Bible

 

Postanak 26

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1 U zemlji zavlada glad, različita od prijašnje što je bila za vrijeme Abrahama, pa Izak ode Abimeleku, kralju Filistejaca, u Geraru.

2 Jahve mu se ukaza i reče: "Ne silazi u Egipat: boravi u zemlji koju ću ti označiti.

3 U ovoj se zemlji nastani, ja ću s tobom biti i blagoslivljati te; tebi i tvome potomstvu dat ću sve ove krajeve, da izvršim zakletvu kojom sam se zakleo tvome ocu Abrahamu.

4 Tvoje ću potomstvo umnožiti kao zvijezde na nebesima i tvome ću potomstvu predati sve ove krajeve, tako da će se tvojim potomstvom blagoslivljati svi narodi zemlje;

5 a to zato što je Abraham slušao moj glas i pokoravao se mojim zapovijedima, mojim zakonima i odredbama!"

6 Tako Izak ostane u Geraru.

7 Kad su ga mještani pitali o njegovoj ženi, reče: "Ona mi je sestra." Bojao se reći: "Ona mi je žena", misleći: "Mještani bi me mogli ubiti zbog Rebeke jer je lijepa."

8 Kako su se ondje duže zadržali, kralj Filistejaca Abimelek jednom pogleda kroz prozor i opazi kako Izak miluje svoju ženu Rebeku.

9 Nato Abimelek pozove Izaka te reče: "Tako, ona ti je žena! Kako si mogao reći da ti je sestra?" Izak mu odgovori: "Jer sam mislio da bih zbog nje mogao poginuti."

10 Abimelek reče: "Zašto si nam to učinio? Umalo netko od ljudi nije legao s tvojom ženom. Tako bi na nas svalio krivnju."

11 Onda Abimelek izda naredbu svemu narodu: "Tko se god dotakne ovog čovjeka i njegove žene, glavu će izgubiti."

12 Izak je sijao u onom kraju i one godine urodilo mu stostruko. Jahve ga blagoslivljao

13 te je čovjek bivao sve bogatiji, dok nije postao vrlo bogat.

14 Stekao je stada ovaca i goveda i mnogu služinčad, tako da su mu Filistejci zavidjeli.

15 Zato Filistejci zasuše sve bunare što su ih sluge njegova oca bile iskopale - u vrijeme njegova oca Abrahama - i napuniše ih zemljom.

16 Onda Abimelek reče Izaku: "Idi od nas jer si postao mnogo moćniji od nas!"

17 Tako Izak ode odande, postavi svoj šator u gerarskoj dolini i nastani se ondje.

18 Izak opet iskopa bunare za vodu što su bili iskopani u vrijeme njegova oca Abrahama, a Filistejci ih bili zasuli poslije Abrahamove smrti. On ih je nazvao istim imenima kojima ih je zvao i njegov otac.

19 Ali kad su Izakove sluge, dok su u dolini kopale, ondje našle bunar sa živom vodom,

20 pastiri iz Gerara posvade se s Izakovim pastirima govoreći: "Naša je voda!" Bunaru je dao ime Esek, jer su se oni s njim svadili.

21 A kad su iskopali drugi bunar te se i zbog njega svađali, nazva ga imenom Sitna.

22 Odatle se preseli pa iskopa drugi bunar. Zbog njega se nisu svađali, pa ga nazove imenom Rehobot i protumači: "Jer nam je Jahve dao prostor da se na zemlji umnožimo."

23 Odande se popne u Beer Šebu.

24 Iste mu se noći ukaže Jahve i reče: "Ja sam Bog oca tvoga Abrahama. Ne boj se, ja sam s tobom! Blagoslovit ću te, potomke ti umnožit, zbog Abrahama, sluge svojega."

25 Izak tu podigne žrtvenik i zazove Jahvu po imenu; postavi ondje svoj šator, a njegove sluge počnu kopati bunar.

26 Uto mu dođe Abimelek iz Gerara sa svojim savjetnikom Ahuzatom i s Fikolom, zapovjednikom vojske.

27 Izak ih upita: "Zašto ste došli k meni kad me mrzite i kad ste me otjerali od sebe?"

28 Oni odgovore: "Jasno vidimo da je Jahve s tobom. Stoga pomislismo: neka zakletva bude veza između nas i tebe. Daj da s tobom sklopimo savez:

29 ti nama nećeš zla nanositi, kao što mi tebe nismo zlostavljali, nego uvijek prema tebi lijepo postupali i s mirom te otpustili. A blagoslov Jahvin bio nad tobom."

30 On im priredi gozbu te su jeli i pili.

31 Rano ujutro jedni se drugima zakunu. Potom ih Izak otpusti i oni od njega odu u miru.

32 Toga istog dana dođu Izakove sluge i obavijeste ga o bunaru što su ga iskopali te mu reknu: "Našli smo vodu."

33 On ga prozva Šiba. Zato je ime onom gradu do danas - Beer Šeba.

34 Kad je Ezavu bilo četrdeset godina, uzme za ženu Juditu, kćer Hetita Beerija, i Basematu, kćer Hetita Elona.

35 One postadoše izvor ogorčenja Izaku i Rebeki.

   

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Abraham

  
Représentation d'Abraham, by Joseph Villiet

Abraham (or Abram, as he was named in the beginning of his story) was the ancestor of all the Children of Israel, through his son Isaac, and of the Arabs, through his son Ishmael.

Abraham represents the Divine good or love. His story foreshadows the life of Jesus, and our spiritual lives, too.

His life can be usefully seen as being divided into three periods. The first period includes the unknown early years from his birth in Ur, and his later move to Haran with his father Terah. The second section starts with Abram's being called by Jehovah to go to Canaan. It includes the adventures he had there, and continues until the events of the 17th chapter of Genesis where he is said to be 99 years old, rich, and powerful - but without a son by his wife Sarai. Once again the Lord appears to him, promises that his progeny will become a great nation, institutes the rite of circumcision, and changes his name to Abraham, adding the "ah" sound from Jehovah. The third and last period of his life sees the birth of Isaac, the death of Sarah (whose name was also changed), and the finding of a wife for Isaac from among Abraham's relatives back in Mesopotamia. Abraham is said to be 175 years old when he dies, as recorded in the 25th chapter of Genesis.

What we are here interested in is the deep representation of Abraham because he prophesies or foreshadows the inmost part of Jesus' life after He is born to Mary centuries after the man Abraham lived on the earth. Abraham represents the Divine good or love. The internal sense of the Word tells us that God himself provided the life into an ovum within Mary, so she could provide a natural body and a natural heredity from the Jewish religion, while the soul of Jesus was kept as a direct possessor of divine life. During Jesus' early life, probably up to adolescence, Jesus lived out those representative actions of Abraham in the innermost parts of his mind and spirit. Abraham as he pastured his sheep and ran his large household had no idea at all that this was true, and early in Jesus' life He didn't realize it either. There must have been perceptions as Jesus grew up, witness his visit to the temple when He was 12, but not a complete understanding until He was fully grown. And further, it isn't only Abraham. When Abraham dies, the representation attaches to Isaac, who represents the rational level of the mind, and then to both Jacob and Esau who represent the natural mind as to truth and good in the mind respectively. And then the trials of the twelve tribes, the kings, and all the sayings of the prophets become that same representation. So Jesus could say to the two disciples that He met on the road to Emmaus, "O fools and slow of heart... and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets He expounded to them in all the scriptures all the things concerning Himself." (The following references are chronologic as Abraham gets older, and are in biblical sequence.) And furthermore, the progress of mental and spiritual life in each one of us is a dim and finite image of that represented by Abraham's life if, that is, we are trying to follow the Lord's laws and precepts to love one another. We too have within us a journey to the land of Canaan, a hardworking sojourn in Egypt, a struggle in the wilderness, and a Saul, a David, and an Ahab. We have our home-grown Amalekites and Philistines. The whole of the Old Testament is a picture of how our spiritual life works.

In Genesis 20:7, Abraham signifies celestial truth, or doctrine from a celestial origin. (Arcana Coelestia 2533)

In Genesis 12:4, As ABRAHAM he represents the Lord as to His Human and Divine Essence; as ABRAM he represents the Lord as to His human essence only. (Arcana Coelestia 1426)

In Genesis 17:5, The name was changed by adding the letter H, so that the Divine Human could he represented, for H is the only letter which involves the Divine: it means I AM, or BEING. (Arcana Coelestia 1416[2])

(Odkazy: Genesis 17, 25)