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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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Arcana Coelestia # 3563

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3563. 'And said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands' means that the understanding consists in this case of truth existing inwardly, while the will consists in this case of good existing outwardly, so that an inversion of order exists with them. This is clear from the use of 'voice' to refer to truth and of 'hand' to refer to good. For 'voice' is used in reference to truth, as is evident from the places introduced in Volume One, in 219, 220, and from the fact that the actual words used are 'the voice is Jacob's voice', Jacob representing natural truth, as shown in various places above. And the reason why 'hand' is used in reference to good is that 'the hand' means power and ability, 878, 3541, the source of which is nothing other than good. All the power and ability that truth possesses comes from good, even though it seems to come from truth. This likewise is evident from the fact that the actual words used are 'the hands are Esau's hands', Esau representing natural good, as also shown above. The consequent existence of an inversion of order with them is evident from the consideration that proper order requires good, which belongs to the will, to exist inwardly, and truth, which belongs to the understanding, to exist outwardly. But these matters, as stated above, are such as can hardly be explained in any intelligible way because few have any knowledge of such things. For even if a perfectly clear explanation of them were given they would still not be understood if knowledge of them is lacking. Nevertheless the matter must be discussed since it is the subject at this point.

[2] The only source of the good of the natural which manifests itself in a person is interior good, that is, the good of the rational. Natural good can have no other source, though that which flows in from the one determines the nature of the good in the other. And since the good of the natural comes from no other source, neither does the truth of the natural, for where good is, so also is truth. Both must be present if they are to be anything at all. And again, that which flows in determines the nature of the truth there. Influx is such that the good of the rational flows into the natural along two different routes - one a very short and thus direct route into the good itself of the natural, and then on through the good of the natural into the truth there, this good and this truth being represented by Esau and his venison. In addition to this, the good of the rational flows into the natural along a second route which is less short, that is to say, through the truth of the rational, by means of which influx it forms something resembling good, but which in fact is truth.

[3] Everything is thus taking place according to order when the good of the rational flows directly into the good of the natural and at the same time into the truth there, and also indirectly by way of the truth of the rational into the good of the natural, and in a similar way both directly and indirectly into the truth of the natural. When all this is taking place the influx is according to order. Such is the influx with those who have been regenerated. But a different influx exists prior to regeneration, as has been stated above. That is to say, the good of the rational does not flow into the good of the natural directly but indirectly, by way of the truth of the rational, and so manifests something resembling good in the natural, which is not genuine good nor consequently genuine truth. Instead it is something such as does indeed possess good inmostly by virtue of influx through the truth of the rational; but there is nothing more. Therefore good too presents itself there under a different form, that is to say, outwardly as good represented by 'Esau' but inwardly as truth represented by 'Jacob'. And as this is not in accordance with order an inversion of order is said to exist with them. Yet insofar as nobody can be regenerated in any other way it is according to order.

[4] I realize that no matter how clearly these matters are stated and as a consequence are able to be perceived clearly by those who have a knowledge of the existence of such things, they still remain obscure to those who do not know what influx is, more so to those who do not know that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural, and more so still to those who do not have any distinct and clear idea of what good is or of what truth is. But the nature of natural good and of natural truth in the state prior to regeneration is plain to see only from the desires present at that time. When a person desires truth not because he has life in view but some other ends, such as to become learned, and to become this because of some desire to outdo others, which amounts to childish envy, and also because of some desire for glory, the order existing with the good of the natural and the truth of the natural is akin to that represented here by Jacob. As these two exist in relation to each other, there is a reversal of order, that is to say, the will, to which good belongs, exists outwardly, while the understanding, to which truth belongs, exists inwardly.

[5] But in the state following regeneration the situation is different. In this case the person desires truth not only because he has life in view but more still because he desires the good itself which constitutes that life. Previous desires, that is to say, those connected with outdoing, with childish envy, and with glory, now break away, so much so that they seem so to speak to have been dispelled. At this point good which belongs to the will exists inwardly, and truth which belongs to the understanding exists outwardly. The result then is that truth acts as one with good since it stems from good. This order is genuine order. The order existing previously also serves to bring this order about, for the will which at that time occupies an external position allows many things to come in which contribute to regeneration, like a sponge which absorbs water, clear or muddy, so that it absorbs such things as would otherwise be rejected. Indeed these things serve as means and also as ideas that have to be formed concerning genuine goods and truths, besides other uses which they serve.

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