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Bereshit 38

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1 ויהי בעת ההוא וירד יהודה מאת אחיו ויט עד־איש עדלמי ושמו חירה׃

2 וירא־שם יהודה בת־איש כנעני ושמו שוע ויקחה ויבא אליה׃

3 ותהר ותלד בן ויקרא את־שמו ער׃

4 ותהר עוד ותלד בן ותקרא את־שמו אוןן׃

5 ותסף עוד ותלד בן ותקרא את־שמו שלה והיה בכזיב בלדתה אתו׃

6 ויקח יהודה אשה לער בכורו ושמה תמר׃

7 ויהי ער בכור יהודה רע בעיני יהוה וימתהו יהוה׃

8 ויאמר יהודה לאוןן בא אל־אשת אחיך ויבם אתה והקם זרע לאחיך׃

9 וידע אוןן כי לא לו יהיה הזרע והיה אם־בא אל־אשת אחיו ושחת ארצה לבלתי נתן־זרע לאחיו׃

10 וירע בעיני יהוה אשר עשה וימת גם־אתו׃

11 ויאמר יהודה לתמר כלתו שבי אלמנה בית־אביך עד־יגדל שלה בני כי אמר פן־ימות גם־הוא כאחיו ותלך תמר ותשב בית אביה׃

12 וירבו הימים ותמת בת־שוע אשת־יהודה וינחם יהודה ויעל על־גזזי צאנו הוא וחירה רעהו העדלמי תמנתה׃

13 ויגד לתמר לאמר הנה חמיך עלה תמנתה לגז צאנו׃

14 ותסר בגדי אלמנותה מעליה ותכס בצעיף ותתעלף ותשב בפתח עינים אשר על־דרך תמנתה כי ראתה כי־גדל שלה והוא לא־נתנה לו לאשה׃

15 ויראה יהודה ויחשבה לזונה כי כסתה פניה׃

16 ויט אליה אל־הדרך ויאמר הבה־נא אבוא אליך כי לא ידע כי כלתו הוא ותאמר מה־תתן־לי כי תבוא אלי׃

17 ויאמר אנכי אשלח גדי־עזים מן־הצאן ותאמר אם־תתן ערבון עד שלחך׃

18 ויאמר מה הערבון אשר אתן־לך ותאמר חתמך ופתילך ומטך אשר בידך ויתן־לה ויבא אליה ותהר לו׃

19 ותקם ותלך ותסר צעיפה מעליה ותלבש בגדי אלמנותה׃

20 וישלח יהודה את־גדי העזים ביד רעהו העדלמי לקחת הערבון מיד האשה ולא מצאה׃

21 וישאל את־אנשי מקמה לאמר איה הקדשה הוא בעינים על־הדרך ויאמרו לא־היתה בזה קדשה׃

22 וישב אל־יהודה ויאמר לא מצאתיה וגם אנשי המקום אמרו לא־היתה בזה קדשה׃

23 ויאמר יהודה תקח־לה פן נהיה לבוז הנה שלחתי הגדי הזה ואתה לא מצאתה׃

24 ויהי כמשלש חדשים ויגד ליהודה לאמר זנתה תמר כלתך וגם הנה הרה לזנונים ויאמר יהודה הוציאוה ותשרף׃

25 הוא מוצאת והיא שלחה אל־חמיה לאמר לאיש אשר־אלה לו אנכי הרה ותאמר הכר־נא למי החתמת והפתילים והמטה האלה׃

26 ויכר יהודה ויאמר צדקה ממני כי־על־כן לא־נתתיה לשלה בני ולא־יסף עוד לדעתה׃

27 ויהי בעת לדתה והנה תאומים בבטנה׃

28 ויהי בלדתה ויתן־יד ותקח המילדת ותקשר על־ידו שני לאמר זה יצא ראשנה׃

29 ויהי כמשיב ידו והנה יצא אחיו ותאמר מה־פרצת עליך פרץ ויקרא שמו פרץ׃

30 ואחר יצא אחיו אשר על־ידו השני ויקרא שמו זרח׃ ס

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4837

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4837. 'And so it was, when he came [in] to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground' means the reverse of conjugial love. [This is clear from the following considerations:] 'Er, Judah's firstborn' is used to describe falsity springing from evil which reigned in the Jewish nation at first, and 'Onan the secondborn' to describe evil begotten by falsity springing from evil which reigned in that nation later on. And 'Shelah the third son' is used to describe the idolatry which followed on from this and reigned in that nation at a still later time, 4826. Evil begotten by falsity springing from evil is described by the action Onan took, which was this: Being unwilling to provide seed for his brother, he spilled it on the ground. The reason this means that which is the reverse of conjugial love is that the conjugial relationship is used to mean in the internal sense that which is the essential element of the Church. Essentially the Church is a marriage of goodness and truth; and evil begotten by falsity springing from evil is the complete reverse of that marriage, that is, those with whom that kind of evil exists are the reverse of it.

[2] Nothing of true marriage meant both in a spiritual sense and in a natural one existed with that nation. This is quite evident from the fact that men were permitted to marry more than one wife; for where a marriage meant in a spiritual sense exists - that is, where the good and truth of the Church exist, consequently where the Church exists - that practice is not at all permitted. Genuine marriage cannot possibly exist except among those with whom the Lord's Church or kingdom exists, yet not with these except between pairs, 1907, 2740, 3246. The marriage of a pair in whom genuine conjugial love is present corresponds to the heavenly marriage, that is, to good and truth joined together. That is to say, the husband corresponds to good and the wife to the truth of that good. Also, when genuine conjugial love is present in them, that heavenly marriage is present too. Therefore where the Church exists men are never permitted to marry more than one wife. But because no Church existed among those descended from Jacob, only that which was a representative of the Church - that is, the external shell of the Church without its internal substance, 4307, 4500 - they were therefore permitted to have more than one. Furthermore the marriage of one husband to a number of wives would present in heaven an idea or image in which so to speak one good was joined to a number of truths which do not agree with one another, and so an image in which there was no good at all. For when its truths do not agree with one another good ceases to be good, since good receives its particular nature from truths and their agreement with one another.

[3] It would also present an image in which so to speak the Church was not one Church but many, set apart from one another along the lines of the truths of faith, that is, along doctrinal lines, when in fact the Church is one if good is the essential element there and this receives its particular nature from truths and is so to speak moderated by these. The Church is an image of heaven, because it is the Lord's kingdom on earth. Heaven consists of many distinct and separate general communities, and of smaller ones subordinate to these general ones; nevertheless good makes them a united whole. Good there enables the truths of faith to stand in agreement with one another; for these look to good and are grounded in it. If the truths of faith and not good were the lines along which parts of heaven were separated from one another, heaven would cease to be heaven, because there would not be any unanimity at all. For their oneness of life or unity in soul could not come to them from the Lord and exist among them. That oneness dwells solely within good, that is, within love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. Love binds everyone together, and when the love of what is good and true is present in each individual, everyone shares that which comes from the Lord, so that the Lord is the One who binds everyone together. The love of what is good and true is called love towards the neighbour, for the neighbour is one with whom good and accompanying truth are present, and in the abstract sense good itself and its truth. From these considerations one may see why within the Church marriage must be a relationship involving one husband and one wife, and why the descendants of Jacob were permitted to marry more than one wife. They were permitted to do so for the reason that no Church existed among them, and therefore a representative of the Church could not be established among them by means of marriages, because the reverse of conjugial love reigned among them.

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