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Genesis 27

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1 En het geschiedde, als Izak oud geworden was, en zijn ogen donker geworden waren, en hij niet zien kon; toen riep hij Ezau, zijn grootsten zoon, en zeide tot hem: Mijn zoon! En hij zeide tot hem: Zie, hier ben ik!

2 En hij zeide: Zie nu, ik ben oud geworden, ik weet den dag mijns doods niet.

3 Nu dan, neem toch uw gereedschap, uw pijlkoker en uw boog, en ga uit in het veld, en jaag mij een wildbraad;

4 En maak mij smakelijke spijzen, zo als ik die gaarne heb, en breng ze mij, dat ik ete; opdat mijn ziel u zegene, eer ik sterve.

5 Rebekka nu hoorde toe, als Izak tot zijn zoon Ezau sprak; en Ezau ging in het veld, om een wildbraad te jagen, dat hij het inbracht.

6 Toen sprak Rebekka tot Jakob, haar zoon, zeggende: Zie, ik heb uw vader tot Ezau, uw broeder, horen spreken, zeggende:

7 Breng mij een wildbraad, en maak mij smakelijke spijzen toe, dat ik ete; en ik zal u zegenen voor het aangezicht des HEEREN, voor mijn dood.

8 Nu dan, mijn zoon! hoor mijn stem in hetgeen ik u gebiede.

9 Ga nu heen tot de kudde, en haal mij van daar twee goede geitenbokjes; en ik zal die voor uw vader maken tot smakelijke spijzen, gelijk als hij gaarne heeft.

10 En gij zult ze tot uw vader brengen, en hij zal eten, opdat hij u zegene voor zijn dood.

11 Toen zeide Jakob tot Rebekka, zijn moeder: Zie, mijn broeder Ezau is een harig man, en ik ben een glad man.

12 Misschien zal mij mijn vader betasten, en ik zal in zijn ogen zijn als een bedrieger; zo zoude ik een vloek over mij halen, en niet een zegen.

13 En zijn moeder zeide tot hem: Uw vloek zij op mij, mijn zoon! hoor alleen naar mijn stem, en ga, haal ze mij.

14 Toen ging hij, en hij haalde ze, en bracht ze zijn moeder; en zijn moeder maakte smakelijke spijzen, gelijk als zijn vader gaarne had.

15 Daarna nam Rebekka de kostelijke klederen van Ezau, haar grootsten zoon, die zij bij zich in huis had, en zij trok ze Jakob, haar kleinsten zoon, aan.

16 En de vellen van de geitenbokjes trok zij over zijn handen, en over de gladdigheid van zijn hals.

17 En zij gaf de smakelijke spijzen, en het brood, welke zij toegemaakt had, in de hand van Jakob, haar zoon.

18 En hij kwam tot zijn vader, en zeide: Mijn vader! En hij zeide: Zie, hier ben ik; wie zijt gij, mijn zoon?

19 En Jakob zeide tot zijn vader: Ik ben Ezau uw eerstgeborene; ik heb gedaan, gelijk als gij tot mij gesproken hadt; sta toch op, zit, en eet van mijn wildbraad, opdat uw ziel mij zegene.

20 Toen zeide Izak tot zijn zoon: Hoe is dit, dat gij het zo haast gevonden hebt, mijn zoon? En hij zeide: Omdat de HEERE uw God dat heeft doen ontmoeten voor mijn aangezicht.

21 En Izak zeide tot Jakob: Nader toch, dat ik u betaste, mijn zoon! of gij mijn zoon Ezau zelf zijt, of niet.

22 Toen kwam Jakob bij, tot zijn vader Izak, die hem betastte; en hij zeide: De stem is Jakobs stem, maar de handen zijn Ezau's handen.

23 Doch hij kende hem niet, omdat zijn handen harig waren, gelijk zijns broeders Ezau's handen; en hij zegende hem.

24 En hij zeide: Zijt gij mijn zoon Ezau zelf? En hij zeide: Ik ben het!

25 Toen zeide hij: Stel het nabij mij, dat ik van het wildbraad mijns zoons ete, opdat mijn ziel u zegene. En hij stelde het nabij hem, en hij at; hij bracht hem ook wijn, en hij dronk.

26 En zijn vader Izak zeide tot hem: Kom toch bij, en kus mij, mijn zoon!

27 En hij kwam bij, en hij kuste hem; toen rook hij de reuk zijner klederen, en zegende hem; en hij zeide: Zie, de reuk mijns zoons is als de reuk des velds, hetwelk de HEERE gezegend heeft.

28 Zo geve u dan God van de dauw des hemels, en de vettigheid der aarde, en menigte van tarwe en most.

29 Volken zullen u dienen, en natien zullen zich voor u nederbuigen; wees heer over uw broederen, en de zonen uwer moeder zullen zich voor u nederbuigen! Vervloekt moet hij zijn, wie u vervloekt; en wie u zegent, zij gezegend!

30 En het geschiedde, als Izak voleindigd had Jakob te zegenen, zo geschiedde het, toen Jakob maar even van het aangezicht van zijn vader Izak uitgegaan was, dat Ezau, zijn broeder, van zijn jacht kwam.

31 Hij nu maakte smakelijke spijzen toe, en bracht die tot zijn vader; en hij zeide tot zijn vader: Mijn vader sta op en ete van het wildbraad zijns zoons, opdat uw ziel mij zegene.

32 En Izak, zijn vader, zeide tot hem: Wie zijt gij? En hij zeide: Ik ben uw zoon, uw eerstgeborene, Ezau.

33 Toen verschrikte Izak met zeer grote verschrikking, gans zeer, en zeide: Wie is hij dan, die het wildbraad gejaagd en tot mij gebracht heeft? en ik heb van alles gegeten, eer gij kwaamt, en heb hem gezegend; ook zal hij gezegend wezen.

34 Als Ezau de woorden zijns vaders hoorde, zo schreeuwde hij met een groten en bitteren schreeuw, gans zeer; en hij zeide tot zijn vader: Zegen mij, ook mij, mijn vader!

35 En hij zeide: Uw broeder is gekomen met bedrog, en heeft uw zegen weggenomen.

36 Toen zeide hij: Is het niet omdat men zijn naam noemt Jakob, dat hij mij nu twee reizen heeft bedrogen? mijn eerstgeboorte heeft hij genomen, en zie, nu heeft hij mijn zegen genomen! Voorts zeide hij: Hebt gij dan geen zegen voor mij uitbehouden?

37 Toen antwoordde Izak, en zeide tot Ezau: Zie, ik heb hem tot een heer over u gezet, en al zijn broeders heb ik hem tot knechten gegeven; en ik heb hem met koorn en most ondersteund; wat zal ik u dan nu doen, mijn zoon?

38 En Ezau zeide tot zijn vader: Hebt gij maar dezen enen zegen, mijn vader? zegen mij, ook mij, mijn vader! En Ezau hief zijn stem op, en weende.

39 Toen antwoordde zijn vader Izak en zeide tot hem: Zie, de vettigheden der aarde zullen uw woningen zijn, en van den dauw des hemels van boven af zult gij gezegend zijn.

40 En op uw zwaard zult gij leven, en zult uw broeder dienen; doch het zal geschieden, als gij heersen zult, dan zult gij zijn juk van uw hals afrukken.

41 En Ezau haatte Jakob om dien zegen, waarmede zijn vader hem gezegend had; en Ezau zeide in zijn hart: De dagen van den rouw mijns vaders naderen, en ik zal mijn broeder Jakob doden.

42 Toen aan Rebekka deze woorden van Ezau, haar grootsten zoon, geboodschapt werden, zo zond zij heen, en ontbood Jakob, haar kleinsten zoon, en zeide tot hem: Zie, uw broeder Ezau troost zich over u, dat hij u doden zal.

43 Nu dan, mijn zoon! hoor naar mijn stem, en maak u op, vlied gij naar Haran, tot Laban, mijn broeder.

44 En blijf bij hem enige dagen, totdat de hittige gramschap uws broeders kere;

45 Totdat de toorn uws broeders van u afkere, en hij vergeten hebbe, hetgeen gij hem gedaan hebt; dan zal ik zenden, en u van daar nemen; waarom zoude ik ook van u beiden beroofd worden op een dag?

46 En Rebekka zeide tot Izak: Ik heb verdriet aan mijn leven vanwege de dochteren Heths! Indien Jakob een vrouw neemt van de dochteren Heths, gelijk deze zijn, van de dochteren dezes lands, waartoe zal mij het leven zijn?

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3570

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3570. 'And he brought it to him, and he ate' means first of all a conjunction of good, 'and he brought him wine, and he drank' means followed by a conjunction of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined and being made one's own as regards good, dealt with just above in 3568; from the meaning of 'wine' as truth deriving from good, dealt with in 1071, 1798; and from the meaning of 'drinking' as being joined and being made one's own as regards truth, 3168. The implications of this - that the good of the rational, represented by Isaac, first of all joins good to itself, then it joins truth to itself, which it does through the natural, represented by Jacob - are as follows: While the natural dwells in that state when good occupies the external position and truth the internal one, dealt with above in 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, many things are allowed to come in which are not good but which are nevertheless useful - such things as serve as means towards good in their own order. But the good of the rational does not join to itself and make its own anything from that source apart from that which is suited to its own good, for it receives no other kind of good. Whatever is unsuited it rejects. All else in the natural it leaves behind to serve as the means for allowing in and introducing further things suited to itself.

[2] It is the rational that exists within the internal man. What goes on there is unknown to the natural since it is above its range of discernment. Consequently anyone who leads a merely natural life cannot know anything whatever about those things that are going on with him in his internal man, that is, in his rational. The Lord re-arranges those things without a person's being at all conscious of it. Consequently he knows nothing at all about how he is regenerated; indeed he is scarcely aware of his being regenerated. If he does wish to know however let him merely pay attention to his ultimate intentions, which are rarely disclosed to anyone. If those intentions are directed towards good, that is to say, if he considers the neighbour and the Lord more than he does himself he is in a state of regeneration. But if his intentions are directed towards evil, that is to say, if he considers himself more than he does the neighbour and the Lord, let him realize that he is not in any state of regeneration.

[3] A person's ultimate aims and intentions in life determine where he is in the next life, aims which look towards what is good placing him among angels in heaven, aims which look towards what is evil placing him among devils in hell. A person's ultimate intentions are nothing else than his loves; for what a person loves he has as his end in view. And being his loves, his ultimate aims and intentions constitute his inmost life, see 1317, 1568, 1571, 1645, 1909, 3425, 3562, 3565. Aims present in a person which look towards what is good reside in his rational, and are called the rational as regards good or the good of the rational. Through those aims residing there, that is, by means of the good there, the Lord re-arranges all things that are in the natural; for the end in view is like the soul, and the natural like the body belonging to that soul. The nature of the soul determines that of the body which surrounds it, as does the nature of the rational as regards good determine that of the natural clothing it.

[4] It is well known that a person's soul begins in the mother's ovum, and is after that developed in her womb, and is there surrounded with a tiny body, which indeed is such that by means of it the soul is able to function properly in the world into which it is born. A similar situation exists when a person is born again, that is, when he is regenerated. The new soul which he acquires at that time is an end which has good in view. This end in view has its beginnings in the rational, where first of all it is so to speak in the ovum, and is after that developed so to speak in the womb. The tiny body with which that soul is surrounded is the natural, and the good there comes to be of such a nature that it acts in obedience to the soul's ends in view. The truths there are like fibres in the body, for it is from good that truths take shape, 3470. From this it is clear that a person's reformation is imaged by the formation of him in the womb. And if you are willing to believe it, it is also celestial good and spiritual truth from the Lord that are shaping him and at that time endowing him with power that enables him to receive that good and that truth gradually - and indeed in the manner and to the extent that he looks as a human being towards ends that are of heaven and not as an animal towards those that are of the world.

[5] The matter of the rational as regards good first of all joining the good, then the truth, to itself by means of the natural - meant by Jacob's bringing savoury food and bread to Isaac and his eating it, and bringing him wine and his drinking it - may also be illustrated by means of the duties the body performs for its soul. It is the soul that enables the body to desire food and it is also the soul that enables the body to savour it. Different kinds of food are introduced through the delight that goes with appetite and the delight that goes with taste, thus through external good; but not all of these pass into the life of the body. Rather, some kinds of food serve as solvents to digest food, some as neutralizers, some as openers of and others as introducers into vessels. But good types of food are selected and introduced into the bloodstream, and then become blood. And from the latter the soul joins to itself such things as are of use to it.

[6] A similar situation exists with the rational and the natural. Corresponding to the desire for food and to taste are the desire and the affection for knowing truth; and corresponding to different kinds of food are facts and cognitions, 1480. And because they so correspond a similar situation exists with them. The soul which is the good of the rational provides the desire for those things and is moved by them, so that the things which belong to knowledge and doctrine are introduced through the delight that belongs to desire, and through the good that belongs to affection. But not everything that is introduced is such that it becomes the good which nourishes life; instead some things serve as the means so to speak to digest and neutralize, some to open up and introduce. But goods which nourish life are applied by the soul, and so joined by the soul, to itself, and from these it forms truths for itself. From this it is evident how the rational re-arranges the natural so that the rational as the soul may be served by it, or what amounts to the same, so that the natural may serve the end in view, which is the soul, in developing itself so that it may be of use in the Lord's kingdom.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3563

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3563. 'And said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands' means that the understanding consists in this case of truth existing inwardly, while the will consists in this case of good existing outwardly, so that an inversion of order exists with them. This is clear from the use of 'voice' to refer to truth and of 'hand' to refer to good. For 'voice' is used in reference to truth, as is evident from the places introduced in Volume One, in 219, 220, and from the fact that the actual words used are 'the voice is Jacob's voice', Jacob representing natural truth, as shown in various places above. And the reason why 'hand' is used in reference to good is that 'the hand' means power and ability, 878, 3541, the source of which is nothing other than good. All the power and ability that truth possesses comes from good, even though it seems to come from truth. This likewise is evident from the fact that the actual words used are 'the hands are Esau's hands', Esau representing natural good, as also shown above. The consequent existence of an inversion of order with them is evident from the consideration that proper order requires good, which belongs to the will, to exist inwardly, and truth, which belongs to the understanding, to exist outwardly. But these matters, as stated above, are such as can hardly be explained in any intelligible way because few have any knowledge of such things. For even if a perfectly clear explanation of them were given they would still not be understood if knowledge of them is lacking. Nevertheless the matter must be discussed since it is the subject at this point.

[2] The only source of the good of the natural which manifests itself in a person is interior good, that is, the good of the rational. Natural good can have no other source, though that which flows in from the one determines the nature of the good in the other. And since the good of the natural comes from no other source, neither does the truth of the natural, for where good is, so also is truth. Both must be present if they are to be anything at all. And again, that which flows in determines the nature of the truth there. Influx is such that the good of the rational flows into the natural along two different routes - one a very short and thus direct route into the good itself of the natural, and then on through the good of the natural into the truth there, this good and this truth being represented by Esau and his venison. In addition to this, the good of the rational flows into the natural along a second route which is less short, that is to say, through the truth of the rational, by means of which influx it forms something resembling good, but which in fact is truth.

[3] Everything is thus taking place according to order when the good of the rational flows directly into the good of the natural and at the same time into the truth there, and also indirectly by way of the truth of the rational into the good of the natural, and in a similar way both directly and indirectly into the truth of the natural. When all this is taking place the influx is according to order. Such is the influx with those who have been regenerated. But a different influx exists prior to regeneration, as has been stated above. That is to say, the good of the rational does not flow into the good of the natural directly but indirectly, by way of the truth of the rational, and so manifests something resembling good in the natural, which is not genuine good nor consequently genuine truth. Instead it is something such as does indeed possess good inmostly by virtue of influx through the truth of the rational; but there is nothing more. Therefore good too presents itself there under a different form, that is to say, outwardly as good represented by 'Esau' but inwardly as truth represented by 'Jacob'. And as this is not in accordance with order an inversion of order is said to exist with them. Yet insofar as nobody can be regenerated in any other way it is according to order.

[4] I realize that no matter how clearly these matters are stated and as a consequence are able to be perceived clearly by those who have a knowledge of the existence of such things, they still remain obscure to those who do not know what influx is, more so to those who do not know that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural, and more so still to those who do not have any distinct and clear idea of what good is or of what truth is. But the nature of natural good and of natural truth in the state prior to regeneration is plain to see only from the desires present at that time. When a person desires truth not because he has life in view but some other ends, such as to become learned, and to become this because of some desire to outdo others, which amounts to childish envy, and also because of some desire for glory, the order existing with the good of the natural and the truth of the natural is akin to that represented here by Jacob. As these two exist in relation to each other, there is a reversal of order, that is to say, the will, to which good belongs, exists outwardly, while the understanding, to which truth belongs, exists inwardly.

[5] But in the state following regeneration the situation is different. In this case the person desires truth not only because he has life in view but more still because he desires the good itself which constitutes that life. Previous desires, that is to say, those connected with outdoing, with childish envy, and with glory, now break away, so much so that they seem so to speak to have been dispelled. At this point good which belongs to the will exists inwardly, and truth which belongs to the understanding exists outwardly. The result then is that truth acts as one with good since it stems from good. This order is genuine order. The order existing previously also serves to bring this order about, for the will which at that time occupies an external position allows many things to come in which contribute to regeneration, like a sponge which absorbs water, clear or muddy, so that it absorbs such things as would otherwise be rejected. Indeed these things serve as means and also as ideas that have to be formed concerning genuine goods and truths, besides other uses which they serve.

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