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Genesis 26

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1 Aga maal oli nälg pärast seda eelmist nälga, mis Aabrahami päevil oli olnud. Ja Iisak läks vilistite kuninga Abimeleki juurde Gerarisse.

2 Ja Issand ilmutas ennast temale ning ütles: 'Ära mine alla Egiptusesse! Jää maale, kuhu ma sind käsin!

3 Ela võõrana siin maal, ja ma olen sinuga ning õnnistan sind, sest sinule ja sinu soole ma annan kõik need maad ning pean vannet, mille ma olen vandunud su isale Aabrahamile.

4 Ja ma teen su soo paljuks nagu taevatähed ja annan su soole kõik need maad, ja sinu soo nimel õnnistavad endid kõik maailma rahvad,

5 sellepärast et Aabraham kuulas mu sõna ja pidas, mis ma käskisin pidada - mu käske, seadlusi ja õpetusi.'

6 Ja Iisak jäi elama Gerarisse.

7 Kui kohalikud mehed küsisid tema naise kohta, siis ta ütles: 'See on mu õde.' Sest ta kartis öelda: 'Mu naine', mõeldes ise: 'Muidu kohalikud mehed tapavad mu Rebeka pärast, sest ta on ilusa välimusega.'

8 Aga kui ta seal pikemat aega oli viibinud, vaatas Abimelek, vilistite kuningas, kord aknast välja ja nägi, et Iisak hellitas oma naist Rebekat.

9 Siis Abimelek kutsus Iisaki ja ütles: 'Vaata, ta on tõepoolest su naine! Kuidas sa siis võisid öelda: Ta on mu õde?' Ja Iisak vastas temale: 'Ma mõtlesin, et muidu ma ehk pean tema pärast surema.'

10 Aga Abimelek ütles: 'Miks sa meile seda tegid? Kui kergesti oleks võinud keegi rahva hulgast magada su naisega ja sa oleksid meie peale toonud süü!'

11 Ja Abimelek andis käsu kogu rahvale, öeldes: 'Kes puudutab seda meest ja tema naist, peab surema!'

12 Ja Iisak külvas seal maal ja sai sel aastal sajakordselt, sest Issand õnnistas teda.

13 Ja mees läks rikkaks, läks üha rikkamaks, kuni ta oli läinud väga rikkaks.

14 Ja temal oli lamba- ja kitsekarju ja veisekarju ja palju peret, nõnda et vilistid teda kadestasid.

15 Ja vilistid matsid kinni ja täitsid mullaga kõik kaevud, mis tema isa sulased olid kaevanud tema isa Aabrahami päevil.

16 Ja Abimelek ütles Iisakile: 'Mine ära meie juurest, sest sa oled saanud meist palju vägevamaks!'

17 Siis Iisak läks sealt ära ja lõi oma telgid üles Gerari orgu ning elas seal.

18 Ja Iisak kaevas uuesti need veekaevud, mis tema isa Aabrahami päevil olid kaevatud ja mis vilistid pärast Aabrahami surma olid kinni matnud; ja ta pani neile needsamad nimed, mis tema isa neile oli pannud.

19 Aga kui Iisaki sulased kaevasid orus ja leidsid seal voolava veega kaevu,

20 siis Gerari karjased riidlesid Iisaki karjastega, öeldes: 'Vesi on meie oma!' Ta pani siis kaevule nimeks Eesek, sellepärast et nad temaga olid tülitsenud.

21 Siis nad kaevasid teise kaevu, ja selle pärast riidlesid nad ka; ja sellele ta pani nimeks Sitna.

22 Sealt ta siirdus edasi ja kaevas veel ühe kaevu, aga selle pärast nad ei riielnud; ja sellele ta pani nimeks Rehobot ning ütles: 'Nüüd on Issand andnud meile avarust, et võiksime siin maal olla viljakad.'

23 Ja sealt ta läks üles Beer-Sebasse.

24 Ja Issand ilmutas ennast temale selsamal ööl ning ütles: 'Mina olen su isa Aabrahami Jumal. Ära karda, sest ma olen sinuga ja õnnistan sind! Ma teen su soo paljuks oma sulase Aabrahami pärast.'

25 Siis ta ehitas sinna altari, hüüdis appi Issanda nime ja lõi sinna oma telgi üles; ja Iisaki sulased kaevasid sinna kaevu.

26 Ja Abimelek tuli Gerarist tema juurde ühes oma sõbra Ahusati ja väepealik Piikoliga.

27 Aga Iisak ütles neile: 'Miks tulete minu juurde? Te ju vihkate mind ja olete mind eneste juurest ära saatnud!'

28 Ja nemad vastasid: 'Me näeme selgesti, et Issand on sinuga. Seepärast me ütleme: Olgu meie vahel vanne, meie ja sinu vahel, ja me teeme sinuga lepingu,

29 et sa meile kurja ei tee, nõnda nagu me sinusse ei ole puutunud, vaid oleme sulle ainult head teinud ja sind rahuga ära saatnud. Sina oled ju nüüd Issanda õnnistatu!'

30 Siis ta tegi neile võõruspeo ning nad sõid ja jõid.

31 Ja nad tõusid hommikul vara ning andsid üksteisele vande. Siis Iisak saatis nad ära ja nad läksid ta juurest rahuga.

32 Ja selsamal päeval tulid Iisaki sulased ning teatasid temale kaevust, mille nad olid kaevanud, ja ütlesid temale: 'Me leidsime vett.'

33 Siis ta nimetas selle Sibaks; seepärast on linna nimeks tänapäevani Beer-Seba.

34 Kui Eesav oli nelikümmend aastat vana, võttis ta naiseks Juuditi, hett Beeri tütre, ja Baasmati, hett Eeloni tütre.

35 Aga need olid meelehärmiks Iisakile ja Rebekale.

   

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Abraham

  
Représentation d'Abraham, by Joseph Villiet

Abraham (or Abram, as he was named in the beginning of his story) was the ancestor of all the Children of Israel, through his son Isaac, and of the Arabs, through his son Ishmael.

Abraham represents the Divine good or love. His story foreshadows the life of Jesus, and our spiritual lives, too.

His life can be usefully seen as being divided into three periods. The first period includes the unknown early years from his birth in Ur, and his later move to Haran with his father Terah. The second section starts with Abram's being called by Jehovah to go to Canaan. It includes the adventures he had there, and continues until the events of the 17th chapter of Genesis where he is said to be 99 years old, rich, and powerful - but without a son by his wife Sarai. Once again the Lord appears to him, promises that his progeny will become a great nation, institutes the rite of circumcision, and changes his name to Abraham, adding the "ah" sound from Jehovah. The third and last period of his life sees the birth of Isaac, the death of Sarah (whose name was also changed), and the finding of a wife for Isaac from among Abraham's relatives back in Mesopotamia. Abraham is said to be 175 years old when he dies, as recorded in the 25th chapter of Genesis.

What we are here interested in is the deep representation of Abraham because he prophesies or foreshadows the inmost part of Jesus' life after He is born to Mary centuries after the man Abraham lived on the earth. Abraham represents the Divine good or love. The internal sense of the Word tells us that God himself provided the life into an ovum within Mary, so she could provide a natural body and a natural heredity from the Jewish religion, while the soul of Jesus was kept as a direct possessor of divine life. During Jesus' early life, probably up to adolescence, Jesus lived out those representative actions of Abraham in the innermost parts of his mind and spirit. Abraham as he pastured his sheep and ran his large household had no idea at all that this was true, and early in Jesus' life He didn't realize it either. There must have been perceptions as Jesus grew up, witness his visit to the temple when He was 12, but not a complete understanding until He was fully grown. And further, it isn't only Abraham. When Abraham dies, the representation attaches to Isaac, who represents the rational level of the mind, and then to both Jacob and Esau who represent the natural mind as to truth and good in the mind respectively. And then the trials of the twelve tribes, the kings, and all the sayings of the prophets become that same representation. So Jesus could say to the two disciples that He met on the road to Emmaus, "O fools and slow of heart... and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets He expounded to them in all the scriptures all the things concerning Himself." (The following references are chronologic as Abraham gets older, and are in biblical sequence.) And furthermore, the progress of mental and spiritual life in each one of us is a dim and finite image of that represented by Abraham's life if, that is, we are trying to follow the Lord's laws and precepts to love one another. We too have within us a journey to the land of Canaan, a hardworking sojourn in Egypt, a struggle in the wilderness, and a Saul, a David, and an Ahab. We have our home-grown Amalekites and Philistines. The whole of the Old Testament is a picture of how our spiritual life works.

In Genesis 20:7, Abraham signifies celestial truth, or doctrine from a celestial origin. (Arcana Coelestia 2533)

In Genesis 12:4, As ABRAHAM he represents the Lord as to His Human and Divine Essence; as ABRAM he represents the Lord as to His human essence only. (Arcana Coelestia 1426)

In Genesis 17:5, The name was changed by adding the letter H, so that the Divine Human could he represented, for H is the only letter which involves the Divine: it means I AM, or BEING. (Arcana Coelestia 1416[2])

(Odkazy: Genesis 17, 25)


Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 1416

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1416. That 'I will make you into a great nation' means a kingdom in heaven and on earth becomes clear from the meaning of 'nation' in the internal sense as the celestial entity of love and the good which flows from this, thus all throughout the world in whom the celestial element of love and charity is present. Since the subject here in the internal sense is the Lord, everything of the celestial and of the good deriving from it, thus His kingdom, is meant - which exists with those in whom love and charity are present. In the highest sense the Lord Himself is 'the great nation' since He is the Celestial itself and Good itself. For all good that flows from love and charity originates in Him alone, which also explains why the Lord comprises His own kingdom, that is, He is the All in all of His kingdom, as also all angels in heaven acknowledge. From this it is now clear that 'I will make you into a great nation' means the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth.

[2] That 'nation' in the internal sense, where the Lord and celestial things of love are the subject, means Him and all celestial things may become clear also from what has been introduced in 1258, 1259, regarding the meaning of a nation and nations. This matter may be confirmed further still from the following places: In reference to Abraham further on,

No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:5.

The soft 'h' sound in Abraham was taken from Jehovah's name because he represented Jehovah, that is, the Lord. Similarly in reference to Sarai,

You will not call her name Sarai, but Sarah will be her name, and I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her; thus will I bless her, and she will become nations; kings of peoples will be from her. Genesis 17:15-16.

'Nations' here stands for the celestial things of love, and 'kings of peoples' for the spiritual things of faith deriving from that love, which are the Lord's alone.

[3] In reference to Jacob likewise,

Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel will be your name. And He called his name Israel, and God said, I am God Almighty, 1 increase and multiply; a nation and an assembly of nations will come into being from you, and kings will go out from your loins. Genesis 35:10-11.

Here 'Israel' stands for the Lord, who Himself, as is well known to some, is in the highest sense Israel. And when He is meant by 'Israel' it is evident that 'a nation and an assembly of nations' and 'kings from his loins' mean the celestial and spiritual things of love, and therefore all in whom the celestial and spiritual things of love are present. In reference to Ishmael, Abram's son by Hagar, it is said,

The son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation, because he is your seed. Genesis 21:13, 18.

What Ishmael represents will be seen in that place. 'The seed of Abram' means love itself, and because of this the word nation is used for those begotten from Ishmael.

[4] That 'nation' means the celestial things of love is clear in Moses,

If you will surely hearken to My voice, and keep My covenant and be a peculiar treasure to Me from among all peoples, you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6.

Here 'a kingdom of priests', a phrase used to describe the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, springing from the celestial things of love, is openly called 'a holy nation'. But the Lord's kingdom springing from His Royalty is described as such by virtue of the spiritual things of love and is called 'a holy people'. 'Kings from the loins' therefore, as above, 2 is spiritual things. In Jeremiah,

If these ordinances depart from before Me, said Jehovah, the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me for ever. 3 Jeremiah 31:36.

'Seed of Israel' stands for the celestial entity of charity, and when this ceases to exist there is no longer a nation before the Lord.

[5] In Isaiah,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. You have multiplied the nation. Isaiah 9:2-3.

Specifically this refers to the Church of the nations, 4 , but in general to all who are without knowledge but lead charitable lives. These are 'the nation' because they are members of the Lord's kingdom. In David,

O that I may see the good of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the joy of Your nation, that I may glory in Your heritage. Psalms 106:5.

Here 'nation' plainly stands for the Lord's kingdom. It was from an ability to perceive that 'a nation' meant the celestial entity of love and the good which flows from this that members of the Most Ancient Church came to be distinguished into separate houses, families, and nations. By this distinguishing they gained a perception of the Lord's kingdom; and because they had a perception of the Lord's kingdom they had a perception of the celestial itself. From that ability to perceive there arose that which held a spiritual meaning, and from this that which was representative.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the Lightning-Hurler or the Thunderbolt-Hurler. Generally Swedenborg retains the Hebrew Shaddai, usually translated the Almighty, regarding which see 1992 below; but here Swedenborg employs the Latin word fulminator.

2. i.e.. in Genesis 35:10-11

3. literally, all the days

4. i.e. the Church established among gentiles

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