IBhayibheli

 

Daniel 6

Funda

   

1 It hath been good before Darius, and he hath established over the kingdom satraps -- a hundred and twenty -- that they may be throughout the whole kingdom,

2 and higher than they three presidents, of whom Daniel [is] first, that these satraps may give to them an account, and the king have no loss.

3 Then this Daniel hath been overseer over the presidents and satraps, because that an excellent spirit [is] in him, and the king hath thought to establish him over the whole kingdom.

4 Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he [is] faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him.

5 Then these men are saying, `We do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found [it] against him in the law of his God.'

6 Then these presidents and satraps have assembled near the king, and thus they are saying to him: `O king Darius, to the ages live!

7 Taken counsel have all the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, the counsellors, and the governors, to establish a royal statute, and to strengthen an interdict, that any who seeketh a petition from any god and man until thirty days, save of thee, O king, is cast into a den of lions.

8 Now, O king, thou dost establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it is not to be changed, as a law of Media and Persia, that doth not pass away.'

9 Therefore king Darius hath signed the writing and interdict.

10 And Daniel, when he hath known that the writing is signed, hath gone up to his house, and the window being opened for him, in his upper chamber, over-against Jerusalem, three times in a day he is kneeling on his knees, and praying, and confessing before his God, because that he was doing [it] before this.

11 Then these men have assembled, and found Daniel praying and entreating grace before his God;

12 then they have come near, yea, they are saying before the king concerning the king's interdict: `Hast thou not signed an interdict, that any man who seeketh from any god and man until thirty days, save of thee, O king, is cast into a den of lions?' Answered hath the king, and said, `The thing [is] certain as a law of Media and Persia, that doth not pass away.'

13 Then they have answered, yea, they are saying before the king, that, `Daniel, who [is] of the sons of the Removed of Judah, hath not placed on thee, O king, [any] regard, nor on the interdict that thou hast signed, and three times in a day he is seeking his petition.'

14 Then the king, when he hath heard the matter, is greatly displeased at himself, and on Daniel he hath set the heart to deliver him, and till the going up of the sun he was arranging to deliver him.

15 Then these men have assembled near the king, and are saying to the king, `know, O king, that the law of Media and Persia [is]: That any interdict and statute that the king doth establish is not to be changed.'

16 Then the king hath said, and they have brought Daniel, and have cast [him] into a den of lions. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, `Thy God, whom thou art serving continually, Himself doth deliver thee.'

17 And a stone hath been brought and placed at the mouth of the den, and the king hath sealed it with his signet, and with the signet of his great men, that the purpose be not changed concerning Daniel.

18 Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled [from] off him.

19 Then doth the king rise in the early morning, at the light, and in haste to the den of lions he hath gone;

20 and at his coming near to the den, to Daniel, with a grieved voice, he crieth. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, thy God, whom thou art serving continually, is He able to deliver thee from the lions?'

21 Then Daniel hath spoken with the king: `O king, to the ages live:

22 my God hath sent His messenger, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity hath been found in me; and also before thee, O king, injury I have not done.'

23 Then was the king very glad for him, and he hath commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den, and Daniel hath been taken up out of the den, and no injury hath been found in him, because he hath believed in his God.

24 And the king hath said, and they have brought those men who had accused Daniel, and to the den of lions they have cast them, they, their sons, and their wives; and they have not come to the lower part of the den till that the lions have power over them, and all their bones they have broken small.

25 Then Darius the king hath written to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the land: `Your peace be great!

26 From before me is made a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for He [is] the living God, and abiding to the ages, and His kingdom that which [is] not destroyed, and His dominion [is] unto the end.

27 A deliverer, and rescuer, and doer of signs and wonders in the heavens and in earth [is] He who hath delivered Daniel from the paw of the lions.'

28 And this Daniel hath prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

   

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Apocalypse Revealed #313

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 962  
  

313. And he who sat on it had a scale in his hand. This symbolizes their valuation of goodness and truth, what it was like among them.

A scale in the hand symbolizes a valuation of goodness and truth, for all measures in the Word, including weights, symbolize a valuation of the subject which they describe.

That measures and weights have such symbolic meanings is apparent from the following account in Daniel: When Belshazzar, king of Babylon, was drinking wine from the vessels of gold and silver taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, writing appeared before him, saying, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN," meaning, "numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided." (Daniel 5:1-5) And this was the interpretation of it:

MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. PERES: Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:25-28)

Drinking from vessels of gold and silver from the Temple in Jerusalem, and at the same time worshiping other gods, symbolizes the profanation of goodness and truth, which is also the symbolism of Babylon. Mene, or to number. This symbolically means to know its character in respect to truth. Tekel, or to weigh. This symbolically means to know its character in respect to goodness. And peres, or to divide. This symbolically means to disperse.

That measures and scales in the Word symbolize the character of truth and goodness is apparent in Isaiah:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured the heavens with the span of His hand, comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales? (Isaiah 40:12)

And in the book of Revelation:

(The angel) measured the wall (of the Holy Jerusalem): one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. (Revelation 21:17)

  
Yiya esigabeni / 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

IBhayibheli

 

Revelation 6

Funda

   

1 I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!"

2 And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.

3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come!"

4 Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.

5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come and see!" And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.

6 I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don't damage the oil and the wine!"

7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see!"

8 And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.

10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

11 A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.

12 I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.

13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind.

14 The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.

16 They told the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

17 for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?"