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Genèse 35

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1 Dieu dit à Jacob: Lève-toi, monte à Béthel, et demeures-y; là, tu dresseras un autel au Dieu qui t'apparut, lorsque tu fuyais Esaü, ton frère.

2 Jacob dit à sa maison et à tous ceux qui étaient avec lui: Otez les dieux étrangers qui sont au milieu de vous, purifiez-vous, et changez de vêtements.

3 Nous Nous lèverons, et Nous monterons à Béthel; là, je dresserai un autel au Dieu qui m'a exaucé dans le jour de ma détresse, et qui a été avec moi pendant le voyage que j'ai fait.

4 Ils donnèrent à Jacob tous les dieux étrangers qui étaient entre leurs mains, et les anneaux qui étaient à leurs oreilles. Jacob les enfouit sous le térébinthe qui est près de Sichem.

5 Ensuite ils partirent. La terreur de Dieu se répandit sur les villes qui les entouraient, et l'on ne poursuivit point les fils de Jacob.

6 Jacob arriva, lui et tous ceux qui étaient avec lui, à Luz, qui est Béthel, dans le pays de Canaan.

7 Il bâtit là un autel, et il appela ce lieu El-Béthel; car c'est là que Dieu s'était révélé à lui lorsqu'il fuyait son frère.

8 Débora, nourrice de Rebecca, mourut; et elle fut enterrée au-dessous de Béthel, sous le chêne auquel on a donné le nom de chêne des pleurs.

9 Dieu apparut encore à Jacob, après son retour de Paddan-Aram, et il le bénit.

10 Dieu lui dit: Ton nom est Jacob; tu ne seras plus appelé Jacob, mais ton nom sera Israël. Et il lui donna le nom d'Israël.

11 Dieu lui dit: Je suis le Dieu tout-puissant. Sois fécond, et multiplie: une nation et une multitude de nations naîtront de toi, et des rois sortiront de tes reins.

12 Je te donnerai le pays que j'ai donné à Abraham et à Isaac, et je donnerai ce pays à ta postérité après toi.

13 Dieu s'éleva au-dessus de lui, dans le lieu où il lui avait parlé.

14 Et Jacob dressa un monument dans le lieu où Dieu lui avait parlé, un monument de pierres, sur lequel il fit une libation et versa de l'huile.

15 Jacob donna le nom de Béthel au lieu où Dieu lui avait parlé.

16 Ils partirent de Béthel; et il y avait encore une certaine distance jusqu'à Ephrata, lorsque Rachel accoucha. Elle eut un accouchement pénible;

17 et pendant les douleurs de l'enfantement, la sage-femme lui dit: Ne crains point, car tu as encore un fils!

18 Et comme elle allait rendre l'âme, car elle était mourante, elle lui donna le nom de Ben-Oni; mais le père l'appela Benjamin.

19 Rachel mourut, et elle fut enterrée sur le chemin d'Ephrata, qui est Bethléhem.

20 Jacob éleva un monument sur son sépulcre; c'est le monument du sépulcre de Rachel, qui existe encore aujourd'hui.

21 Israël partit; et il dressa sa tente au delà de Migdal-Eder.

22 Pendant qu'Israël habitait cette contrée, Ruben alla coucher avec Bilha, concubine de son père. Et Israël l'apprit. Les fils de Jacob étaient au nombre de douze.

23 Fils de Léa: Ruben, premier-né de Jacob, Siméon, Lévi, Juda, Issacar et Zabulon.

24 Fils de Rachel: Joseph et Benjamin.

25 Fils de Bilha, servante de Rachel: Dan et Nephthali.

26 Fils de Zilpa, servante de Léa: Gad et Aser. Ce sont là les fils de Jacob, qui lui naquirent à Paddan-Aram.

27 Jacob arriva auprès d'Isaac, son père, à Mamré, à Kirjath-Arba, qui est Hébron, où avaient séjourné Abraham et Isaac.

28 Les jours d'Isaac furent de cent quatre-vingts ans.

29 Il expira et mourut, et il fut recueilli auprès de son peuple, âgé et rassasié de jours, et Esaü et Jacob, ses fils, l'enterrèrent.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4574

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4574. 'A nation and a company of nations will be from you' means good and Divine forms of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a nation' as the good of the Church, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 1362, 1416, 1849, and from the meaning of 'a company of nations' as truths which spring from good, or what amounts to the same, which are forms of good, and as - in the highest sense in which the Lord is the subject - Divine Truths which spring from Divine Good, which are Divine forms of Good.

[2] What forms of good are must be stated first, and after this the fact that 'a company of nations' means such forms. Truths which spring from good are called forms of good because they are nothing else than goods that have been given outward form. Anyone who conceives of truths in any other way, more so anyone who separates them from good, does not know what truths are. Truths do indeed seem to be separate from good and so seem to be forms that exist unconnected to anything else. Yet they seem to be so only to those who have no affection for what is good, that is, people whose thought and speech are at variance with what they will and therefore do. For the human being has been so created that his understanding and will may constitute a united mind; and they do constitute a united mind when the understanding acts in unison with the will, that is, when his thought and speech are in keeping with what he wills and therefore does, in which case also the thoughts in his understanding are the forms which give expression to his will. Thoughts present in the understanding are called truths, for truths belong properly to the understanding, whereas desires present in the will are called goods, for goods belong properly to the will. Consequently, regarded in itself that which exists in the understanding is nothing else than the form taken by that which exists in the will.

[3] But since the expression 'forms' smacks of human philosophy, let an example serve to show that truths are the forms taken by good: Two virtues of everyday life, public or private, are integrity and propriety. Integrity consists in the heartfelt desire for another person's good within everyday life, whereas propriety consists in the demonstration of that integrity in speech and gestures, so that regarded in itself propriety is nothing other than the form which integrity takes, for this is what gives rise to propriety. This being so, when integrity displays itself through propriety, that is, through proper and appropriate speech and gestures, integrity is seen in every aspect of proper behaviour. This is so much the case that everything uttered through speech or expressed through gestures is seen as integrity, for everything is a form or image by means of which integrity shines forth. Integrity and propriety accordingly go together like essence and its form, or what is essential and what is formal. But if anyone severs integrity from propriety - that is, if he bears ill-will towards his fellow man, yet speaks well of him and behaves well towards him - there is no longer any integrity at all in his words or actions, no matter how much he tries to present through propriety an outward form that looks like integrity. It is absence of integrity, and one who is clear-sighted calls it this, because it is either pretentious, fraudulent, or deceitful.

[4] From all this one may see what the situation is with truths and goods. Truths in spiritual life may be likened to propriety in everyday life, and good in spiritual life to integrity in everyday life. This comparison shows what truths are like when they are the forms assumed by good, and what they are like when severed from good. When they are not extensions from good, they are extensions from something bad and are forms assumed by this, no matter how much they may be spoken of as forms assumed by good. As regards 'a company of nations' meaning forms of good, this becomes clear from the meaning of 'nations' as goods, dealt with immediately above. Hence a company or assembly of them is a gathering together of them, which is nothing other than the form they receive; and this, as has been shown, is truth. Since truths are meant, yet 'a nation' means good, not only 'a nation'- it is said - will descend from him but also 'a company of nations'. Otherwise one of the expressions would be sufficient. Furthermore 'company', 'assembly', and 'multitude', when used in the Word, have reference to truths. For 'multitude' or 'being multiplied', see 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847.

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