Bible

 

創世記 48

Studie

   

1 這事以,有人告訴約瑟:你的父親病了。他就帶著兩個兒子瑪拿西以法蓮同去。

2 有人告訴雅各:請看,你兒子約瑟到你這裡來了以色列就勉強在床上

3 雅各對約瑟全能的神曾在迦南的路斯向我顯現,賜福與我,

4 對我:我必使你生養眾多,成為多民,又要把這你的裔,永遠為業。

5 未到埃及見你之先,你在埃及所生的以法蓮瑪拿西這兩個兒子是我的,正如流便和西緬是我的一樣。

6 你在他們以所生的就是你的,他們可以歸於他們弟兄的名下得產業。

7 至於我,我從巴旦的時候,拉結在我眼前,在迦南上,離以法他還有一段程,我就把他葬在以法他上〈以法他就是伯利恆〉。

8 以色列見約瑟的兩個兒子,就:這是誰?

9 約瑟對他父親:這是在這裡賜我的兒子。以色列:請你領他們到我跟前,我要他們祝福

10 以色列年紀老邁,眼睛昏花,不能見。約瑟領他們到他跟前,他就和他們親嘴,抱著他們。

11 以色列對約瑟:我想不到得見你的面,不料,又使我得見你的兒子。

12 約瑟把兩個兒子從以色列兩膝中領出來,自己就臉伏於下拜。

13 隨後,約瑟又拉著他們兩個,以法蓮在他的右手裡,對著以色列的左手,瑪拿西在他的左手裡,對著以色列的右手,領他們到以色列的跟前。

14 以色列伸出來,按在以法蓮上〈以法蓮乃是次子〉,又剪搭過左來,按在瑪拿西上〈瑪拿西原是長子〉。

15 他就給約瑟祝福:願我祖亞伯拉罕和我父以撒所事奉的,就是一生牧養我直到今日的

16 贖我脫離一切患難的那使者,賜福與這兩個童子。願他們歸在我的名下和我祖亞伯拉罕、我父以撒的名下。又願他們在世界中生養眾多。

17 約瑟見他父親把右按在以法蓮上,就不喜悅,便提起他父親,要從以法蓮上挪到瑪拿西上。

18 約瑟對他父親:我父,不是這樣。這本是長子,求你把右手按在他的上。

19 父親不從,:我知道,我兒,我知道。他也必成為一族,也必昌大。只是他的兄弟將來比他還大;他兄弟的後裔要成為多族。

20 當日就給他們祝福以色列人要指著你們祝福:願使你如以法蓮瑪拿西一樣。於是立以法蓮瑪拿西以上。

21 以色列又對約瑟:我要死了,但必與你們同在,領你們回到你們列祖之

22 並且我從前用用刀從亞摩利人下奪的那塊地,我都賜你,使你比眾弟兄多得分。

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 6306

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

6306. 'Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite' means because of the victory over evil. This is clear from the representation of 'the Amorite' as evil, dealt with in 1857; and from the meaning of 'taking out of the hand' as acquiring through victory. As regards 'the Amorites', it should be recognized that they mean evil, just as 'the Canaanites' and all the other nations in the land that are mentioned in the Word mean various kinds of evil and also of falsity. Such things were represented by the nations when the children of Israel were taking possession of the land of Canaan. The reason for this was that whenever the children of Israel represented the things of heaven those nations represented the things of hell; thus the land of Canaan represented every state that exists in the next life. Also, because the nations represented the things of hell they were utterly destroyed; and entrance into any treaty with those who might remain was forbidden.

[2] The action of the children of Israel, of their taking possession of and dwelling in the land of those who represented the hells, was representative. It represented what happened around the time of the Lord's Coming, when spirits from hell had possession of a large part of heaven but He, by coming into the world and making the human within Himself Divine, cast them out of there and down into hell, and thereby delivered heaven from them, which He then gave as an inheritance to those who belonged to His spiritual kingdom.

[3] The representation of the Amorite nation as evil in general is evident from the places where it is referred to, as in Ezekiel, Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, 1 Your tradings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3, 45.

'Father' in the internal sense means the Church's good, or in the contrary sense evil, and 'mother' means the Church's truth, or in the contrary sense falsity; and this is why it is said, 'Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite'.

[4] In Amos,

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and whose strength was like the oaks. I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. Amos 2:9-10.

Here also 'the Amorite' stands for evil, for the evil of self-love is described by 'the height of the cedars' and 'the strength of an oak'. The reason why 'the Amorite' means evil in general is that the entire land of Canaan was called 'the land of the Amorite'; for it says, 'I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite'. In addition the second Book of Kings says,

Manasseh king of Judah did what was evil, greater than all the evil which the Amorites did, who were before him. 2 Kings 21:11.

[5] 'With my sword' means through truth engaged in conflict. This is clear from the meaning of 'sword' as truth engaged in conflict, dealt with in 2799, 4499.

'And my bow' means received from doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'bow' as doctrine, dealt with in 2686, 2709.

[6] The words used here, 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were, it is quite evident, uttered by Israel on account of the internal sense; for Jacob did not take that portion from the Amorite with sword or bow. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, as is evident from Genesis 33, where these words occur, Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, as he was coming from Paddan Aram; and he encamped towards the face of the city. And he bought the portion of the field where he had stretched his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. Genesis 33:18-19.

The fact that this field was the portion he gave to Joseph is clear in Joshua,

The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel caused to be brought up out of Egypt they buried in Shechem, in the part of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs; and they had become an inheritance for the children of Joseph. Joshua 24:32.

From this it is evident that the portion had been bought, and that this is what was given to Joseph. Nor was the city of Shechem nearby meant, the city in which Simeon and Levi killed every male and which they took with the sword, Genesis 34. This is made clear by the fact that Jacob detested what they did and for that reason cursed Simeon and Levi, completely dissociating himself from the crime. He said,

Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of violence are their swords. Into their secret place let my soul not come; in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they killed a man, and in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was hard. 2 I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Genesis 49:5-7.

From all this it may now be seen that the words 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were uttered by him, when the spirit of prophecy rested on him, for the sake of the internal sense.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin means O Jerusalem but the Hebrew means to Jerusalem, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse (and possibly in his rough draft here).

2. i.e. cruel

  
/ 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.