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Genesis 27

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1 Now when Isaac was old and his eyes had become clouded so that he was not able to see, he sent for Esau, his first son, and said to him, My son: and he said, Here am I.

2 And he said, See now, I am old, and my death may take place at any time:

3 So take your arrows and your bow and go out to the field and get meat for me;

4 And make me food, good to the taste, such as is pleasing to me, and put it before me, so that I may have a meal and give you my blessing before death comes to me.

5 Now Isaac's words to his son were said in Rebekah's hearing. Then Esau went out to get the meat.

6 And Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, Your father said to your brother Esau in my hearing,

7 Go and get some roe's meat and make me a good meal, so that I may be full, and give you my blessing before the Lord before my death.

8 Now, my son, do what I say.

9 Go to the flock and get me two fat young goats; and I will make of them a meal to your father's taste:

10 And you will take it to him, so that he may have a good meal and give you his blessing before his death.

11 And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, But Esau my brother is covered with hair, while I am smooth:

12 If by chance my father puts his hand on me, it will seem to him that I am tricking him, and he will put a curse on me in place of a blessing.

13 And his mother said, Let the curse be on me, my son: only do as I say, and go and get them for me.

14 So he went and got them and took them to his mother: and she made a meal to his father's taste.

15 And Rebekah took the fair robes of her oldest son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son:

16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck:

17 And she gave into the hand of Jacob, her son, the meat and the bread which she had made ready.

18 And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I: who are you, my son?

19 And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

20 And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way.

21 And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you, my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not.

22 And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23 And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him a blessing.

24 And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am.

25 And he said, Put it before me and I will take of my son's meat, so that I may give you a blessing. And he Put it before him and he took it; and he gave him wine, and he had a drink.

26 And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, my son, and give me a kiss.

27 And he came near and gave him a kiss; and smelling the smell of his clothing, he gave him a blessing, and said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field on which the blessing of the Lord has come:

28 May God give you the dew of heaven, and the good things of the earth, and grain and wine in full measure:

29 Let peoples be your servants, and nations go down before you: be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons go down before you: a curse be on everyone by whom you are cursed, and a blessing on those who give you a blessing.

30 And when Isaac had come to the end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had not long gone away from Isaac his father, Esau came in from the field.

31 And he made ready a meal, good to the taste, and took it to his father, and said to him, Let my father get up and take of his son's meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

32 And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your oldest son, Esau.

33 And in great fear Isaac said, Who then is he who got meat and put it before me, and I took it all before you came, and gave him a blessing, and his it will be?

34 And hearing the words of his father, Esau gave a great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Give a blessing to me, even to me, O my father!

35 And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and took away your blessing.

36 And he said, Is it because he is named Jacob that he has twice taken my place? for he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not kept a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master, and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my son?

38 And Esau said to his father, Is that the only blessing you have, my father? give a blessing to me, even me! And Esau was overcome with weeping.

39 Then Isaac his father made answer and said to him, Far from the fertile places of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven on high will your living-place be:

40 By your sword will you get your living and you will be your brother's servant; but when your power is increased his yoke will be broken from off your neck.

41 So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.

42 Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is purposing to put you to death.

43 So now, my son, do what I say: go quickly to Haran, to my brother Laban;

44 And be there with him for a little time, till your brother's wrath is turned away;

45 Till the memory of what you have done to him is past and he is no longer angry: then I will send word for you to come back; are the two of you to be taken from me in one day?

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, My life is a weariness to me because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob takes a wife from among the daughters of Heth, such as these, the women of this land, of what use will my life be to me?

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 1159

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1159. And all things fat and splendid have departed from thee.- That this signifies that all goods and truths, and things auspicious and magnificent, which they have persuaded themselves, they would be able to acquire by means of that religion, are changed into the contrary, is evident from the signification of fat things, which denote goods and auspicious things therefrom, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of things splendid, which denote truths and things magnificent therefrom. The reason why this is the signification of things splendid, is, that splendour is the result of light, and the light of heaven is Divine Truth or Divine Wisdom, which is the cause of all things in the heavens shining with a splendour unknown in the world. It may be compared with the brilliancy of a diamond turned to the sun, but the splendour seen in heaven far exceeds this, just as the light of heaven exceeds the light of the world, the difference between which is so great, that while it may be illustrated by comparisons, yet it cannot be described. All the magnificent things of heaven, exist from that light, and these chiefly consist of forms corresponding to wisdom, which are such that in the world they can neither be pictured nor described. For in them art itself is in its art, and science is in its wisdom, consequently they are of ineffable beauty. It is evident from these facts why things splendid signify truths and thence things magnificent.

[2] The reason why fat things signify goods and auspicious things therefrom, is, that the fat is the best part of flesh, and that it is like oil, which signifies the good of love. That fatness signifies good and those things that belong to it, thus happiness and joys, is clear from the following passages in the Word.

In Isaiah:

"Attending attend unto me, eat ye good, that your soul may be delighted in fatness" (55:2).

To eat good signifies to appropriate good to themselves; thence by delighting in fatness is signified to be in a state of happiness and blessedness.

In Jeremiah:

"I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with good" (31:14).

Here also fatness signifies happiness and blessing from the good of love.

In David:

"My soul shall be satisfied with fat and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips" (Psalm 63:5).

The soul being satisfied with fat and fatness, signifies to be filled with the good of love and with joy therefrom. To praise with joyful lips signifies to worship by means of truths which gladden the mind.

Again:

"Thy houses shall be filled with fatness, and thou shalt cause them to drink of the stream of delights" (Psalm 36:8).

The fatness with which the houses shall be filled, signifies the good of love, and happiness therefrom, houses denoting things pertaining to the mind. The river of the delights, of which they shall drink, signifies intelligence and happiness therefrom.

[3] In Isaiah:

"In this mountain shall Jehovah Zebaoth make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow and of wine on the lees well refined" (25:6).

These things are said concerning the state of those who would acknowledge and adore the Lord. By that mountain is signified a new church from them; by the feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, is signified good both natural and spiritual with joy of heart; and by the lees, lees well refined, are signified truths from that good with the happiness therefrom.

In the same prophet:

"Jehovah shall give the rain of thy seed, with which thou shalt sow the earth, and bread of the produce of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous" (30:23).

The rain of seed signifies the multiplication of truth; and bread of produce the fructification of good. By fat and plenteous is signified good and truth with all its satisfaction and happiness.

In David:

"As yet they shall have increase in old age, they shall be fat and green, to show that Jehovah is right" (Psalm 92:14, 15).

To be fat and green signifies to be in goods and truths of doctrine.

Again:

"Jehovah shall remember all thy offerings and shall make fat thy burnt offering" (Psalm 20:3).

By offerings and burnt offering is signified worship, and by making it fat is signified that it is from the good of love.

The signification of fatness in Ezekiel 34:3; Genesis 27:39, and elsewhere is similar. Because fat and fatness signify the good of love, and because all worship, which is truly worship, must be from the good of love, therefore it was a law that all the fat in the sacrifices should be burnt upon the altar (Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 1:8; 3:3-16; 4:8-35; 7:3, 4, 30, 31; 17:6; Numbers 18:17, 18); for the sacrifices and burnt offerings signified worship.

[4] Since the Jews and Israelites were only in external worship, and not at the same time in internal worship, and not therefore in any good of love, or in any good of charity and faith, they were therefore prohibited from eating fat and blood, and it was a law that if they ate these, they should be cut off (Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 25). But to those who are in internal worship, and thence in external worship - as those will be who shall belong to the Lord's New Church - it is said, that they shall eat fat to fulness, and drink blood to drunkenness (ebrietas) (Ezekiel 39:19). Fat there signifies all the good of heaven and of the church, and blood all the truth of these. In the opposite sense the fat ones signify those who loathe good and who utterly despise and reject it (Deuteronomy 32:15; Jeremiah 5:28; 50:11; Psalm 17:10; 20:4; 68:31; 119:70; and elsewhere).

[5] Continuation.- Such, however, is not the lot of those who are continually evil, for these are in hell according to the loves of their life. There they think, and from their thought, speak, although they utter falsities; they also will, and, from their will they act, although their actions are evil. They appear, moreover to one another as men, although in the light of heaven they are of a monstrous form. It is therefore evident, why it is in accordance with a law of order relating to reformation, and called a law of Divine Providence, that a man is admitted into the truths of faith and the goods of love, only so far as he can be withheld from evils and kept in goods to the end of his life and that it is better that he should be always evil, than that he should be good and afterwards evil; for in this case he becomes profane. The Lord, who both provides and foresees all things, for this reason conceals the operations of His Providence, and to such a degree that man scarcely knows whether there is any providence at all. He permits him rather to attribute ordinary events to prudence, and contingencies to fortune, and even to ascribe many things to nature, rather than that, through any striking and manifest signs of the Divine Providence and Presence, he should plunge unreasonably into the midst of holy things in which he would not remain. The Lord also permits similar things in accordance with other laws of His Providence, namely, that man should enjoy freedom, and that in all that he does he should act according to reason, thus entirely as if from himself. For it is better that he should ascribe the operations of the Divine Providence to prudence and fortune, than that he should acknowledge them, and still live as a devil. From these facts it is evident that the laws of permission, which are numerous, proceed from the laws of Providence.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.