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<< PSALM CV. >>
1. Oh give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name;
Make known among the peoples his doings.
2. Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;
Talk ye of all his marvellous works.
3. Glory ye in his holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.
4. Seek ye Jehovah and his strength;
Seek his face evermore.
5. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done,
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7. He is Jehovah our God:
His judgments are in all the earth.
8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9. The covenant which he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac,
10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11. Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The lot of your inheritance;
12. When they were but a few men in number,
Yea, very few, and sojourners in it.
13. And they went about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14. He suffered no man to do them wrong;
Ye?, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15. Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,
And do my prophets no harm.
16. And he called for a famine upon the land;
He brake the whole staff of bread.
17. He sent a man before them;
Joseph was sold for a servant:
18. His feet they hurt with fetters:
He was laid in chains of iron,
19. Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of Jehovah tried him.
20. The king sent and loosed him;
Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
21. He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his substance;
22. To bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.
23. Israel also came into Egypt;
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24. And he increased his people greatly,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.
25. He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtly with his servants.
26. He sent Moses his servant,
And Aaron whom he had chosen.
27. They set among them his signs,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28. He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they rebelled not against his words.
29. He turned their waters into blood,
And slew their fish.
30. Their land swarmed with frogs
In the chambers of their kings.
31. He spake, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their borders.
32. He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33. He smote their vines also and their fig-trees,
And brake the trees of their borders.
34. He spake, and the locust came,
And the grasshopper, and that without number,
35. And did eat up every herb in their land,
And did eat up the fruit of their ground.
36. He smote also all the first-born in their land,
The chief of all their strength.
37. And he brought them forth with silver and gold;
And there was not one feeble person among his tribes.
38. Egypt was glad when they departed;
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39. He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
40. They asked, and he brought quails,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41. He opened the rock, and waters gushed out;
They ran in the dry places like a river.
42. For he remembered his holy word,
And Abraham his servant.
43. And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with singing.
44. And he gave them the lands of the nations;
And they took the labor of the peoples in possession:
45. That they might keep his statutes,
And observe his laws.
Praise ye Jehovah.
1. Oh give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name;
Make known among the peoples his doings.
2. Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;
Talk ye of all his marvellous works.
3. Glory ye in his holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.
General Subject. The establishment of the church by the Lord, and the reformation of the natural man. P. P.
1, 2. See Psalm vii. 18. E. 326.
1-5. Power in the spiritual sense consists in shunning and rejecting from one's self the infernal crew, which is effected solely by means of truths. Thus it is that by doing wonders is signified that from the Lord are all the means by which is power. A. 8304.
1-7. Song in praise of the Lord and of His works for the establishment of the church. P. P.
4. Seek ye Jehovah and his strength;
Seek his face evermore.
5. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done,
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7. He is Jehovah our God:
His judgments are in all the earth.
8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9. The covenant which he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac,
10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11. Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The lot of your inheritance;
12. When they were but a few men in number,
Yea, very few, and sojourners in it.
13. And they went about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14. He suffered no man to do them wrong;
Ye?, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15. Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,
And do my prophets no harm.
4. To seek the face of Jehovah means to seek His mercy.A. 5585.
5, 6, 26, 42. By Abraham His servant is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human. A. 344 1
8. See Psalm lxviii. 18. A. 8715.
8. 9. It is similar with a covenant as with an oath, that Jehovah or the Lord does not make a covenant with man,
but when conjunction by love and charity is treated of, this is set forth in act also as a covenant. A. 2842.
See Psalm 1. 5, 16. E. 701.
8-15. The establishment of the church in the beginning, and her protection from falsities of evils. P. P.
9. The reason that it is said that Jehovah sware is because the church instituted with the children of Israel was a representative church, and hence the conjunction of the Lord with the church was represented by a covenant, such as is made between two who swear to their compact; on which account because an oath was part of a covenant, it is said that Jehovah sware, by which however is not meant that He swear, but that the Divine truth attests it. R. 474.
To swear when predicated of Jehovah signifies attestation before the angels concerning the state of the church that what follows is Divine truth. E. 608.
10. By confirmation here, which is signified by oath, is meant the conjunction of the Lord with those who are in
His kingdom, for an oath is the confirmation of a covenant, and by a covenant is signified conjunction. A. 3375.
11. See Psalm xvi. 6. A. 9854.
16. To break the staff of bread signifies to be deprived of heavenly nourishment, for the life of good spirits and angels is sustained by no other food than the knowledge of good and truth, and by good and truth themselves,
from this is the signification of famine, — deprivation of knowledge of good — and of bread in the internal sense. A. 1460.
The celestial things of love are signified by bread. A. 2165.
The staff of bread stands for support and power from the good of love. See also Ezekiel iv. 16; v. 16, etc.
A. 4876.
See Psalm xxiii. 4, 5. R. 485.
By breaking the staff of bread is signified that good and truth shall fail in the church, for bread here signifies both. E. 727.
When there was no longer any truth, P. P.
17. He sent a man before them;
Joseph was sold for a servant:
18. His feet they hurt with fetters:
He was laid in chains of iron,
19. Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of Jehovah tried him.
20. The king sent and loosed him;
Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
17, 18. the Lord came, and they afflicted Him. P. P.
I7-23. Joseph signified the Lord's spiritual kingdom, he was therefore made ruler in Egypt, and each thing signifies such things as are of the Lord's spiritual kingdom. R. 360.
By Joseph is here described the Lord, how He was received when He came into the world, how He was tempted
and afterwards made Lord of heaven and earth, how He subjugated the hells, reduced the heavens to order, and established the church. . . . That all things of the church then perished is signified by verse 23. Ham signifying the church destroyed. E. 448.
17, 19-21. That by Joseph is here meant the Lord is plain from the several particulars. A. 4973.
18. The soul signifies the life of the spirit of man, which is called his spiritual life. E. 750.
19-22. But He afterwards became the God of heaven and earth. P. P.
21. He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his substance;
22. To bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.
23. Israel also came into Egypt;
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24. And he increased his people greatly,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.
25. He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtly with his servants.
23. Egypt is called the land of Ham. Ham signifying the church destroyed. R. 503.
Egypt is called the land of Ham. E. 654.
23, 24. Hence those who were in the church were natural and in knowledges. P. P.
23, 27. See Psalm lxxviii. 51. Add: Such men who in the Ancient Church were called Ham, because they lived a life of all lusts,' only prating that they could be saved by faith howsoever they lived, appeared to the ancient people black from the heat of their lusts, and from this were called Ham. A. 1063.
23, 28, 29. See Psalm v. 7. R. 379.
23, 36. The first-born of Egypt is the doctrinal of faith and of charity which is perverted by outward knowledges.
A. 33 2 5-
25-36. therefore their natural has been purged from falsities and evils of every kind which infested; these here treated of. P. P.
26. He sent Moses his servant,
And Aaron whom he had chosen.
27. They set among them his signs,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28. He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they rebelled not against his words.
29. He turned their waters into blood,
And slew their fish.
30. Their land swarmed with frogs
In the chambers of their kings.
26. Moses is called a servant because a servant is predicated of truths, and chosen from good. A. 9806.
27. Testifications that a thing is true are signified by signs. R. 598.
See Psalm lxxviii. 42, 43. E. 706.
28. 29. Blood in the genuine sense signifies the Divine truth, and with those who receive it truth from good.
Hence in the opposite sense it signifies violence offered to the Divine truth, and with those who offer it what is is false from evil. This opposite signification may appear by its being predicated of the waters of the sea, of the rivers, and of the fountains that they were turned into blood, for waters signify truths, wherefore by blood are here signified falsities which destroy truths. By the living souls of the sea and by the fish are signified scientific truths, thus by their dying and being slain is signified the destruction of those truths. E. 329.
29. By the fishes of the rivers of Egypt are signified those who are in doctrinals, and from -them in faith separate, which faith is only knowledge, on account of which separation it was also among the miracles there that their waters were turned into blood, and that from this the fishes died.
Exodus vii. 17-25. R. 405-
The reason why this was done in Egypt is because by it is signified the natural man as to scientifics, by the rivers of Egypt intelligence procured from scientifics, by the river being turned into blood that the intelligence was from mere falsities. By the fish dying is signified that the scientifics perished by falsities, for they live by truths but perish by falsities. The reason is because all spiritual truth is alive, and all the life or soul in scientifics is thence derived, wherefore without spiritual truth the scientifics are dead. E. 513
29, 30. Frogs are reasonings from falsities against truths.
The chambers of kings are interior truths, and in the opposite sense interior falsities. A. 7351.
Treating concerning the plagues in Egypt. By the waters turned into blood are signified truths falsified, by the fishes that were slain the scientific truths and knowledges of the natural man, that they perished,. by the frogs the reasonings of the natural man from falses. The chambers of the king signify interior truths, which they perverted by such reasonings. E. 1000.
30. See Psalm lxxviii. 45. R. 102 .
31. He spake, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their borders.
32. He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33. He smote their vines also and their fig-trees,
And brake the trees of their borders.
34. He spake, and the locust came,
And the grasshopper, and that without numbej,
35. And did eat up every herb in their land,
And did eat up the fruit of their ground.
36. He smote also all the first-born in their land,
The chief of all their strength.
37. And he brought them forth with silver and gold;
And there was not one feeble person among his tribes.
38. Egypt was glad when they departed;
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
30, 3 1. In the Word throughout mention is made of insects of various kinds, and they everywhere signify falses or evils in the extremes or in the external sensual of man. By frogs of Egypt are signified reasonings grounded in falses. A. 9331.
31, Lice are especially the evils which are in the sensual, or in the wholly external man. The correspondence is such because lice are in the outer skin, and under filth and a scab. A. 7419
See Psalm lxxviii. 45. A. 7441
32, 33. Rain here signifies cursing, hence also damnation
A. 2445
See Psalm lxxviii. 47-49. A. 7553
See Psalm xviii. 13, 15. R. 399
See Psalm lxxviii. 47-49. R. 401
These things are said concerning Egypt by which is signified the natural man who is in falsities and evils. By the vine are signified the internal or spiritual things of the church, by the fig tree the external or natural things, by the trees of their coasts everything pertaining to knowledge and perception, the border or boundary the ultimate ground into which interior things fall and terminate and in which they are contained together. Trees signifying knowledges and perceptions. Since all these things were perverted and therefore damned, it is said of them that they wrere smitten and broken, by which is signified destruction and damnation. That this was from the falsities or evils originating in the love of the world is signified by hail given for rain, and flaming fire in their land, rain and hail signifying the falses of evil, and flaming fire the love of the world. E. 403.
These things are said by the hail of Egypt, by which is signified the infernal falsity destroying the truths of the church. See also Psalm lxxviii. 47-49- E. 503. 33. Because in the genuine sense a vine signifies the good of the intellectual, and a fig tree the good of the natural or what is the same a vine the good of the interior man and a fig tree the good of the exterior, therefore a fig tree is often named at the same time with a vine. A. 5113
34. See Psalm lxxviii. 45, 46. A. 7643
34, 35. By this miracle in Egypt vastation by falsities in the outermost things are described, which when the interiors on which they depend are closed up are infernal R. 424
See Psalm lxxviii. 45, 46. E. 543
36. See Psalm lxxviii. 51. A. 6344
39. He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
40. They asked, and he brought quails,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41. He opened the rock, and waters gushed out;
They ran in the dry places like a river.
42. For he remembered his holy word,
And Abraham his servant.
43. And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with singing.
44. And he gave them the lands of the nations;
And they took the labor of the peoples in possession:
45. That they might keep his statutes,
And observe his laws.
Praise ye Jehovah.
37, 39. That there is a correspondence between fire and love is known from this, that a man grows warm from love, and grows cold from the privation of it. There is nothing else that makes vital heat but love in both senses. R. 468.
37-41. Afterwards truth and good, and protection from falsities are granted them. P. P.
38, 39. See Psalm lxxviii. 14. E. 594.
39. By a cloud is meant the Word in the sense of the letter, which sense because it encloses and covers the spiritual sense is called a covering upon the glory. See Isaiah iv. 5. R. 24.
The cloud appearing in the day and the fire in the night represented the guard of heaven and the church by the Lord, for by the tabernacle were represented heaven and the church. The day, when the cloud was, signified the Divine truth in the light, and the night the same in the shade. Lest they should be hurt by too much light they were guarded by a cloud, and by a sliining fire lest they should be hurt by too much shade. E. 504.
40. See Psalm lxxviii. 23, 24. E. 146.
41. Rivers signify truths in abundance. R. 409.
See Psalm lxxviii. 15, 16, 20, 35. E. 411.
By the rock is here understood the Lord, and by the waters which flowed out of it, the Divine truth from Him. By the rivers are meant intelligence and wisdom thence derived. E. 518.
By rock throughout the Word the Divine truth is understood. Inv. 35.
42-45. And He causes them to be a church. P. P.
45. In this Psalm Jah is the Lord as to Divine truth, in like manner Jah in Hallelu-Jah. A. 8267.
See Psalm civ. 35. R. 803.
See Psalm civ. 35. E. 1197.
Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)
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