Bible

 

Genesis 29

Studie

   

1 And Jacob lifted·​·up his feet, and went to the land of the sons of the east.

2 And he saw, and behold a well in the field, and behold there three droves of the flock lying·​·down by it; for out·​·of that well they watered the droves; and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.

3 And all the droves were gathered thither; and they rolled the stone from upon the well’s mouth, and watered the flock, and they returned the stone to its place upon the well’s mouth.

4 And Jacob said to them, My brothers, whence are you? And they said, We are from Haran.

5 And he said to them, Do you know Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.

6 And he said to them, Has he peace? And they said, Peace; and behold Rachel his daughter comes with the flock.

7 And he said, Behold as·​·yet the day is great, it is not time for the livestock to be gathered; water ye the flock, and go and pasture them.

8 And they said, We cannot until all the droves are gathered, and they roll the stone from upon the well’s mouth; then shall we water the flock.

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the flock which was her father’s, for she was pasturing them.

10 And it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the flock of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob approached, and rolled the stone from on the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted·​·up his voice and wept.

12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

13 And it was, as Laban heard the rumor of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house; and he recounted to Laban all these things.

14 And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he dwelt with him a month of days.

15 And Laban said to Jacob, For thou art my brother, and shouldest thou serve me for·​·nothing? Tell me, what shall be thy wages?

16 And Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

17 And the eyes of Leah were weak*, and Rachel was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.

18 And Jacob loved Rachel, and he said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

19 And Laban said, It is better that I should give her to thee than give her to another man; dwell with·​·me.

20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they were in his eyes as only days, in his love for her.

21 And Jacob said to Laban, Give me my woman, for my days are·​·fulfilled, and I will come to her.

22 And Laban gathered all the men of the place, and made a feast.

23 And it was, in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him, and he came to her.

24 And Laban gave to her Zilpah his handmaid, to Leah his daughter for a handmaid.

25 And it was, in the morning, that behold it was Leah; and he said to Laban, What is this that thou hast done to me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel? And why hast thou deceived me?

26 And Laban said, It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn.

27 Fulfill this week, and we will give to thee her* also, for the service which thou shalt serve with·​·me yet seven other years.

28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled this week, and he gave to him Rachel his daughter to him for a woman.

29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be to her for a handmaid.

30 And he came also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more·​·than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

31 And Jehovah saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb, and Rachel was barren.

32 And Leah conceived and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, For Jehovah has seen my affliction, for now my man will love me.

33 And she conceived yet·​·again, and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and said, Because Jehovah has heard that I was hated, and has given to me this one also; and she called his name Simeon.

34 And she conceived yet·​·again, and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and said, Now this time will my man join to me, for I have given·​·birth·​·to three sons for him; therefore she called his name Levi.

35 And she conceived yet·​·again, and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she said, This time I will confess Jehovah; therefore she called his name Judah; and she stood still from giving·​·birth.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3833

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

3833. 'And so it was in the evening' means when the state was still obscure. This is clear from the meaning of 'the evening' as an obscure state, dealt with in 3056. Furthermore feasts held in the evening, that is, suppers, meant nothing else among the ancients who had appropriate religious observances than the introductory state which comes before an actual joining together, which is obscure compared with that state when the joining together has taken place. Indeed when a person is being introduced into truth and from this into good, everything he learns at that time is obscure. But once good is joined to him and he regards truth from the standpoint of good, everything he learns becomes clear to him, gradually and increasingly so. For he is now no longer in doubt about whether something exists or whether it is true but knows that it exists and is true.

[2] Once a person has reached this state he starts to know countless things, for he now proceeds from the good and truth which he believes and perceives. He proceeds so to speak from the central point out to the peripheral regions; and in the measure that he proceeds from such good and truth, he sees in the same measure the things round about, and gradually more and more widely since he is constantly pushing out and extending the boundaries. Thereafter he also begins from each subject situated in the space within those boundaries, and from those subjects as new centres he pushes out new peripheral regions; and so on in the spaces within these. Consequently the light of truth radiating from good increases enormously and becomes one expanse of light, for he is now bathed in the light of heaven which shines from the Lord. But to people who are prone to doubt and who question whether something exists and is true, those countless, indeed limitless things are not visible at all. To them every single one is totally obscure. Those things are scarcely seen by them as a single whole which definitely exists, only as a single whole whose very existence they are uncertain of. Such is the condition into which human wisdom and intelligence has fallen at the present day. Being able to reason cleverly whether something exists is now the mark of a wise man, and being able to reason that it does not exist is the mark of one wiser still.

[3] Take for example the question whether in the Word an internal sense exists which such people call the mystical sense. Until they believe in the existence of it they cannot know a single one of the countless things existing within that sense, so many that they fill the whole of heaven in unending variety. Take as another example one who reasons about whether Divine Providence is merely universal and does not extend to specific details. That person cannot know the countless arcana which have to do with Providence, as many in number as the occurrences in everyone's life from start to finish and in the world from its creation to its end, and even for ever. Take as yet another example one who reasons whether good can exist in anyone, seeing that the will of man is fundamentally depraved. He cannot possibly be aware of all the arcana that have to do with regeneration, nor even that a new will is implanted by the Lord and the arcana concerning this. And the same is so with everything else. From this one may recognize what obscurity surrounds such people and that they do not even see, let alone reach, the outskirts of wisdom.

  
/ 10837  
  

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