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Genesis 35

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1 In the meantime God said to Jacob: Arise, and go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou didst flee from Esau thy brother.

2 And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed and change your garments.

3 Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an altar to God: who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompanied me in my journey.

4 So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.

5 And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went away.

6 And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place, The house of God: for there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.

8 At the same time Debora the nurse of Rebecca died, and was buried at the foot of Bethel under an oak: and the name of that place was called, The oak of weeping.

9 And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,

10 Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.

11 And said to him: I am God Almighty, increase thou and be multiplied. Nations and peoples of Nations shall be from thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.

12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

13 And he departed from him.

14 But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him: pouring drink offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon:

15 And calling the name of that place Bethel.

16 And going forth from thence, he came in the springtime to the land which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in travail,

17 By reason of her hard labor she began to be in danger, and the midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.

18 And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, The son of my pain: but his father called him Benjamin, that is, The son of the right hand.

19 So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to Ephrata, that is Bethlehem.

20 And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulcher: this is the pillar of Rachel's monument, to this day.

21 Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.

22 And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with Bala, the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

23 The sons of Lia: Ruben the firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Juda, and Issachar, and Zebulon.

24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Bala, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Naphthali.

26 The sons of Zelpha, Lia's handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

27 And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee, this is Hebron: Wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

29 And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

   

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Tent

  

'The tent,' as in Exodus 26:14, represented the three heavens, and so the celestial and spiritual parts of the Lord's kingdom.

A 'Tent' signifies the celestial and holy aspects of love, because in ancient times people performed holy worship in their tents.

When they began to profane tents with profane worship, the tabernacle was built, and later the temple. This is why the tabernacle and the temple signify the same as 'tent.'

A holy man was therefore called a tent, a tabernacle, and a temple of the Lord. In the highest sense, the Lord regarding His human essence, is a tent, a tabernacle, and a temple. Every celestial person is called these things, and so every thing celestial and holy has acquired these names.

This is why the feast of tabernacles was instituted, when they gathered in the produce of the earth, as a remembrance of those earlier holy times, and it was ordained, that at this feast they should live in tabernacles, like the most ancient people, as in Leviticus 23:39-44, Deuteronomy 16:13, and Hosea 12:9.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 414)


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Arcana Coelestia # 414

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414. 'Dwelling in a tent' means the holiness of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'tents' in the Word, as in David,

O Jehovah, who will sojourn in Your tent? Who will dwell on Your holy mountain! He who walks blameless and performs righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. Psalms 15:1-2.

Here the holy things of love, which are 'walking blameless and performing righteousness' are described by 'dwelling in a tent' or 'on the holy mountain'. In the same author,

Their line has gone out into all the earth, and their speech to the end of the world. In them He has set a tent for the sun. Psalms 19:4.

Here 'sun' stands for love. In the same author,

I will dwell in Your tent for ever, I will put my trust in the shelter of Your wings. Psalms 61:4

Here 'tent' stands for what is celestial, and 'shelter of Your wings' for what is spiritual deriving from it. In Isaiah,

In compassion a throne was established, and on it there sat in truthfulness in the tent of David, one who judges and who seeks judgement, and hastens in righteousness. Isaiah 16:5

Here again 'tent' stands for the holiness of love, which the phrases judging judgement' and 'hastening in righteousness' are used to describe. In the same prophet,

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast. May your eyes see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent which is not moved. Isaiah 33:10.

This refers to the heavenly Jerusalem.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I will bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be built upon its mound. Jeremiah 30:18.

'The captivity of the tents' stands for the vastation of celestial things, that is, of holy things of love. In Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen down, and I will close up their breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

Here similarly 'a tabernacle' stands for celestial things and the holy things that go with them. In Jeremiah,

The whole land has been laid waste. Swiftly My tents have been laid waste, suddenly My curtains. Jeremiah 4:20.

And elsewhere in Jeremiah,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My cords torn away. My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. There is no one stretching out My tent any more, and setting up My curtains. Jeremiah 10:20.

Here 'tent' stands for celestial things, 'curtains' and 'cords' for spiritual things deriving from them. In the same prophet,

They will seize their tents and flocks, their curtains and all their vessels, and take away the camels for themselves. Jeremiah 49:29

This refers to Arabia and the sons of the east, who represent people who are in possession of celestial things, that is, things that are holy. In the same prophet,

The Lord has poured out His fierce anger like fire on the tent of the daughter of Zion. Lamentations 2:4.

This stands for the vastation of the celestial or holy things of faith.

[3] The reason 'a tent' stands in the Word for the celestial or holy things of love is that in ancient times people carried out holy worship, each within his own tent. When however they started to render their tents unholy by profane acts of worship the Tabernacle was built, and later on the Temple. Consequently that which 'the Tabernacle' meant, and later on 'the Temple', was also what 'tents' meant. And someone who was holy was therefore called a tent, also a tabernacle, and the Lord's temple as well. That 'tent', 'tabernacle', and 'temple' all have the same meaning is clear in David,

One thing have I sought from Jehovah, that will I ask for, that I may remain in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold Jehovah in His beauty, and visit Him every morning in His temple. For He will shelter me in His tabernacle on the day of evil. He will hide me in the hiding-place of His tent, He will lift me up upon a rock and now my head will be lifted up against my enemies round about me, and I will sacrifice in His tent the sacrifices of shouts of joy. Psalms 27:4-6.

[4] In the highest sense it is the Lord as regards His Human Essence who is the Tent, the Tabernacle, and the Temple. And every one who is celestial is consequently referred to in the same way, as well as every thing which is celestial and holy. Now because the Most Ancient Church was the Lord's beloved more than the Churches that followed, and because in those times people used to live independently, that is, each within his own family, celebrating holy worship each in his own tent, tents were consequently considered to be more holy than the temple which had been profaned. To remind people of this point the Feast of Tabernacles was therefore instituted when they had to gather in the produce of the earth. During this feast they were required to live in tabernacles as the most ancient people had done, Leviticus 23:39-44; Deuteronomy 16:13; Hosea 12:9.

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