Bible

 

Genesis 46

Studie

   

1 And Israel taking his journey, with all that he had, came to the well of the oath, and killing victims there to the God of his father Isaac,

2 He heard him by a vision in the night calling him, and saying to him: Jacob, Jacob. And he answered him: Lo, here I am.

3 God said to him: I am the most mighty God of thy father: fear not, go down into Egypt, for I will make a great nation of thee there.

4 I will go down with thee thither, and will bring thee back again from thence: Joseph also shall put his hands upon thy eyes.

5 And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath: and his sons took him up, with their children and wives in the wagons, which Pharao had sent to carry the old man,

6 And all that he had in the land of Chanaan, and he came into Egypt with all his seed:"

7 His sons, and grandsons, daughters, and all his offspring together.

8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, that entered into Egypt, he and his children. His firstborn Ruben,

9 The sons of Ruben: Henoch and Phallu, and Hesron and Charmi.

10 The sons of Simeon: Jamuel and Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin and Sohar, and Saul the son of a woman of Chanaan.

11 The sons of Levi: Gerson and Caath and Merari.

12 The sons of Juda: Her and Onan and Sela and Phares and Zara. And Her and Onan died in the land of Chanaan. And sons were born to Phares: Hesron and Hamul.

13 The sons of Issachar: Thola and Phua and Job and Semron.

14 The sons of Zabulon: Sared and Elo and Jahelel.

15 These are the sons of Lia, whom she bore in Mesopotamia of Syria, with Dins his daughter. All the souls of her sons and daughters, thirty-three.

16 The sons of Cad: Sephian and Haggi and Suni and Esebon and Heri and Arodi and Areli.

17 The sons of Beer: Jamne and Jesua and Jessuri and Beria, and Sara their sister. The sons of Beria: Heber and Melchiel.

18 These are the sons of Zelpha, whom Laban gave to Lia his daughter. And these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls.

19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

20 And sons were born to Joseph, in the land of Egypt, whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore him: Manasses and Ephraim.

21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Bechor and Asbel and Gera and Naaman and Echi and Ros and Mophim and Ophim and Ared.

22 These are the sons of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob: all the souls, four- teen.

23 The sons of Dan: Husim.

24 The sons of Nephtali: Jaziel and Guni and Jeser and Sallem.

25 These are the sons of Bala, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter: and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls, seven.

26 All the souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, and that came out of his thigh, besides his sons' wives, sixty-six.

27 And the sons of Joseph, that were born to him in the land of Egypt, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, that entered into Egypt, were seventy.

28 And he sent Juda before him to Joseph, to tell him; and that he should meet him in Gessen.

29 And when he was come thither, Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet his father, in the same place: and seeing him, he fell upon his neck, and embracing him wept.

30 And the father said to Joseph: Now shall I die with joy, because I have seen thy face, and leave thee alive.

31 And Joseph said to his brethren, and to all his father's house: I will go up, and will tell Pharao, and will say to him: My brethren and my father's house, that were in the land of Chanaan, are come to me:

32 And the men are shepherds, and their occupation is to feed cattle: their flocks and herds, and all they have, they have brought with them.

33 And when he shall call you, and shall say: What is your occupation?

34 You shall answer: We thy servants are shepherds, from our infancy until now, both we and our fathers. And this you shall say, that you may dwell in the land of Gessen, because the Egyptians have all shepherds in abomination.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 6044

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

6044. 'And the men are shepherds of the flock' means that they lead to good. This is clear from the meaning of 'shepherds of the flock' as those who lead to good, dealt with in 343, 3795, 5201; for a shepherd or pastor is one who teaches and leads, and the flock one who is taught or led; but in the internal sense truths that lead to good are meant since the sons of Israel, to whom 'the men are shepherds of the flock' refers here, represent spiritual truths, 6040, and also since truths present with those who teach are what do the leading. It has been shown previously that truths, which are the essence of faith, lead to good, which is the essence of charity. This is also evident from the consideration that every single thing is related to an end and has that end in view, and that things which do not have an end in view cannot remain in being. For the Lord has never created anything for any other reason than its end in view. So true is this that one may speak of the end as the all in all created things. And created things exist within this state of order: Even as the end looks from Him who is the First through means to what is last, so the end within what is last looks to the end in Him who is the First. This is the way things link together. By virtue of its very own origin the end itself is nothing else than the Divine Good of Divine Love, thus the Lord Himself, which also is why in the Word He is called the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Revelation 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13.

[2] This being so, every single aspect of the life a person has looks to an end and has that end in view. Anyone who is at all rational can see that the factual knowledge a person has looks to truths as its end in view, and that truths look to forms of good as their end in view, and that forms of good look to the Lord as their last and first ends in view, their last when motivated by truths, their first when motivated by good. This is how it is with the truths the Church possesses, in that they lead to good, meant by 'the men are shepherds of the flock' and by 'they are keepers of livestock', as in what follows below.

  
/ 10837  
  

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