 2534, 7269.

脚注:

3596. 'And have blessed him? Indeed, he will be blessed!' means that it was indeed joined to it. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed' as being joined to, dealt with in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. What is implied by making its own and joining to itself the truth represented by 'Jacob' may become clear from what has been stated already. But because these matters are such as to be beyond the range of anything grasped by the natural man and so cannot be seen except in the light in which the rational or internal man sees - a light in which few see at the present day because few are regenerate - it is better not to elucidate them any further, for the elucidation of things which are not known and which go beyond the range of a person's understanding does not throw light on them but rather puts them in the shade. What is more, such things ought also to exist as a superstructure built upon ideas of natural truths by means of which they can be grasped; but these ideas too are lacking at the present day. This also explains why the phrases prior to that under discussion here have been explained so briefly and solely as to the internal sense of the words used.

[2] From what has gone before one may see what is embodied in the fact that Isaac asked for venison from his son so that he might eat of it before he blessed him; and that he did not bless him until after he had eaten; and thus that after he had eaten there followed the blessing of the one who made and brought him the food, as is also evident from Isaac's words here spoken in reference to Jacob, 'He brought it to me and I have eaten from all of it before you came in, and have blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!' The reason is evident from an internal understanding of the rituals of the Ancient Church With them 'eating' meant making one's own and being joined to - joined to him at whose house they had eaten, that is, shared his bread. 'Food' means in general those things which are the signs of love and charity, that is, the very things that constitute celestial and spiritual food - 'bread' in that case meant things that are the sign of love to the Lord, and 'wine' those that are the sign of charity towards the neighbour. When these things had been made their own, those persons were joined together. They accordingly talked to one another from affection and shared one another's company. Feasts among the ancients were nothing else than this; the meals of consecrated things in the Jewish Church represented nothing else; and the meals at midday or in the evening which those in the Primitive Christian Church took together did not entail anything else.