Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And Jacob was wroth, and chided with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, in that thou hast hotly pursued after me? Whereas thou hast felt about all my vessels, what hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them judge between us two. These twenty years have I been with thee; thy sheep and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. The torn I brought not unto thee, I bore the loss of it, from my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the heat consumed me, and the cold in the night, and my sleep has been chased from mine eyes. These twenty years have I served thee in thy house, fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock, and thou hast changed my reward ten ways. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen my misery and the weariness of my hands, and judged yesternight. (Genesis 31:36-42)The torn I brought not unto thee. That this signifies that evil not by his fault was with that good, is evident from the signification of "torn," as being death inflicted by another, and thus evil not by his fault.
Evils with man have many origins.
- The first origin is from inheritance by continual derivations from grandparents and great-grandparents into the father, and from the father, in whom the evils are thus accumulated, to one's self.
- The second origin is from what is actual, that is, what a man acquires to himself by a life of evil. This evil he in part receives by inheritance, as from an ocean of evils, and carries into act; and in part adds thereto many things of himself. From this comes the own which man acquires for himself.
That which a man receives from others without any fault of his own, is what is signified in the Word by "what is torn;" but that which he receives of his own accord, thus through his own fault, is signified in the Word by a "carcass."
Hence it was that, as in the Ancient Church, so also in the Jewish, it was forbidden to eat that which had died of itself, or a carcass, and also that which had been torn; concerning which we read in Moses:
From these passages it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense by "that which is torn;" but to make this still more manifest, let us take an example.
That it is the evil who tear, and this by reasonings from external things, into which internal things cannot be insinuated on account of the evil of life, may be seen from the following passages.
In Jeremiah:
Whether stolen by day or stolen by night. That this signifies the evil of self-merit in like manner, is evident from the signification of "stolen" or of "theft," as being the evil of self-merit. There is the evil of self-merit when a man ascribes good to himself, and supposes that it is from himself, and on this account desires to merit salvation. This evil is what is signified in the internal sense by "theft." But in regard to this evil, all who are being reformed at first suppose that good is from themselves, and therefore that by the good which they do they merit salvation; for their supposing that they merit salvation by the good which they do is the result of their supposing that the good is from themselves, for the one idea coheres with the other. But they who suffer themselves to be regenerated do not confirm this in their thought, or persuade themselves that it is so; but the idea is gradually dissipated. For so long as anyone is in the external man, as is the case with all in the beginning of their reformation, he cannot do otherwise than think so, because he thinks solely from his external man. But when the external man together with its concupiscences is being removed, and the internal man is beginning to work; that is, when the Lord flows in through the internal man with the light of intelligence, and thereby enlightens the external man; the man then begins to believe otherwise, and ascribes good not to himself, but to the Lord. From this it is plain what is here meant by that evil of self-merit through which comes good, in like manner as through the evil which is not of fault. But if when he has arrived at adult age a man confirms in his thought, and altogether persuades himself that he merits salvation by the good he does, the evil in question inheres radically, and cannot be amended. For such men claim to themselves that which is the Lord's, and thus do not receive the good which continually flows in from the Lord; but immediately on its flowing in, divert it to themselves, and into their own, and consequently defile it. These are the evils which in the proper sense are signified by "thefts".
Hence it was that, as in the Ancient Church, so also in the Jewish, it was forbidden to eat that which had died of itself, or a carcass, and also that which had been torn; concerning which we read in Moses:
Every soul that eateth a carcass and that which is torn, whether he be homeborn or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even; then shall he be clean. And if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity (Lev. 17:15-16).
A carcass and that which is torn he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith: I am Jehovah (Lev. 22:8)"that which is torn" denotes the evil which is from falsity that is injected by the evil, who are the wild beasts in the forest which tear; for in the Word the infernals are compared to wild beasts. In the same:
Men of holiness shall ye be unto Me; therefore ye shall not eat any flesh that is torn in the field, ye shall cast it to the dogs (Exod. 22:30).In Ezekiel:
The prophet says to Jehovah, my soul hath not been defiled; and a carcass and that which is torn have I not eaten from my youth up, neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth (Ezek. 4:14).
The priests shall not eat of any carcass or that which is torn, of fowl or of beast (Ezek. 44:31);speaking of the Lord's kingdom, that the new earth is there.
From these passages it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense by "that which is torn;" but to make this still more manifest, let us take an example.
If a man who is leading a life of good, or who does well to another from willing well, suffers himself to be persuaded by another who is in evil that the life of good effects nothing toward salvation, for the reason that all are born in sins; and because no one can will good of himself, and therefore cannot do it; and that on this account a means of salvation has been provided which is called faith; and therefore that a man can be saved by faith without a life of good, and this even though he should receive faith in death's last hour - if such a person who has lived in a life of good suffers himself to be so persuaded, and then becomes careless in regard to life, and even treats it with contempt, he is said to be "torn"; for "torn" is predicated of good into which falsity is insinuated, and thereby the good becomes no longer living.Take also as an example,
the conjugial, which in the beginning some one regards as heavenly, but afterwards one of the married partners or both of them suffer themselves to be persuaded that it is only for the sake of order in the world, and for the education and individual care of children, and for the sake of inheritance; and further that the bond of marriage is nothing but a matter of compact, which may be dissolved or relaxed by either party, provided that it is done by consent; the result being that after he has received this persuasion the individual has no heavenly idea of marriage; and supposing that lasciviousness is the consequence, there then comes into existence that which is called "torn"and so in all other cases.
That it is the evil who tear, and this by reasonings from external things, into which internal things cannot be insinuated on account of the evil of life, may be seen from the following passages.
In Jeremiah:
A lion out of the forest hath slain the great ones, a wolf of the deserts hath laid them waste, a leopard watcheth over their cities, everyone that goeth out from thence is torn, because their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased (Jer. 5:5-6).And in Amos:
Edom did pursue his brother with the sword, and destroyed his compassions, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he keeps his fury continually (Amos 1:11).I bore the loss of it. That this signifies that good came of it, is evident from the signification of "bearing the loss," as being to make good; here, that good came of it. As regards the evil of fault, and the evil not of fault, which as before shown are signified by a "carcass" and "what is torn," the case is this.
The evil of fault, or the evil which a man has contracted by actual life, and has also confirmed in thought even to belief and persuasion, cannot be amended, but remains to eternity; whereas the evil not of fault, which a man has not confirmed by thought, and of which he has not inwardly persuaded himself, does indeed remain, but only adheres in externals; for it does not penetrate to the interiors and pervert the internal man. Such is the evil through which good comes; for the internal man, which has not yet been affected and given consent, can see it in the external as evil, and therefore it can be removed. And as the internal man can see it, it can on that account at the same time see good more clearly; for good is seen more clearly from what is opposite than from what is not opposite; and the man is then also more sensibly affected by good. This then is what is meant by good coming of it.From my hand didst thou require it. That this signifies that it was from Him, is evident from the signification of "hand," as being power, thus that it was from Him; for that which is from His own power is from Him.
Whether stolen by day or stolen by night. That this signifies the evil of self-merit in like manner, is evident from the signification of "stolen" or of "theft," as being the evil of self-merit. There is the evil of self-merit when a man ascribes good to himself, and supposes that it is from himself, and on this account desires to merit salvation. This evil is what is signified in the internal sense by "theft." But in regard to this evil, all who are being reformed at first suppose that good is from themselves, and therefore that by the good which they do they merit salvation; for their supposing that they merit salvation by the good which they do is the result of their supposing that the good is from themselves, for the one idea coheres with the other. But they who suffer themselves to be regenerated do not confirm this in their thought, or persuade themselves that it is so; but the idea is gradually dissipated. For so long as anyone is in the external man, as is the case with all in the beginning of their reformation, he cannot do otherwise than think so, because he thinks solely from his external man. But when the external man together with its concupiscences is being removed, and the internal man is beginning to work; that is, when the Lord flows in through the internal man with the light of intelligence, and thereby enlightens the external man; the man then begins to believe otherwise, and ascribes good not to himself, but to the Lord. From this it is plain what is here meant by that evil of self-merit through which comes good, in like manner as through the evil which is not of fault. But if when he has arrived at adult age a man confirms in his thought, and altogether persuades himself that he merits salvation by the good he does, the evil in question inheres radically, and cannot be amended. For such men claim to themselves that which is the Lord's, and thus do not receive the good which continually flows in from the Lord; but immediately on its flowing in, divert it to themselves, and into their own, and consequently defile it. These are the evils which in the proper sense are signified by "thefts".
(from Arcana Coelestia 4171-4174)