Bible

 

Genesis 33

Studie

   

1 And Jacob lifted·​·up his eyes, and saw, and behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he halved the children over to Leah, and over to Rachel, and over to the two handmaids.

2 And he set the handmaids and their children first, and Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph behind.

3 And he himself passed·​·on before them, and bowed· himself ·down to the earth seven times, until he approached, even·​·to his brother.

4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.

5 And he lifted·​·up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these to thee? And he said, The children with whom God has graced thy servant.

6 And the handmaids approached, they and their children, and they bowed· themselves ·down.

7 And Leah also and her children approached, and they bowed· themselves ·down; and afterwards Joseph and Rachel approached, and bowed· themselves ·down.

8 And he said, Who to thee are all these camps whom I encounter? And he said, To find grace in the eyes of my lord.

9 And Esau said, I have much, my brother; be to thee what is to thee.

10 And Jacob said, No, I pray, if, I pray, I have found grace in thine eyes, then take my gift from my hand; for because that I have seen thy faces as seeing the faces of God, and thou hast been·​·well·​·pleased with me.

11 Take, I pray, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God has been·​·gracious·​·to me, and because I have all. And he urged him, and he took it.

12 And he said, Let us journey and go, and I will go in·​·front·​·of thee.

13 And he said to him, My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flock and the herd with me are sucklings, and if they push· them ·on in one day, then all the flock will·​·die.

14 Let my lord, I pray, cross·​·over before his servant, and I will proceed* slowly as·​·to the foot steps of the work* that is before me, and to the foot steps of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.

15 And Esau said, Let me now place with thee some from the people who are with me. And he said, Why is this? Let me find grace in the eyes of my lord.

16 And Esau returned in that day to his way, to Seir.

17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock; therefore he called the name of the place Succoth.

18 And Jacob came to Salem*, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, in his coming from Paddan-aram, and encamped to the faces of the city.

19 And he bought the part of the field, where he had stretched·​·out his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred kesitah.

20 And he set·​·up there an altar, and he called it El-Elohe-Israel.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 4391

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

4391. 'And made booths for his cattle' means a similar increase in good and truth at that time. This is clear from the meaning of 'cattle' as goods and truths in general, and from the meaning of 'making booths', which are tents, as something similar to what is meant by 'building a house', namely receiving an increase of good from truth. The two phrases differ in that 'building a house' means that which is less general, and so rather more internal, while 'making booths', or tents, means that which is more general, and so rather more external. The house was intended for themselves, that is to say, for Jacob, his womenfolk and children, the booths for the servants, flocks and herds. In the Word 'booths' or tents, strictly speaking, means the holiness of truth, and they are distinguished from tabernacles, which too are called tents, by the fact that the latter mean the holiness of good, 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 4128. The word in the original language for booths is 'succoth', whereas that for tabernacles is 'ohalim'. The holiness of truth is the good which springs from truth.

[2] This meaning carried by the booths or tents called 'succoth' is further evident from the following places in the Word: In David,

Jehovah God rode on a cherub, and flew, and was borne on the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding-place, and His surroundings His tent - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. Psalms 18:10-11.

And elsewhere,

He bowed the heavens when He came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. And He rode on a cherub, and new, and was borne on the wings of the wind. And He made tents of darkness around Him, clusters of water, clouds of the heavens. 2 Samuel 22:10-12.

This refers to Divine revelation, or the Word. 'Bowing the heavens when He came down' stands for hiding the interior truths of the Word. 'Thick darkness under His feet' stands for the fact that compared with interior truths, those visible to man are like darkness, the literal sense of the Word being of such a nature. 'Riding on a cherub' stands for the fact that it was provided in this way. 'Making tents of the darkness around Him' or 'making His surroundings His tent' stands for the holiness of truth concealed in its hiding-place, that is to say, inwardly - within the literal sense. 'Clusters of waters and clouds of the heavens' means the Word in the letter. Regarding 'clouds of the heavens' meaning the Word in the letter, see Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis, and 4060.

[3] The same is meant by the following in Isaiah,

Jehovah will create over every habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tent for shade by day, and for a refuge and hiding-place from deluge and rain. Isaiah 4:5-6.

Here again 'cloud' means the literal sense of the Word and 'the glory' the internal sense, as they do in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27. Again also 'a tent' stands for the holiness of truth. Interior truths are said to be in a hiding-place for the reason that if they had been revealed they would have been made profane, see 3398, 3399, 4289, a point that is also expressed in the following words in David,

In the hiding-place of Your face You conceal them from the treacherous plans of man; You hide them in a tent from the strife of tongues. Psalms 31:20.

[4] The fact that 'a tent' means the holiness of truth is also evident in Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up the breaches, and I will raise up its destroyed places, and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

'Raising up the tent of David that is fallen down' stands for reestablishing the holiness of truth after it has perished. 'David' stands for the Lord as regards Divine Truth, 1888, since 'a king' means Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009. Because 'tent' meant the holiness of truth and 'dwelling in tents' means worship that was the product of this, the feast of tents, called the feast of tabernacles, was established in the Jewish and Israelitish Church, Leviticus 23:34, 42-43; Deuteronomy 16:13, 16, where also that feast is called the feast of succoth, or of tents.

  
/ 10837  
  

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