So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
Discussion:
Jehovah had been ready to kill Moses, but now lets him go after Zipporah circumcises their son. Swedenborg says that on an spiritual level, this shows that with the internal evil of the Hebrews exposed and acknowledged, they could be used to represent spiritual things.
This, of course, did eventually happen, as Moses received rules from God and enforced them. And we have those rules in the form of the Bible, which – when we understand it’s true meaning – is completely relevant to our modern lives.
By again calling Moses a “bridegroom of blood” Zipporah is acknowledging the hatred and violence the Hebrews had at heart toward all that is loving and true. Despite that, mentioning the circumcision again means that it can be an external form of worship that represents purification from things that are evil and false.
Passages from Swedenborg:
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7048
- 'And He ceased from him' means that they were allowed to be representative. This is clear from the meaning of 'ceasing from him', that is to say, from killing him, as their being allowed to be representative. For the statement that Jehovah sought to kill him meant that a representative Church could not be established among that nation, 7043, and therefore when it says here that 'He ceased from him' the meaning is that they were allowed to be representative, that is, a representative of the Church, but no actual Church was allowed to be established among that nation. It is one thing to represent a Church, and another to be an actual Church, as is evident from the fact that even those who are wicked can represent a Church, but only the good can actually be a Church; for representing a Church is something entirely external, see 3670, 4208, 4281.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7049
- 'Then she said, A bridegroom of blood in regard to circumcisions' means that although the internal was full of violence and hostility towards truth and goodness, circumcision was nevertheless accepted as a sign representative of purification from filthy kinds of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'a bridegroom of blood' as full of every kind of violence and hostility towards truth and goodness, dealt with above in 7047; and from the meaning of 'circumcision' as a sign representative of purification from filthy kinds of love, dealt with in 2039, 2632, 3412, 3417, 4462, 4486, 4493. Zipporah says these words because now that nation was allowed to represent the Church, meant by the statement that He ceased from killing him, 7048. The reason why circumcision became a sign representative of purification is that cutting off the foreskin meant the removal of filthy kinds of love, as a result of which the internal is laid bare, 7045. When therefore no attention at all is paid to what is internal, as was the situation with that nation whose attention was focused on outward forms without their inner meaning, one is left with circumcision or cutting off the foreskin as a sign, that is to say, a sign that means the removal of filthy kinds of love, and so means purification. It was for this reason that that practice could serve as a representative sign.
And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.