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Bereshit 42

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1 וירא יעקב כי יש־שבר במצרים ויאמר יעקב לבניו למה תתראו׃

2 ויאמר הנה שמעתי כי יש־שבר במצרים רדו־שמה ושברו־לנו משם ונחיה ולא נמות׃

3 וירדו אחי־יוסף עשרה לשבר בר ממצרים׃

4 ואת־בנימין אחי יוסף לא־שלח יעקב את־אחיו כי אמר פן־יקראנו אסון׃

5 ויבאו בני ישראל לשבר בתוך הבאים כי־היה הרעב בארץ כנען׃

6 ויוסף הוא* השליט על־הארץ הוא המשביר לכל־עם הארץ ויבאו אחי יוסף וישתחוו־לו אפים ארצה׃

7 וירא יוסף את־אחיו ויכרם ויתנכר אליהם וידבר אתם קשות ויאמר אלהם מאין באתם ויאמרו מארץ כנען לשבר־אכל׃

8 ויכר יוסף את־אחיו והם לא הכרהו׃

9 ויזכר יוסף את החלמות אשר חלם להם ויאמר אלהם מרגלים אתם לראות את־ערות הארץ באתם׃

10 ויאמרו אליו לא אדני ועבדיך באו לשבר־אכל׃

11 כלנו בני איש־אחד נחנו כנים אנחנו לא־היו עבדיך מרגלים׃

12 ויאמר אלהם לא כי־ערות הארץ באתם לראות׃

13 ויאמרו שנים עשר עבדיך אחים אנחנו בני איש־אחד בארץ כנען והנה הקטן את־אבינו היום והאחד איננו׃

14 ויאמר אלהם יוסף הוא אשר דברתי אלכם לאמר מרגלים אתם׃

15 בזאת תבחנו חי פרעה אם־תצאו מזה כי אם־בבוא אחיכם הקטן הנה׃

16 שלחו םכם אחד ויקח את־אחיכם ואתם האסרו ויבחנו דבריכם האמת אתכם ואם־לא חי פרעה כי מרגלים אתם׃

17 ויאסף אתם אל־משמר שלשת ימים׃

18 ויאמר אלהם יוסף ביום השלישי זאת עשו וחיו את־האלהים אני ירא׃

19 אם־כנים אתם אחיכם אחד יאסר בבית משמרכם ואתם לכו הביאו שבר רעבון בתיכם׃

20 ואת־אחיכם הקטן תביאו אלי ויאמנו דבריכם ולא תמותו ויעשו־כן׃

21 ויאמרו איש אל־אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו על־אחינו אשר ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו על־כן באה אלינו הצרה הזאת׃

22 ויען ראובן אתם לאמר הלוא אמרתי אליכם לאמר אל־תחטאו בילד ולא שמעתם וגם־דמו הנה נדרש׃

23 והם לא ידעו כי שמע יוסף כי המליץ בינתם׃

24 ויסב מעליהם ויבך וישב אלהם וידבר אלהם ויקח מאתם את־שמעון ויאסר אתו לעיניהם׃

25 ויצו יוסף וימלאו את־כליהם בר ולהשיב כספיהם איש אל־שקו ולתת להם צדה לדרך ויעש להם כן׃

26 וישאו את־שברם על־חמריהם וילכו משם׃

27 ויפתח האחד את־שקו לתת מספוא לחמרו במלון וירא את־כספו והנה־הוא בפי אמתחתו׃

28 ויאמר אל־אחיו הושב כספי וגם הנה באמתחתי ויצא לבם ויחרדו איש אל־אחיו לאמר מה־זאת עשה אלהים לנו׃

29 ויבאו אל־יעקב אביהם ארצה כנען ויגידו לו את כל־הקרת אתם לאמר׃

30 דבר האיש אדני הארץ אתנו קשות ויתן אתנו כמרגלים את־הארץ׃

31 ונאמר אליו כנים אנחנו לא היינו מרגלים׃

32 שנים־עשר אנחנו אחים בני אבינו האחד איננו והקטן היום את־אבינו בארץ כנען׃

33 ויאמר אלינו האיש אדני הארץ בזאת אדע כי כנים אתם אחיכם האחד הניחו אתי ואת־רעבון בתיכם קחו ולכו׃

34 והביאו את־אחיכם הקטן אלי ואדעה כי לא מרגלים אתם כי כנים אתם את־אחיכם אתן לכם ואת־הארץ תסחרו׃

35 ויהי הם מריקים שקיהם והנה־איש צרור־כספו בשקו ויראו את־צררות כספיהם המה ואביהם וייראו׃

36 ויאמר אלהם יעקב אביהם אתי שכלתם יוסף איננו ושמעון איננו ואת־בנימן תקחו עלי היו כלנה׃

37 ויאמר ראובן אל־אביו לאמר את־שני בני תמית אם־לא אביאנו אליך תנה אתו על־ידי ואני אשיבנו אליך׃

38 ויאמר לא־ירד בני עםכם כי־אחיו מת והוא לבדו נשאר וקראהו אסון בדרך אשר תלכו־בה והורדתם את־שיבתי ביגון שאולה׃

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 5433

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5433. 'You have come to see the nakedness of the land' means that nothing would please them more than to know for themselves that they are not truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming to see' as wishing to know that a thing is so, and therefore as nothing would give greater pleasure than to know it; from the meaning of 'the nakedness' as a lack of truths, thus that they are not truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the land' as the Church (see 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355, 4447, 4535). So that 'the nakedness of the land' here means a lack of truths known to the Church. The reason 'the nakedness' means a deprivation or lack of truths is that 'clothes' in general means truths, while each specific type of garment means some particular kind of truth, see 2576, 3301, 4545, 4677, 4741, 4742, 4763, 5248, 5319, and therefore 'the nakedness' means a lack of truths, as will also be seen from the places below that are quoted from the Word.

[2] The implications of this may be seen from what has been stated immediately above in 5472, where it is said that people who do not learn truths for truth's own sake and for their life's sake, but for the sake of material gain, inevitably think that the truths known to the Church are not truths. The reason for this is that the affection for gain is an earthly affection, whereas the affection for truth is a spiritual one. One or the other must have dominion, for no one can serve two masters. Consequently where one affection exists the other does not, so that where the affection for truth is present the affection for gain is absent, and where the affection for gain is present the affection for truth is absent. This being so, if the affection for material gain has dominion, then inevitably nothing pleases the person more than to know that truths are not truths. Yet nothing else pleases him more than when others believe that truths are truths. If the internal man looks downwards, that is to say, towards earthly things and makes these everything, he cannot possibly look upwards and have anything there since earthly things completely swallow up and smother everything. The reason for this is that the angels from heaven who are present with a person cannot dwell among earthly things; they therefore depart, in which case spirits from hell draw near who, while they are present with a person, cannot dwell among heavenly things. As a consequence he then thinks that heavenly things are of no importance, while earthly ones are everything. And when that person thinks that earthly things are everything, he believes himself to be more learned and wiser than everybody else, in that he himself does not accept the truths known to the Church, and at the same time says that they exist for those who are simple. The affection that moves a person is therefore either an earthly affection or else a heavenly one, for he cannot have his being simultaneously with angels from heaven and with spirits from hell; for if he did he would be left hanging between heaven and hell. But when he is moved by an affection for truth for truth's own sake, that is, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom (where Divine Truth is present) and so for the Lord's sake, he is among angels. He does not in this case despise material gain insofar as it enables him to lead his life in the world. But such gain is not his end in view, only the useful purposes it serves which are seen by him as intermediate ends leading on to an ultimate heavenly one. This being so, his heart is by no means at all set on material gain.

[3] The fact that 'the nakedness' means a lack of truths may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in John,

To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy, so that I have need of nothing - when you do not know that you are wretched and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked.... Revelation 3:17.

Here being 'naked' stands for suffering from a scarcity of truth. In the same place,

I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in the fire, and white garments to clothe you, and do not let the shame of your nakedness be manifested. Revelation 3:18.

'Buying gold' stands for acquiring good and making this one's own, 'that you may become wealthy' for acquiring it to the end that celestial and spiritual good may be present; 'white garments' stands for spiritual truths, 'the shame of nakedness' for the lack of any goodness or truth. For 'buying' means acquiring and making one's own, see 5374; 'gold' celestial and spiritual good, 1551, 1552; 'garments' truths, 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319; while 'white' is attributed to truth because this comes from the light of heaven, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.

[4] In the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked. Revelation 16:15.

'He who keeps his garments' stands for the person who hangs on to truths. 'So that he may not walk naked' stands for so that he is not without truths. In Matthew,

The King will say to those at His right hand, I was naked and you clothed Me around, and to those at His left, I was naked and you did not clothe Me around. Matthew 25:36, 43.

'Naked' stands for the good who acknowledge that within themselves no good or truth at all exists, 4958.

[5] In Isaiah,

Is not this the fast, to break your bread for the hungry, and that you may bring afflicted outcasts to your house, when you see the naked and cover him? Isaiah 58:7.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became a menstruous woman; all who honoured her despised her, for they saw her nakedness. Lamentations 1:8.

Here 'nakedness' stands for a lack of truths. In Ezekiel,

You reached full beauty, your breasts were formed and your hair had grown; but you were naked and bare. I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. You did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare. Ezekiel 16:7-8, 22.

[6] This refers to Jerusalem, by which the Ancient Church is meant - what it was like when it was first established and what it came to be like after that. That is to say, initially it was lacking in truths, after which it was furnished with them, but finally it cast them aside. In the same prophet,

If a man is righteous, one who has executed judgement and righteousness, he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. Ezekiel 18:5, 7.

'Covering the naked with clothing' stands for furnishing with truths those who desire truths. In Hosea,

Lest I strip her naked, present her as she was on the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a land of dryness, and slay her with thirst. Hosea 2:3.

'Stripping her naked' stands for leaving her without truths. In Nahum,

I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. Nahum 3:5.

'Showing the nations its nakedness' stands for its ugliness. All ugliness is a result of the absence of truths, all beauty a result of the presence of them, 4985, 5199.

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