4061. GENESIS 31

1. And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken all that was our father’s; and from that which was our father’s hath he made all this abundance.

2. And Jacob saw the faces of Laban, and behold he was not at all with him as yesterday and the day before.

3. And Jehovah said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy nativity, and I will be with thee.

4. And Jacob sent, and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock.

5. And he said unto them, I see your father’s faces, that he is not at all toward me as yesterday and the day before; and the God of my father hath been with me.

6. And ye know that with all my strength I have served your father.

7. And your father hath deceived me, and hath changed my reward ten ways, and God hath not suffered him to do evil with me.

8. If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy reward, then all the flock bare speckled; and if he said thus, The party-colored shall be thy reward, then all the flock bare party-colored.

9. And God hath taken away the acquisition of your father, and hath given it to me.

10. And it came to pass at the time that the flock grew warm, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were party-colored, speckled, and grizzled.

11. And the angel of God said unto me in the dream, Jacob; and I said, Behold me!

12. And he said, Lift up I pray thine eyes, and see all the he-goats which leap upon the flock, party-colored, speckled, and grizzled; for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

13. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me; now arise, go forth out of this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity.

14. And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Have we any longer a portion and inheritance in our father’s house?

15. Are we not counted of him strangers? For he hath sold us, and devouring hath also devoured our silver.

16. For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, they are ours and our sons’; and now all that God hath said unto thee, do.

17. And Jacob arose, and lifted his sons and his women upon the camels.

18. And he carried away all his acquisition, and all his substance which he had gathered, the acquisition of his purchase, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

19. And Laban was gone to shear his flock; and Rachel stole the teraphim which were her father’s.

20. And Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Aramean, in that he told him not that he was fleeing.

21. And he fled, he and all that he had; and he arose and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.

22. And it was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob was fled.

23. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him a way of seven days, and joined him in the mountain of Gilead.

24. And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed to thyself lest thou speak with Jacob from good even to evil.

25. And Laban came up with Jacob, and Jacob pitched his tent in the mountain; and Laban pitched with his brethren in the mountain of Gilead.

26. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen my heart, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?

27. Wherefore hast thou concealed thyself to flee? and hast stolen me? and hast not told me? And I would have sent thee away with gladness, and with songs, with timbrel, and with harp.

28. And thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters; now thou hast acted foolishly.

29. Let my hand be to God to do you evil! And the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not with Jacob from good even to evil.

30. And now going thou hast gone, because longing thou hast longed toward thy father’s house; wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

31. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid, for I said, Perchance thou wilt take away thy daughters from me by force.

32. With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live before our brethren; search thou what is with me, and take it to thee. And Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

33. And Laban came into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two handmaids, and found them not; and he went out of Leah’s tent, and came into Rachel’s tent.

34. And Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel’s straw, and sat upon them; and Laban felt about all the tent, and found them not.

35. And she said to her father, Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, that I cannot rise up before thee, for the way of women is upon me. And he searched and found not the teraphim.

36. And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, in that thou hast hotly pursued after me?

37. Whereas thou hast felt about all my vessels, what hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them judge between us two.

38. These twenty years have I been with thee, thy sheep and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

39. The torn I brought not unto thee, I bare the loss of it, from my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

40. Thus I was; in the day the heat consumed me, and the cold in the night, and my sleep has been chased from mine eyes.

41. These twenty years have I served thee in thy house, fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock, and thou hast changed my reward ten ways.

42. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen my misery and the weariness of my hands, and judged yesternight.

43. And Laban answered, and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their sons which they have borne?

44. And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

45. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

46. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap, and they did eat there upon the heap.

47. And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

48. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day; therefore he called the name of it Galeed;

49. And Mizpah; for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee, for we shall be hidden a man from his fellow.

50. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take women over my daughters, there is no man with us; see God is witness between me and thee.

51. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee.

52. This heap be witness, and the pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap to me, and this pillar, for evil.

53. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor judge between us, the God of their father; and Jacob swear by the Dread of his father Isaac.

54. And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread; and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mountain.

55. And in the morning Laban arose early, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban departed and returned to his place.

THE CONTENTS.

The subject here treated of in the internal sense is the separation of the good and truth represented by Jacob and his women, from the good signified by “Laban,” in order that the former might be conjoined with the Divine from a direct Divine stock; and also the state of both as regards the separation.

1925. The Angel of Jehovah found her. That this signifies the thought of the interior man, namely, in the Lord, may be seen from the representation and signification of “the Angel of Jehovah.” “The Angel of Jehovah” is occasionally mentioned in the Word, and everywhere, when in a good sense, represents and signifies some essential in the Lord and from the Lord; but what he represents and signifies may be seen from the connection. They were angels who were sent to men, and who spoke through the prophets; yet what they spoke was not from the angels, but through them, for the state of the latter was then such that they knew not but that they were Jehovah, that is, the Lord; but as soon as they had done speaking, they returned into their former state, and spoke as from themselves.

[2] This was the case with the angels who spoke the Word of the Lord, as has been given me to know from much similar experience in the other life, concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter. This is the reason why the angels were sometimes called “Jehovah;” as is very evident from the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush, of whom it is written:

And the Angel of Jehovah appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, and God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you (Exodus 3:2, 4, 11, 15).

from which it is evident that it was an angel who appeared to Moses as a flame in the bush, and that he spoke as Jehovah because the Lord or Jehovah spoke through him.

[3] For in order that the speaking may come to man by words of articulate sound and in ultimate nature, the Lord makes use of the ministry of angels, filling them with the Divine, and lulling the things which are their own; so that at the time they do not know but that they themselves are Jehovah. In this way the Divine of Jehovah, which is in the highest things, passes down into the lowest of nature, in which lowest is man in respect to sight and hearing. So it was with the angel who spoke to Gideon, of whom it is thus said in the book of Judges:

The Angel of Jehovah appeared unto Gideon, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of strength. And Gideon said unto him, In me, my Lord; why then is all this befallen us? And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in thy might; and Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee (Judg. 6:12, 14, 16);

and it is afterwards said:

And Gideon saw that he was the Angel of Jehovah, and Gideon said, Ah, Lord Jehovah, forasmuch as I have seen the Angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, peace be unto thee; fear not (Judg. 6:22-23).

In this case also it was an angel, but he was then in such a state that he did not know otherwise than that he was Jehovah or the Lord.

[4] So in another place in the book of Judges:

The Angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I sware unto your fathers, and I said, I will not make void My covenant with you to eternity (Judg. 2:1); where in like manner an angel speaks in the name of Jehovah, saying that he had led them up out of the land of Egypt, when yet the angel did not lead them out, but Jehovah, as is declared many times elsewhere. From all this we may see how angels spoke through the prophets, namely, that Jehovah Himself spoke, but through angels, and the angels spoke nothing from themselves. That the Word is from the Lord, is evident from many passages, as in Matthew:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son (Matthew 1:22-23),

besides other passages. As when the Lord speaks with men He speaks through angels, therefore sometimes in the Word the Lord is also called an “Angel,” and then by “Angel,” as already said, there is signified some essential thing in the Lord and from the Lord; as, in the present case, the Lord’s interior thought; and therefore also the angel is called in this chapter “Jehovah” and also “God,” as in verse 13: “and Hagar called the name of Jehovah that was speaking unto her, Thou God seest me.”

[5] In other places likewise some special attribute of the Lord is signified by “angels.” As in John:

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20).

There are no angels of churches, but by the “angels” is signified that which is of the church, thus that which is of the Lord in respect to the churches. And again:

I saw the wall of the Holy Jerusalem great and high, having twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels, and names written which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (Revelation 21:12) where by the “twelve angels” the same is signified as by the “twelve tribes,” namely, all things of faith, and thus the Lord, from whom is faith and all that is of faith. And again:

And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel (Revelation 14:6) where by the “angel” is signified the gospel, which is the Lord’s alone.

[6] In Isaiah:

The Angel of His faces saved them ¹ in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them and carried them all the days of eternity (Isaiah 63:9)

where by “the Angel of His faces” is meant the Lord’s mercy toward the whole human race, in redeeming them. So too it was said by Jacob when he blessed the sons of Joseph:

The Angel who redeemed me from all evil bless the lads (Genesis 48:16)

where also redemption, which is the Lord’s, is signified by the “Angel.”

In Malachi:

The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire (Malachi 3:1)

it is here plainly evident that the Lord is signified by the “Angel,” since He is called “the Angel of the covenant” on account of His advent. And even more plainly does it appear that the Lord is signified by an “Angel” in Exodus:

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee to the place which I have prepared. He will not endure your transgression, for My name is in the midst of him (Exodus 23:20-21).

Hence now it is evident that by “Angel” in the Word is meant the Lord; but what of the Lord, appears from the series and connection in the internal sense.

Poznámky pod čarou: