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Genesis 28

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1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a woman of the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father, and take to thee from thence a woman of the daughters of Laban, thy mother’s brother.

3 And God Shaddai will bless thee, and will make· thee ·fruitful and multiply thee, and thou shalt be for an assembly of peoples.

4 And He will give to thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to possess the land of thy sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.

5 And Isaac sent· Jacob ·away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 And Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob, and sent him to Paddan-aram, to take for himself from thence a woman, and in blessing him commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not take a woman of the daughters of Canaan.

7 And Jacob hearkened to his father and to his mother, and went to Paddan-aram.

8 And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father.

9 And Esau went to Ishmael, and took to himself for a woman, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, over his women*.

10 And Jacob went·​·out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.

11 And he came·​·upon a place, and passed·​·the·​·night there, for the sun had set*; and he took one of the stones of the place, and set it as his headrest, and lay·​·down in that place.

12 And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway* standing·​·on the earth, and its head reaching the heavens; and behold, the angels of God going·​·up and going·​·down on it.

13 And behold, Jehovah standing above it; and He said, I am Jehovah the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt break·​·forth to the sea, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed, and in thy seed.

15 And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in every place which thou goest, and will return thee to this ground; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee.

16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, Surely Jehovah is in this place; and I knew it not.

17 And he feared, and said, How fearsome·​·is this place! This is none other·​·than the house of God, and this is the gate of the heavens.

18 And Jacob got·​·up·​·early in the morning, and took the stone that he had set for his headrest, and set it for a pillar, and poured oil on the head of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel*; nevertheless the name of the city was Luz at the first.

20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with·​·me and will keep me in this way in which I walk, and will give to me bread to eat, and a garment with· which to be ·clothed,

21 and I return in peace to my father’s house, then Jehovah shall be to me for God.

22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be the house of God; and all that Thou shalt give to me, tithing I will tithe it to Thee.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3670

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3670. 'And He will give you the blessing of Abraham' means the joining of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'blessing' as a joining together, dealt with above in 3660, 3667, and from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord's Divine itself, which is called the Father, dealt with in 2011, 3251, 3439. And as these words are addressed to Jacob, who is to represent the Divine Good and Truth of the Lord's Divine Natural, it is a joining together of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the Natural - this joining together being meant in the internal sense by 'He will give you the blessing of Abraham'. In the sense of the letter it is possession of the land of Canaan that is meant by 'the blessing of Abraham', and also by the words that follow, 'to inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham'. This also is what these words are taken to mean by all who believe that the historical descriptions of the Word do not embody anything more heavenly and deeper than that. This is especially so with the Jewish nation, which also claims from that sense to hold a superior position to all other nations and peoples. Their forefathers understood those words in the same way, especially Jacob, who had that kind of disposition, as becomes clear from what has been stated just above in 3667. That is to say, he did not know Jehovah and was unwilling to acknowledge Him unless He conferred bodily and worldly benefits on him. The fact that neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob were meant, but that Jacob represented the Lord's Natural which He was to make Divine is abundantly evident from the explanations given. The same applies to the character of any person who represents, whether evil or good; for the evil are no less able to represent, and have represented, the Lord's Divine, see 665, 1097, 1361.

[2] The same may be seen from the representatives which also exist at the present day. For all kings, no matter who they are or what they are like, represent the Lord through the kingly office itself residing with them; and in like manner all priests, no matter who they are or what they are like, do so through their priestly office. The kingly office itself and the priestly office itself are sacred, no matter who serves in them. Consequently the Word taught by someone evil is no less sacred; nor is the Sacrament of Baptism, or the Holy Supper, or similar ministrations any less so. From this it may also be seen that no king can possibly claim as his own the sacredness that goes with his kingly office, nor any priest the sacredness that goes with his priestly office. Insofar as he does claim it or attribute it to himself he brands himself with the sign of a spiritual thief, or the mark of spiritual theft. And insofar as he commits what is evil, that is, acts contrary to what is right and fair, and contrary to what is good and true, a king throws off his representation of the sacred kingly office, and a priest his representation of the sacred priestly office, and then represents the reverse of this. This explains why so many laws were laid down in the Jewish representative Church concerning the sacredness which was to be attached in particular to priests when ministering. More on this matter will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated later on.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 1416

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1416. That 'I will make you into a great nation' means a kingdom in heaven and on earth becomes clear from the meaning of 'nation' in the internal sense as the celestial entity of love and the good which flows from this, thus all throughout the world in whom the celestial element of love and charity is present. Since the subject here in the internal sense is the Lord, everything of the celestial and of the good deriving from it, thus His kingdom, is meant - which exists with those in whom love and charity are present. In the highest sense the Lord Himself is 'the great nation' since He is the Celestial itself and Good itself. For all good that flows from love and charity originates in Him alone, which also explains why the Lord comprises His own kingdom, that is, He is the All in all of His kingdom, as also all angels in heaven acknowledge. From this it is now clear that 'I will make you into a great nation' means the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth.

[2] That 'nation' in the internal sense, where the Lord and celestial things of love are the subject, means Him and all celestial things may become clear also from what has been introduced in 1258, 1259, regarding the meaning of a nation and nations. This matter may be confirmed further still from the following places: In reference to Abraham further on,

No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:5.

The soft 'h' sound in Abraham was taken from Jehovah's name because he represented Jehovah, that is, the Lord. Similarly in reference to Sarai,

You will not call her name Sarai, but Sarah will be her name, and I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her; thus will I bless her, and she will become nations; kings of peoples will be from her. Genesis 17:15-16.

'Nations' here stands for the celestial things of love, and 'kings of peoples' for the spiritual things of faith deriving from that love, which are the Lord's alone.

[3] In reference to Jacob likewise,

Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel will be your name. And He called his name Israel, and God said, I am God Almighty, 1 increase and multiply; a nation and an assembly of nations will come into being from you, and kings will go out from your loins. Genesis 35:10-11.

Here 'Israel' stands for the Lord, who Himself, as is well known to some, is in the highest sense Israel. And when He is meant by 'Israel' it is evident that 'a nation and an assembly of nations' and 'kings from his loins' mean the celestial and spiritual things of love, and therefore all in whom the celestial and spiritual things of love are present. In reference to Ishmael, Abram's son by Hagar, it is said,

The son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation, because he is your seed. Genesis 21:13, 18.

What Ishmael represents will be seen in that place. 'The seed of Abram' means love itself, and because of this the word nation is used for those begotten from Ishmael.

[4] That 'nation' means the celestial things of love is clear in Moses,

If you will surely hearken to My voice, and keep My covenant and be a peculiar treasure to Me from among all peoples, you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6.

Here 'a kingdom of priests', a phrase used to describe the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, springing from the celestial things of love, is openly called 'a holy nation'. But the Lord's kingdom springing from His Royalty is described as such by virtue of the spiritual things of love and is called 'a holy people'. 'Kings from the loins' therefore, as above, 2 is spiritual things. In Jeremiah,

If these ordinances depart from before Me, said Jehovah, the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me for ever. 3 Jeremiah 31:36.

'Seed of Israel' stands for the celestial entity of charity, and when this ceases to exist there is no longer a nation before the Lord.

[5] In Isaiah,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. You have multiplied the nation. Isaiah 9:2-3.

Specifically this refers to the Church of the nations, 4 , but in general to all who are without knowledge but lead charitable lives. These are 'the nation' because they are members of the Lord's kingdom. In David,

O that I may see the good of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the joy of Your nation, that I may glory in Your heritage. Psalms 106:5.

Here 'nation' plainly stands for the Lord's kingdom. It was from an ability to perceive that 'a nation' meant the celestial entity of love and the good which flows from this that members of the Most Ancient Church came to be distinguished into separate houses, families, and nations. By this distinguishing they gained a perception of the Lord's kingdom; and because they had a perception of the Lord's kingdom they had a perception of the celestial itself. From that ability to perceive there arose that which held a spiritual meaning, and from this that which was representative.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the Lightning-Hurler or the Thunderbolt-Hurler. Generally Swedenborg retains the Hebrew Shaddai, usually translated the Almighty, regarding which see 1992 below; but here Swedenborg employs the Latin word fulminator.

2. i.e.. in Genesis 35:10-11

3. literally, all the days

4. i.e. the Church established among gentiles

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