680、谁都能清楚看出，良善和真理是人的真食物，因为人若没有它们，就没有生命，而是一个死人。当一个人的灵性死亡时，喂养其灵魂的食物就是来自邪恶的快乐和来自虚假的愉悦，而这些都是死亡的食物。这些快乐和愉悦也来自肉体、世俗和属世的事物，这些事物也根本没有生命在里面。此外，这种人不知道何为属灵和属天的食物。每当圣言提到“食物”或“饼”时，他都以为指的是供给肉体的食物。如在主祷文中有这样一句话：“赐给我们日用的饮食”，他只想到滋养肉体的食物。有些人想得更远，声称这话还包括其它身体所需，如衣服、金钱等等。他们甚至会强烈否认所指的是其它任何食物，尽管他们清楚看到前后的话仅涉及属天和属灵的事物，并且论及的是主的国度；他们也能明白，主的圣言是属天和属灵的。
从这个和其它类似例子足以清楚看出，今天的人何等肉体化！就像犹太人，他只愿以最粗俗、最物质化的方式接受圣言中所说的一切。主自己清楚教导了祂所说的“食物”和“粮”（bread，或译为饼，食物等）是什么意思。论到“食物”，祂在约翰福音中这样说：
耶稣说，不要为那必朽坏的食物劳力，要为那存到永生的食物劳力，就是人子要赐给你们的。（约翰福音6:27）
论到“粮”，祂说：
你们的祖宗在旷野吃过吗哪，还是死了。这是从天上降下来的粮，叫人吃了就不死。我是从天上降下来的生命之粮；人若吃这粮，就必永远活着。（约翰福音6:49-51，58）
甚至今天还有人像这种人，他们听到这些话，就声称：
这话甚难，谁能听呢？一些人就退去，不再和祂同行。（约翰福音6:60，66）
主对这些人说：
我对你们所说的话就是灵，就是生命。（约翰福音6:63）
水也一样，水表示信的属灵事物，论到水，主在约翰福音中说：
耶稣说，凡喝这水的，还要再渴；人若喝我所赐他的水，就永远不渴。我所赐他的水，要在他里头成为水泉，直涌到永生。（约翰福音4:13-14）
但今天有些人就像在井边与主说话的那个妇人，她回答说：
先生，请把这水赐给我，叫我不渴，也不用来这里打水。（约翰福音4:15）
在圣言中，“食物”只表示属灵和属天的食物，也就是对主的信，以及爱。这一点从圣言中的许多地方清楚看出来，如耶利米哀歌：
敌人将手伸在耶路撒冷的一切可喜之物上；因她看见列族进入她的圣所；论到他们，你曾吩咐，他们不可入你的会中。所有的人民都叹息，寻求食物；他们用可喜之物换食物，要恢复灵魂。（耶利米哀歌1:10-11）
此处所指的，只是属灵的食物，因为主题是圣所。又：
我招呼我所亲爱的，他们却欺骗我。我的祭司和长老在城中断了气，因为他们为自己寻求食物，以刷新他们的灵魂。（耶利米哀歌1:19）
此处意思也一样。诗篇：
它们都仰望你按时给它们食物。你给它们，它们便拾起来；你张手，它们就饱享美物。（诗篇104:27-28）
这同样表示属灵和属天的食物。
以赛亚书：
凡口渴的，都就近水来，没有银钱的，你们也要来，买了吃；不用银钱，不用价值，也来买酒和奶。（以赛亚书55:1）
此处“酒”和“奶”表示属灵和属天的饮品。同一先知书：
必有童女怀孕生子，给祂起名叫以马内利。祂要吃奶油与蜂蜜，好知道弃恶择善。因为出的奶丰富，他就可以吃奶油；凡在陆地中间所剩的人都要吃奶油与蜂蜜。（以赛亚书7:14-15，22）
此处“吃奶油与蜂蜜”表示接受属天-属灵之物，“所剩的人”表示余剩，关于余剩，玛拉基书也提到：
你们要将十分之一全然送入宝库，使我家有食物。（玛拉基书3:10）
“十分之一”表示余剩。关于“食物”的含义，可参看前文（56-58，276节）。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]680. Everyone can see that goodness and truth are a person's genuine food. Anyone deprived of them is dead, not living. The kinds of food that our souls feed on when we are [spiritually] dead are the pleasures of evil and the gratifications provided by falsity; these are lethal foods. So are the pleasures and satisfactions afforded by bodily, worldly, and earthly things, which have no inherent life.
What is more, people devoid of life have no idea what spiritual and heavenly food is. They are so ignorant on this score that every time the Word mentions food or bread, they suppose it means physical food. Take, for instance, the phrase from the Lord's Prayer, Give us daily bread; they think this refers only to the nourishment of the body, or if their thinking stretches any further, they allow that it also includes the body's other needs, such as clothing, riches, and so on. They even argue bitterly against the notion that any other kind of food is meant. Yet they see clearly that the words before and after this phrase have to do only with heavenly and spiritual concerns and that the Lord's kingdom is the subject of the prayer. They are also capable of grasping that the Word of the Lord is spiritual and heavenly.
[2] From this circumstance and others like it, the extent to which people today focus on the body is obvious enough. So is their desire (like that of Jews) to interpret everything the Word says as dealing with the crudest of material concerns.{*1} The Lord himself teaches plainly what food and bread mean in his Word. Of food he speaks this way in John:
Jesus said, "Work, not for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts to eternal life, which the Son of Humankind gives you." (John 6:27)
Of bread he says in the same author:
Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and died. This is the bread that came down from heaven so that a person could eat of it and not die. I am the living bread who came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, that person will live forever. (John 6:49-50, 51, 58)
Some today say, as those who heard this did,
"This saying is hard. Who can listen to it?" And they backed away and no longer walked with him. (John 6:60, 66)
The Lord told them:
The words that I am speaking to you are spirit and are life. (John 6:63)
[3] In similar fashion, water symbolizes the spiritual aspects of faith. The Lord speaks of it this way in John:
Jesus said, "Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But those who drink the water that I give them will never be thirsty to eternity. Instead, the water that I give them will become a spring of water gushing up in them to provide eternal life." (John 4:13-14)
People do exist today, however, who resemble the woman the Lord talked to by the spring, when she answered,
Lord, give me this water, to keep me from being thirsty and coming here to draw! (John 4:15)
[4] Many passages in the Word establish that food there stands only as a symbol for spiritual and heavenly nourishment, which is faith in the Lord and love. In Jeremiah, for instance:
The enemy has stretched its hand out over every pleasant thing in Jerusalem. Because she has seen the nations, they have come into her sanctuary, about which you commanded, "They shall not come into your assembly." All the people are groaning, looking for bread. They have exchanged what is pleasant to them for food to revive their soul. (Lamentations 1:10-11)
These words mean no other bread or food than a spiritual kind, since they deal with the sanctuary. In the same author:
I called out to my lovers; they deceived me. My priests and my elders expired in the city, for they had tried to find food for themselves and would have brought their soul back [to life]. (Lamentations 1:19)
The meaning is similar. In David:
All of them wait for you to give them their food in its season. You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they receive abundant good. (Psalms 104:27-28)
This too stands for spiritual and heavenly food.
[5] In Isaiah:
Everyone who is thirsty, come to the water, and whoever does not have silver, come, buy and eat! And come, without silver and without the price buy wine and milk! (Isaiah 55:1)
The wine and milk stand for spiritual and heavenly drink. In the same author:
The young woman will conceive and deliver a child, and you shall call his name Immanuel. He will eat butter and honey, in order to know to spurn what is evil and choose what is good. It will happen on account of the abundance of milk-making that they will eat butter, since butter and honey are what everyone who is left in the middle of the land will eat. (Isaiah 7:14-15, 22)
Eating honey and butter is taking nourishment that is heavenly and at the same time spiritual. Those left in the land stand for remnants [of goodness and truth]. Malachi also discusses these:
Bring all tithes to the treasure house, so that there may be food in my House. (Malachi 3:10)
Tithes stand for remnants. For more on the symbolism of food, see 56-58, 276.
Footnotes:
{*1} The phrase "the crudest of material concerns" here may be a veiled reference to the search for alchemical information supposedly hidden in the Bible (compare Sacred Scripture 23:4). There were numerous alchemical readings of Scripture in Swedenborg's times; see Principe and Newman 2001, 398; Matton 1988. On Swedenborg's attitude toward Jews, see note 4 in 259 and the reader's guide, pages 51-55. [JSR]
Potts(1905-1910) 680
680. That goods and truths are the genuine foods of man must be evident to everyone, for he who is destitute of them has no life, but is dead. When a man is spiritually dead the foods with which his soul is fed are delights from evils and pleasantnesses from falsities-which are foods of death-and are also those which come from bodily, worldly, and natural things, which also have nothing of life in them. Moreover, such a man does not know what spiritual and celestial food is, insomuch that whenever "food" or "bread" is mentioned in the Word he supposes the food of the body to be meant; as in the Lord's prayer, the words "Give us our daily bread" he supposes to mean only sustenance for the body; and those who extend their ideas further say it includes also other necessaries of the body, such as clothing, property, and the like. They even sharply deny that any other food is meant; when yet they see plainly that the words preceding and following involve only celestial and spiritual things, and that the Lord's kingdom is spoken of; and besides, they might know that the Word of the Lord is celestial and spiritual. [2] From this and other similar examples it must be sufficiently evident how corporeal is man at the present day; and that, like the Jews, he is disposed to take everything that is said in the Word in the most gross and material sense. The Lord Himself clearly teaches what is meant in His Word by "food" and "bread." Concerning "food" He thus speaks in John:
Jesus said, Labor not for the meat [or food] which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27). And concerning "bread" He says, in the same chapter:
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the Bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this Bread he shall live eternally (John 6:49-51, 58). But at the present day there are men like those who heard these words and said: "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" and who "went back and walked no more with Him" (John 4:60, 66), to whom the Lord said: "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life" (John 4:63). [3] And so with respect to "water" which signifies the spiritual things of faith, and concerning which the Lord thus speaks in John:
Jesus said, Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:13-14). But at the present day there are those who are like the woman with whom the Lord spoke at the well, and who answered, "Lord, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" (John 4:15). [4] That in the Word "food" means no other than spiritual and celestial food, which is faith in the Lord, and love, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Jeremiah:
The enemy hath spread out his hand upon all the desirable things of Jerusalem; for she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom Thou didst command that they should not enter into Thy congregation. All the people groan, they seek bread; they have given their desirable things for food to refresh the soul (Lam. 1:10-11). No other than spiritual bread and food are here meant, for the subject is the sanctuary. Again:
I have cried out for my lovers, they have deceived me; my priests and mine elders in the city expired, for they sought food for themselves, to refresh their soul (Lam. 1:19), with the same meaning. In David:
These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in its season; Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest thine hand, they are satisfied with good (Ps. 104:27, 28). Here likewise spiritual and celestial food is meant. [5] In Isaiah:
Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without silver, and without price (Isa. 55:1), where "wine" and "milk" denote spiritual and celestial drink. Again:
A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and thou shalt call His name Immanuel; butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good; and it shall come to pass that for the abundance of milk that they shall give they shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land (Isa. 7:14-15, 22). Here to "eat honey and butter" is to appropriate what is celestial-spiritual; "they that are left" denote remains, concerning whom also in Malachi:
Bring ye all the tithes into the treasure house, that there may be food in My house (Mal. 3:10). "Tithes" denote remains. (Concerning the signification of "food" see above, n. 56-58, 276.)
Elliott(1983-1999) 680
680. The fact that goods and truths are man's real food may be clear to anyone, for the person who is deprived of them has no life within himself, and is a dead man. The food on which the soul of the person feeds who is dead in this sense consists of the delights arising from evils, and of the pleasures gained from falsities. These are the food of death. These delights and pleasures also derive from bodily, worldly, and natural things, which have no life at all within them. Furthermore such a person does not know what spiritual and celestial food is. Every time 'food' or 'bread' is mentioned in the Word he assumes that food for the body is meant. In the words of the Lord's Prayer, 'Give us our daily bread', for example, he thinks purely of nourishment for the body. There are some whose ideas do extend further and who assert that this petition includes all other physical requirements, such as clothing, money, and so on. Indeed they will argue fiercely that no other kind of food is meant, even though they clearly see that the petitions coming before and after it entail purely celestial and spiritual things, and refer to the Lord's kingdom, and possibly know as well that the Lord's Word is celestial and spiritual.
[2] From this and other similar considerations it becomes sufficiently clear just how bodily-minded the man of today is, and that like the Jews, he is unwilling to accept anything stated in the Word except in a very crude and materialistic way. The Lord Himself clearly teaches what His Word means by 'food' and 'bread': He speaks of food in John as follows,
Jesus said, Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man gives you. John 6:27.
And of bread He says in the same gospel,
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread he will live for ever. John 6:49-51, 58.
Even today there are people who, like those who first heard these words, declare,
This is a hard saying; who can listen to it? And some drew back and no longer walked with Him. John 6:60, 66.
To those people the Lord said,
The words which I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.
[3] It is similar with water, in that it means the spiritual things of faith: He speaks of water in John as follows,
Jesus said, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:13, 14.
Even today there are people like the woman to whom the Lord spoke at the spring, who replied, Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. John 4:15.
[4] In the Word 'food' means nothing other than spiritual and celestial food, which is faith in the Lord and love. This is clear from many places in the Word, as in Jeremiah,
The enemy has stretched out his hand over all the desirable things of Jerusalem, because she saw the nations come into her sanctuary, concerning whom You did command, They shall not enter your congregation. All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lam 1:10, 11.
Here no other bread or food is meant than spiritual, for the subject is the sanctuary. In the same author,
I called to my lovers, they deceived me. My priests and my elders breathed their last in the city, for they sought food for themselves to refresh their soul. Lam 1:19.
Here the meaning is similar. In David,
They all look to You to give them their food in due season. You givest to them - they gather it up. You openest Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Ps 104:27, 28.
This in like manner stands for spiritual and celestial food.
[5] In Isaiah,
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isa 55:1.
Here 'wine and milk' stands for spiritual and celestial drink. In the same prophet,
A virgin is conceiving and bearing a son, and you will call His name Immanuel. Butter and honey will He eat that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. It will be that because of the abundance of milk they produce he will eat butter, for butter and honey will everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land. Isa 7:14, 15, 22.
Here 'eating honey and butter' means that which is celestial-spiritual, and 'those who are left' stands for remnants, which are referred to in Malachi as well,
Bring all the tithesa to the storehouse that there may be food in My house. Mal 3:10.
'Tithes'a stands for remnants. Further concerning the meaning of 'food', see 56-58, 276.
Latin(1748-1756) 680
680. Quod bona et vera sint genuini cibi hominis, constare unicuivis potest; qui enim destituitur illis non vitam habet, sed est mortuus; cibi quibus anima ejus pascitur, cum mortuus, sunt jucunda ex malis et amoena ex falsis, quae sunt cibi mortis, tum ex rebus corporeis, mundanis et naturalibus, quae nihil vitae in se habent; et praeterea talis homo nec scit quid cibus spiritualis et caelestis, in tantum ut quoties nominatur 'cibus' aut 'panis' in Verbo, putet significari cibum corporeum; sicut in Oratione Domini, 'Da nobis panem cotidianum' putat solum esse victum corporis, et qui ulterius extendunt ideas, aiunt quoque esse cetera corporis necessaria, ut vestes, opes, et similia; immo disputant acriter quod non alius cibus intelligatur; cum tamen manifeste vident quod praecedentia et sequentia solum caelestia et spiritualia involvant et de regno Domini agatur, tum scire possunt quod Verbum Domini caeleste et spirituale sit; [2] inde et ex similibus aliis constare satis potest quantum homo hodie corporeus est, et quod nihil non, sicut Judaei, quod in Verbo dicitur, in sensu materiali et crassissimo velit capere: Ipse Dominus clare docet quid in Ipsius Verbo significatur per 'cibum et panem'; de cibo ita apud Johannem, Jesus dixit, Operamini cibum, non qui perit, sed cibum qui manet in vitam aeternam, quem Filius hominis vobis dat, vi 27;de pane, apud eundem, Patres vestri comederunt man in deserto, et mortui sunt; hic est panis qui e caelo descendit, ut quis ex illo comedat et non moriatur: Ego sum Panis vivens qui e caelo descendit, si quis comederit ex hoc pane, vivet in aeternum, vi 49-51, 58;
sed sunt hodie, sicut qui audiverunt hoc dicentes, Durus est hic sermo, quis potest audire?... et qui abiverunt retro et non amplius ambulabant cum Ipso, ibid. vers. 60, 66;
quibus Dominus dixit, Verba quae Ego loquor vobis, spiritus sunt et vita sunt, ibid. vers. 63. [3] Similiter se habet de 'aqua' quod significet spiritualia fidei, de qua ita Dominus apud Johannem, Jesus dixit, Omnis qui bibit ex aqua hac, sitiet iterum; qui vero biberit ex aqua quam Ego dabo ei, non sitiet in aeternum; sed aqua quam dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam, iv 13, 14;
sed sunt hodie, sicut mulier, cum qua Dominus apud fontem locutus, quae respondit, Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, ut non sitiam neque veniam huc ad hauriendum, ibid. vers. 15. [4] Quod 'cibus' in Verbo nihil aliud significet quam cibum spiritualem et caelestem, qui est fides in Dominum et amor, constat a multis in Verbo locis, ut apud Jeremiam, Manum suam extendit hostis super omnia desiderabilia Hierosolymae, quia vidit, gentes{1} venerunt in sanctuarium ejus, de quo praecepisti, Non venient in congregationem tibi; omnis populus gementes, quaerentes panem, dederunt desiderabilia sua pro cibo ad recreandum animam, Thren. i 10, 11;
ubi non alius panis et cibus intelligitur quam spiritualis, nam de sanctuario agitur: apud eundem, Clamavi ad amasios meos, ii deceperunt me; sacerdotes mei et seniores mei in urbe exspirarunt, quia{2} quaesiverunt cibum sibi, et reducerent animam suam, Thren. i 19; similiter: apud Davidem, Omnia illa Te exspectant, ad dandum cibum eorum in tempore suo; das illis, colligunt; aperis manum Tuam, saturantur bono, Ps. civ 27, 28;
[5] similiter pro cibo spirituali et caelesti: apud Esaiam, Omnis sitiens, ite ad aquas, et cui non argentum, ite, emite, et comedite; et ite, emite sine argento et sine pretio, vinum et lac, lv 1;
ubi 'vinum et lac' pro potu spirituali et caelesti: apud eundem, Virgo concipiens et pariens filium et vocabis nomen Ejus Immanuel; butyrum et mel comedet, ad sciendum reprobare malum, et eligere bonum: erit, prae multitudine faciendi lac (x)comedet butyrum, nam butyrum et mel comedet omnis residuus in medio terrae, vii 14, 15, 22;
ibi 'comedere mel et butyrum' est caeleste spirituale; 'residui' pro reliquiis; de quibus quoque Malachias, Adducite omnes decimas ad domum thesauri, ut sit cibus in domo Mea, iii 10;
'decimae' pro reliquiis: de 'cibi' significatione videantur plura, n. 56-58, n. 276. @1 I has vidit gentes.$ @2 qui I.$