Wednesday 20 May 2009

Judges 16:17 If I be shaven I shall become weak



17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. -Judges 16:17 King James Version (KJV) 

True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1771], tr. by John C. Ager [1906] at sacred-texts.com 

223. 
(7) The power of the Word in its outmosts was represented by the Nazarites. In the book of Judges we read that Samson was a Nazarite from his mother's womb, and that his strength lay in his hair; moreover, "Nazarite" and "Nazariteship" mean the hair. That his strength lay in his hair, he himself showed, when he said: There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite from my mother's womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and I shall be like any other man (Judges 16:17). No one can know why the Nazariteship, which means the hair, was instituted, and why Samson's strength lay in his hair, unless he knows what is signified in the Word by the "head." The "head" signifies the intelligence that men and angels have from the Lord through Divine truth; and therefore the "hair" signifies intelligence from Divine truth in things outmost or last. Because of this signification of the "hair" there was a law for the Nazarites: That they should not shave the hair of their head, because that was the Nazariteship of God upon their head (Num. 6:1-21) therefore it was also a law, that the high priest and his sons should not shave their heads, lest they die, and lest wrath come upon the whole house of Israel (Lev. 10:6). Because the hair, on account of that signification, which is from correspondence, was so holy, the Son of Man, who is the Lord in respect to the Word, is described even as to the hair: That it was white as white wool, as snow (Rev. 1:14). Likewise as the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9). Because the hair signifies truth in outmosts, thus the sense of the letter of the Word, those in the spiritual world who despise the Word become bald; and on the other hand, those who have held the Word in high esteem and have regarded it as holy appear with comely hair. It was because of this correspondence, That forty-two youths were torn to pieces by two she-bears, because they called Elisha bald-head (2 Kings 2:23,24); for "Elisha" represented the church in regard to doctrine from the Word, and "she-bears" signify the power of truth in outmosts...


 

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