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Genesis 27

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1 And it was, that Isaac was·​·old, and his eyes were dimmed from seeing, and he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, My son; and he said to him, Behold me.

2 And he said, Behold, I pray, I am·​·old, I know not the day of my death.

3 And now carry, I pray, thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go·​·out to the field, and hunt for me a hunting.

4 And make for me savory meats, such as I have loved, and bring to me, and I will eat, so·​·that my soul may bless thee before I die.

5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it.

6 And Rebekah said to Jacob her son, saying, Behold I heard thy father speak to Esau thy brother, saying,

7 Bring to me a hunting, and make for me savory meats, and I will eat, and will bless thee before Jehovah before my death.

8 And now my son obey my voice, according·​·to that which I command thee.

9 Go now to the flock, and take for me from thence two good kids of the she-goats, and I will make them savory meats for thy father, such as he loves.

10 And thou shalt bring to thy father, and he shall eat, in·​·order that he may bless thee before his death.

11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as one who misleads; and I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said to him, Upon me be thy curse my son; only obey my voice, and go, take for me.

14 And he went, and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made savory meats, such as his father loved.

15 And Rebekah took garments of desires of Esau her elder son that were with her in the house, and clothed Jacob her younger son.

16 And the skins of the kids of the she-goats she caused him to be clothed·​·with on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck.

17 And she gave the savory meats and the bread, which she had made, into the hand of Jacob her son.

18 And he came to his father and said, My father; and he said, Behold me, who art thou my son?

19 And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done as thou didst speak to me; arise, I pray thee, sit, and eat of my hunting, so·​·that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said to his son, How is this that thou made·​·haste to find it, my son? And he said, For Jehovah thy God made it happen before me.

21 And Isaac said to Jacob, Approach, I pray, and I will feel thee my son, whether thou be this my son Esau, or not.

22 And Jacob approached Isaac his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23 And he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; and he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou this my son Esau? And he said, I am.

25 And he said, Present it to me, and I will eat of my son’s hunting, so·​·that my soul may bless thee; and he presented it to him, and he ate, and he brought to him wine, and he drank.

26 And Isaac his father said to him, Approach, I pray, and kiss me, my son.

27 And he approached, and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah has blessed.

28 And God shall give to thee of the dew of the heavens, and of fat things* of the earth, and a multitude of grain and must.*

29 Peoples shall serve thee, and nations shall bow·​·down themselves to thee. Be thou a master to thy brothers, and let thy mother’s sons bow·​·down themselves to thee; cursed are they who curse thee, and blessed are they who bless thee.

30 And it was as Isaac completed blessing Jacob, and Jacob going·​·out was only just gone·​·out from the faces of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came·​·in from his hunting.

31 And he also made savory meats, and brought to his father, and he said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of the hunting of his son, so·​·that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau.

33 And Isaac shuddered with a shuddering, even very great, and said, Who then is he that has hunted a hunting, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.

34 As Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and even very bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, even me, my father.

35 And he said, Thy brother came with deceit, and has taken thy blessing.

36 And he said, Is it not then his name called Jacob?* And he has supplanted me these two·​·times; he has taken my birthright, and behold now he has taken my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold I have set him a master to thee, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants; and with grain and must* I have supported him; and what then shall I do for thee, my son?

38 And Esau said to his father, Hast thou but this one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, O my father. And Esau lifted·​·up his voice, and wept.

39 And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold of the fat things* of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above.

40 And upon thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother, and it shall be when thou shalt dominate, that thou shalt pull· his yoke ·off from upon thy neck.

41 And Esau hated Jacob on·​·account·​·of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father come·​·near, and I will kill Jacob my brother.

42 And the words of Esau her elder son were·​·told to Rebekah; and she sent and called to Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold Esau thy brother comforts himself as·​·to thee to kill thee.

43 And now, my son, obey my voice, and arise, run·​·away to Laban my brother to Haran.

44 And dwell with him some days until thy brother’s fury turn·​·back,

45 until the anger of thy brother turn·​·back from thee, and he forget what thou hast done to him, and I will send and take thee from thence. Why should I be bereaved even of the two of you in one day?

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life on·​·account·​·of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob should take a woman of the daughters of Heth as these, of the daughters of the land, why have I lives?

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Smooth man

  

'A smooth man' Genesis 27:11 signifies the quality of natural truth.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 3527)

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Arcana Coelestia # 3527

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3527. 'And I am a smooth man' means the nature of natural truth compared with natural good. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'I' refers here, as the natural as regards truth, dealt with in 3305, and from the meaning of 'a smooth man' as the nature of it, which is dealt with below. Before anyone can know what these words mean he needs to know what 'hairy' means and what 'smooth' means. The inner things present in a person manifest themselves outwardly in some visible form, especially in his face and facial expressions. The things that are inmost within him are not seen there at the present day, only to some extent things less interior than those inmost ones. But not even these are seen, if he has learned since early childhood to employ presence, for in that case he adopts so to speak a different disposition of mind (animus) and as a consequence produces a different facial expression - it being the disposition of mind (animus) that shows in the face. Hypocrites more than all others have become steeped in such presence from actually behaving, and so becoming accustomed to behave in such ways; and the more deceitful they are the more thoroughly are they steeped in it. With people who are not hypocrites rational good is seen in the face as the manifestation of a certain fire of life, and rational truth as the manifestation of the light of that fire. These matters a person is aware of from a certain innate knowledge without having to learn them, for it is the life of his spirit as regards good and as regards truth that manifests itself in this way. And because man is a spirit clothed with a body he knows about such a thing as this from a perception of it in his spirit, and so is aware of it from within himself. This is why a person is on occasions stirred with affection by another's facial expression, though it is not the facial expression that stirs him but the disposition of mind shining through it. The natural degree of the mind however reveals itself in the face as a more obscure fire of life and more obscure light of life, while the bodily degree scarcely does so as more than a warm and bright complexion, and as the change of their states in accordance with affections.

[2] Because the inner things present in a person manifest themselves thus in a visible form, especially in the face, the most ancient people - who were celestial and had no knowledge at all of what it was to employ presence, let alone of what hypocrisy or what deceit was - were able to see the mind of another plainly revealed in his face. For this reason the face also meant things of the will and those of the understanding, that is, interior rational things as regards good and truth, 358, 1999, 2434. Indeed those interior things as regards good were meant by the blood and its redness, and as regards truths by the form resulting from it, and its pure whiteness. But interior natural things were meant by things growing out of these, such as hairs and scales are; that is to say, things stemming from the natural as regards good were meant by 'hairs' and those stemming from the natural as regards truth by 'scales'. Consequently people governed by natural good were called 'hairy men' whereas those governed by natural truth were called 'smooth men'. These considerations show what these words 'Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man' mean in the internal sense, namely the nature of natural good compared with natural truth, and the nature of natural truth compared with natural good. From this it is also evident what Esau represents, that is to say, the good of the natural; for he was called Esau because of his hairiness, Genesis 25:25, and Edom because of his ruddiness, Genesis 25:30. And Mount Seir where he dwelt also has a similar meaning, namely, shaggy. This being so, the mountain that led up to Seir was called the bald or smooth mountain, mentioned in Joshua 11:17; 12:7, which was also the representative of truth leading upwards to good.

[3] 'Hairy' has reference to good and from this to truth, and also in the contrary sense to evil and from this to falsity, as has been shown in 3301. But 'smooth' has reference to truth and in the contrary sense to falsity, as is also evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

You who inflame yourselves among the gods under every green tree, among the smooth [stones] of the valley is your portion. Isaiah 57:5-6.

Here 'inflaming' has reference to evil, 'smooth [stones] of the valley' to falsity. In the same prophet,

The craftsman encourages the smith, the one rubbing smooth the hammer by his striking the anvil, and says of the soldering. It is good. Isaiah 41:7.

Here 'the craftsman encourages the smith' has reference to evil, 'the one rubbing smooth the hammer' to falsity. In David,

Butter makes his 1 mouth smooth; when his heart draws near, his words are softer than oil. Psalms 55:21.

Here 'a smooth mouth' or flattery refers to falsity, 'heart' and consequent soft words to evil. In the same author,

Their throat is an open sepulchre, they speak smooth things with their tongue. Psalms 5:9.

'Throat is an open sepulchre' refers to evil, 'tongue speaking smooth things' to falsity. In Luke,

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; and the crooked places will be made straight, and the rough places into level ways. Luke 3:5.

'Valley' stands for what is lowly, 1723, 3417, 'mountain and hill' for what is exalted, 1691. 'The crooked made straight' stands for turning into good that evil which is due to ignorance, for 'length' and things to do with length have reference to good, 1613; 'rough places into level ways' stands for turning into truths those falsities which are due to ignorance - 'way' having reference to truth, 627, 2333.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin means your but the Hebrew means his.

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