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Genesis 38

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1 And it was at this time that Judah went·​·down from his brothers, and went·​·aside, even·​·to a man, an Adullamite, and his name was Hirah.

2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a man, a Canaanite, and his name was Shua; and he took her, and came to her.

3 And she conceived and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and he called his name Er.

4 And she conceived yet·​·again and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she called his name Onan.

5 And she added yet·​·again and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she called his name Shelah; and he was in Chezib when she gave·​·birth·​·to him.

6 And Judah took a woman for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7 And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah put· him ·to·​·death.

8 And Judah said to Onan, Come to the wife of thy brother, and perform the duty of a husband’s·​·brother for her, and raise·​·up seed for thy brother.

9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be for himself; and it was, when he came to the wife of his brother, that he destroyed it to the earth, so·​·that he might not give seed to his brother.

10 And what he did was·​·evil in the eyes of Jehovah; and He caused· him also ·to·​·die.

11 And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Dwell· a widow ·in thy father’s house, until Shelah my son be grown·​·up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brothers. And Tamar went and dwelt·​·in her father’s house.

12 And the days were·​·multiplied, and the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went·​·up to the shearers of his flock, he and his companion Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnath.

13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law is going·​·up towards Timnath to shear his flock.

14 And she removed from upon herself the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the entrance of the founts which are upon the way toward Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown·​·up, and she was not given to him for a woman.

15 And Judah saw her, and thought her to be a harlot, because she had covered her face.

16 And he went·​·aside to her to the way, and said, Give, I pray, that I may come to thee; for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou Give me, that thou mayest come to me?

17 And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, If thou wilt give a surety, until thou send it?

18 And he said, What surety shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy kerchief*, and thy rod that is in thy hand. And he gave them to her, and came to her; and she conceived to him.

19 And she arose, and went, and removed her veil from upon her, and clothed· herself ·with the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his companion the Adullamite, to take the surety from the woman’s hand; and he found her not.

21 And he asked the men of the place, saying, Where is the prostitute that was at the founts on the way? And they said, There was not a prostitute there.

22 And he returned to Judah and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, There was not a prostitute there.

23 And Judah said, Let her take it to herself, lest perhaps we be despised; behold I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

24 And it was, about three months after, and it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law has committed·​·harlotry; and also, behold, she has conceived by harlotries. And Judah said, Bring· her ·out, and she shall be burnt·​·up.

25 She was brought·​·out, and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, To the man whose these are, to him I have conceived; and she said, Recognize, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet and the kerchief and the rod.

26 And Judah recognized them, and said, She is· more ·just than I; because as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he added not to know her any·​·more.

27 And it was, in the time of her giving·​·birth, and behold twins were in her belly.

28 And it was, when she gave·​·birth, and one put out a hand; and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread twice-dyed upon his hand, saying, This came·​·out first.

29 And it was, as he brought·​·back his hand, that behold, his brother came·​·out; and she said, How hast thou broken·​·off from upon thee a breaking·​·off*? And he called his name Perez*.

30 And afterwards came·​·out his brother, that had the scarlet thread twice-dyed upon his hand; and he called his name Zerah*.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 4876

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4876. 'And your rod which is in your hand' means through the power of this, that is, of this truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a rod' as power, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the hand' too as power, dealt with in 876, 3091, 3387, 3563. The phrase 'which is in your hand' is used because the power of that truth, namely lowest truth, is meant, like that present with the semblance of religion among the Jewish nation, meant here by 'Judah'. Regarding the attribution of power to truth, see 3091, 3563. Frequent mention is made in the Word of 'a rod', yet surprisingly few at the present day know that something in the spiritual world was represented by it, as for instance when Moses was commanded, every time a miracle was performed, to lift up his rod and so it was accomplished. The existence of such knowledge even among gentiles may be recognized from their myths in which rods are assigned to magicians. The reason 'a rod' means power is that it is a support, for it gives support to the hand and arm, and through these to the whole body. This being so, a rod takes on the meaning of the part to which it immediately gives support, namely that of the hand and the arm, both of which mean in the Word the power of truth. Also, the hand and arm correspond to that power in the Grand Man, as will be seen at the ends of chapters.

[2] That 'a rod' represented power is evident, as has been stated, from what is recorded about Moses,

He was commanded to take a rod and use it to perform miracles; so he took the rod of God in his hand. Exodus 4:17, 20.

When the waters in Egypt were struck with the rod, they turned to blood.

Exodus 7:15, 19.

When the rod was stretched out over the streams, frogs came forth. Exodus 8:5-15.

When the dust was struck by the use of the rod, it turned into lice. Exodus 8:16-20.

When the rod was stretched out towards heaven, hail fell. Exodus 9:23.

When the rod was stretched out over the earth, locusts came forth. Exodus 10:3-21.

Since 'the hand', which means power, comes first, while 'a rod' is merely its instrument, the following references to 'the hand' also occur:

The miracles happened when Moses' hand was stretched out. Exodus 10:12-13. When he stretched out his hand towards heaven, thick darkness came over the land of Egypt. Exodus 10:21-22. When he stretched out his hand over the Sea Suph, an east wind made the sea dry land; and when again he stretched out his hand, the waters returned. Exodus 14:21, 26-27.

[3] Reference is in addition made to the rod being used to strike the rock at Horeb, after which water flowed out, Exodus 17:5-6; Numbers 20:7-10. Also, when Joshua was about to fight against Amalek,

Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with God's rod in my hand. And it happened, that when Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. Exodus 17:9-11.

From these references it is quite plain that 'a rod', like the hand, represented power, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine almighty power. It is also evident that at that time representatives constituted the external features of the Church, and that its internal features - which were spiritual and celestial realities such as exist in heaven - corresponded to those external ones, which owed their efficacy to that correspondence. From this it is also evident how crazy those people are who believe that power had been infused into and therefore dwelt in Moses' rod or hand.

[4] The meaning in the spiritual sense of 'a rod' as power is also evident from many places in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem rod and stay, the whole rod of bread, and the whole rod of water. Isaiah 3:1.

'The rod of bread' stands for the support and power provided by the good of love, 'the rod of water' for the support and power provided by the truth of faith. For 'bread' means the good of love, see 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735; and 'water' the truth of faith' 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424. 'The rod of bread' is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalms 105:16.

[5] In addition to this, in Isaiah,

The Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, said, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur, who will smite you with a stick and will lift up the rod over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah will lift up the scourge against him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Oreb, and his rod will be over the sea, which he will lift up in the way of Egypt. Isaiah 10:24, 26.

Here 'the rod' stands for power provided by reasoning and knowledge, like that which those people possess who, with ideas based on factual knowledge, reason against the truths of faith and pervert these or else treat them as worthless. This is what is meant by 'the stick with which Asshur will smite' and by 'the rod which he will lift up in the way of Egypt'. For 'Asshur' means reasoning, see 1186, and 'Egypt' knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.

[6] Similarly in Zechariah,

The pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart. Zechariah 10:11.

In Isaiah,

You relied on the rod of a bruised reed, on Egypt, which, when anyone leans on it, goes into his hand and pierces it. Isaiah 36:6.

'Egypt' stands for factual knowledge, as above; and power in spiritual things which is received from that knowledge is meant by 'the rod of a bruised reed'. By 'the hand which it enters and pierces' is meant power received from the Word. In the same prophet,

Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. Isaiah 14:5

'The rod' and 'the stick' plainly stand for power.

[7] In Jeremiah,

Grieve, all regions surrounding Moab; say, How is the rod of strength, the rod of beauty, broken! Jeremiah 48:17.

'The rod of strength' stands for power received from good, and 'the rod of beauty' for power received from truth.

[8] In Hosea,

My people enquire of their piece of wood, and their rod gives them a reply, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.

'Inquiring of a piece of wood' stands for consulting evils, 'the rod gives reply' for the fact that falsity results from these, its power being derived from the evil to which they give support. 'The spirit of whoredom' stands for the life of falsity resulting from evil. In David,

Even when I walk in the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your stick and Your rod comfort me. Psalms 23:4.

'Your stick and your rod' stands for Divine truth and good, which have power. In the same author,

The rod of the wicked will not rest on the lot of the righteous. Psalms 125:3.

[9] In the same author,

You will break them in pieces with a stick of iron, you will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Psalms 2:9.

'A stick of iron' stands for the power of spiritual truth within the natural, for all natural truth that has spiritual truth present within it possesses power. 'Iron' means natural truth, 425, 426. Similarly in John,

He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations to rule 1 them untie a stick of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces. Revelation 2:26-27. (Also Revelation 12:5; 19:15.)

[10] Because 'a rod' represented the power of truth, that is, the power of good expressed by means of truth, kings therefore had sceptres; and those sceptres were shaped like short rods. For kings represent the Lord as regards truth, while kingship itself means Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4581. The sceptre means the power which is theirs not by virtue of their high position but of truth which must reign. Nor must this be any other kind of truth than that which is grounded in good, and so is primarily Divine Truth, and among Christians is the Lord, the source of all Divine Truth.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, pasture

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