Bible

 

Genesis 24

Studie

   

1 And Abraham was old, [and] advanced in age; and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things.

2 And Abraham said to his servant, the eldest of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put thy hand, I pray thee, under my thigh,

3 and I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou take not a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am dwelling;

4 but thou shalt go to my land and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.

5 And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land: must I, then, bring thy son again in any case to the land from which thou hast removed?

6 And Abraham said to him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again.

7 Jehovah the God of the heavens, who took me out of my father's house, and out of the land of my nativity, and who has spoken to me, and who has sworn to me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land -- he will send his angel before thee, that thou mayest take a wife for my son thence.

8 And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be quit of this my oath: only, bring not my son thither again.

9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore unto him concerning that matter.

10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; now all the treasure of his master was under his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.

11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water, at the time of the evening, when the women came out to draw [water].

12 And he said, Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, meet me, I pray thee, [with thy blessing] this day, and deal kindly with my master Abraham.

13 Behold, I stand [here] by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water.

14 And let it come to pass, [that] the maiden to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and who will say, drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, be she whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and hereby I shall know that thou hast dealt kindly with my master.

15 And it came to pass before he had ended speaking, that behold, Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother; and [she had] her pitcher upon her shoulder.

16 And the maiden was very fair in countenance; a virgin, and no man had known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, sip a little water out of thy pitcher.

18 And she said, Drink, my lord! And she hasted and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him to Drink.

19 And when she had given him enough to drink, she said, I will draw [water] for thy camels also, until they have drunk enough.

20 And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw [water]; and she drew for all his camels.

21 And the man was astonished at her, remaining silent, to know whether Jehovah had made his journey prosperous or not.

22 And it came to pass when the camels had drunk enough, that the man took a gold ring, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten [shekels] weight of gold,

23 and said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room [in] thy father's house for us to lodge?

24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.

25 And she said to him, There is straw, and also much provender with us; also room to lodge.

26 And the man stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah,

27 and said, Blessed be Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has not withdrawn his loving-kindness and his faithfulness from my master; I being in the way, Jehovah has led me to the house of my master's brethren.

28 And the maiden ran and told these things to her mother's house.

29 And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban; and Laban ran out to the man, to the well.

30 And it came to pass when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's hand, and when he heard the words of Rebecca his sister, saying, Thus spoke the man to me -- that he came to the man, and behold, he was standing by the camels, by the well.

31 And he said, Come in, blessed of Jehovah! why standest thou outside? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.

32 And the man came into the house; and he ungirded the camels, and gave the camels straw and provender, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who were with him.

33 And there was set [meat] before him to eat; but he said, I will not eat until I have made known my business. And he said, Speak on.

34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant.

35 And Jehovah has blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he has given him sheep and cattle, and silver and gold, and bondmen and bondwomen, and camels and asses.

36 And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master after she had grown old; and unto him has he given all that he has.

37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I am dwelling;

38 but thou shalt by all means go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.

39 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not follow me?

40 And he said to me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way, that thou mayest take a wife for my son of my family, and out of my father's house.

41 Then shalt thou be quit of my oath, when thou shalt have come to my family. And if they give thee not [one], thou shalt be quit of my oath.

42 And I came this day to the well, and said, Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, if now thou wilt prosper my way on which I go,

43 behold, I stand by the well of water, and let it come to pass that the damsel who cometh forth to draw [water], and to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water out of thy pitcher to drink,

44 and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels -- that she should be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my master's son.

45 Before I ended speaking in my heart, behold, Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, and went down to the well, and drew [water]; and I said to her, Give me, I pray thee, to drink.

46 And she hasted and let down her pitcher from her [shoulder], and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels Drink also. And I drank; and she gave the camels Drink also.

47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him. And I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.

48 And I stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah; and I blessed Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has led me the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son.

49 And now, if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will turn to the right hand or to the left.

50 And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceeds from Jehovah: we cannot speak to thee bad or good.

51 Behold, Rebecca is before thee: take [her], and go away; and let her be wife of thy master's son, as Jehovah has said.

52 And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he bowed down to the earth before Jehovah.

53 And the servant brought forth silver articles, and gold articles, and clothing, and he gave [them] to Rebecca; and he gave to her brother, and to her mother, precious things.

54 And they ate and drank, he and the men that were with him, and lodged. And they rose up in the morning; and he said, Send me away to my master.

55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the maiden abide with us [some] days, or [say] ten; after that she shall go.

56 And he said to them, Do not hinder me, seeing Jehovah has prospered my way: send me away, and I will go to my master.

57 And they said, Let us call the maiden and inquire at her mouth.

58 And they called Rebecca and said to her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

59 And they sent away Rebecca their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.

60 And they blessed Rebecca, and said to her, Thou art our sister; mayest thou become thousands of tens of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gate of their enemies!

61 And Rebecca arose, and her maids, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rebecca, and went away.

62 And Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi; for he was dwelling in the south country.

63 And Isaac had gone out to meditate in the fields toward the beginning of evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming.

64 And Rebecca lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac, and she sprang off the camel.

65 And she had said to the servant, Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us? And the servant said, That is my master! Then she took the veil, and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.

67 And Isaac led her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after [the death of] his mother.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3147

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

3147. And water to wash his feet. That this signifies purification there, is evident from the signification of “water for washing,” or of washing with water, as being to purify (concerning which presently); and from the signification of “feet,” as being natural things, or what is the same, the things in the natural man (see n. 2162). In the representative church it was customary to wash the feet with water, and thereby to signify that the unclean things of the natural man were washed away. The unclean things of the natural man are all those things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world; and when these unclean things have been washed away, then goods and truths flow in, for it is solely these unclean things that hinder the influx of good and truth from the Lord.

[2] For good is continually flowing in from the Lord, but when it comes through the internal or spiritual man to his external or natural man, it is there either perverted, turned back, or suffocated. But when the things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world are removed, then good is received there and is made fruitful; for then man practices the works of charity. This is evident from many considerations; as when in misfortune, distress, and sickness, the things that belong to the external or natural man are merely lulled, the man forthwith begins to think piously and to will what is good, and also to practice works of piety insofar as he is able; but when the state is changed, there is a change also in all this.

[3] These things were signified by the washings in the Ancient Church, and the same were represented in the Jewish Church, The reason why they were signified in the Ancient Church, but represented in the Jewish church, was that the man of the Ancient Church regarded the rite as a something external in worship, and did not believe that he was purified by that washing, but by the washing away of the impurities of the natural man, which as before said are the things which are of the love of self and of the world. But the man of the Jewish Church believed that he was purified by that washing; neither knowing nor desiring to know that the purification of the interiors was signified.

[4] That by “washing” is signified a cleansing from the impurities referred to, is evident in Isaiah:

Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil (Isaiah 1:16); where it is evident that to “wash themselves” means to make themselves pure and to put away evils. Again:

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of expurgation (Isaiah 4:4); where “washing away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purging the blood of Jerusalem,” denotes purifying from evils and falsities.

In Jeremiah:

O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall the thoughts of thine iniquity lodge within thee? (Jeremiah 4:14).

[5] In Ezekiel:

I washed thee with water, and I washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and anointed thee with oil (Jeremiah 16:9 [NCBSW: Ezekiel 16:9]); concerning Jerusalem, by which is there meant the Ancient Church; “washing with waters” denotes purifying from falsities; “washing away bloods” denotes purging from evils; “anointing with oil” denotes filling then with good.

In David:

Wash me from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalms 51:2, 7).

Here “being washed” plainly denotes being purified from evils and their falsities.

[6] These are the things that were signified by “washing” in the representative church; and it was commanded for the sake of the representation that when they had become unclean they should wash the skin, the hands, the feet, and also the garments, and should be cleansed; by all which things were signified those which are of the natural man. Lavers also, of brass, were placed outside the temple, namely, the brazen sea and the ten brazen lavers (1 Kings 7:23-39); and a laver of brass at which Aaron and his sons were to wash was placed between the tent of meeting and the altar; and thus outside the tent (Exodus 30:18-19, 21); by which also was signified that only external or natural things were to be purified; for unless these have been purified, that is, unless the things that are of the love of self and of the world have been removed, the internal things which are of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor cannot possibly flow in, as before said.

[7] For the better understanding of how these things are circumstanced, namely, that external things are to be purified, take as an example and illustration good works, or what is the same, the goods of charity which at this day are called the fruits of faith; these are external things, because they are the exercises of charity. Good works are evil works unless those things are removed which are of the love of self and of the world; for when works are done before these have been removed, they indeed appear good outwardly, but are inwardly evil; for they are done either for the sake of reputation, or for gain, or for the sake of one’s honor, or for recompense, thus they are either self-meritorious 1 or hypocritical; for that which is of the love of self and the world causes the works to be such. But when these evils are removed, the works then become good; and they are goods of charity; that is, in them there is not regard to self, to the world, to reputation, to recompense; thus they are neither self-meritorious nor hypocritical; for then celestial love and spiritual love flow in from the Lord into the works and cause them to be love and charity in act; and then the Lord through these loves also purifies the natural or external man, and disposes it into order, so as to receive correspondently the celestial and spiritual things that flow in.

[8] This is clearly evident from what the Lord taught when He washed the feet of the disciples, as we read in John:

Then cometh He to Simon Peter; and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; ye are clean already, but not all (John 13:4-17).

“He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet” signifies that he who has been reformed, has need only to be cleansed as to natural things, that is, has need that evils and falsities should be removed from them; and then all things are disposed into order by the influx of spiritual things from the Lord. Moreover to wash the feet was an office of charity, as meaning not to reflect on the evils of another; and it was also an office of humility, as meaning to cleanse another from evils as from impurities; as also is evident from the Lord’s words in the passage just quoted (verses 12-17; also Luke 7:37-38, 44, 46; John 11:2; 1 Samuel 25:41).

[9] Everybody can see that washing himself does not purify anyone from evils and falsities, but only from the impurities that cling to him; nevertheless, as washing was among the rites commanded in the church, it follows that it involves something special, namely, spiritual washing, that is, purification from the uncleannesses which inwardly adhere to man. Therefore they who knew these things in that church, and thought about the purification of the heart, or the removal of the evils of the love of self and of the love of the world from the natural man, and who endeavored to effect this with all diligence, observed the rite of washing as external worship according to commandment; but those who did not know this and did not desire to know it, but thought that the mere rite of washing their garments, skin, hands, and feet, would purify them, and that provided they did these things they might be allowed to live in avarice, hatreds, revenge, unmercifulness, and cruelties, which are spiritual impurity, practiced this rite as an idolatrous one. Nevertheless they could represent by it, and by representation exhibit something of the church, whereby there might be some conjunction of heaven with man before the Lord’s advent; yet such conjunction as affected the man of the church little or not at all.

[10] The Jews and Israelites were such that they had no thought about the internal man, nor willingness to know anything about it; thus none at all concerning celestial and spiritual things, relating to the life after death. But yet lest all communication with heaven and thus with the Lord should perish, they were bound to external rites, whereby internal things were signified. All their captivities and plagues were in general for the end that external rites might be strictly observed for the sake of the representation.

Hence then it was that Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water at the door of the tent, that they might be sanctified (Exodus 29:4 40:12; Leviticus 8:6); that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before they entered into the tent of meeting and came near to the altar to minister, that they might not die; and that this was to be to them a statute forever (Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31); that Aaron was to wash his flesh before he put on the garments of ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24); that the Levites were to be purified by being sprinkled with the water of expiation; and that they were to cause a razor to pass over their flesh, and to wash their garments, and thus should be pure (Numbers 8:6-7); that whoever should eat the carcass even of a clean beast, or one that was torn, should wash his garments, and bathe himself in water; and if he did not wash himself and bathe his flesh, he should bear his iniquity (Leviticus 17:15-16); that whoever touched the bed of one affected with the flux, or who sat upon a vessel on which he had sat, and whoever touched his flesh, should wash his garments, and bathe himself with water, and should be unclean till the evening (Leviticus 15:5-7, 10; 15:10-12); that whoever let go the he-goat, as a scape-goat, should wash his flesh (Leviticus 16:26); that when a leprous person was cleansed, he was to wash his garments, shave off all his hair, and wash himself with water, and he should be clean (Leviticus 14:8-9); nay, that the very vessels which were made unclean by the touch of things unclean, should be passed through water, and should be unclean until evening (Leviticus 11:32). From these things it may be seen that no one was made clean or pure as to internal things by the rite of washing, but only represented one pure or spiritually clean, for the reason given above. That this is so, the Lord teaches plainly in Matthew (15:1-2, 20), and (Matthew 15:20) in Mark (7:1-23).

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The words “merit,” “to merit,” and “meritorious,” are used by Swedenborg in a bad sense, meaning self-merit, etc., except when applied to the Lord. [Reviser.]

  
/ 10837  
  

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