Bible

 

Brojevi 24

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1 Kad opazi Bileam da je Jahvi drago što on blagoslivlja Izraela, ne htjede više ni ići kao prije u potragu za znamenjima, nego se licem okrenu prema pustari.

2 Bileam podiže oči i vidje Izraela utaborena po njegovim plemenima. Na nj siđe Duh Božji

3 i on poče svoju pjesmu te reče: "Proročanstvo Bileama, sina Beorova, proročanstvo čovjeka pronicava pogleda,

4 proročanstvo onoga koji riječi Božje sluša, koji vidi viđenja Svesilnoga, koji pada i oči mu se otvaraju.

5 Kako su lijepi ti šatori, Jakove, i stanovi tvoji, Izraele!

6 Kao dolovi što se steru, kao vrtovi uz obalu rijeke, kao aloje što ih Jahve posadi, kao cedri pokraj voda!

7 Iz potomstva junak mu izlazi, nad mnogim on vlada narodima. Kralj će njegov nadvisit' Agaga, uzdiže se kraljevstvo njegovo.

8 Iz Egipta Bog ga izveo, on je njemu k'o rozi bivola. On proždire narode dušmanske, on njihove kosti drobi.

9 Skupio se, polegao poput lava, poput lavice: tko ga podići smije? Blagoslovljen bio tko te blagoslivlje, proklet da je tko tebe proklinje!"

10 I usplamtje srdžbom Balak na Bileama i udari rukom o ruku. "Pozvao sam te da prokuneš moje neprijatelje", reče Balak Bileamu, "a kad tamo, ti ih blagoslovi evo triput!

11 Nosi se odmah u svoj kraj. Bio sam rekao: dostojno ću te počastiti! A eto, Jahve te liši časti."

12 Nato Bileam odgovori Balaku: "Zar nisam rekao i tvojim glasnicima koje si k meni poslao:

13 'Da mi Balak dadne svoju kuću punu srebra i zlata, ne bih mogao prestupiti zapovijed Jahvinu i po svojoj volji činiti bilo dobro, bilo zlo; ono što kaže Jahve, to ću i ja reći.'

14 A sada, kad, evo, odlazim k svome narodu, hajde da ti objavim što će ovaj narod učiniti tvome narodu u budućnosti!"

15 I poče svoju pjesmu i reče: "Proročanstvo Bileama, sina Beorova, proročanstvo čovjeka pronicava pogleda,

16 proročanstvo onoga koji riječi Božje sluša, koji poznaje mudrost Svevišnjega, koji vidi viđenja Svesilnoga, koji pada i oči mu se otvaraju.

17 Vidim ga, ali ne sada: motrim ga, al' ne iz blizine: od Jakova zvijezda izlazi, od Izraela žezlo se diže. On Moabu razbija bokove i svu djecu Šetovu zatire!

18 Edom će njegovim postati posjedom, a Seir zemljom osvojenom. Razvija snagu svoju Izrael,

19 Jakov vlada nad neprijateljima i uništava preživjele iz Ira."

20 Bileam se zagleda u Amaleka te poče svoju pjesmu i reče: "Amalek je prvenac među narodima, ali vječna propast njegov je svršetak."

21 Onda se zagleda u Kenijce te poče svoju pjesmu i reče: "Tvrd je stan tvoj, Kajine, na timoru ti gnijezdo savijeno!

22 Al' gnijezdo pripada Beoru; dokle ćeš Ašuru robovati?"

23 Opet poče svoju pjesmu i reče: "Narodi pomorski sabiru se sa sjevera,

24 a brodovlje od strane Kitima. Podjarmljuju Ašur, podjarmljuju Heber, pa i njega će propast stići vječita."

25 Potom ustade Bileam te se uputi natrag u svoj kraj. A i Balak ode svojim putem.

   

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Jacob or Israel (the man)

  

Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to meet Esau, and the angel tells him that his name will be changed. After he is reconciled with Esau, they go their separate ways. Jacob moves to Shechem and then on to Bethel, where he builds an altar to the Lord. The Lord appears to him there, renews the covenant He first made with Abraham and again tells him that his name will be Israel (Genesis 35). The story goes on to tell of Benjamin's birth and Rachel's death in bearing him, and then of Jacob's return to Isaac and Isaac's death and burial. But at that point the main thread of the story leaves Israel and turns to Joseph, and Israel is hardly mentioned until after Joseph has risen to power in Egypt, has revealed himself to his brothers and tells them to bring all of their father's household down to Egypt. There, before Israel dies, he blesses Joseph's sons, plus all his own sons. After his death he is returned to the land of Canaan for burial in Abraham's tomb. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob represents truth, and Esau good. Jacob's stay in Padan-Aram, and the wealth he acquired there, represent learning the truths of scripture, just as we learn when we read the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount. The change of name from Jacob to Israel represents the realization that what we learn should not simply be knowledge, but should be the rules of our life, to be followed by action. This action is the good that Esau has represented in the story up to that time, but after the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau, Jacob as Israel now represents the truth and the good, together. It is interesting that even after his name change Jacob is rarely called Israel. Sometimes he is called one and sometimes the other, and sometimes he is called both Jacob and Israel in the same verse (Genesis 46:2, 5, & 8 also Psalm 14:7). This is because Jacob represents the external person and Israel the internal person, and even after the internal person comes into being, we spend much of our lives living on the external level.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 4274, 4292, 4570, 5595, 6225, 6256, Genesis 2:5, 46:8)