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Exodus 2

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1 After this there went a man of the house of Levi; and took a wife of his own kindred.

2 And she conceived, and bore a son; and seeing him a goodly child hid him three months.

3 And when she could hide him no longer, she took a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and pitch: and put the little babe therein, and laid him in the sedges by the river's brink,

4 His sister standing afar off, and taking notice what would be done.

5 And behold the daughter of Pharao came down to wash herself in the river: and her maids walked by the river's brink. And when she saw the basket in the sedges, she sent one of her maids for it: and when it was brought,

6 She opened it and seeing within it an infant crying, having compassion on it she said: This is one of the babes of the Hebrews.

7 And the child's sister said to her Shall I go and call to thee a Hebrew woman, to nurse the babe ?

8 She answered: Go. The maid went and called her mother.

9 And Pharao's daughter said to her. Take this child and nurse him for me: I will give thee thy wages. The woman took, and nursed the child: and when he was grown up, she delivered him to Pharao's daughter.

10 And she adopted him for a son, and called him Moses, saying: Because I took him out of the water.

11 In those days after Moses was grown up, he went out to his brethren: and saw their affliction, and an Egyptian striking one of the Hebrews his brethren.

12 And when he had looked about this way and that way, and saw no one there, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13 And going out the next day, he saw two Hebrews quarreling: and he said to him that did the wrong: Why strikest thou thy neighbour?

14 But he answered: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge over us: wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday kill the Egyptian? Moses feared, and said: How is this come to be known ?

15 And Pharao heard of this word and sought to kill Moses: but he fled from his sight, and abode in the land of Madian, and he sat down by a well.

16 And the priest of Madian had seven daughters, who came to draw water: and when the troughs were filled, desired to water their father's flocks.

17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: and Moses arose, and defending the maids, watered their sheep.

18 And when they returned to Raguel their father, he said to them: Why are ye come sooner than usual?

19 They answered: A man of Egypt delivered us from the hands of the shepherds: and he drew water also with us, and gave the sheep to drink.

20 But he said: Where is he? why have you let the man go? call him that he may eat bread.

21 And Moses swore that he would dwell with him. And he took Sephora his daughter to wife:

22 And she bore him a son, whom he called Gersam, saying: I have been a stranger in a foreign country. And she bore another, whom he called Eliezer, saying: For the God of my father, my helper hath delivered me out of the hand of Pharao.

23 Now after a long time the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel groaning, cried out because of the works: and their cry went up unto God from the works.

24 And he heard their groaning, and remembered the covenant which he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25 And the Lord looked upon the children of Israel, and he knew them.

   

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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, 2:5, 46, 46:8; Psalms 7, 14)