Bible

 

何西阿書 12

Studie

   

1 以法蓮,且追趕東,時常增添虛謊和強暴,與亞述立約,把送到埃及

2 耶和華猶大爭辯,必照雅各所行的懲罰他,按他所做的報應他。

3 他在腹中抓住哥哥的腳跟,壯年的時候與較力,

4 天使較力,並且得勝,哭泣懇求,在伯特利遇見耶和華。耶和華─萬軍之神在那裡曉諭我們以色列人;耶和華是他可記念的名。

5 a

6 所以你當歸向你的,謹守仁愛、公平,常常等候你的

7 以法蓮是商人,裡有詭詐的天平欺騙

8 以法蓮:我果然成了富足,得了財寶;我所勞碌得來的,人必不見有甚麼不義,可算為罪的。

9 自從你出埃及以來,我就是耶和華─你的;我必使你再帳棚,如在大會的日子一樣。

10 我已曉諭眾先知,並且加增默示,藉先知設立比喻。

11 基列人沒有罪孽麼?他們全然是虛假的。人在吉甲獻牛犢為祭,他們的祭壇好像田間犁溝中的亂

12 從前雅各逃到亞蘭地,以色列為得妻服事人,為得妻與人放羊。

13 耶和華先知以色列埃及上來;以色列也藉先知而得保存。

14 以法蓮大大惹動怒,所以他流血的罪必歸在他身上。必將那因以法蓮所受的羞辱歸還他。

   

Komentář

 

Ephraim

  
Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph, by Januarius Zick

Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph in Egypt and was, along with his older brother Manasseh, elevated by Jacob to the same status as Joseph’s brothers. Thus when the tribes of Israel are named, Ephraim and Manasseh are named as patriarchs along with their uncles – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin -- but Joseph is not. According to Swedenborg, Ephraim represents the intellectual aspect of the church, the part that explores and understands what is true – especially the true ideas that can be drawn from the Bible. Manasseh, meanwhile, represents the affectional aspect of the church, the part that feels and loves and cares. This plays into the best-known story of Ephraim’s life. When Jacob was old and nearing death, Joseph brought his two sons to be blessed. He presented Manasseh to Jacob’s right hand as the elder, and Ephraim to Jacob’s left hand. But Jacob crossed his hands and gave Ephraim the primary blessing. According to Swedenborg, Manasseh was the elder son because ultimately, what we love makes us who we are; our loves form our lives. So our loves are the most central, leading aspect of our human existence, with our intellect playing a secondary role. But as we develop, we need to reverse those. We can use our intellect to understand what is good and right and force ourselves to do it, even when our desires are for what’s selfish. If we stick to that out of a determination to follow the Lord and be good people, the Lord will eventually remove the selfishness from our hearts so we can truly love what is good. By having Jacob bless Ephraim above Manasseh, the Lord is telling us that we have to put our intellect first to pursue our spiritual journey.